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Thursday 17 November 2005 |
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Welcome to the
This newsletter is published every two weeks for staff in the Children and Families Department. It is available online at the Edinburgh Grid for Learning at http://egfl.net As
many of you are aware, we recently celebrated the Standard Life
Edinburgh Achievement Awards 2005. If you have any other items you wish to contribute, including an article for 'What do they do?' please call or send us your stories, pictures, info on new staff, celebrations, special events, news etc. You can email gayle.st.croix@educ.edin.gov.uk or call 0131 469 3429. In
the news
Hannah is a student of Careers Scotland Space School, a world-leading programme managed by Careers Scotland and supported by the Scottish Executive and NASA. Space School is designed to increase participation and motivation of school students in science and technology and to help young people to understand how the subjects apply to real career choices. Just 50 pupils from schools across Scotland have been selected from around 3,000 to attend one of two Space Schools in January and September in 2006. The students will spend
ten days involved in a full timetable of space related learning
activities including lectures and group work with NASA space cadets,
astronauts and scientists. They will have the opportunity to visit the
space shuttle, NASA laboratories and get a behind the scenes view of the
world of space exploration. The children visited a local farm at harvest time and are now working hard at being farmers back at the nursery. They have transformed part of the nursery garden into a barley "field", watched over by Winnie the Scarecrow who keeps the seeds safe. This lets the children see the growing cycle in action, understand the affects of the weather and learn more about the wildlife living in this environment. They are also using their experience to produce a calendar of the agricultural year using children's drawings and a magazine telling the story of barley, apples and olives. The children are also sharing their experiences, thoughts and ideas with similar groups of children in France and Spain, via email and post. As well as building new friendships, they are putting language skills to the test and learning more about their own and each others' environments. The work does not stop there. On wet
and windy days the children are tucked up in the warmth of the nursery
learning a great deal about barley and the 101 ways we use it from soup,
to barley water and barley sugar. The teaching pack ‘A Global Approach – Starting Points for Primary Schools’ is free to all Scottish primary schools. It is intended for use as a practical guide for teachers and schools to help them implement and respond to current initiatives and trends such as citizenship, race relations, international and enterprise education and sustainable development education. It is an ideal tool to help implement the key principles of 'A Curriculum for Excellence' which aims to enable all children to develop their capacities as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society. The pack contains eight themed inserts and a CD ROM. Scotdec also offers a free introductory workshop and a supporting CPD programme is also available.
Edinburgh's
Christmas Programme now available
Santa has been testing the lights, his helpers have warmed up their voices and the reindeer are stretching their limbs. Edinburgh's Christmas officially starts at 5pm on Thursday 24 November with a sparkling celebration in East Princes Street Gardens. There is a fun packed programme with 30 full days of events, activities, thrills and surprises.
Highlights include a nativity
carol service with Exile Gospel Choir and Band on Sunday 27 November, Santa
Weekend - 10 and 11 December and new for 2005 - St
Andrew's Day One Scotland Ceilidh on 30 November. Get full details by
going to the website www.edinburghschristmas.com
In
your own words You're
a Winner! This project involved the creation of a
board game to assist in improving numeracy skills and is a good example
of the value of working in partnership to develop new and innovative
ways to learn. Creating the ‘Jungle Adventure’ game has provided
those involved with an enjoyable and educational project, which enhanced
the children’s learning experience. Parents have also been given the
opportunity to explore and develop their own and their children’s
understanding of maths in a fun and relaxed way. This project was
supported by CLAN To see a complete list of who won what in the Standard Life Edinburgh Achievement Awards, please visit the News page. Success
stories Alan Hogg, Alice Shaw, Amy Morrison, Angela Kelly, Jacqueline Byrne, Lilia Vas and Nicole McGowan, all received certificates to mark the successful completion of The Scottish Progression Award in Children’s Care and Play. Paul Angus and Paul Johnson were unable to attend but they have also successfully completed. The certificates were presented by Betty McVay, MBE, convener of North Edinburgh Childcares Board. This was a very happy occasion giving the students and all those who had helped and supported them the opportunity to meet, recognise and celebrate their achievement. The students were all previously unemployed and
of various backgrounds and ages but
what they had in common was motivation and commitment to gaining a
qualification and employment in the childcare sector. The school received
many entries by digital, SLR and disposable camera. All photos showed a
strong grasp of composition, mood and colour. The winning pupil was
Michael Brown, S4 (see photo at top of
newsletter) , and the winning teacher was Dan Hallam, woodwind
instructor. To see some of these photos, click
here. Armistice Day
celebrations at Dean Park Pupils dressed up in the style of the times, carried their suitcases and gas masks and took part in an evacuee day to give them an appreciation of what life must have been like for children during the Second World War. Not only did the teachers dress
up as land girls & officers from the army but volunteers from the
local community who have experienced the war first hand came along to
act as parents. This comes as a culmination of
Dean Park’s work on the Second World War this term and is a brilliant
way for this part of history to come to life and involve interactive and
intergenerational learning. Edinburgh pupils disco their way to the top Deena, and Shadia Rahman have emerged triumphant again this year in the European Disco Dance Championships. Shadia gained a 1st place and a 5th place out of 42 dancers. Deena gained a 5th place from 36 dancers and another 5th place for a pairs dance out of 24 couples. The girls were lucky enough to attend the event and represent Scotland thanks to the support of the Edinburgh Education Endowment Fund.
PPP2 Update
You may well be aware that the school-building programme suffered a setback when the Transform Schools’ bid was withdrawn at a late stage. This left only one bidder in the tender process. Having scrutinised the legal, financial and contractual issues the Council quickly agreed that we should continue discussions with the remaining bidder, Axiom Education. As talks porgress with Axiom about the project it is clear that we have an opportunity to deliver the quality schools our pupils deserve. We are stressing that design quality for all eight schools will need to be right before their bid can be accepted. Axiom will submit a revised bid at the end of this month, to be evaluated in December with a report going to the council in January 2006. For more information click here, or to receive a hard copy of the November newsletter please telephone 0131 469 3314. Team Talk If you would like to provide feedback on the issues raised in Team Talk or suggest issues for discussion please e-mail Teamtalk@edinburgh.gov.uk For full details of Team Talk click here
City
Arts Centre - Immortal Pharaoh: The Tomb of Thutmose III
One of the hottest tickets in town and colleagues at the City Art Centre have enhanced staff benefits for the remainder of the run. In addition to 20% staff discount in the gallery shop, you can get an additional benefit with effect from Thursday 17 November by visiting between 4.00pm and 7.00pm when you will be admitted at a special 50% discount price of just £3.
Saturday Night
Fever
The Playhouse are
offering £10 off top prices on Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd
November only for Saturday Night Fever. Phone 0870 606 3424
(Nat Call Rate/Transaction Fee Applies) or visit The Playhouse Box
Office and quote 'Boogie Shoes Offer'. Remember
if you visit the box office there are no fees. Not available on
tickets already purchased or inconjunction with any other
offer.
Jobs
For details of teaching vacancies in
Edinburgh please visit the following link: http://channel1.internal.egfl.net |
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