Peace at the Heart of Scottish Schools

That the Parliament recognises the work of Quakers in Britain and Quakers in Scotland in their initiative, Peace at the Heart of Scottish Schools; understands that this educational approach aims to reflect the benefits of peace education among young learners across Scotland, through cultivating better relationships, engagement in learning, increasing wellbeing and confidence, and developing as ethical global citizens; believes that peace education brings strong links to the Curriculum for Excellence at both a cross-curricular level and by meeting the four capacities, with ethics and peace education embedded throughout; considers that Peace at the Heart of Scottish Schools has wider legislative connections, including through the wellbeing indicators outlined in the Scottish Government's getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach, and reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 to ensure that citizens worldwide develop knowledge and skills necessary to promote sustainable development by 2030, including through the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence; notes what it sees as the mental health benefits of the creative arts and what it considers to be the importance of promoting and supporting good mental health in children across Scotland, including those in the Falkirk East constituency; recognises what it sees as the value of training young people as peer mediators as part of a whole-school approach to peace-building in every Scottish school; believes that Global Citizenship Education is essential, now more than ever, to help children and young people prepare for 21st century challenges; understands that support for schools to offer peer mediation, global citizenship education and mental health support, including by organisations such as Scottish Mediation, the International Development Education Association of Scotland (IDEAS) and the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), varies in availability due to different levels of funding and resources between local authorities; acknowledges what it sees as the potential positive impact of peace education on the challenges of disruptive behaviour in classrooms, and notes what it considers to be the importance of supporting a range of peace education initiatives for Scottish schools, through recognition and funding, to enable young learners across Scotland to become ethical global citizens now and in their future.