The Gwen Mayor Trust was established by the EIS in memory of Gwen Mayor, the primary 1 teacher at Dunblane Primary School who was killed alongside 16 of her pupils in the 1996 tragedy.

The purpose of the Trust is to advance education by providing financial support for projects in connection with the arts, culture, music or sport.

Gwen Mayor’s daughter and a former colleague from Dunblane Primary School are among the Trustees to the Fund. All primary schools in Scotland are eligible for Gwen Mayor Trust Funding. Here, we look back at some school projects that benefited from Gwen Mayor Trust funding last year.

St Peter’s R.C. Primary School

We made use of the funding from Gwen Mayor Trust to support work being carried out in school linked to our contexts for learning. One of our contexts focused on diversity and celebrating the many cultures of our school.

We held an Africa Week to celebrate the diversity of our pupils, many of which come from African nations. We used our award funding towards funding African drumming workshops in school, which was a great part of our Africa Week celebrations.

This gave our pupils the chance to explore music from other cultures, which was then followed up as part of learning and experiences in classes throughout the school.

Liam Sturrock , Head Teacher

Blairdardie Primary School

We used the funding from the Gwen Mayor Trust to engage children in music sessions, this included purchasing some instruments and new music stands. Children worked with a music teacher to sing and play short pieces of music. Children have thoroughly enjoyed these sessions and have continued to make good use of the musical instruments and stands in weekly music lessons.

Mrs Alison Pears, Head Teacher

Menstrie Primary School

We provided therapeutic art sessions for our ASN pupils. Activities included weaving (individual and group), clay modelling, fabric painting, collage, printing and marbling.

All sessions began with a check in and some conversations around mental health, mood and how fun and relaxing art can be.

The embedded discussion around emotions and Health and Wellbeing and continual focus on collaboration and positive relationships truly reflected the therapeutic benefits of art and along the way the social aspect of a creative project like this.

Mandi Murray, Depute Headteacher

St. Anthony’s Primary School

The money we received was used to help create this year’s school show. In partnership with Scottish Opera and Disney we performed Frozen. This was the first time that Disney Frozen Kids had been performed outside of the USA! It was an honour to be trusted with such a prestigious opportunity.

We used the money to help us create set, costumes and as well as purchasing stage production equipment such as fog machines and lights. All of the items purchased will be used in future school performances that will ensure lasting legacy of the Gwen Mayor Trust at St. Anthony’s Primary School.

This funding enabled us to produce a show that our school community took great pride in. We even performed at Scottish Opera! It was an exceptional experience.

Lynne Scarff-McInnes, Principal Teacher (Acting)

Nether Currie Primary School

Our desire was to be able to host an art show that all our children aged 3-12 could get involved in. We chose to focus on celebrating diversity by looking at artists from around the world and their chosen genres.

Our children researched the artist, looked at their work, studied different examples and tried out some of the techniques used to re-create pieces for the exhibition. The children used their digital technology to create information boards about their chosen artist.

We were delighted to see two MSPs come along and some of our local councillors too. Both MSPs took the opportunity to ‘Tweet’ about our exhibition, which was lovely!

We couldn’t have made our exhibition such a success if it hadn’t been for the Gwen Mayor Trust grant. The whole event brought the school into the centre of the community.

Kirsten H. Johnston, Head Teacher

Tulliallan Primary School

Our pupils had asked for a larger range of outdoor learning experiences. We applied for the grant and used the money received to invest in den building kits that could be taken to the local woods or used withing the school grounds. All classes in our school have now benefitted from the resources and love the real-life skills development that comes alongside using the kits.

Carol Porterfield, Class teacher

Funding Allocations 2023

Funding Allocation	School	Project
£1,000	High Blantyre Primary School, South Lanarkshire	Creation and performance of a Scottish Themed show based on Scottish Myths and Legends.
£795	St Patrick’s Primary, North Lanarkshire	We hope to stage a production of the Broadway Junior Show, Aladdin Kids.
£610	Royston Primary School, Glasgow	We are intending to run an afternoon drama club throughout the school year and then put on performances of a play called ‘Peggy the Pint-Sized Pirate’ for our school community in the spring term.
£1000	Blairdardie Primary School, Glasgow	We aim to deliver Bikeability level 1 and level 2 from P4-P7.
£970	Lairdsland Primary School, East Dunbartonshire	Pupils across all stages of our school would benefit from improved play ideas and resources in our playground. The Sports Committee have asked for the opportunity to learn new games themselves to, in turn, allow them to teach groups of younger peers.
£1000	Holy Name RC Primary School, Fife	We would like to work with our joint headship school to create opportunities for the children to be part of a bigger team and to enter football festivals and competitions.
£1000	Kirkhill Primary School, East Renfrewshire	We are creating 2 STEM and Creativity rooms in the school for all children to use.
£1000	Kelvindale Primary School, Glasgow	We are currently introducing Bikeability in our after-school club.
£850	Mount Pleasant Primary School, Highland	We plan to take part in the “We Make Music Schools” Kitemark which is led by the Music Education Partnership Group Scotland, a membership organisation which aims to tackle inequity, realise potential and challenge perceptions of music education.
£120	Kelloholm Primary School, Dumfries & Galloway	Over a period of 6 weeks, P7 pupils will volunteer to attend an after-school Christmas craft club. On the 6th week, we will visit our local nursing home in Sanquhar to deliver the crafts made and spend a bit of time with the residents.
£940	Seamab, Perth & Kinross	Seamab provides education to 24 of Scotland’s most vulnerable children aged between 7 and 13 years old who have experienced significant adverse childhood trauma. In support of Education Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, Seamab provides adapted lessons in music which all the children have access to and thoroughly enjoy.
£980	Port of Menteith Primary School, Stirling	We are looking to set up a raised bed in which to grow seasonal fruits and vegetables that will be used within school to teach skills for life including food preparation.
£400	Glebe Primary School, North Ayrshire	P7 pupils would like to put on a show for their last year at school to raise funds. They will base their production on the Scots story ‘Snaw White and the Seven Dwarves’
£980	St Bernadette’s Primary School, North Lanarkshire	To form a school gymnastics competition team.
£1000	Hareleeshill Primary School, South Lanarkshire	The P1/2 playground is an empty space which we would like to develop and utilise for both purposeful play linked to teaching and learning and outdoor play times at breaks and lunch.