Barry Smith - Stuff and things

Got a bit of a second wind today, thanks to the enthusiasm of others surrounding the alternative curriculum project.  Had a productive (very early croissants and coffee!) meeting this morning to (almost) finalise the programme for January to June 2007.  
We have had a tremendous commitment from the outside agencies involved and they have put forward both staffing and funding to [...]

There is a concept in long distance running called ‘the wall’, a psychological barrier that defeats many a marathon runner.  Apparently, although I wouldn’t know, it is defeated, as most things in life, by mind over matter, talking yourself through it.   I think I’m hitting the SQH ‘wall’ at the moment.  My post today is really [...]

I had an interesting conversation at the weekend with Andy Marjoribanks,  headteacher of a secure special school in Edinburgh.  We were discussing the ‘chaotic thinking’ that characterises many of the youngsters for whom mainstream schooling is unmanageable and breaks down in a flurry of exclusions, at times characterised by violence and aggression. The youngsters often have not had the opportunity to develop [...]

Today I learned a lot.  I went down to see the new facility at the Pennypit Centre in Prestonpans which will be hosting some of our Alternative Curriculum activities.  It is fantastic, with catering facilities and internet access as well as teaching and meeting rooms.  The possibilities are enormous for developing the partnership between the school and this [...]

I watched Bebo: The Movie at the weekend.  What a brilliant way to engage kids in debate on safe use of the internet. It’s a shame we can’t access it in school.  Having been alerted to it by Ewan I thought it would really appeal to my S4 Social Education class.  Unfortunately the school ‘net nanny’ blocked access.  [...]

Today has been a day of challenges on several fronts.  Initially I met with Graham Rae from Telford College to discuss their involvement in the Alternative Curriculum project.  We are hopeful that there will be a place for Telford College to deliver some of the outdoor education content, but the issue of funding was never [...]

We had another extremely productive Alternative Curriculum meeting this afternoon, focussing on consultation with our various stakeholders.  I said at the start how astonished I was at what we had achieved thus far, only two meetings ‘down the line’. 
The wiki is set up, we have a draft outline of our programme, have addressed some of [...]

Monday and Tuesday were spent out at the Council’s Discipline and Grievance training, a requirement of SQH.  I have to admit the prospect didn’t fill me with a great deal of enthusiasm but I was pleasantly surprised.  Margo Cunningham delivered the content extremely well and I  was surprised by how well teachers seem to fare in comparison to other workers [...]

I’ve had a really interesting few days since I sat down to write my last blog.  I attended a Child Protection in-service in Musselburgh which was top class in terms of content and presentation.    I decided the weekend was to be both a work and SQH-free zone and attended a djembe drumming workshop run by [...]

This week the balance has been firmly tipped towards work, with life taking a bit of a back seat and sleep lagging behind somewhere on a pushbike.  I think children must have a sixth sense, I think Ruaridh’s difficulty sleeping this week was his way of telling me I’ve been not been home early enough.  I’ve [...]