posted by Alita Spink, Schools and Learning Support Officer

The Angus Potato Project 2018 is OPEN TO ALL PRIMARY SCHOOLS in ANGUS and DUNDEE and although aimed mainly at Primary 4 other year groups can also take part if they wish.  RHET ACI will supply free of charge all you need to take part, including planting containers, compost and seed potatoes.  We also have lots of learning materials available to download free to supplement your pupils learning experience. RHET ACI are very grateful to have secured continued support us take the project forward from McCain Potatoes and RGS Forfar Ltd.

So, sign up and follow the life of the potato, with help from one of our RHET ACI volunteer farmers who will come to your school and help you plant your SUPERSPUDS. They will also talk to your pupils about the life of the potato and how potatoes are grown on farms around Angus and Dundee.

There are also two trophies to compete for, one for the school that grows the heaviest crop of potatoes from the seed potatoes provided, harvesting them just before the summer holidays and also a prize for the best project submitted to us, showing what you have done to use your potato growing in different aspects of Curriculum for Excellence.

The potatoes classes will be growing are an early variety called Shepody, which McCain growers send off to be made into fries for McDonalds.

Also back by popular demand, we will be having a short teacher briefing after school on Tuesday 6th March 2018 at the Community Campus in Forfar.  This briefing event gives you the chance to meet some of the volunteer farmers involved in the project and is also when teachers pick up all the materials for the project, we would therefore encourage at least 1 teacher from each school to attend.  This is when you will also be briefed on how to get the most out of this fantastic learning experience, have the potato chitting process explained and be given helpful hints on how to care for the potatoes.

Volunteer farmers may also be happy to come back to the school to help the pupils harvest their potatoes in June and some will be involved in the judging of the projects that are submitted.

If you are interested in taking part in the project just drop an e-mail with your school name, class numbers and your contact details to your local Project Co-ordinator, Carol Littlewood 0791 999 2064 or angus@rhet.org.uk  

Project places are allocated on a first come first served basis and fill up very quickly so if you want to guarantee a place please register as soon as possible.

Carol Littlewood
Project Co-ordinator RHET ACI
25, Borrowfield Crescent
Montrose
ANGUS
DD10 9BR

Mobile: 0791 999 2064
E-mail: angus@rhet.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RHETAngusCI
Website: www.rhet.org.uk

posted by Morna Duncan, Administrative Assistant, Schools and Learning

From the 31 March 2018 CPD Online will cease to exist.  Alternative systems will soon to be implemented and further information will be issued about these alternative systems in due course, however it is not possible to migrate the current training information held on the CPD Online system.

Before the system closure on 31 March all users are advised to take copies of all training completed and held in their CPD Online accounts.  To do this, simply log into your account and then go to My CPD Plan, from there you have 2 options, you can either scan or print each training event individually or take a scan / print of your overall training year by year.

• Teachers are advised to add training previously held on CPD Online to their MyGTCs account.
• Non-teaching staff – there is no place currently for non-teaching staff to transfer training previously held on CPD Online.  We would advise that you scan / print and hold copies of evidence of training previously done.
• The private and voluntary sector are advised to add training previously held on CPD Online to their SSSC account.
• Childminders are advised to add training previously held on CPD Online to their SCMA account.

posted by Alita Spink, Schools and Learning Support Officer

A Sudden and traumatic death in your school community – let’s talk about it….
6 March 2018 – Dundee

As our our schools’ conference in Dundee draws closer, if you haven’t already booked, we wanted to let you know that we have a limited number of places still available, so please book your place soon to avoid disappointment.

A sudden or traumatic death within the school community can leave staff and pupils shocked and overwhelmed. This conference is designed to help equip education professionals with key support skills and improve confidence when responding to bereavement. We will have a range of speakers covering plenary sessions including a young person speaker, a parent speaker, plus the chance to tailor your day with a choice of workshops.

Please see the conference programme for more information.

Fees are just £45 per delegate, including course materials, a CPD certificate of attendance, refreshments and a light lunch. We acknowledge the support of the Scottish Government through CYPFEIF and ALEC Fund Grant for this conference.

Book your place now:  https://childbereavementuk.org/for-professionals/our-courses/sudden-traumatic-death-school-community-lets-talk-2/

Main Conference

We are pleased to be joined for our conference by the speakers below, who will cover a range of pertinent topics around sudden and traumatic bereavement in schools.

Our day will be chaired by Dawn Allan, Spiritual Care Lead, NHS Dumfries & Galloway

Dawn has 14 years’ experience as a healthcare and specialist palliative care chaplain and a former national executive role with the Association of Hospice & Palliative Care Chaplains. One of Dawn’s passions is enabling people to talk about death and dying before they need to, so that when the time comes and there is no choice, they have already shared things like, what their wishes might be with loved ones.

Plenary session speakers

                                          
Young people’s mental health                                   Supporting pupils following a
and academic resilience                                              sudden and traumatic death
Judy Furnivall, Consultant CELSIS,                                Shirely Potts, North Develpment
University of Strathclyde                                               Lead, Child Bereavement UK

                                       
A traumatic death: the response                            A bereavement programme for
of the school community                                          schools
Helen Quinn, Teacher, St Francis                               Dr Sally Paul, Lecturer of Social
Xavier’s Primary School                                               Work, University of Strathclyde

Workshop choices

We have a choice of workshops for you to choose from, to tailor the day to fit your needs and interest.

• Creative activities for bereaved children and young people
  An opportunity to consider the use of creative activities to engage young people following a bereavement.
• Responding to a death within the school community – how a bereavement policy can help
  An opportunity to develop and enhance a bereavement policy within your school.
• Children’s fears in a daunting world
  This workshop will consider the Child Bereavement UK response in empowering practitioners to understand and support the young people in their care.
• Supporting children with autistic spectrum disorders through bereavement
  Understanding death and bereavement on the autistic spectrum.
• Considering the impact on staff after a death in the school community
  A reflective session to consider ways to support yourself and your peers following a bereavement in your school community.
• Suicide within the school community
  Practical support and guidance to help schools prepare for and recover from a suspected or attempted suicide.

Workshops are allocated on a first come, first served basis and delegates will be able to attend two sessions during the conference.

We hope you can attend, and are looking forward to welcoming you to the conference. Please get in touch with us if you need any further details.

Kind regards

Paula Abramson

Head of Training
Child Bereavement UK

posted by Andy Garnett, Active Schools Lead Coordinator

This year Sport Relief will take on a different look, with events across the whole week rather than the weekend as has been the case in the past. The organisers have expanded the way individuals, groups, organisations and indeed schools can get involved. Schools can even order their own FREE fundraising back via this link https://www.sportrelief.com/schools

In the past the fundraising has been centred around key events such as the Sport Relief Mile, where participants could run/walk 1, 3 or 6 miles. This year there will be a much greater variety of activity for the country to get involved in and indeed run themselves.

In Angus we have a great number of schools who use the Daily Mile to get young people more active. Why not order your free pack and dedicate your Daily Mile to Sport Relief from Mon 19^th – Fri 23^rd March, maybe even invite the local community to join you on a set day that week? A great way to raise money for a great cause and raise activity levels at the same time! If a ‘Mile’ event isn’t right for your school, there are some other equally good ideas on the website. You can even set up your own donation page for your school.

The website also includes some great learning resources that can be used in the classroom to raise awareness of what Sport Relief is all about and the impact the fund raising is making.

Get active. Raise money. Change lives

posted by Alita Spink, Schools and Learning Support Officer

Scottish Teachers’ Dirty Weekend
Field Studies Centre Millport
2 – 3 March 2018

Are you passionate about getting dirty in the outdoors?
Do you want ideas of how you can use your passion in your teaching?
Then this is the weekend for you………………………..

Please click on the link below to find out more

Poster 2018 Final

posted my Andy Garnett, Active Schools Lead Coordinator, Schools and Learning

Join the Step Count Challenge this spring and step into a healthier workplace. Walking more can energise you and make you feel fresh and alert. You’ll feel healthier too.

Whether it’s walking to work, going for a lunchtime stroll or simply using the stairs rather than the lift, we just want people to enjoy the benefits of an active lifestyle.

Here’s the lowdown:

• The challenge starts on Monday 22^nd January and lasts for 4 weeks
• Enter as a team of 5 people
• Create a user account at the Step Count Challenge website where you can record your daily steps, get personal step goals, share comments with your team and track your team’s progress on our leaderboards
• If you need a way of counting your steps, we can provide you with a pedometer – just let us know at WalkAtWork@pathsforall.org.uk
• You can also use your own pedometer, activity tracker or favourite app
• There will be regular updates, challenges and prizes throughout to keep you and your team motivated

To register your team email WalkAtWork@pathsforall.org.uk and we’ll let you know how you can sign up.

Curious, but not sure? Have a look at our website www.stepcount.org.uk, our Twitter https://twitter.com/step_count, or read about North Ayrshire Council’s Step Count Challenge on our blog: http://stepcount.org.uk/2017/04/livewell-step-count-challenge

If you have any questions please feel free to email WalkAtWork@pathsforall.org.uk.