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Thursday 13 July 2006 |
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Local pupils enjoy
adventure on the high
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
Log onto http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/fostering for a look.
Four of the Edinburgh crew especially looked forward to having their logbooks signed by HRH for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Of their meeting with the Duke of Edinburgh, some of the Edinburgh youngsters said: "The opportunity to meet the Duke of Edinburgh was a chance of a lifetime", Andrew 17. Ben, 16 added, "this whole journey has already been a fantastic experience and meeting him has just made the adventure even more surreal", and Kirsty, 16 commented "I’ve loved everything about the adventure so far and it was wonderful to meet the Duke of Edinburgh". On the 50th anniversary of the race and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, it’s fitting that HRH started the race as he did so 50 years ago. Other ships containing more young people from Edinburgh will set sail in a few days to take on the next leg of the race. The first leg of the race will take the students from St Malo to Lisbon. They will be competing alongside young crews from other countries across Europe. The crew has little sailing experience but have faced a steep learning curve this week in preparation for the race. They will be led by a team of four, including the skipper and co-skipper, and are joined by Natalie Maver, Youth Services Officer from City of Edinburgh Council.
The play will run from 8 -12 of August, 5-7pm, and tickets are available from the Fringe box office Tel: 0131 226 0000. We would urge people to come along and support the group who will be showcasing to the world the talent that exists in Oxgangs. Adult Education Programme
launch In addition the Bookshop will issue vouchers for tutors to distribute to their language classes entitling students to 10% discount for text books, dictionaries etc. If you have any queries
please contact Pat Brechin on 0131 469 3373 or email Pat.Brechin@educ.edin.gov.uk This event will look at the current
issues facing Children's Services teams and will examine how these
challenges are being tackled in local authorities across the country. The event is £125 per person or £250 for up to three. The full agenda can be viewed here. If you have any questions regarding
this event, please get in touch. Emma Yates, Events Manager emma@publicsectorforums.co.uk
or call 0161 488 1384
The Standard Life Edinburgh Achievement
Awards celebrate success, best practice, and innovation in all aspects
of Children and Families work and we would like to hear from you. Application forms can also downloaded from http://egfl.net/application The closing date for applications is 18 August 2005. What
do they do? We have moved! So, who are we and
what do we do? Caroline is with us as a temp and is doing a brilliant job helping parents find the childcare that meets their needs. Caroline provides admin support and helps to update provider information in the database which is then uploaded to our website pages - www.edinburgh.gov.uk/childcare As for myself, Charlie Boyd, I am the Information Service Coordinator. I work with the childcare providers and encourage them to have the most up to date information available on our database. I am also involved in networks across the city which include parent groups, support agencies and planners. I am also responsible for marketing the service and raising awareness of it to everyone with childcare responsibilities in what ever shape or form. Our team also gathers a large range of childcare statistical data, such as what parents are saying about childcare in their area, number of childcare providers including types, costs and so on. How can we help you? Success
stories Over 800 cyclists, in support of the LEPRA charity, entered the event. The ride covers a 68 mile course which is routed through Edinburgh, across the Forth Road Bridge and through Fife, passing lovely towns and villages such as Strathmiglo, Kettle and Ceres. Jackie has completed this run several times before but for Jan it was her first attempt. They both agreed that the weather was particularly kind with a gentle tail wind from the south west (where else!) particularly welcome. Jan remarked, ‘There was a great sense of occasion. It was super to see the way families took up the challenge, with the most resourceful parents transporting their offspring on tandems, as well as in all types of buggies and trailers attached to the back of their bikes.' Together, they raised over £300 for LEPRA - a medical development charity with a mission to restore health, hope and dignity to people affected by leprosy and other diseases of poverty. They currently work in 10 of the world's most deprived countries covering a population of approximately 300 million. If you would like to donate to LEPRA and/or are inspired to take up the Edinburgh to St Andrews Bike Run next year, then contact the Scottish organiser Ros Kerry at The Beehive, Dolphinton, Nr West Linton, EH46 7HH, or visit www.lepra.org.uk.
Jobs
For details of teaching vacancies in
Edinburgh, click here: http://channel1.internal.egfl.net I spent a fascinating morning a few weeks ago listening to the presentations of eight schools who were applying for Quality Standard status. The commitment and dedication of staff, pupils and parents from all schools and from every sector was positively inspirational. It seems to me only logical that if we are to celebrate a holistic approach to young people by schools, we should take that same approach with the work of the whole department. So our next task with the Quality Standard is to expand its coverage so that it can be applied to all the establishments and/or teams in the department. This is an exciting and innovative development which is now in the early stages of planning. The need for such an approach was confirmed to
me by a meeting I had recently with the Scottish
Business in the Community organisation. This organisation works
with schools which improve opportunities for those who struggle to
access employment or training post school. All of us make a significant contribution in our work nurturing some or all of those "soft skills" which clearly have a greater value than their description suggests. The work of those eligible for Quality Standard accreditation reflects that breadth of contribution to the lives and aspirations of young people. Cllr Rev Ewan AitkenExecutive Member for Children and Families back to top |
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