We are delighted that Castlebrae Community High School has won the Employability & Creativity Across Learning Award at the Scottish Education Awards 2018, in recognition of a three-year partnership with the International Festival and the City of Edinburgh Council.

The Scottish Education Awards celebrates successes and recognises achievements taking place within Scottish education. The award specifically recognised the residency partnership’s commitment to creating meaningful, personal and lasting experiences for Castlebrae pupils in ways which supported personal and professional skills development.

Running between 2015 – 2018, the partnership set out to increase pupils social and communicative skills, through a series of workshops, one-on-one mentoring sessions and work experience programmes. These highlighted the varied professional skillsets required in the delivery of events such as the International Festival, and included a specially developed Festivals & Events Management module which contributed towards pupils National 5 qualification in ‘Creative Industries’.

Alongside professional development opportunities, the pupils created the film ‘From Castlebrae with Love’, worked with dancers from Boy Blue Entertainment whose show Project R.E.B.E.L was staged at the school during the 2018 International Festival, and created dishes with catering partners Appetite Direct.

The partnership was delivered by the staff at Castlebrae Community High school led by Head Teacher Norma Prentice, in tandem with the International Festival team