Who’s all going on a summer holiday?

As we near the summer holiday period, teachers and staff in our schools will be looking forward to a break and I hope you all get a chance to relax. I appreciate that many of you will be involved in planning for next term and I think it’s a good time to thank you for all of your hard work over this period, particularly given the challenge of introducing the Curriculum for Excellence in secondary schools and the new exams which have been brought in.

This week a big focus for myself and other managers is the placemaking agenda as we are involved in a number of meetings with ambassadors across Aberdeenshire whose role it is to promote all that our local area has to offer. These ambassadors are members of the public drawn from all walks of life and I’m very much looking forward to engaging with them to help highlight Aberdeenshire as a hidden gem.

We don’t tend to promote ourselves as widely as some other Scottish locations and it’s important we do as much as possible to encourage people to work, live and visit here. Even if it’s just a few days to experience how wonderful our beaches, distilleries, castles, mountains and villages are, it’s a key aspect of boosting the local economy and celebrating all that is Aberdeenshire.

If you’re about to enjoy summer holidays, why not have a wee Aberdeenshire adventure of your own, and play your own part in placemaking by telling your family and friends all about it? I went along to the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival last weekend and festival or not Portsoy provides a fantastic opportunity to enjoy a day out by the seaside.