National Successes at the Education Oscars

Forty-one awards in fifteen different categories were presented to a variety of education and training success stories from across Scotland on Friday 30 October at the annual Star Awards, staged by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

The winners and those being highly commended, were a mixture of individual learners and education and training organisations. Every year, SQA seeks to celebrate success and commitment by individuals, schools, colleges, training providers and businesses.

This year included a special award for SQA’s creative competition ‘Scotland and Me’, part of the Homecoming Scotland activities. The competition, which has been running through the year, tasked students from schools, colleges and training organisations across Scotland to come up with a creative piece of work inspired by one of the five Homecoming themes. Of the hundreds of paintings, poems, music compositions and projects, three finalists were selected and were honoured at the ceremony.

The Awards ceremony was attended by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop MSP, hosted by TV personality Kaye Adams and was supported by a raft of sponsors, including the Scottish Government – UK Skills, CBI Scotland, Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Federation of Small Businesses, Scotland.

SQA Chief Executive, Dr Janet Brown, in congratulating all the awardees said: 'Scottish education and training is full of inspirational stories and magnificent achievements from students and centres. The response to our invitation for nominations was phenomenal – selecting finalists in each category was very difficult. To all who were entered, and particularly to those who made it through to the awards ceremony, well done. You represent the absolute best of Scotland and should take enormous pride in your achievements.'

The winners of the individual awards are:

Homecoming Prize - Scott Mackay from Stow College, Glasgow
School Candidate of the Year Award – Ruth Sandison, Galashiels Academy
College Candidate of the Year Award – Ashleigh McFarlane, James Watt College, Inverclyde
Training Organisation Candidate of the Year Award – Daniel Kemp, Cothrom Ltd, South Uist
Lifelong Learning Award – Janice Bestow, Coatbridge College
Academic Excellence Award - Alison Davies, The High School of Glasgow
Appointee of the Year Award – Margaret Graham
Skills Competitor of the Year Award – Martin Quinn, South Lanarkshire College
SQA Champion – Andrew Watson, Currie Community High School, Edinburgh

The winners of the Centre awards are:

Innovation Award – Scottish Police College
Lifelong Learning Award – Cornerstone, Aberdeen
Partnership of the Year Award – John Wheatley College, Glasgow
International Award – Edinburgh’s Telford College

From these winners, two Pride o’Worth Awards were presented by Fiona Hyslop MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning. The Pride o’Worth  Awards are the SQA’s highest accolades and are selected from the evening’s winners in both individual and centre categories.

The Pride o’Worth for Individuals was presented to Martin Quinn.

The Pride o’Worth for Centres was presented to John Wheatley College for their Pathways to Progression programme.

Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: 'These awards demonstrate the many achievements and innovative practices of schools, colleges, training providers and businesses across Scotland. Congratulations to the winners and all those who have been highly commended –  they should all be immensely proud of their achievements. 
 
'In particular I would like to congratulate the winners of the SQA’s Pride o’Worth awards who have excelled in their fields and demonstrated all the qualities that make Scottish education and training so inspirational and life-changing.'

The Highly Commended awards in the individual categories went to:

Homecoming Prize - Tina Lin from Hutchesons’ Grammar School and Karen McCafferty from Glasgow College of Nautical Studies
School Candidate of the Year Award – Scott Gardner from Oldmachar Academy, Aberdeen and Aidan Pritchard from Arbroath High School
College Candidate of the Year Award – Leanne Tait from Aberdeen College and Gordon Thomson from Adam Smith College, Fife
Training Organisation Candidate of the Year Award – Steven McCafferty of MI Technologies Ltd, Renfrewshire and Gary Cairns of NHS Lothian
Lifelong Learning Award – Brian Payne-Scott of Mitchell Street Adult Learning Centre in Dundee and Lyndi Robb of Dundee College
Academic Excellence Award - Russell Park from Hutchesons’ Grammar School and Andrew Robertson from George Watson’s College, Edinburgh
Appointee of the Year Award – Alex Gray from Ellon Academy and John Salter from Elmwood College, Fife
Skills Competitor of the Year Award – Steven Barthope from Angus College and Martin Eusebi from Motherwell College
SQA Champion – Jane Slider from Ayr College and Maxine Garson from Highland Council

The Highly Commended awards in the Centre categories went to:

Innovation Award – Langside College and the Scottish Football Association
Lifelong Learning Award – Glasgow College of Nautical Studies and John Wheatley College, Glasgow
Partnership of the Year Award – St Paul’s High School and City Building, Glasgow and Langside College and Sodexo
International Award – Aberdeen Skills & Enterprise Training Ltd and Forth Valley College

Also presented at the ceremony was the Fellowship of SQA, the highest award of the SQA awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to education and training in Scotland. Fellowships went to Dr Judith McClure, the former Headteacher of St George’s School in Edinburgh and Judith Gillespie, Development Manager of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council.

For more information please see our dedicated Star Awards 2009 pages