A new initiative being launched in schools across the Highlands aims to promote and reward good citizenship among the region's young people.

The Highland Citizenship Awards are a joint initiative backed by Careers Scotland and The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Service.

An audience of Highland teachers gathered at the Lochardil House Hotel, Inverness, on Thursday 20 November, to hear details of the competition from a panel including Councillor Andy Anderson, chairman of the council's education, culture and sport committee; Bruce Robertson, director of education; Catriona Eagle, director, Careers Scotland, Highlands and Islands, and guest speaker Sir Bernard Crick, who advises the UK government on citizenship issues.

Councillor Anderson said: "I am delighted that by working in partnership with Careers Scotland we have been able to launch the Highland Citizenship Awards for Highland pupils.  This is a pilot for the Highlands and if it proves to be successful it may be rolled out further to include the Islands.

"We are looking for entries that are original and that are pupil led.  Ideally they should be able to demonstrate a sense of community and team work and should illustrate how young people in Highland can work to best demonstrate a 21st Century approach to citizenship."

Catriona Eagle said the initiative offered a good example of partnership working between public bodies.

"These awards form a very exciting and innovative project which stand to benefit those taking part and society in the Highlands as a whole.  From Careers Scotland's point of view, they give us a good opportunity to link citizenship with our work to raise awareness of enterprise and sustainability among young people in a new an innovative way."

Through the competition, both primary and secondary schools anywhere in Highland will be able to compete for cash awards and a trophy. 

Pupils will work in teams to design citizenship projects through the winter and spring.  The competition will culminate in an award ceremony in June, when the winning primary school will receive £1,500 and the top secondary school will win £2,000.

Schools across the Highlands are already taking citizenship seriously, with pupil councils helping young people engage more actively in the decision-making processes in their school.  These councils are usually made up of a range of pupils who are elected by their peers, hold office of chair, secretary and treasurer and generally look at projects that will improve their time in school, the environment around the school and their links to the local community and businesses.  Some also tackle important issues such as school uniform and bullying. Their overall aim is to encourage young people to be part of a democratic process, to think about their environment and to care for their fellow pupils.