Literacy tool for all launches in Highland schools
23rd December 2020
We are delighted to announce, in partnership with Text Help, that every pupil and teacher in Highland schools now has access to Read&Write software, which supports learning both in the classroom and in the home on any device.
Schools in Highland have over 30,000 Chromebooks to support learning and the Connecting Scotland Grant has enabled investment in Read&Write.
Chair of the Education Committee, Cllr John Finlayson said: "This software package will enable our young people of all ages to access the curriculum. It will also complement our existing G-Suite for Education tools and help all of our pupils to understand, learn and express themselves with confidence. I am pleased our staff and pupils will have access to this software and I am sure we will see its benefit in both classroom and online learning."
Read&Write is an award-winning literacy toolbar that helps reach every learner and to realise their full potential. Great for all subjects and lessons plans, the software offers support with everyday tasks such as reading text out loud, understanding unfamiliar words, researching assignments and proofing written work. It's also used as a digital reader for school exams, assisting students who are entitled to extra help in the exam room.
Andrew Campbell, Local Education Authority Manager at Text Help, the learning technology company, said: "We're truly thrilled to have partnered with The Highland Council in bringing Read&Write to students across the Scottish region. Having worked with some of the incredible people in the council's digital team as well as passionate individuals in various schools for a couple of years now, it feels really gratifying to support the attainment of pupils with this widespread service rollout.
"As a company that believes in the power of digital, we believe the Connecting Scotland programme is an excellent example of how governments can promote digital inclusion, with the funding from the scheme instrumental in supporting the distribution of Read&Write on a large scale. Like Connecting Scotland, we also believe being online is essential and we hope to add additional value in the Highlands and support educational outcomes throughout 2021 and beyond."
Executive Chief Officer for Education and Learning, Nicky Grant said: "Our ICT In Learning Team have worked extensively with schools to support digital inclusion and skills during 2020. Looking to the future, our Central Officers will be working in partnership with Text Help to develop further innovative solutions to support all learners. All staff in Highland schools will have access to extensive training and Text Help will be offering a number of online sessions for parents & carers in the New Year."
For further information, please visit our Highland Digital Schools Hub - https://sites.google.com/millburnacademy.org.uk/highlanddigitalschoolshub/home and Text Help's webpage - https://www.texthelp.com/en-gb/products/read-write/
Related Businesses
Related Articles
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate. The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate.
Following the success of its Business Digital Grant scheme launched last year, The Highland Council is delighted to announce further funding. This is to help Highland companies access digital support alongside other business growth support.
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
Members of Highland Council, who met on Thursday 14 March 2024, approved a corporate Digital Ambition, which has been designed to deliver significant organisational change across Council services, recognising the current priorities within the organisation. The Strategy, which is embedded within the wider Council Delivery Plan, has been developed to focus attention and resources on areas of change which will deliver the greatest benefit to the Council.
The Council remains committed to supporting mentoring in our schools, including the support that is currently delivered through the MCR Pathways programme. Highland Council is currently undertaking a review of Employability Support provided by a number of different council services and how these relate to the work carried out by external partners and in our schools.
Highland Council members have considered and agreed a revised draft Highland Outcome Improvement Plan. The partnership plan has been reviewed and updated by the Community Planning Partnership.
Members at today's (14 March 2024) meeting of The Highland Council agreed the local authority's new draft Community Wealth Building Strategy. They were also asked to note that a period of public engagement on the draft will now begin, with a final strategy returning to full Council for consideration in September.
