Interesting News

Consultation on a bill to introduce radical reforms to the education system has been opened. During the Programme for Government the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, made clear that the Education (Scotland) Bill 2018 will be the centerpiece of the legislative programme for the year ahead. It will include a number of provisions to reform how schools are run and put schools in charge of key decisions about a child's education including; - More freedom to make choices about curriculum, improvement and funding at school level, - More freedom for headteachers to choose school staff and management structure, - New regional improvement collaborative's to provide streamlined and strengthened support to teachers, drawing on experts from local authorities and Education Scotland, - Strengthened engagement with young people and parents in schools. The new powers will be guaranteed in a statutory charter for headteachers, with provisions to ensure young people and parents als

Domestic abuse figures published today show there were 58,810 incidents in 2016-17, up 1% from the previous year. Recorded by Police Scotland, the figures also show that 79% of these incidents had a female victim and a male accused. Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said the figures demonstrate the need for the Scottish Government to continue its drive to reduce gender-based violence. Mt Matheson said; "While the figures have been relatively stable over the past five years, they remain evidence of the unacceptable levels of domestic abuse in Scotland. We know these figures don't paint the whole picture, as victims are often too afraid to report abuse. We also know domestic abuse disproportionally affects women. "It is crucial our work continues with even greater urgency. We have allocated record funding of £20 million over three years towards eliminating violence against women and girls, and we are taking forward legislation to introduce a new offence, criminalis

In Today's world everything we do is shared on social media, including our relationships, but what effect does this really have on our romance life? Sherry Turkle, writes in her book Reclaiming conversation; The Power of Talk in a Digital Age: " You learn to give your friends a pass when they drop in and our of conversation to talk with friends on their phones. And a flirtation, you learn to treat NOTHING as something to put out of your mind." While Turkle explores what she calls The Nothing Gambit , the effects of technology on the way we communicate and what we expect from the people we have relationships with, I am more curious in the effects of social media at large on our relationships. When a couple enters a romantic relationship it is commonly expected that they will announce this relationship online through their many social media applications, and in doing so receive likes and acknowledgement from their friends and loved ones. This then continues thro