Sharon’s blog

Yesterday I attended the 6 Hour Emergency First Aid course which was being run by East Lothian’s Outdoor Education Team.

The course acted as an introduction for those who have never been involved in a First Aid course before and a refresher for those who have.

While I fully agree with the theory that everyone should have some knowledge of emergency first aid and wanted to attend the course so that I would feel more confident if I was ever in the position to use it, my main motivations for attending a course at this moment in time was because I am embarking on the BELA course and the RYA Coastal Skipper early next year. Both these courses require a first aid certificate.

The course covered many of the common situations that may occur in the workplace. We looked at CPR, recovery position, sprains, choking, burns etc. Our insturctor Bill Stephen was both knowledgeable and patient, and with a wealth of experience to share ran a very practical and realistic course.

My thanks go to Bill for an enjoyable and valuable day!

Today Knox Academy CCF was visited by Brigadier Allfrey part of the Biennial Inspection. He arrived to be met by the Headteacher, the OC and the Provest of East Lothian. After a quick coffee he met the contingent (all 50 pupils!) and inspected them on parade. At this point the Knox Academy Pipe Band accompanied the proceedings. The visitors were then shown round various stands where cadets were undergoing lessons on the different subjects contained in the CCF syllabus.

Having never met Brigadier Allfrey before, I was very impressed with the way in which he not only encouraged the cadets, but was also genuinely interested in their achivements, ambitions and interests.  

The Inspection proved to be a huge success and an enjoyable experience for all involved.

Last week my colleague Jayne Easson and I accompanied 12 S4 pupils to the annual Outdoor Education Challenge. This year it had a watersports theme with the pupils (and staff) getting a taster of Kayaking, Canoeing and Sailing. The pupils have a brilliant time trying out the various activities and I particularly enjoyed sailing the Lazer picos although it was a bit scary in the gusts!

The event finished with a rather chaotic race to retrieve a ball. I am very pleased to report that the Knox Academy team won the trophy.

This afternoon I received a phone call from Claire McCallum from the BBC. Admittedly when I received the message from the school office I thought they had asked for the wrong person!

However, I was invited to join the BBC Learning Secondary Consultative Panel. This is not something I had even heard of before but it sounds very interesting. The literature I have since been sent states that

The panel is a reference set of “critical friends” whose contributions can help to inform our provision of resources for the secondary sector.

I was very curious to know why I was being invited to join this panel only to find out that I had been located through this very blog!!

I attended the CCF Pipes and Drums Committee AGM  which was held at Dollar Academy last week. 

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.