A STIRLING school as well as a nursery have been named as a finalist in the Scottish Education Awards.

Allan's Primary has been shortlisted in the Skills for Future Pathways Award while Hillview Nursery is one of the final three in the Making a Difference (ELC) Award.

The recognition in the prestigious awards for Allan's follows its development of 21st century skills for children in this ever-changing digital society.

After consulting with many agencies and researching practice from other countries with Stirling High, the school devised its five Cs – communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and curiosity.

The approach was implemented through a makerspace philosophy, where learning takes place through making and tinkering with real things based on the individual's interest.

Lindsey Howland, headteacher at Allan’s Primary, said: “The makerspace approach has been hugely successful and the children talk confidently about the skills they are using and why they are using them.

“We are very proud to be nominated as finalist and we are extremely grateful to all our partners for their support, in particular Clare Hoare, Stirling Council creative learning officer.

“We are continuing our Makerspace Monday approach during the current home learning experience.”

Hillview’s achievement was based on its early literacy intervention work that aims to address the significant gap within literacy attainment which can be linked to poverty related barriers.

Gillian Smith, equity and excellence lead at the nursery, supported staff and parents to deliver three key interventions; the Big Nursery Rhyme Challenge as a home learning scheme, adult-child interactions workshops and an audit of the literacy practice.

Alan Easton, acting head at the nursery, said: “Through the hard work and dedication of all our educators, children and families, the engagement within these initiatives have evidenced significant improvements within language and literacy attainment.”

Councillor Susan McGill, convener of the Children and Young People Committee at the local authority, added: “Congratulations to Allan’s Primary and Hillview Nursery on their well-deserved national recognition, which is a welcome fillip during such an uncertain time for schools, nurseries and families across the area.

“Both establishments’ wide-ranging innovative approaches are ensuring a high quality of care and education for children which is helping to give them the best start in life.”