Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
Come and find out about the Scottish Parliament. We've got games, stuff to help you with coursework, posters for the walls of classrooms and lots more!
Our education programmes are run for schools, colleges and other educational groups who are interested in finding out more about the work of Parliament.
Education for Citizenship is the main focus for all our work with schools. The Curriculum for Excellence is underpinned by the values on the Parliament’s mace – wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity – and we offer experiences with these in mind that encourage active learning using co-operative and collaborative approaches.
We have a variety of resources and innovative methods to engage young people in the work of the Scottish Parliament.. Generally, our visits and outreach programmes are most suitable for Primary 6 and above. It may be possible to make exceptions where a school teaches the Scottish Parliament topic within a different year group. For small schools with broadly mixed age-group composite classes, we can offer sessions from P4 upwards in our outreach programme.
We welcome enquiries from colleges and universities for both visits and outreach.
There is no charge for taking part in our programmes.
Important Note: Our policy is to ask schools to book one option only in each academic year i.e. a Visit Your Parliament session or an Outreach@YourSchool session but not both. This is because our programmes are very popular and we want to reach as many schools as possible each year. Please check the descriptions of each programme before deciding what to book.
For information on other ways to visit Holyrood, please see Visitor Services Visiting the Parliament for information on guided tours and for information on how to book tickets to watch a debate in the Chamber.
Outreach@YourSchool Programme
Outreach@YourSchool is a free education service that is suitable for Primary schools and all subjects in Secondary. We provide extensive resources to support learning and teaching. Sessions can be provided in English or in Gaelic.
What happens if you take part in Outreach@YourSchool ?
Pre-Session teaching
Class teachers are requested to carry out a small amount of pre-teaching as a starting point for the session with Parliamentary staff: matters devolved to Scotland; political parties in Scotland and knowing who your eight MSPs are. All the relevant information is in the resource pack which is sent to you after your booking is confirmed.
Session 1
Parliamentary education staff facilitate this interactive session, building on the pre session teaching. It includes a presentation, extending Parliamentary knowledge, with the opportunity to learn through a range of activities.
- Find out more about the Primary Session (149KB pdf)
- Find out more about sessions for S1 - S3 (236KB pdf)
- Find out more about sessions for S4 - S6 (308KB pdf)
Session 2
In 2010/11, you have three options for how to follow up your session:
- Option 1 - MSPs@YourSchool
- Option 2 - @YourParliament tour
- Option 3 - Arranging your own engagement follow up
Please note that you can book only one follow-up session through us – either MSPs in Schools or a Your Parliament visit.
Option 1 - MSPs@YourSchool session
Your MSPs are invited to come to school and to work with the students: you may choose to invite them directly or we can arrange the session for you at a suitable time for the class and the MSPs. For some past examples of participation in MSPs in Schools, please see ourGuidance on running an MSPs@YourSchool session (73KB pdf) and School Case Studies (402KB pdf)
Option 2 - @YourParliament tour
You can book free tours which are reserved especially for schools who have had an outreach education session, to enable them to visit Holyrood to see where the Parliament works.
If you are bringing a group to the Scottish Parliament and have to fill in a risk assessment, please see our Risk Assessment (23KB pdf) for further details which may help you.
Option 3 - Arranging your own engagement follow-up
Classes who wish to have more flexibility in their follow up activities may choose not to book either of the above follow-up sessions. We will still be able to offer the resources and Outreach Education session with Parliamentary education staff. The class can then choose their follow up activities relating to the Scottish Parliament.
For suggestions, please see Alternatives to Running an MSP session (14KB pdf)