Don Ledingham’s Learning Log

Diary: ED&R at East Saltoun with Ann Malcolm; then on to Yester Primary in Gifford with Dorothy Hilsley; back to the office - meeting cancelled so a good hour and a half at my desk; then out to Ross High School with Maureen Jobson to meet with Dorothy Bartholomew (the acting HT) and some of [...]

Diary: Met our District HMIe Phil Denning this mrining with Alan Blackie. We try to schedule these meetings each term to reflect on a range of issues: today's agenda included: recent inspections; learning and teaching policy; our plans for curriculum for excellence; our standards and quality report; Teaching Profession for the 21st Century - our [...]

Friday 23rd June
Diary: 8.15 Quality Impovment Team Update; People Strategy meeting with Alan Blackie, Clare O'Sullevan and Alan Ross; Department briefing; then into dinner jacket and bow tie to go out to Preston Lodge High School to officiate at the
Determined To Succeed Awards event. Julia Robertson and her team of supporters had put on a [...]

Thursday 22nd June
Diary: 8.15 Last interviewee for Quality Improvement Officer position; out to Meadowpark School ( I can call it a school as they have now been inspected) which is our severe and complex needs unit. I joined the staff and pupils for their circle time and was humbled - as I am every time [...]

Diary: Secondary Head Teachers' meeting all morning; Ed&R with Ann Bissett; Quality Improvement Officer Interviews; home visit to an teacher.
The Secondary Head's meeting was productive - particularly a 45 minute slot where each head told us about developments in their S1/2 curriculum to match up with a curriculum for excellence. Janis Craig, Knox Academy, described [...]

Diary: Got into work at 7.00am to prepare for a meeting with Prestonpans councillors at lunchtime; Opened the Support for Learning Training Week at the Quayside, Musselburgh; Policy Forum Meeting at the council chambers – this is a meeting of councillors to discuss policy issues; met with Prestonpans councillors – discussed SELS and midyis data; [...]

Diary: 8.15 Met with an unsuccessful candidate from Friday's interviews to give feedback. I've learned to take copious notes during interviews in order to help me give productive feedback; met with member's of Chief Exec's office to discuss a range of issues relating to the department; met with the unions and employee development to [...]

Friday 16th June

Diary: Quality Improvement Team Update; Department briefing; Meeting with David Gilmour to plan further developments in Exc-el (P.S We have an Exc-el Board meeting this coming Tuesday at John Muir House 4.00 - if you'd like to be part of the discussions please accept this as an open invitation to [...]

Chief Officer's Group Meeting this morning - this involves the chief officers from health, police, education and children's services. Our task is to ensure co-ordination of our various roles to help support young people and their families. We had a discussion about our capacity to write the integrated childrens' services plan. In the last few [...]

TUESDAY 14/6/06

The day was taken up with a meeting with Donald McGillivray of the Association of Hedteachers and Deputes Scotland - Donald wanted to go over some of the concerns his members had about some of the documentation which had gone out to schools recently about staff representative groups. We managed to clear things up [...]