The council’s Children and Families Achievement Awards were held this afternoon at The Assembly Rooms and the winners have now been presented with their prizes.
Gillian Tee Director of Children and Families said:-“The Children and Families achievement awards provide an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the outstanding work of individuals, teams and establishments. This is the 14th annual achievement awards and, yet again, I have been impressed by the high standard of applications. This year we have had an exceptionally high number of nominations, reflecting the huge amount of work that is going on.
Across a wide variety of services. the professionalism and commitment shown in providing the highest level of service for every child and family across Edinburgh was clearly evident.”
There were many categories to choose from but here are the winners of the main awards:-
Improving Literacy Outcomes – Freshstart Coordination Team and 19 participating schools. This strategic literary intervention has had a great impact and is being rolled out across the city.
Participation and Engagement – Mentors in Violence Prevention won Portobello High School an award to evidence how participation leads to better decision making and improved services. The Mentors in Violence programme addresses issues surrounding violence and the role of the bystander with senior pupils being trained as mentors.
Getting it Right for Every Child – The winner is Health 4 U run by Edinburgh Leisure. This is aimed at adolescent girls in 11 Edinburgh high schools and deals with their health and wellbeing.
Making the Difference : Team – won by Two for the Price of One run by the Hospital and Outreach Teaching Service who expanded what they do to young  mums and pregnant schoolgirls to help them maximise their achievements.
Making the Difference :Individual – Ellen Muir Head teacher at Pilrig Park School who believes in a strong pupil voice and encourages pupils to be active in learning and to speak up and make a difference.
Innovating Creating Inspiring – Winner Revolutionising Programming with Livecode was won by Steven Whyte teacher of computer science.
The Director’s Award for Outstanding Achievement was awarded to Andy Jeffries who is the service manager for six social work practice teams, hospital social work teams and the child care and reviewing services across Edinburgh. Gillian Tee said”Andy is an inspiring and exemplary leader who has overseen significant improvements in child protection services throughout Edinburgh.”
Councillor Paul Godzik Education Convener chose the winner of the Convener’s Award for Outstanding Achievement which he awarded to CLD West Edinburgh. Councillor Godzik said:-“An invaluable and exciting opportunity for young people to experience a radically different way of life, to develop empathy for others and, at the same time, learn a great deal about themselves.”
This project involved a youth exchange to Rwanda to develop a youth exchange programme in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games next year. The aim is to increase their confidence and understanding of a changing world.
Cllr Paul Godzik said: “I am incredibly impressed by the high standard of entries to this year’s awards and it was a privilege to be able to reward projects making such an impact on their local community.
“It is particularly important to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of those helping improve the lives of young people in Edinburgh – all those nominated deserve a huge well done for their commitment to making the city a better place for everyone.”
There was a list of nominees as long as your arm so well done to all of those people, schools and organisations too!
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
