Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Why Icelandic teachers learned lessons about nurturing pupils from a Dundee school

Delegates from a school in Húsavík visited Craigie High School to find out how pupils are taught and nurtured here.

Two Iceland teachers watch a STEM class at Craigie High
Iceland teachers at Craigie High were impressed by STEM lessons. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

Education performance in Scotland has been slipping for 15 years – but that didn’t stop Icelandic teachers turning to Dundee for lessons.

The latest international report on education shows a decline in reading, maths and science in Scottish secondary schools.

But a group of teachers from Iceland visited Craigie High School in Dundee to learn about how we educate and look after children and young people.

The delegation from the town of Húsavík learned about an approach called Girfec as education in their country is revolutionised.

Changes in Iceland schools aim to improve resilience, courage, knowledge and happiness.

What did Iceland teachers learn at Craigie High?

So the Iceland teachers at Craigie wanted to see how we nurture children and look after their wellbeing. Here this is governed by the Girfec – Getting it Right for Every Child – pledge.

They also saw how we teach STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths. And they were impressed.

Björg Erlingsdóttir said Icelandic teachers had a lot to learn from approach to nurture and wellbeing. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

Delegation leader Björg Erlingsdóttir said Iceland’s Education Policy 2030 has similar principles to Girfec.

She said: “You have been working on this for 20 years so we have a lot to learn from you.

“It’s a very good approach and it should work well in Iceland but we are just at the beginning stages.”

Iceland education versus Scotland education

Scotland’s score in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) fell to 471 for mathematics, from 489 in 2018. This put it just below the worldwide average.

But Iceland’s score is even lower – 459 – and also in decline.

The visiting teachers, most of them from Borgarhólsskóli, spent five days in Scotland.

Borgarhólsskóli in the fishing and tourist community of Húsavík. Image: Google Maps.

Borgarhólsskóli is a junior and secondary school for pupils aged 6 to 16 in Húsavík, a small community on the north-east coast renowned for whale-watching tours.

The Iceland teachers met fellow teachers at Craigie High School and observed pupils at work.

Björg said: “It was interesting to see how the school is changing from the usual educational institutions that we know and is a little bit in the path of having a kind of social aspect to help people.

“It changes a bit the role of the school.

Some of the Iceland teachers at Craigie High with (centre front) depute head teacher for pupil support, Michelle Reid. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

“Education is the biggest and most important investment in every society.

“We are a very small nation, just about 400,000 people, and it’s very important for us to learn about and see how people are doing it in other places.”

Iceland’s post-Covid mental health and social problems

Iceland, she said, suffers the same post-Covid problems we do. There are more mental health issues among children and young people. Some have poorer social skills.

“We have the same problems as you do here, kids who are not feeling well, they have mental health issues and depression.

“They have difficulty associating with their peers.

“We should be able to intervene early in the child’s life to help and assist and not wait until you see problems escalate.”

The teachers saw how STEM subjects are delivered at Craigie High School. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

The teachers were also inspired by Craigie High School’s STEM lessons.

Björg said: “We are really interested in STEM, we like that a lot.

“We want to be better in mathematics, engineering, those areas.

“All these things you have that are central [to education].

“Teachers can get ideas, materials and projects – there seems to be easy access for this.”

Girfec is the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide all children, young people and their families with the right support at the right time.

Components include a named person for each child, a shared understanding of wellbeing and a rights-based approach to planning for children.

Conversation