11 January 2016

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon took a trip to Fife to announce £4 million to improve educational attainment.

She visited Warout Primary and Community school and said the money would help schools across Scotland close the attainment gap.

Warout Primary in #Glenrothes cookery with @NicolaSturgeon in #Fife today, FM announces £4mn fund for schools pic.twitter.com/PhLGSnC45l

— Kingdom FM News (@KingdomFMNews) January 11, 2016

Ms Sturgeon launched a new £1.5 million Innovation Fund to help schools across Scotland come up with innovative ways to improve attainment.

She also confirmed £2.5 million worth of allocations to the 57 schools that will receive funding as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge Schools Programme.

As the tweet above says, she stopped in on a primary one class learning to bake gingerbread men. She pointed to that as an example of children being taught numeracy and literacy as they read recipes sheets and weighed out the ingredients.

After that, it was off upstairs to a music class where children were singing Scottish nursery rhymes.

FM @NicolaSturgeon watches Warout PS music class & announces £4m for education attainment https://t.co/boH0WpNveB pic.twitter.com/gSkKyKhA9U

— First Minister (@ScotGovFM) January 11, 2016

Warout Primary School is one of the 57 schools to receive funding from the Attainment Scotland Fund this year and it is going towards a STEAM project to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics.

They were looking at the mechanics and maths around suspension bridges following the great work by engineers to repair the Forth Road Bridge.

The First Minister said:

“We want teachers and pupils to get creative, be excited about learning and come up with imaginative approaches to it; to find out what works and share that with others.

“This £1.5 million gives them the financial support to do so and with education being key to the future of Scotland’s children and in the future of Scotland’s economic health, this is a wise investment.

“Last week I announced our National Improvement Framework to provide evidence on the performance of young people in our schools. Projects like the one at Warout Primary School will play a key part in closing the attainment gap and ensuring our young people leave school with the skills and education they need.”

You can get more on the Innovation Fund here.