Lead by people from Scottish Borders Council, it provided us with a great opportunity to connect with members of other Head Teams and hear what we can take from other schools to improve our own. The day featured icebreakers, discussion of article 12 of the UNCRC and talk of how best to gather the views of senior pupils, parents, and staff. This is going to lead to us asking you for help to develop the curriculum surrounding financial education. As a team, we chose this area to focus on as finance is overlooked in many areas within school and is a necessary skill for life beyond EHS.

We left the conference that day to work on an action plan to improve the curriculum so we could present this at the next conference, held at SBC HQ. We were able to hear valuable feedback which we have weaved into our plan, as well as get some experience presenting in front of strangers.

One of the most interesting parts of the day was being able to have a realistic debate in the chamber, with the councillors who spend their days there making important decisions. Some of our Head Team joined in on debates on social media use for minors and passengers in the cars of newly passed drivers. The feedback from the councillors was overwhelmingly positive for all Head Teams, including Earlston.

In the new year there will be more sessions with Head Teams for us to develop each school in the Borders. Meeting Head Team members has been one of the greatest aspects of the role.