Safety May 31, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentI read on the bus into work today about a pupil in Fife who had been injured whilst his teacher was doing an
experiment. Thankfully injuries of this nature are few and far between. Having been in the science business for a number of years it seems to me that it was an exremely unfortunate accident, but still, the pupils father feels the need to sue the education authority for £200,000.
Obviously I dont have the full facts regarding the accident but I have seen glass beakers shatter during acid / metal reactions.It happens when there is a crack in the beaker. These cracks can sometimes be so small they cannot be detected by the naked eye. When zinc is reacted with hydrochloric acid, a certain amount of heat is generated which leads to expansion, the crack means that the expansion of the glass in the beaker does not happen uniformly and this leads to the crack rapidly propagating itself along the fault, this can be mistaken for an “explosion”.
If this was the explanation for the incident in Fife then I would be surprised if it could have been avoided. All experiments cannot be carried out behind perspex safety screens and every beaker cannot be microscopically examined for flaws.
It will be interesting to see what a jury makes of it.
B(BC) May 30, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentAs the end of the month of May approaches, the annual rush to spend budgets before the month ends is in full swing. In Science it was mooted to buy DVD’s of an excellent science series called Science in Action. The BBC shows the series as part of their “learning zone” so it was naturally assumed that they would be the first port of call when wishing to purchase the DVD’s. It turned out not to be that simple. After a few lengthy calls it was established that the series is only available on video, this surprised me as i would have thought that the video format would be on its way out, especially at the BBC.
It makes a lot of sense to move away from videos in schools, storage is much easier, takes up less space and the quality is far superior than tape.
In an ideal world programmes would be downloaded from source and stored on a server in schools. This would then enable them to be shown via data projectors in the classrooms “on demand”.
Oh well we can but dream.
All Change May 29, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentWell thats another school year off and running. All the years move up one and the ones at the top drop off into work or tertiary education. It leaves a gap in 1st year until the pupils come up from primary but I am sure we will all cope. In all my years here I still dont have a clue as to how the timetable all comes together, I am sure that it must be one of the dark arts. Last week it just looked like a jumble of numbers, letters and names in random order and this week, there it is, all set out in rows looking pretty.Amazing !!
Gremlins May 24, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentDont know if this blog will make it through today as the excel site seems to have been full of gremlins.
I read on the site about the Enterprise in Education awards. Its a great idea and I am sure that the awards will be a great success. Whoever posted it on to Excel has fallen into the old trap of calling all those who dont teach, non-teaching staff. I have commented about this on previous entries, which have unfortunately disappeared into the ether. I know that the Head of Education as well as myself finds it a derogatory and divisive term. I am sorry to keep banging on about it but the sooner people realise that the term
staff means all staff then the need to qualify the term will disappear, a lot of time will be saved and more people will feel included.
Water water everywhere May 23, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentHave had to report the leak in the ceiling above my desk again. Its been bad for years and the curent round of PPP refurbishments havent solved the problem, and it is now getting worse. I have lost count of the number of people who have come round, inspected it and written it down on a clipboard that there is indeed a problem. One of the main problems is that the facilites management company who are responsible for the fabric of the building say they are not responsible for the roof. I again have lost count of how many things they are not responsible for. Security - not their concern, Roof - not in the contract, Cleaning - seem powerless to get any improvement, Heating - unable to regulate, Panic alarms - not enough for all staff, Lack of hot water - not their fault, Keys - unable to supply staff with enough. It just goes on.
With the latest
news from Edinburgh that the building of two schools is to be delayed because of a building contractor going bust, it can surely only be a matter of time before the government reviews the whole process of PPP and its adverse effects on staff and pupils.
SSDN Mentoring May 22, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentI recieved an email on Friday about my note of interest with regard to becoming an
SSDN mentor. I think quite a few people have expressed interest so I may not make the cut, but I will give it my best effort. It looks an exciting and worthwhile project that should enhance the learning environment in East Lothian Schools and it would give an added challenge to my job, and if there’s one thing I relish its an oppertunity to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in.
Everyone who submitted a note of interest in the posts has to email their responses to a couple of points and then the succesful applicants will have to give a short presentation on June 13th. Here’s hoping.
Thanks Again May 11, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentThanks again to David Gilmour for help and assistance with technical aspects of the blog. I will try and have a look for the content that was previously here but I am not too hopeful.
Have been busy most of the day making up and printing out labels (537) for bottles and jars that will be used when the primaries come up on their acquaintance visit. They will be solving a crime using various different chemicals. Its all very good fun and a great way to introduce them to life in the Science department of a large secondary school.
Many Thanks May 10, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentThanks to those who helped me out with yesterdays problem on here. Only thing is that in my enthusiasm to get back on and start blogging etc I have managed to lose the content of past blogs AGAIN !!!
Oh well hopefully they will be backed up somewhere this time, or I’ll just have to start from the beginning again. If anyone is reading this and thinking I could never keep a blog as it seems too difficult, please dont worry I am a certified numpty and it really is very easy.
Stumped May 9, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentI was trying to link with the Technocrati website as some other bloggers on Excel have done but have been unable to achieve it. I think I pasted the correct code that it gave me into the weblog template but it didnt seem to work. Any suggestions ???
Good to see others starting blogs on the site. I know Alan Coady well and he does some amazing work with the pupils in East Lothian schools. He uses lots of relevant ICT in his work which enables his pupils to take full advantage of his knowledge and skills, even though he may only see them individually for a short time each week.
Endless Possibilites May 8, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , add a commentI had a chat with one of the Physics teachers about the Scottish Schools Digital Network and the endless possibilities that it could offer. It was good to talk about things and find out what others think of what it should, or shouldnt, be capable of doing.
The tough bit I guess will be refining individuals needs and identifying the training that is needed in order for staff and pupils to gain maximum benefit.Staff must be included at all levels and be shown, at regular intervals, practical examples of common sense solutions to everyday problems that the schools digital network can reslove, otherwise some people may just say “whats the point”.
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