Pupils Complete Course Offering Insight into Early Years

Lorna Barry and Nicola Moar are pictured with some of the KGS pupils who completed the course.

Pupils at Kirkwall Grammar School have recently completed a course which gives them an insight into early childhood development, helping them to gain the skills and knowledge they will need in their future career.

This is the third year the Solihull Approach for Young People – Understanding Yourself and Parenting has been delivered in the school by staff from the OIC’s Early Years Team.  The course is offered by pupils interested in working with babies and young children.  It gives an insight into early child development and looks at how babies and teenagers’ brains develop and how relationships are built between child and adult.

Twelve pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School took part in this year’s programme.

The Solihull Approach is also being delivered to pupils at Stromness Academy as part of their Friday afternoon activities, with 12 pupils from there also taking part.  This is the second time the programme has run at Stromness.

As part of the course, pupils got to meet a mum and their baby, giving them a chance to put into practice some of the skills they have learnt.  The course concluded with an additional session focusing on Early Years careers. Pupils heard from Early Years Managers and Practitioners, to learn about the different routes they could take into this career, as well as the opportunities to progress their career into more senior roles.

A huge thank you to Lorna Barry and Nicola Moar who ran the sessions at both school this year.

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