All the fairytale-land characters have come together to put on a nativity show. Little Red Riding Hood is playing the part of Mary, Goldilocks is Gabriel, the Three Little Pigs are the wise men and watch out for the innkeeper – it’s the big bad wolf!”

The little badge was unearthed from a corner of my mother’s ancient sewing box the other night, when she was sewing similar ones on to my children’s scout uniforms.

“Ca c’est typique! Tu ne comprends pas qu’on vit dans une société de consommateurs?” Pupils from Shawlands academy in Glasgow staged a play about the politics of conservation on an unused island in Pollok Park, an island they reclaimed themselves, wading out in welly boots to cut back the shrubbery and create a natural auditorium.

The Litter Pickers, which featured an argument between Greek goddesses Aphrodite and Hestia – in French – won the school a language award, and was gamely performed alfresco despite skies that threatened rain.

SUSTAINABILITY has become a touchstone of modern Scottish politics.

Once a dish associated with the lentil-supping, tree-hugging fringe, it is now served with almost everything on the political agenda. More than a buzzword, “sustainability” is becoming a kind of new-age industry with a legion of civil servants, engineers, academics employed in thinking of new ways for Scotland to move towards a huge 80% reduction in carbon emissions in the next 30 years.

IT IS prom night and the young people are dressed to the nines – the girls in elegant dresses, make-up and heels, the boys in tuxedos or kilts. Stepping out of the stretch limos and Humvees their parents have hired, they are excited, all ready to celebrate leaving school –  primary school, that is. Their average age is 11.

Across Scotland , the pre-teen prom – an American-style celebration to mark the end of primary school – is catching on. But while some parents like the idea others are concerned . Which is it: rite of passage or too much, too young?

Artist, nationalist and activist; Born September 12, 1946; Died May 19, 2008..

KEN Skeel, who has died aged 61, was a veteran of the campaign for a Scottish parliament, free thinker and raconteur.

His wit and courage never failed him and after hearing he had terminal cancer he jokingly told his partner, Nell, that for his funeral arrangements he wanted to be thrown into a smouldering volcano.

Rows are forecast across breakfast tables this morning as parents try to persuade teenage children that their English exams are more important than the X Factor.

Scottish heads are furious that the ITV show scheduled its first auditions for 10,000 hopefuls in Hampden Park football stadium yesterday, the day before the Scottish equivalent of GCSE English. The second round, involving thousands of hopefuls, is due to take place today in the same venue.

The rector of Dingwall Academy, Graham Mackenzie, spoke for many when he said: “This is appalling. I have seen a copy of the letter the children have been sent. In big bold letters, it congratulates them for being selected. It tells them this is their first step on the road to stardom and that this decision may change their lives. It also tells them to rehearse and practise to impress the judges.