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Posted: March 20, 2026

After months of rigorous planning, hard work and an ongoing commitment to excellence in STEM, Forest View has achieved the full STEM Nation Award from Education Scotland.

With the certificate being awarded by Education Scotland in January 2026, this makes Forest View Primary the first ASN school across Scotland’s 32 local authorities to be awarded this exemplary certification – something we are incredibly proud of.

Under the direction of STEM Lead, Susan Kinnen, and with the support of fellow education staff and pupils at Forest View, the school was recognised in all STEM award elements including:

Leadership in STEM
STEM Family Learning
Employability and STEM Partnership Working
STEM Curriculum and Learner Pathways
Equity and Equality in STEM

To receive the award, young people took part in a wide range of fun, educational experiences aligned to each of the above award elements. For Leadership in STEM, pupils threw on their rain coats and learned how to climb trees, build dens, care for animals and protect the planet.

One pupil at Forest View Primary said: “I can make waves and see how they work, and it was all using sweets!

The pupils also honed their maths skills by organising and running their own fundraiser, featuring a home baking stall, a nail bar, and a temporary tattoo parlour. With the support of parents / carers and teachers as customers, the children managed income and calculated profits, gaining practical experience in their maths learning.

Key Curricular Highlights

Perhaps one of the curricular highlights was our Bee Enterprising project. This is a very special project indeed and was made possible thanks to generous funding by The Royal Society who donated £3000 towards the project. With the support of our local bee keeper, Peter Dorrington and other colleagues, we safely established bee hives within our campus grounds, and began investigating whether the flowers available in the environment impacted the taste and colour of the honey.

The children have been fascinated by the bees, learning all about the production of honey, the hierarchy of the hive, and the pollen they forage in the environment. Using safety suits, they have been actively involved in gathering the honey, investigating the honey comb under a microscope, and we have even created our own honey jars and wax melts for a charity fayre.

Jackie Swan, Director of Education at Kibble said: “This award means a great deal to our staff and children and is a huge accolade for the school. We are committed to offering inspiring and innovative educational opportunities, and the integration of digital technology and STEM has played a vital role in bringing our vision to life.”

Hazel Gardner, Education Officer (STEM), Education Scotland said: “It is our pleasure to award Forest View with the full STEM Nation Award. This is a significant achievement for Forest View that reflects the school’s strong commitment to delivering high quality STEM education that is innovative and impactful.”

A Huge Accolade for Forest View

Achieving all STEM Nation Awards is a huge accolade for Forest View Primary, testament to the hard work and dedication of Susan Kinnen, pupils and all at Forest View. As well as learning all about STEM subjects in a fun, immersive way, pupils also established invaluable connections within the Lochwinnoch community, and gave their time to a number of community-based initiatives.

According to STEM Lead, Susan Kinnen, “This is not the end, but rather just the beginning of our journey”. We very much look forward to hearing about what’s next for our talented pupils and would like to extend our congratulations on this remarkable achievement.

Posted: March 16, 2026

Kibble’s Skills Academy launched ‘Future Ready’, an employability programme to help young people across Renfrewshire prepare for the working world.

The ‘Future Ready’ project is funded by Renfrewshire Employability Provision with Invest Renfrewshire and encourages youngsters to gain experience and qualifications at the academy.

Each month, two learners attend the academy for two weeks before completing a week of work experience. Since the project began, 10 young people have earned valuable credentials and taken a big step towards finding and sustaining employment.

There’s a full range of fun and interesting subjects for young people to get involved in. By trying out different topics, they discover what they truly enjoy and might want to pursue as a career. Time has been spent in the Painting and Decorating workshops, the Horticulture and Gardening polytunnels and Catering and Hospitality industrial kitchen space.

Meet Some of Our Future Ready Students

Meet the chef-in-the-making

Meet one of the young gardeners

Posted:

A young person discovered a talent for gardening.

The young person found enjoyment in going outside and being active, seeing their gardening projects take shape through their care, creativity and effort. Exploring plants, tools and how things grow has sparked a passion for transforming outdoor spaces.

The aspiring young gardener is looking forward to their final week’s work experience at St Mirren Football Club’s Training Complex. They’ll learn first-hand from the professional Groundskeeper and help maintain the grass and Astro-turf pitches in all weather conditions, gaining skills and experience to turn their passion for gardening into real-life experience. The young person is ready to be part of a team and see the first-team in action, making a real contribution to a premiership club.

Young people have found their time at the academy extremely fulfilling with one saying: “I couldn’t wait to see what I’d learn each day instead of the usual school routine.”

Head of The Skills Academy, Lisa Wardlaw is proud to support young people develop aspirations for their future: “The smiles from young people highlights the value of our supportive environment and practical lessons in boosting confidence, motivation and employability. ‘Future Ready’ funded by Renfrewshire Employability Provision has strengthened the of number life-changing opportunities we can offer young people.”

Head of The Skills Academy, Lisa. Photo taken by Chris James.

Through real-world placements, each young person can step confidently towards a future career.

Posted:

A young person thrived within the Catering and Hospitality lessons at The Skills Academy.

A young person interested in cooking learned the basics of working in a professional kitchen, preparing healthy meals, understanding food hygiene and making meals from scratch. The young person began to visualise herself in a career crafting meals, inventing recipes and helping fuel the team to victory and supporting the players reach success.

The learning journey continues. For the final week’s work experience placement, she will go to St Mirren Football Club’s Training Complex in Ralston and spend time within their elite kitchen facilities, alongside a close-knit team of chefs and cooks, preparing meals for the first-team squad and youth players. She will also have the responsibility of traveling there herself to give her the full experience of having a career in the industry.

Keith Lasley, Chief Operation Officer at St Mirren Football Club shared how impressed he was by the youngsters completing work experience. He said: “St Mirren Football Club wants the entire community to thrive. Our aim is to be the best community-centred football club in Scotland the partnership with Kibble means big steps can be taken to tackle youth employment across Renfrewshire.”

“We’ve welcomed young people into our catering team and their energy and enthusiasm has added real value to our hospitality operations, helping to fuel players and fans while motivating our wider team, knowing we are all working towards a bigger picture. The involvement with Kibble and the Future Ready project funded by Renfrewshire Employability Provision has added a strong altruistic element to the way we work and is in line with our pillars of Paisley, People and Performance.”

Kibble is dedicated to helping young people develop skills for learning, life and work.

Posted: March 5, 2026

The month of February was a special one on the Kibble calendar as children and adults at Hallhill Cottage celebrated their first birthday in their new home!

To mark this occasion, children chose how they wanted to celebrate. Suggestions were raised by adults at the dining table, “maybe we can throw a big party”, “we could get a bouncy castle and ice cream” … but this was not what the children had in mind. Instead, the children collectively tapped into what home means for them, and so the day consisted of a delicious continental breakfast, a trip to the swimming baths, and home for a movie night in pyjamas. What could be a more perfect day for the children to mark this special milestone.

In readiness for our birthday breakfast, children got to work on decorating party hats, whilst the adults decorated the dining room with colourful bunting with photos of the children, star garlands, birthday banners and lots of colourful balloons. The children woke up so excited about their special birthday breakfast and ran from their beds. We enjoyed delicious pancakes, croissants and pain au chocolates washed down with orange juice. Of course, no celebration would be complete without cake, and not just any cake! We received a delivery of special highland cow cupcakes and pink roses… just like our hairy four-legged neighbours that graze in the surrounding fields.

Once breakfast had settled, the children enjoyed swimming in the afternoon, then came home to settle on the sofa with a movie in their pyjamas. The children remarked at how special a day it was, proving that often the simplest of celebrations are the most treasured.

A Milestone Year at Hallhill Cottage

Since the children moved to Hallhill Cottage, we are so proud of all that they have achieved. At what can be a difficult transition for children, they embraced this and settled quickly in their new home. What was important, is that they were all together. Significant steps were made by the adults at Hallhill to make the children feel as settled as possible. This included regular trips, where the children were so excited about the house, the acres of grounds to play and the wildlife on their doorstep. We also supported the children to remain in the schools, clubs and activities attended, giving them the option over time to try local clubs and amenities if they preferred. By keeping these important routines, the children thrived and adjusted quickly to their new surroundings.

When we moved initially, one of the children was anxious about his belongings being moved without him being there. To make this easier, we helped him carefully pack the items and carry them to the car before he went to school, then he helped bring his things into the house after school. This was very important to him, and helped him to feel safe and navigate this big transition.

The children are enjoying living at Hallhill Cottage and they love being outdoors. Given the chance, they would be outdoors playing from dusk until dawn. We get regular visits from roe deer, sheep, cows, owls and other incredible birdlife. We love to observe the birds on the feeders by our kitchen window when making our coco pops. The children have also embraced the community and love to go skating, ride their bikes and visit the nearby beach.

Dan Johnson, Executive Director and lead Forensic Psychologist with the Specialist Intervention Services at Kibble, said:

“The relationships that exist between children, young people and the adults that support them is the foundation for everything that we do. It’s these genuine, trusting connections that give children the stability and confidence to adjust to change, even when this can feel very unsettling.”

Committed to Excellence

During this year, Hallhill Cottage also was also awarded an overall score of ‘6 – Excellent’ by the Care Inspectorate. The recognition from the Care Inspectorate focuses on the current care, support and residential setting provided by Kibble, with a strong emphasis on the range of supports offered to help the children transition from their existing house in Largs to Howwood.

We continue to be incredibly proud of the children, and what we have collectively achieved across the service. It Takes a Village to Raise a Child, and we are so fortunate to have an incredible team of adults, parents / carers and neighbours who all work together to create happy childhoods and bright futures for the children.

Happy Birthday Hallhill Cottage!

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Kibble celebrated its Silver Anniversary as an accredited member of Investors in People and being internationally recognised for people management and employee wellbeing.

For over 170 years, Kibble has existed to give young people a chance at life, withstanding the test of time by placing young people at the centre of all business decisions. Achievement of delivering the right support, at the right time to as many young people as possible has required a dedicated staff team, a fact that Kibble is very much aware of.

Kibble understands the workforce is the most valuable resource and strives to support each employee professionally and personally. The actions we take to empower the large staff team are recognised by Investors in People (IIP), a renowned accreditation and global benchmark awarded to organisations for demonstrating strong strategic leadership and a commitment to development their people. The IIP status reflects our focus on creating a workplace culture where people want to be, building talent pipelines and nurturing expertise, ensuring Kibble continues to evolve.

The long-standing relationship between Kibble and IIP marks an ongoing effort to invest in the workforce. The tangible ways we uphold our values of Ambition, Respect and Belonging have involved: increased recruitment, a rewarding staff benefits package, research opportunities and new partnerships. Our own model of trauma-informed care includes the component ‘Skilled and Supported Workforce’, which equips us to launch essential services and receive sector-leading results from regulatory bodies including Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland.

The framework of IIP evaluates the three key areas of: leading, supporting and improving. Kibble proudly holds Gold status while operating at the higher Platinum Level for several categories, a standard met by only 2% of the companies assessed. Kibble is leading by example in delivering continuous improvement, creating sustainable success, structuring work and living the organisation’s values and behaviours.

Kibble’s results outlined in the IIP Framework

Our mission at Kibble is to transform lives, families and communities and a greater impact is had when it’s collective effort. We’re determined to recruit and retain like-minded and ambitious individuals. We want to be known as an employer who invests in people and plan to continue strengthening our relationship with IIP.

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Posted: February 26, 2026

Kibble’s longest-serving staff member, Sue, has reached her 40^th year of trying to make the world a better place for children to grow up.

The first in her family to go to university, Sue studied psychology before beginning a postgraduate degree in Social Work. During her social work student placement, Sue spent time within Kibble’s residential children’s houses. The experience changed the trajectory of her career as originally Sue had planned to pursue field social work but found being with children in the houses gave her the opportunity to develop genuine relationships. Sue decided she could make the biggest difference to young people by working within residential childcare at Kibble.

As one of the UK’s oldest children’s charities, for almost 200 years, Kibble has existed to give young people a chance at life. Sue has seen first hand the charity evolve to deliver essential support to those who need it the most. Since the mid-80s when Sue started at Kibble, the organisation has expanded significantly from 5 services to 30. A greater understanding of trauma-informed care influenced Kibble to lead research projects, improve operations and open new services with Sue being proud to have been part of the journey. Sue reflects on the progress and is in awe at the increased access to support not only for young people but families and the wider community too.

Sue joined Kibble at a time when the organisation was recruiting more and more qualified social workers to join education professionals. Sue remembers care and education would always work closely together. The camaraderie was a highlight of working at Kibble. Staff planned fun group trips for young people and some of Sue’s favourite memories involved camping across the West Coast, telling ghost stories. The social work perspective brought positive changes, mainly incorporating trauma-informed practice and forming Specialist Intervention Services (SIS), which was Kibble’s own team of psychologists and therapists. Sue describes the progression of Kibble as natural as everyone who works here shares the ambition to help as many young people as possible and the organisation has always adapted to offer what young people need to look optimistically towards the future.

A new job at Kibble promises career development, and Sue is a shining example of the job variety you can have when you’re steadfast in making a positive change to young people. Beginning her career working directly with the kids, Sue eventually progressed into a Senior Learning and Development Officer, a role which saw her help train Kibble’s frontline care workers. As well as being there for young people of Kibble, Sue has empowered the next generation of Child and Youth Care Workers. She stepped into a role that would ensure young people benefit from a highly qualified and competent workforce by sharing her own expertise and experience.

As soon as she showed up to Kibble as an ambitious student, Sue had a willingness to be a positive force for change and advocate for young people. Her uplifting personality has had a profound impact on young people who, with Sue’s support, began to believe in themselves. Sue still keeps in contact with many she once cared for, which is a testament to the bonds she formed throughout her career.

Sue’s enthusiasm to brighten the world around her made colleagues enjoy spending time with her and she became a mentor and friend to those who worked with her too. She has felt great pride in seeing the progress of the colleagues who she remembers first starting at Kibble. In Sue’s opinion, the compassionate and upbeat personalities are what makes Kibble outstanding and have helped create the safe, welcoming place where she happily spent 40 years of her life.

Sue with her colleague, Mel.

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Posted: February 10, 2026

Our Skills Academy prepares young people to enter the world of work. Students gain academic qualifications and complete practical projects to find and sustain future employment. Those who attend the academy to pursue a career in Painting and Decorating helped renovate St Mirren SMISA Stadium’s Club 1877.

About Kibble’s Skills Academy

The Skills Academy has an education and training centre in Hillington and additional locations at St Mirren Football Club’s stadium and training complex. The partnership with a Scottish Premiership football team lets young people complete real-life development projects in a business environment, boosting their confidence. The work experience helps strengthen their CV, helping them progress toward becoming professional painters.

The Purpose of Kibble’s Partnership with St Mirren Football Club

The partnership between Kibble and a Scottish Premiership team aims to help Renfrewshire, and the people who live in the area, to thrive.

St Mirren is a community-centred football club focused on delivering positive results on and off the pitch. By growing the club, the wider community benefits too. The club wants to deliver an outstanding match day experience to all and are prepared to invest in facilities. The decision was made to renovate Club 1877 into a stylish event space for fans. Steps were taken to transform Club 1877 into an exclusive bar and lounge hospitality venue.

Students learning trades at Kibble’s Skills Academy were to be involved in the project, helping to address youth employment and boost young workforce development.

Let’s Renovate Club 1877

Club 1877 development plans began, and Kibble Graphic Designer Michelle visualised a brand-new layout, reinventing Club 1877 into a bright, modern and unique event space.

Michelle and the design plan.

To bring the design process to life, highly skilled professionals had to work alongside one another, ensuring every detail had a quality finish. The project required collaboration between external companies as well as Kibble’s Skills Academy. Young people had the opportunity to apply their trade skills to the full refurbishment.

Painting and Decorating Instructor Paul is a mentor to students from The Skills Academy. Paul led the young apprentices as members of the renovation team.

Club 1877 was one of the biggest projects to date for the young people. Immediately, the students agreed they were up for the challenge, happy for the chance to show off their painting and decorating skills.

Instructor Paul described the important role of The Skills Academy: “A full decoration was required as the area had been extended and was to be transformed.”

“Firstly, I oversaw young people complete ames taping, which is a specialised technique that is an alternative to plastering. It is an essential task, although repetitive, yet the young apprentices were keen to get involved and remained interested. They were determined to perfect their technique and finalise the smooth surface. I explained that the time taken to ames tape would benefit the paint finish, which young people fully understood. It was brilliant to watch them see the transformation from beginning to end. Their motivation continued throughout the project as the space began to take shape as we moved through the design process.”

A highlight for Instructor Paul was seeing young people share their passion with external companies: “Young people enjoyed working with St Mirren and tying in with external companies. I was impressed with how professional they interacted with others. St Mirren Health and Safety Manager, Mark and the team from Halliday Construction as well as others, all joined in with supporting the youngsters. We worked together as we had a shared determination to make sure every detail was complete to the highest standard. There was the added incentive to show young people the value of helping create a space people enjoy being in. Everyone encouraged the young apprentices and made them feel part of the team.”

The young people involved were proud of the new Club 1877 – Paul confirmed that was clear to see: “Once Club 1877 was renovated, one of the young people involved asked me to take photos of him in the area as he wanted to show his family what we’d been working on. I found it incredibly rewarding to know the young person felt proud of contributing to the renovation.”

“The high-profile, real-life design project was exactly what young people needed to advance their skill level. Every task – whether seemingly small or significant – the young apprentices were up for trying as they knew the purpose of the task was to create a space for actual people to use.”

Instructor Paul and the students from The Skills Academy were pleased to help contribute with the transformative end result: “The before and after of Club 1877 can only be described as night and day. It began with Designer Michelle seeing the potential – her design brief gave us an understanding of the expectations and inspired us to get to work. It took patience, care and a range of trade skills but we all worked closely together to design a space we hope will be enjoyed by fans.”

The renovation project has completely transformed Club 1877 into a stylish bar and lounge hospitality venue.

*Club 1877 took time and attention to detail.*

Keith Lasley, Chief Operating Officer at St Mirren Football Club expressed gratitude to the young people involved in the refurbishment of Club 1877: “Their hard work, creativity and attention to detail have played a vital role in transforming the space into a modern, high-quality venue that our supporters can enjoy on match days and for private events.”

“This project reflects the strength of the partnership between St Mirren and Kibble, providing young people with opportunities to develop their skills in a real working environment while delivering outstanding results for the club.”

“My thanks go to the young people, their instructors, our professional contractors, the design team and our club staff.”

The result was an impressive transformation made possible due to help from Kibble’s Skills Academy students

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Posted: February 4, 2026

What started as a school project is now real-life as ideas from young people have been listened to and implemented by the youth service Fearless, part of Crimestoppers UK.

How Kibble and Fearless Teamed Up

At the beginning of last year, our pupils learned more about charities, fundraising and what a community is. Young people got into groups and chose a local charity to advocate for, delivering a presentation on why their chosen cause deserved a donation as part of The Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) by The Wood Foundation.

After hearing directly from youngsters about the life-changing difference charities have on people, the judging panel decided the team representing Fearless was most deserving of the grant.

About Fearless?

Fearless enables young people to pass on information about crime 100% anonymously. There can be many reasons why young people feel apprehensive about reporting a crime but this is a way for them to safely share what they know with adults who can help.

What the Younger Generation Changed for the Better

As a youth service, our pupils had their own thoughts about what people their age would respond and connect to. Their opinions were valid as they are the exact age range who the service is designed for.

Fearless were open-minded to young people being so candid about potential changes and used the YPI grant to implement the youth-led redesign. Updates to the online reporting form involved creating three clear, manageable sections. The wording was made simpler with an option of having the questions read-aloud through a new text-to-speech function. Overall, we wanted to make sure the online form was easier to complete and accessible to everyone needing it.

The power young people have to make a difference cannot be overlooked. Pupils have shown how valuable their insights can be when creating resources for others their age.

Campaigns Led by Young People

Fearless have first-hand experience of incorporating young people’s input and strives to keep it central to their work. Kibble fully supports young people having their voice heard, knowing that messaging created by young people for young people are more likely to make sense and resonate.

The shared understand of putting young people first led to a Kibble young person becoming an audio performer. The young voice actor narrated a Fearless video campaign! The script was spoken by a genuine young person, which vastly increased the impact. The young voice made the campaign feel authentic with the intended audience paying attention to the life-changing lessons Fearless is promoting.

When engaging young people in the development of youth campaigns, resources and services the information is more likely to leave an impression with the target audience.

Posted: January 20, 2026

As a Child and Youth Care Worker, Niamh feels a great sense of purpose and everyday she looks forward to going to work knowing she is making a difference.

Niamh’s dream since being a little girl was to help people. Through Kibble’s Career Start training programme her wish has come true! Niamh is now a qualified Child and Youth Worker who is highly dedicated to supporting care-experienced children and young people to thrive.

Hear from Niamh About Her Career In Care

In Niamh’s eyes, her responsibility is to create happy childhoods for the youngsters in her care: “Growing up in care can be life changing, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If young people have caring adults around them, young people can realise their full potential and achieve amazing things with their lives.”

“The aim is to give them a childhood full of love. I want young people to look back on their time here and think “they really believed in me”.”

Compassion guides Niamh as she tries to champion young people to be the best version of themselves.

Niamh fully understands the impact she has in shaping young lives in the work she does each day within one of our children’s residential houses: “In my role, I offer constant support to young people. I listen to them and give advice when needed. We go outside and play and I go in goals when playing football. We often end the day watching a good movie too.

“I would describe our house as somewhere you walk into and immediately feel the warmth of a happy home.”

“Ideally, I want young people to feel lighter after spending time with us and start to feel empowered to make healthy choices and good decisions in their own lives.”

Niamh is truly motivated to making those around her feel settled and comfortable.

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Niamh Share What Her Responsibilities Include

Teamwork is one of the main things Niamh enjoys most about the Child and Youth Care Worker job role. Her upbeat and friendly personality makes her a joy to be around and she works well alongside everyone involved in the children’s lives.

Niamh is entrusted with promoting the Promise amongst the team. Her enthusiasm boosts overall morale as she helps her fellow youth workers realise how much the values of the Promise are embedded in the daily routine.

It’s important to reflect on how we support care-experienced young people to feel loved, respected and safe and Niamh actively starts relevant group discussions: “I have found ways to show the house how the Promise is linked into everything that we naturally do. I have evidenced all our memories in our ‘Promise folder’ with plenty of photos. There is also family feedback as we encourage positive family relationships and are in frequent contact, sharing good news.”

Niamh uses props to pose questions to staff members, prompting them to think about their actions: “I use cards – an example of the card and what it’d say would be – “my family are involved in all decisions of my life”. I would hand out different cards to the staff team and ask how we achieve this for our young people. The answers come straightaway, as I say the team do this every day.”

Questions are also put to young people: “I catch-up with young people with specific questions and I take their answers to the team meetings, and we, as a team, learn from the responses.

Young people are the priority and their wellbeing and needs are central to all decisions from the moment they arrive: “I maintain the ‘welcome pack’ which can be given to a new young person before they arrive, this has pictures of the house and the staff. It gives them an insight into what to expect and what it’s like here.”

“I showcase all of our young people’s achievements and keep a note of what goals have been fulfilled successfully. We want young people to see what they can accomplish, realise their own potential and build confidence in themselves.”

When we take time to get together and think things through, it reminds us that even small efforts can have a significant impact.

A great addition to the children’s residential house is a Houseparent. This is a new job role focused on making the space feel welcoming while providing healthy home-cooked meals and snacks.

Niamh is grateful to have Houseparent Paulina as part of the team: “We have a Houseparent called Paulina. She cooks our lunch and dinner and is part of what really makes our house a home.”

“Paulina has a wonderful relationship with the young people and we all adore her.”

Kibble exists to give young people a chance at life, which can only happen if everyone brings the energy, dedication and understanding required to work toward the shared aim.

Niamh is a shining example of how one person’s actions can inspire hope in others. She is exactly the kind of Child and Youth Care Worker our young people and fellow colleagues deserve to be around. The determination to make a positive difference is exactly what we look for to be part of Kibble.

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