Last session a small group of S1 students visited Edinburgh University, on Friday afternoons throughout the summer term. Their visits formed part of the university’s Widening Participation Initiative, introducing students to university departments and subjects, for the first time.  An evening award celebration was held at the University in June which was attended by students, school staff, parents and grandparents! The student groups, from three participating High Schools, were awarded £550 by Lloyds Scholars and were asked to assist their school librarian in selecting books for their library.

These students, now in S2, were accompanied by the school librarian to Waterstones Bookshop in Princes Street, on Halloween Friday afternoon. We were made welcome by a very helpful sales assistant in the Children’s/Teenage book department, who looked after us throughout our visit. Along with the librarian, she helped to advise students on new titles by favourite authors. She also organised vouchers for the bookshop café where our students enjoyed delicious hot drinking chocolate – after they’d worked hard to select books for the school library! Thanks to a generous book discount from Waterstones Bookshop, each student went home with a book of their own, as well as 70 new fiction titles for the school library! A very successful afternoon.