Four things you should know this morning

IT’S never too early to learn something new like which plants from Outlander actually have medicinal properties and what did Benedict Cumberbatch’s letter to Santa say?

This photo released by Sony Pictures Television shows Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall, right, and Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser, center, and Grant O'Rourke as Rupert MacKenzie, in a scene from Starz' new TV series, "Outlander." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures Television, Ed Miller)

Parents lack of coding knowledge damaging development

New research shows that children could be steered away from technology careers due to lack of coding knowledge from parents.

Parents in Scotland appear to have the most to do compared to their UK counterparts when it comes to brushing up on their coding skills.
Nine in 10 parents (94 per cent) do not know how to code and over half (54 per cent) have no idea what coding is.
This is in stark contrast to the third (31 per cent) of parents in London who say they can code.
The research was from not-for-profit learning site, code.org who provide free coding information and have patrons that include Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

How will the site help?

A guide to Outlander’s healing plants

Set in the Scottish Highlands in the 1700s, hit TV drama Outlander gives viewers a fascinating look at herbs and plants commonly used for medicinal purposes more than 300 years ago.

Extracts from certain plaints were widely used to treat a variety of ailments in the 18th century, and still make up 25 per cent of modern day medicines.

Books on the subject, dating back to the 1700s, still exist, including one by Martin Martin, a Scottish physician asked to visit the Highlands and record the ways of “the natives”.

What plants were there?

New charity encouraging Scots pupils to play bagpipes

It is Scotland’s national instrument and played by musicians across the world.

Now a new national charity is encouraging more pupils to learn the bagpipes and start school bands as a way of building confidence and self-respect.

The Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (SSDPT) works with more than 1,000 aspiring musicians in 14 projects across 11 local authority areas.

It started out as an East Lothian-based group before rebranding itself in April to reflect its nationwide activities.

How can kids get involved?

Benedict Cumberbatch writes letter to Santa

Benedict Cumberbatch has written a letter to Santa Claus asking him to distract children “from the realities of a world gone mad”.

The Sherlock star asked Father Christmas for “a little more time for children to be children” and mentioned those who may be “hiding in buildings as bombs rain down”, in the note marking national letter writing day.