Well? Issue 10: Spring/Summer 2007

14 Well? Promoting Resilience
CREATINGCONFIDENTKIDS…
The City of Edinburgh Council has secured a Big Lottery Fund grant to
promote the emotional health and well-being of children, young people and
the adults that work and care for them. The grant will be used to support
work already underway around Creating Confident Kids, the resource pack
which has been developed by, and for, primary school teachers to help
embed concepts of emotional literacy.
Councillor Andrew Burns, executive
member for children and families, The
City of Edinburgh Council, said: “This
grant is great news. It will enable us to
further develop and promote our
emotional well-being work including
personal and professional development
for staff, out-of-school hours activities
for children, personal development
work with parents/carers and
community-based and voluntary sector
projects. The grant will also be used to
comprehensively evaluate work, as
...AND CONFIDENT FUTURES
Around 200 undergraduate and 70
postgraduate students at Napier
University in Edinburgh are the first to
take part in the Confident Futures
initiative, a pilot project which aims to
develop self-belief and self-esteem in
graduates.
Developed in conjunction with the
Glasgow-based Centre for Confidence
and Well-Being, the initiative will help
students examine their personalities
and ways of thinking, to develop
positive attitudes and approaches to
well as hosting an annual emotional
well-being conference to share
achievements and promote the latest
research in this area.”
Topics that are likely to be covered
include attachment, resilience,
optimism, appreciative enquiry,
emotional literacy and brain
development.
Patricia Santelices
E: patricia.santelices@educ.edin.gov.uk
problems and increase belief in their
abilities.
“Confidence is seen as a by-product of
studying at university, rather than a
quality we should be teaching,” said
Professor Joan Stringer, principal and
vice-chancellor of Napier University.
“Confident Futures aims to change that
and to help improve the confidence of
society generally.”
www.news.napier.ac.uk
www.centreforconfidence.co.uk
A CURRICULUM
FOR EXCELLENCE
Scotland is currently pursuing its
biggest education reform programme
for a generation under the Scottish
Executive’s Ambitious, Excellent
Schools agenda (launched in
November 2004).
Central to this reform agenda is
A Curriculum for Excellence, a
programme of work which aims to
provide more professional freedom
for teachers, greater choice and
opportunities for pupils, and a single
coherent curriculum for all young
people from three to 18 to help them
maximise their potential.
Overall health and well-being is an
important focus within A Curriculum
for Excellence. The most important
goal of this part of the programme is
to support children and young
people in gaining the knowledge and
skills to help them live fulfilling and
healthy lives.
“The main purpose of education for
health and well-being is to enable
children and young people to
develop the knowledge and
understanding, skills, abilities and
attitudes necessary for their
physical, emotional and social
well-being now, and in their future
lives,” said a spokesperson for
A Curriculum for Excellence.
“This is not a nationally prescribed
curriculum, but rather a framework
of broad guidance within which
teachers will have flexibility to
structure activities to suit their
school’s core personal and social
education programmes.
The guidance will emphasise the
need to draw on appropriate
professional expertise, to involve
children in the programme planning
and to ensure plenty of parental
consultation when sensitive health
issues are addressed.”
www.acurriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk