MORE SCHOOLS SIGN UP FOR FUTURE LEADERS PROGRAMME

Five more Scottish schools are set to join the ground-breaking Gen+ skills and leadership programme which aims to equip and inspire the next generation of young Scots to have the skills and confidence to learn, lead, and thrive.

The secondary schools taking part in the next round of the Gen+ programme are St John’s High School in Perth, St Ninian’s High School in Kirkintilloch, Inverclyde Academy in Greenock, Glasgow’s Hillpark Secondary and Shawlands Academy.

They join Barrhead High School in East Renfrewshire, Lourdes Secondary in Glasgow, Morgan Academy in Dundee and The Glasgow Academy, all of which have signed up to continue with the programme following their participation in a highly successful pilot programme which concluded in June this year.

The Gen+ programme, which seeks to equip every young person in Scotland with world-class leadership capabilities and meta-skills, has a potential reach of 360 schools and 290,000 young people within the next five years.

Victoria Vardy, CEO of Gen+, said: “We are delighted that the four schools from our pilot project have re-engaged with us for another year and we welcome hugely the five new schools which have joined this year.

Gen+ has one overarching ambition: to provide every child in every classroom with a leadership and personal development programme that helps them recognise and develop their unique skills and talents. Our vision is to equip and inspire the next generation to have the skills and confidence to learn, lead, and thrive.”

She added: “Through six meta-skills focused modules, the programme teaches students leadership, resilience, collaboration, communication, initiative, and organisation, allowing them to reflect on and develop their capabilities.”

Gen+ lessons are taught to S1 pupils as part of their Personal and Social Education (PSE) curriculum. The lessons are delivered by classroom teachers using a blended learning approach: students work through activities on a bespoke, interactive, digital platform and participate in offline group tasks and discussions.

Denise Crawford, Head Teacher at Inverclyde Academy, said: “The Gen+ programme brings a new dimension to skills development and is something we are very excited to launch in St John’s. The programme will be integral to developing leadership and meta-skills in our young people so they are ready to reach their positive destinations.”

Paul Cunningham, Quality Improvement Officer for Secondary years at Perth and Kinross Council said: “We are thrilled to join the Gen+ programme at this early stage. Skills development in young people is crucial to helping them navigate a complex post-Covid world, and we are delighted we are able to facilitate this for pupils in Perth and Kinross Council.”

The Gen+ programme is designed to inspire young people to see themselves as part of a wide cohort of young leaders who support each other and their local communities and engage with global issues. Its fundamental premise is that anyone has the potential to be a leader and that early interventions are the most positive and long lasting.

While Gen+ has enterprising long-term plans, its current ambition over the next three years is to deliver the personal development and meta-skills programme to over 100 secondary schools, involving around 50,000 young people. The Peter Vardy Foundation has committed to funding the programme for its first three years.