Sharon’s blog

The Knox Academy cadets attended their annual camp held at Barrybuddon near Dundee. We left last Saturday and headed up to Ballater in Aberdeenshire for a two day adventure training package. We stayed at Victoria Barracks and were treated to hill walking, abseiling and kayaking. Big well done to LT Byers and all the pupils for a successful assent of the 3rd highest mountain in Scotland at Lochnagar!  

On Monday evening we arrived at Barrybuddon camp for the military skills part of the week long camp. We were greeted by our outgoing OC Major McFarlane, Sergeant Kerr and Miss Patterson a member staff from Knox. Tuesday was a very busy day which started on the ranges. Pupils were given the chance to fire the cadet GP riffle. However, the main excitment of the day was firing the machine gun. After a bit of persuasion and encouragement from LT Byers and the cadets I had a go at firing the machine gun. I will now admit that I was indeed ‘cheesing’, it was fun!

We left the ranges mid afternoon and the pupils were put through their paces in the drill competition. The pupils did extremely well and came second, missing out on first place by just 1 point! The drill competition was followed by the assault course. Due to a tightening of the rules, only five of our cadets were allowed to take part. Nonetheless they did very well to come in 6th place.

On Wednesday the pupils visited a number of different demonstration stands and were shown various aspects of military life from first aid, to the infantry and the artillary to signals and mine sweeping.

Thursday was the day that the pupils were most excited about and I was dreading most. We left camp in the morning to go to the woods that we would be spending the night in. The pupils took part in a section attack where they were acting out a scenario of helping locals preserve their independence. The enemy was played by the UOTC.  The cadets enjoyed the chance to run around and fire at the enemy.

Next stop was the survival stand where the pupils were shown how to build an effective shelter, how to trap animals to eat, how to light a fire and how the skin and prepare a rabbit.

Thursday night saw the much talked about ambush. We left the camspite at 2130 and the cadets patrolled through various terain until they reached the ambush area. The ambush gave the cadets another chance at firing at the enemy but this time flares were being set off all over the place lightening up the sky much like a fireworks display. It truly was an awsome sight! We were back at the campsite by 2330 ready to get into our bashers. I must thank Lt Byers for building me a five star luxury tent! Despite my worrying I was very surprised at how warm it was and how easy it was to sleep in our shelters.

Next morning we were woken up at 0430 to the sound of riffle fire as the cadets from Kelvinside Academy took part in a dawn attack nearby. By 0500 we were all up and getting ready to walk back into camp. The Knox cadets did well patrolling back into camp and the UOTC even commented on the professionalism of the pupils!

After some much needed sleep we were treated to a visit to Arbroath where we were given some time to look round the fishing town.

Back at camp we held a presentation ceremony for the pupils who were congratulated on their efforts over the past year with prizes and promotions. The pupils also thanked the staff with presents which were very much appreciated. In addition, Major McFarlane was presented with a photograph by the senior cadets in celebration of his retirement.

It was a fitting end to a vey busy, eventful, but most importantly a very enjoyable week. I must thank all the pupils who attended the camp for making me feel so welcome and helping me when I was unsure of things and also for their encouragment when I was trying new activities. As always, they were a credit to the CCF and Knox Academy. In addition, I must thank Riki Byers for his support and encouragment and for building me the hotel on Thursday night. Finally, huge congratulations to George McFarlane on his retirement. He will be missed within the contingent but his legacy will be with every cadet that he has taught and nurtured.

Last night 6 of us completed the Jog Scotland 5k run around Inverleith Park and the Botanic Gardens. For me this was the culmination of 6 months of running in which I started unable to run continuously for more than 3o seconds. It was a huge personal challenge but I am very glad to have completed in a time of 48 minutes.

Massive thanks must go to Jayne Easson for her commitment and enthusiasm to helping her colleagues become fitter and healthier. Also I must thank Hazel Gilfillan of Kings Meadow Primary, who kept spirits high throughout the course and kept to her word that we would start and finish together!

I was visiting friends in Aberdeenshire at the weekend as we were attending the Portsoy Boat Festival to represent Ocean Youth Trust Scotland. Before leaving to drive back home on Sunday I had a very interesting conversation with my hosts for the weekend, Pam and Stuart Cornwallis. I was talking about teaching the Nuclear Arms Race to my Higher class this week. Pam and Stuart suggested getting balls of various sizes and using these to demonstrate the changing technology and power that the Superpowers were developing at this time. I thought it sounded like a very good idea but was unsure about the logistics of the lesson.

Today I borrowed some table tennis balls, tennis balls and gym balls from a somewhat confused PE department. I laid out some plastic bottles on tables opposite each other to represent the Western Powers and the Soviet Union. Two pupils volunteered to act the part of firing the weapons. We started with the table tennis balls indicating the first atomic bombs. The pupils walked over to the opposing side representing the plane dropping the bombs. We saw that although damage was caused (some bottles were knocked down) the countries did still exist. We then moved on to the tennis balls which were thrown from the ‘home’ table demonstrating the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). Again some more damage was done. Finally we threw the gym balls at the bottles which of course knocked down the lot (when the aim was on target). This was to demonstrate the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). We then watched an episode of the Cold War series which introduced further the Arms race and the concept of MAD and the balance of terror that was created. I will now follow this with a more detailed look at the arms race but this seemed to work as a really great introducation to the topic. 

Thanks to Pam and Stuart for a great idea that I will further develop in the future!

Yesterday I visited Liz Brookes, Principal Teacher of Outdoor Education within East Lothian Council. The reason for my visit was that Liz had very kindly offered to talk to me about the various qualifications I would need in order to become GTC recognised as a Teacher of Outdoor Education.

We are very lucky in East Lothian as we have a very good and busy Outdoor Education Team who not only provide lots of opportunities for our pupils but also provide a wide variety of staff development opportunities. I intend to book onto various courses over the coming months in order to build up my qualifications. In addition, Liz is also allowing me to help the team out during my spare time to build up my experience.

 I would like to thank Liz for taking the time to talk to me.

It doesn’t seem very long ago that I was planning a sailing voyage on board Greater Manchester Challenge for 11 S2 and S3 pupils. The trip has now been and gone and we have already started the planning process for next years trip. We left Knox Academy on Monday 19th May and headed to Troon Yacht Haven to meet the 78ft Gaff rigged ketch that was to be our home for the next week. We were welcomed aboad GMC with a lunch of soup and sausage rolls. After a discussion on our aims for the week and all the relevant familiarisation and safety briefings we departed a plan to get to Campbelltown.  After alot of ‘feeding the fishes’ we arrived at Campbelltown where we stayed the night. The next day was another long sail round the Mull of Kintyre to Bowmore on the Island of Islay where we anchored for the night. Both days had been tiring for all the pupils so we made the descision to stay in Bowmore on the Wednesday. This allowed the pupils to have a look round Bowmore and go swimming. On the Thursday we left Bowmore at 7am to head back to Campbelltown. Due to weather and tidal conditions the sail took us 21 hours and we arrived in Campbelltown at 4.30am on Friday morning, just in time to watch the whole of Cambelltown fishing fleet leave - quite a sight to see! Friday morning was spent catching up on some well needed rest and buying goodies for the remainder of the trip. We left Campbelltown late afternoon to enjoy a short sail up the Mull to Carradale Bay where we played lots of games around the table. On Saturday we sailed up round the top of Arran and headed back down towards Troon before heading off to the beach to play rounders. We cleaned the boat on Sunday morning before leaving on the bus to go back to Haddington. A great week was had by all and I must thank my colleague Peter Doig for stepping in to help at the last minute.

This years History exams took place on Monday 26th May. I was particularly nervous as, although I have taught bits of all the courses on offer, it was the first time I had taught the full two year Standard Grade and all of the Higher course.

However, the papers were well balanced giving the pupils a chance to show off their knowledge. The topics taught in the Standard Grade course were split evenly across the levels and the Enquiry Skills section contained good sources. In the Higher paper 1 there were some good questions which the pupils should have found straight forward. Paper 2 again was balanced with a variety of topics being assessed.

Overall, I am sure that the pupils will have been able to perform to their potential with fair exam papers.

I wish them luck in all of their exams!

In June this year, East Lothian Council, in partnership with Lothian and Borders Police, will be hosting a series of Internet safety and responsible use training sessions for parents with pupils in P5 - S6 across the county.  This is in response to growing concerns, expressed by individual parents and parent councils, about how to make sure young people use the internet safely and responsibly. The sessions are also designed to show parents how they can protect their youngsters from on-line dangers.
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> The training sessions will be led by Ollie Bray (Depute Head at Musselburgh Grammar School) and PC David Gunn from Lothian and Borders Police. Both Mr Bray and Mr Gunn are accredited Ambassadors of the Child Exploitation Online Protection Agency (CEOP).
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> The training session has already been piloted within the Musselburgh Cluster and received positive response from over 200 parents. The content of the evening includes background information on new technologies and information about computers and mobile phones and the law. But the main part of the presentation involves Mr Bray taking the parents into some > ‘> real> ‘>  social networking spaces that young people use. This includes Habba Hotel, Teenspot, MSN Instant Messenger and Bebo. The session also gives advice on how you can protect your home computer and advice on on-line gaming.
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> Everybody who attends the training will have access to a comprehensive on-line handout.
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> The sessions will be held at:
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> *     Preston Lodge High- 3 June 2008
> *     Ross High - 10 June 2008
> *     Dunbar Grammar - 11 June 2008
> *     Knox Academy - 18 June 2008
> *     North Berwick High - 24 June 2008
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> All training sessions will take place between 7 - 9pm.
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> Ollie Bray, Depute Head at Musselburgh Grammar School, says:
> ‘> This is a very exciting time for East Lothian to be leading the way in Internet Training for staff, parents, families and pupils.  We are going to use the feedback we gain from these sessions to inform good practice nationally through the Scottish Learning Festival.> ‘>
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> These evenings will start promptly at 7pm and have a limited availability. If you have any queries or you would like to book a place on one of these sessions, please email Tess Watson, (Acting Education Support Officer) at  twatson at eastlothian.gov.uk or log onto http:edubuzz.org/blogs/internetsafety

I read with much excitment the statement made by the Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop yesterday about the future of Scottish Education. This is truly a very exciting time in education and these plans will allow for a greater flexibility in the curriculum which will take away the pressures of subject choice and external exams for the younger pupils whilst equipping them with the necessary skills for later life. In addition, it will allow more time to study for Highers which, particulalry in History where there is vast amounts of information can be very rushed. I look forward to hearing more about this in the coming months.

Last weekend I accompanied the Knox cadets to the Lothian and Borders Army Cadet Force centre at Drumshoreland. The aim of the weekend was to select a team to represent ‘A Company’ in a military skills competition this coming weekend. The idea being that ‘A Company’ and knox would work together to form composite junior and senior teams as both were struggling to make teams on their own due to a lack of numbers. The pupils enjoyed the weekend, and after competing with the ACF cadets for a place in the team, they were pleased to learn that the senior team is to be made up of only knox cadets. In addition, three members of the CCF have been asked to act as casualties for the first aid part of the competition.

Well done to all selected and good luck in the competition!

This evening East Lothian council hosted a civic reception in Haddington Town House to mark the start of the centenary celebrations. An exhibition showing events and photographs from throughout the history of the cadets at Knox was open to the public all afternoon and was well attended. Some newspaper articles on display actually mentioned an unofficial cadet force being in place at Knox as far back as 1906!

The official reception was opened by the Knox Academy Pipe Band. This was our first external ‘gig’ and the pupils put on a wonderful show for the invited guests. The performance was follwed by speeches. These speeches included an address by the Head Teacher of Knox, Major George McFarlane and Colonel J Wilson the head of the Scottish Territorial Army.  This was followed by a fantastic buffet.

The event was a huge success and I am very much looking forward to the next event in what promises to be a very busy year for the Knox Academy Combined Cadet Force.