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Last week we held the fifth session at Knox Academy in Haddington.

One teacher’s feedback:

“I really enjoyed the presentation last night, it is to be discussed at my Departmental Meeting next week as we don’t have anything like this in my region at present. Excellent delivery of a very serious issue - well done! “

Tonight (Tuesday 24th June) we are hosting the fifth session for parents and carers at North Berwick High School.

This session will start promptly at 7pm.

Please email me at twatson@eastlothian.gov.uk if you would like to book a place or if you have any queries.

Last week we held the third and fourth Internet Safety Sessions at Ross High and Dunbar Grammar School.

One parent’s feedback:

“I was at the session at Ross High last night. It was excellent and I was mortified by how much I learnt! “

Tomorrow (Wednesday of 18th June) we are hosting the fifth session for parents and carers Knox Academy in Haddington.

This session will start promptly at 7pm.

Please email me at twatson@eastlothian.gov.uk if you would like to book a place or if you have any queries.

During the weekend we ventured over to the Isle of Islay. We had been invited there by my friend and colleague Ian Stuart and his wife Caroline to watch the Annual Beach Rugby Competition -“Eat Sand”.

The rules of Islay Beach Rugby are as follows-

“Field Dimensions

The size of a Beach Rugby field depends on the decision of the league. The field is between 30-50 meters long, 20-35 meters, wide, and the in-goals are 3-7 meters deep. There are no goalposts on the field, and the lines are usually marked with some sort of tape or rope.

Number of Players

Depending on the league and the field size, either 5 or 7 players are allowed on the field for one team at once. Between 3 and 7 reserves are allowed, again, depending on the league. Substitutions are often done “on-the-fly,” similar to ice hockey or futsal.

The Ball

A standard rugby ball is used, but many leagues will use a size 4 ball instead of size 5, the size used in all levels of field rugby above youth. A rugby ball is ellipsoidal in shape, made of synthetic leather panels that have small dimples to enhance handling.

Scoring

Most leagues use a “one try, one point” scoring system, since there are no goalposts on the field. Occasionally, a sudden-death extra time period is used to resolve matches drawn at the end of regulation, but not all leagues use this rule.

Timing

Leagues use either two 5 or 7 minute halves (with a 1 or 3 minute interval for halftime) as the length of a single match. Extra time may be played if the league calls for it.

*Beer and Whiskey must be available at all times”.

Extract from islaybeachrugby.com

As you can see, Beach Rugby is slightly different to conventional Rugby Union and League (more on a par with my own invented game of Snow-Blade rugby). It was a fabulous day out- rugby, beach, sun and a brilliant after party with super company. This event is a definte must for any rugby fan.

On Sunday Ian and Caroline gave us a tour of the Island and it’s fabulous scenery; rugged hillside with wild goats, white sandy beaches with turquoise sea- just beautiful. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to visit any of the famous Distilleries; however that is just one excuse to return- we will certainly be back!

I would like to thank Ian, Caroline and their friends for their outstanding hospitality. Hopefully we can reciprocate during the Edinburgh Festival.

Photo credits: Douglas

Last week we held the third and fourth Internet Safety Sessions at Ross High and Dunbar Grammar School.

One parent’s feedback:

“I was at the session at Ross High last night. It was excellent and I was mortified by how much I learnt! “

Tomorrow (Wednesday of 18th June) we are hosting the fifth session for parents and carers Knox Academy in Haddington.

The sessions will start promptly at 7pm.

Please email me at twatson@eastlothian.gov.uk if you would like to book a place or if you have any queries.

Monday 09-06-08 (4pm)

Large Meeting Room- John Muir House, Haddington.

This afternoon we will be holding this month’s EduBuzz Open Meeting. These meetings are open to anyone who has a genuine interest in the latest developments in East Lothian’s online community. If you haven’t been to one of them before, and you are curious, please feel free to pop along.

Although these gatherings are open, I would ask that you let me (or one of the team) know that you will be coming- I want to make sure that every one has a seat!

Photo credit: Darkest before dawn

Islay High School open day looks like it is going to be a very worth while and interesting event. Unfortunately I have a team away-day on the 13th.

Here’s what Ian Stuart (PT Technology and Design) says:

“In just over a weeks time we are going to have an ICT open day. This is being aimed at parents, and local businesses, but anyone interested in what we are doing is more than welcome. A rough guide to the day is: Starting at 11 am (though anyone arriving earlier simply comes to the school earlier and gets a head start) to allow people to get to Islay via various methods. (More on this later)

• an Introduction
• An opportunity to be shown a device being used in a class by your own pupil.
• An opportunity to take part in several classes using a device.
• Lunch
• Q&A Though I am certain that this will be happening naturally throughout the day.
• Wrap up officially about 2-30.

This allows people to catch either the 3-30pm plane or ferry.

For those who are who are coming to visit us from off Island I would ask that they fill in this form. This is so we know who to expect as well to pick up from Ferries or Planes at which times. We could also arrange for some accommodation, with staff from the school. So long as the numbers don’t get too big.

So, please come along and get a first hand feeling for what is happening”

There is also a beach rugby event on Islay on Saturday the 14th of June  which I am very much looking forward to as well as catching up with Ian.

More on the rugby later

Photo credit: Pallotron

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.

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).

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.

Everybody who attends the training will have access to a comprehensive on-line handout.

The sessions will be held at:

· 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

All training sessions will take place between 7 - 9pm.

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.’

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 me at twatson@eastlothian.gov.uk or log onto the East Lothian Internet Safety website

Cindy Julien has spent this year as a French assistant at Knox Academy. Cindy graduated from Toulouse Mirail University with a Masters Degree in English Literature and Art in 2007. As she will be teacher training next year, she came to Scotland to improve her English and make connections. During her time here Cindy did much more at the school. She got involved in lots of extra curricular activities with staff and pupils, including Scottish Ceilidhs!

On behalf of all the friends that Cindy made while she was at Knox Academy I would like to send our very best wishes and wish her good luck with her future career.

 We will keep up with you over on facebook Cindy

The SQA Biology exams took place yesterday. I managed to get my hands on a complete set of papers in the afternoon so I was able to have a look at them last night. Here are a few thoughts.

Standard Grade General Level.

I thought this was quite a hard paper. Both the kidney and the heart were covered in quite a lot of detail for General level. I personally thought that the Problem Solving questions were pretty heavy too.

Standard Grade Credit Level.

For a Credit level paper, I thought it was pretty easy. The lungs, digestive system, cells and photosynthesis were covered in sufficient detail and the Problem Solving questions weren’t too challenging.

Intermediate 1.

A pretty reasonable paper this year. Though, as always, there were lots of tables. Tables of contents, tables to be interpreted, tables to be completed. What is it about Intermediate 1 and tables?!

Intermediate 2.

Again another pretty standard paper. I particularly liked section C (the Extended Responses) this year. Questions on sexual reproduction in plants, genetic engineering, anaerobic engineering in yeast and enzymes. These are all major topics in Intermediate 2. There are two extended response questions in Section C and both are worth 5 marks- very important!

Higher Level.

Section A-(multiple choice) and Section B-(short answer) were both reasonable. I didn’t think that there was anything to challenging. Section C however was a bit disappointing. Section C at Higher level has two Extended response questions, each worth 10 marks (a total of 20 marks).

Section C- Question 1 was a choice between Lactose metabolism in E.Coli and Phenylketonuria or Density Dependent factors and Succession. Question 2 was a choice between Gene Mutations and Mutagenic Agents or Somatic Fusion and Genetic Engineering. There was no question from Unit 1- Cell Biology within this section. In my experience pupils will spend more time revising the content of Unit 1 as it directly affects the understanding of the later units.

Advanced Higher.

I have only taught Units 2 and 3 of the Advanced Higher course so I will only pass comment on questions that relate to them.

Section A- Multiple Choice. Not too bad at all. Questions on Competition, Parasitism and Population were all easy enough.

Section B-Short answer and Extended response (Ex.R worth 15 marks each) - Nice questions on Energy Flow, Nitrogen Fixation and Monocultures. The extended response question was a choice between The affects on ecosystems of phosphate enrichment, exotic species and persistent toxic pollutants or The roles of the following in the survival of organisms: Dormancy, mimicry and mutualism.

I am guessing the latter would have been the preferred choice of pupils as it is very similar to one of the essay questions in the Heriot Watt Scholar scheme.

Section C- Short answer questions on Unit 3. Teachers can choose between the topics of Biotechnology, Animal Behaviour and Physiology, Health and Exercise. Physiology, Health and Exercise is the topic I have always taught and the questions in this year’s paper seemed pretty amicable.

All in all I if felt that this year’s diet of SQA Biology exams was pretty fair.

Just a few of my thoughts…. All my own

I will be interested to see what the tabloids say.  Did you sit or see an SQA Biology exam paper this year?

What did you think?

Let’s discuss! 

A couple of weeks ago we ventured back to Fife to visit a family friend’s exhibition. Poppy and I have known each other for over 20 years. She is now a very accomplished Scottish artist. I am not a professional artist but I do like Art. Indeed,  I gained a band 1A at SQA Higher level ‘Fine Art’ and also ‘Design’ were my forte- but I am always very drawn by her pieces.

Poppy Cyster: 

“Since my childhood I have always been drawn to experimenting with paint in all its forms. My work to this day continues to encompass a wide variety of mediums.

Having grown up in Fife, Scotland and originally studied art at St Leonards school St Andrews, the Scottish landscape and coastal scenes have always been one of my greatest sources of inspiration, and continue to influence my work in terms of light, colour and form. My education was furthered by a Fine Art degree at De Montfort. Where some of my pieces have been purchased by the Leicester County Council for their Artworks Collection. And were awarded the Artworks Collection Prize 2005.

To a large extent I paint in an intuitive manner, this maintains a fresh and lively atmosphere within the canvas. Sections of the paintings are worked in a spontaneous way, yet each painting is approached with a certain structure, the work is then carried forward in an instinctive manner. Within the paintings, line, form, space and colour vie for attention. There are rhythms set up to direct the eye around the canvas, throughout the surface there are calm areas acting as resting points for the eye which allow the viewer focal points before the attention is directed elsewhere.

I use a variety of paint types; shiny oils and waxy encaustics are used in combination to play against one another and emphasise their different characteristics, most effectively where areas overlap and interact. A variety of tools are used to manipulate the work, including knives scrapers and squeegees. These methods of applying paint can accurately preserve my movements and gestures. Paint is also poured and dripped directly onto the canvas, which adds the element of chance, as it is not entirely foreseeable or subject to control.

A vital component in the work is colour and how it behaves, a sense of duration or ‘time’ is involved as some colours reveal themselves immediately. Other tones are much closer and take longer to read in relation to other colour within the painting. To ‘slow down’ the pace in certain areas families of colours are grouped together, then bold contrasts are introduced to highlight the shift in dynamics.

Many paintings hover between abstract compositions of line and colour and representations of nature itself”

In particular, this little number really captured us and I am proud to say it is mounted on the livingroom wall.

If you would like to find out more about Poppy and her art, please give her website a click.