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Thursday 20 April 2006 |
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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 Send
me your stories In
the news
We are particularly keen to hear from people who might be able to provide foster care on a full-time basis to boys over the age of five or to keep brothers and sisters together. We also need day carers and respite carers for children in need or those with disabilities." It takes approximately six to eight months to complete the assessment process, during which time we aim to recruit 25 full time foster carers. There are around 850 children currently being cared for in Edinburgh with 40 children waiting for a foster carer and 20 children waiting to be adopted. To find out more about being a carer, ring the recruitment line on 0800 174 833 or email foster.children@edinburgh.gov.uk You can also visit the fostering website at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/fostering
What
do they do? Nigel
is currently developing a financial model and project plan for possible
rollout to schools within the next two to three years. The project is designed to provide every teacher and school child (primary six and above) with a personal learning device or ‘learning hub’ such as a laptop computer, smartphone or PDA. All evidence shows that
one-to-one learning vastly improves pupil motivation, involvement and
attitude resulting in a better classroom environment and better
educational attainment. Nigel comes from a business and IT background.
He's worked with blue
chip companies such as If
you have any questions about the Learning Hub project, please contact
Nigel on 469 2988 Upcoming
events A series of open staff meetings are being held across the city to give you a chance to make suggestions for the way forward for Children and Families; raise any issues or questions; and get answers to any of your concerns. We recognise that it can sometimes be difficult for many staff from the same school or centre to attend this type of event; therefore, you may wish to nominate one or two members of staff in your own establishment who could collect questions from colleagues and raise them on your behalf. We also want to hear how you would like to be involved in helping us shape the future of the department, so any suggestions you bring along would be very welcome. For a full list of dates and venues please click here Roy Jobson
To enter, simply create a work of art made entirely out of safe, clean rubbish and/or write a short story or poem with a ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ message. The competition is open to people of all ages. Schools are invited to host a FREE ‘Waste Not Want Not’ art or creative writing workshop. Renowned local artists and award-winning writers will be on hand to help you create your masterpiece. If you are one of the lucky winners, you could walk away with £500; meet celebrity judges Ian Rankin and Chad McCail; or see your work on display. The deadline for the competition is 29 June 2006 and selected entries will be displayed at the public ‘Waste Not Want Not’ exhibition, which will take place from 23–28 September in the Caledonian Hall at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. If you are interested in
submitting an entry or would like to book a place on the FREE ‘Waste
Not Want Not’ workshop with a professional writer or artist, please
call 469 5070 or email wasteaction@edinburgh.gov.uk
During Noise Action Week a special team within Services for Communities will work with six schools in the city to encourage pupils to consider the noise they make and its effect on others. The team will also have a ‘Loudest School’ competition: bring your earplugs! During the week, there will also be information stands at all Housing Offices. If you would like to take part in Noise Action Week and have the Noise Action Team visit your school, please contact Jamie Pearson on 469 5472 or e-mail jamie.pearson@edinburgh.gov.uk For more information on Noise Action Week, please visit the website www.noiseactionweek.org.uk . Here you can download teaching resources and activities for schools or just listen to some really annoying noises.
Exam revision time again Included in the two afternoons will be: a session on exam technique; group work on questions; and brainstorming sessions on basic topics. A free lunch will be provided. Pupils will have their brains (and stomachs) stretched and their
maths skills improved. The aim is to help improve attainment in maths attainments in the City's
high schools and to emphasise the
importance of Advanced Higher Maths.
Individuals and class groups can take part in this competition which is free to enter. Schools will also have access to a range of free resources when they take part. For more information about playsafe 2006 (how to enter, design requirements and access to the free resources) please click on the following link http://www.btha.co.uk/value_of_play/playsafe.php Entries will be accepted until 31 May. A number of Edinburgh schools including Wardie Primary, St Mary’s RC Primary and the Royal High School have all been winners at UK level in previous years. There are numerous prizes available for finalists and winners in each age category (6 –11 years and 12-17 years). £1000 worth of IT equipment will be awarded to the overall winning school. If you have any enquiries, please contact Lindsay Grant at the Education Section in Services for Communities on 469 5257 or email lindsay.grant@edinburgh.gov.uk. Final entries should be submitted to: Success
stories Boroughmuir High School’s under 14 girls' basketball team produced a stunning performance to win the Under 14 Scottish Cup. A convincing 66pts - 24pts victory over Mary Erskine's in the final, ensured the silverware made its way back to Viewforth. Much of the credit must go to their coach Carol Bremner who has done a wonderful job in putting together a formidable side. Thanks also go out to Pauline Walker, the schools' Sports Co-coordinator.
New telephone numbers for Children
and Families Resource Team Duty from Monday 24 April 2006
Duty Senior: 524
0852
For details of teaching vacancies in
Edinburgh, click here: http://channel1.internal.egfl.net I was privileged to be present at the primary schools' swimming gala on 29 March. To see enthusiastic swimmers representing 38 schools was a real joy. Despite the appearance of chaos (that any event in a swimming pool brings) it was incredibly well organised and moved smoothly from heat to heat and race to race. My congratulations go out to the staff involved in making it happen and those in schools who ensured their pupils were in attendance. It's events like this that demonstrate how young people are thoroughly enjoying getting active and becoming involved in sport and exercise. I was also very privileged to be able to recently attend the Sunday Mail Young Scot of the Year Awards in Glasgow. Out of several thousand nominations for the twelve categories, there were five Edinburgh young people who made the shortlists and two (Jake White and Josie Vallely) who won Citizenship and Democracy and Environmental Campaigner respectively. Congratulations to all five and especially to the two who won. At a time when young people are constantly being stigmatised as being a problem, or worse, as perpetrators of all things that make communities feel unsafe, it was very heartening to hear of so many highly motivated young people who make our communities better places to be. Cllr Rev Ewan Aitken |
What do
they do?
Cllr Aitken writes...
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