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Thursday 31 August 2006 |
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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
The Quality Standard Awards are
testament to the commitment and hard work shown by staff, pupils and
parents. They were developed with advice and support from the Quality
Scotland Foundation, which formally endorses the award.
The spectacular event known as ‘Final Friday’ took place at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and featured chart- topping acts Duncan James from Blue and Matt Willis who made his name as part of the band Busted. Joining Duncan and Matt onstage were Blazin Squad, Maria Lawson from X Factor and Nicki French who recently hit the charts with her dance version of ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. Up and coming act, Mrs Robinson also performed as one of the headliners. To see some photos from the GO4IT Final Friday concert, click here.
The following 10 schools had their Stage 1 accreditation confirmed over the summer break: Bonaly Primary, Broughton Primary, Bruntsfield Primary, Buckstone Primary, Canal View Primary, Davidson’s Mains Primary, Ferryhill Primary, James Gillespie’s High School, Towerbank Primary and Trinity Academy. To acknowledge their achievement, all newly accredited schools are now entitled to display the official healthyschools+ Stage 1 logo on their publications, and will be presented with a certificate at an award ceremony in November. For further information on the Health Promoting Schools scheme
contact Michelle Rogers, Health Improvement Officer, michelle.rogers@educ.edin.gov.uk,
or Barbara Schilling, Development Officer – Health Promotion, barbara.schilling@educ.edin.gov.uk. On Friday 1 September there will be an Open Morning at the school from
10.00am to 12 noon. There will be a display of photos and
memorabilia from the school's past plus contributions from current
pupils on how the school is today.
Competition for under 5's The first and second prize winners will receive a hamper of toys and games they can play with safely. If your nursery or school has not been registered and wishes to take part in this competition please contact Jim Black on 0131 469 5192,or james.black@edinburgh.gov.uk You can also contact Briege Nugent on 0131 469 3927 or briege.nugent@edinburgh.gov.uk for further details. Entrants must write their name and age on the back of the picture. Please send completed posters to: Child Safety Colouring-in Closing Date: Friday 8 September 2006 Success
stories Pictured are: Jennifer Barclay, Scott Blurton, Jason Dobosz, Evelyn King, Matthew Rendall and Ruairidh Thompson. If you have a Success Story to share, email me at gayle.st.croix@educ.edin.gov.uk Autumn excitement around the corner If the summer is anything to go by, the October week should be full of fantastic opportunities for children to try something new, challenge themselves, develop new social skills, meet other children and increase their confidence. They can get their adrenaline pumping with gorge walking, rock climbing, kayaking and mountain biking, or practice their best moves in cheerleading and dance. Aspiring athletes can try their hand at fencing, basketball, volleyball, or badminton. There will even be an all girls sports camp and a mini athletics event. Sound tempting? Then come along and join in with the energetic and committed staff in the October PLAY4IT sports week running from 16 - 20 October. Keep an eye out for the brochure in your school, local library or community centre from mid-September, or check out the full programme on www.play4itedinburgh.com. The October PLAY4IT sports week is part of the overall GO4IT and PLAY4IT programme which is funded by The City of Edinburgh Council. Over the summer, the programme provided opportunities for 3,217 young people from across the city to take part in sporting, drama and arts activities.
High blood pressure is a major cause of heart attacks, heart disease and strokes. Keeping your blood pressure at a healthy level is one of the most important actions you can take to reduce your risk of these causes of death and disability. High blood pressure can be treated and sometimes prevented, and there are many things you can do to help lower it. However, the only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have it measured. As part of its commitment to improve
staff health and wellbeing, the Children and Families Department will
promote Know Your Numbers! Week 2006, the nation’s biggest
annual blood pressure testing and awareness event, which takes place
from 11-17 September. On the morning of 11 September, free blood pressure tests and advice will be offered at an information stall in the Wellington Court coffee lounge on Level 1. Do come and take this opportunity to get yourself checked out to ‘know your blood pressure numbers’. For further information, or to offer your suggestions about this or any future workplace health improvement activities, contact Michelle Rogers, Health Improvement Officer, michelle.rogers@educ.edin.gov.uk, or Barbara Schilling, Development Officer – Health Promotion, barbara.schilling@educ.edin.gov.uk
This is a great personal benefit for us from BT’s Service Redesign project which we featured in December’s City News. As part of this massive programme of work to restructure and refresh Council’s computers, servers and software applications, BT negotiated a deal with Microsoft for the software they are putting on the refreshed computers. At the same time, they negotiated this special deal so that you would benefit personally. If you have a PC you can buy Microsoft® Office Professional Edition 2003 (Home Use Program) or Microsoft® Office XP Professional. Apple Mac users may choose from Microsoft® Office X for Mac (Home Use Program) or Microsoft® Office 2004 for Mac (Home Use Program) How to buy
You may order a single copy of the software to install and use on a home computer. You will then have the right to use the software under Microsoft’s Home Use Programme terms and conditions. Please note that some products and language versions may not be available at the time you place an order. For up-to-date information on the availability of Home Use Program software, visit http://microsoft.com/licensing Need more information? If you have any questions regarding this offer before or after buying, please contact Microsoft direct using the contacts given on the website. Note: this offer is not being handled by BT nor the Council so please contact Microsoft direct with any questions you may have.
Under the project, BT is not only refreshing physical kit such as computers and servers, but introducing a range of ‘smart tools’. This will help BT to manage, monitor and update our IT estate as well as enabling us to work more effectively. For consistency, it is also important that computers and software are standardised as much as possible and that all computers are capable of running a modern and robust operating system, Windows XP, and Microsoft Office 2003. BT and the Council are undertaking a similar improvement programme in educational establishments too but is tailored to the needs of learning and teaching.
For details of teaching vacancies in
Edinburgh, click here: http://channel1.internal.egfl.net Cllr
Aitken writes... I have thoroughly enjoyed my six years, firstly as Executive Member for Education and Youth Strategy and lately as Executive Member for Children and Families. It has been a privilege to meet many of you and to see first hand, the fantastic work which is going on in our city to provide high quality services for our young people and their families. I am very aware that although I have been the 'public face' of the Department it is you, the staff, who actually make the difference. Thank you for all you have done and all that you continue to do. Cllr Rev Ewan Aitken, Leader -
City of Edinburgh Council |
Competitions
Cllr Aitken writes...
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