Editor's letter

Your journey starts here

Welcome to the summer issue of Connected, and my first as editor of the magazine. It gives me great satisfaction to take the helm of publication that seems to be hitting the mark – the results of last issue's reader survey reveal that an encouraging 96% of you find the magazine interesting and useful. Read the full results in Upfront.

This issue, like many before it, aims to bring the latest education initiatives to life and show you how they translate to your classroom. Our cover feature explores the Journey to Excellence resource, highlighting how schools across Scotland are already making some positive steps on their journey. For more inspiration, take a look at the range of resources and case studies presented in your free Journey to Excellence DVD.

Elsewhere in this issue, we hear how literacy is no longer the sole responsibility of the English teacher, but an inter-disciplinary skill that can and should be encouraged across the school curriculum. Of course, ICT has a key role to play in developing a concept of literacy fit for the 21st century, and, in a similar vein, Derek Robertson reveals the astounding success of his school Nintendo trials, which were this year rolled out across Scotland. Derek will be on hand at the Scottish Learning Festival 2008 to share more of the benefits of games-based learning.

The festival programme has now been released, but in a special feature we hand pick some of the highlights of this year’s event. And that’s not all. The Connected team will of course be on hand to report from the festival (keep an eye on Connected Live) but this year we’re also throwing down the gauntlet to young people from across Scotland. If your pupils would relish the opportunity to be reporters for a day, our competition for this issue is not to be missed – see the Not to be missed article for details.

As regular readers will know, this magazine does not just advise on good practice – we get out there and find it too. In this issue, we discover a thriving international education community at Dalry Primary in Edinburgh, don our gym shorts for some PE at Banchory Academy in Aberdeenshire, sneak a glimpse at a careers adviser’s diary and explore the thriving community hub of Inverness Gaelic School.

I hope you enjoy reading Connected as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Wishing you a great summer.