November witnessed the first meeting of the PE working group at St Margaret’s Academy. The group is made up of primary and secondary PE specialists, school staff members and senior management and has been tasked with reflecting on the second and third level PE provision across the St Margaret’s cluster. The inaugural meeting was attended by 19 members of primary and secondary staff who discussed the PE provision currently on offer to P6 and P7 pupils across the associated primaries and S1 and S2 pupils within St Margaret’s.
Managing severe allergies in schools
Nighean Hannah from the NHS recently delivered a CPD event on managing severe allergies in schools. Her PowerPoint which can be viewed here provided lots of useful information on:
- What anaphylaxis is
- Symptoms
- Types of reactions
- Causes and treatments
- Devices
- Management in schools
- What to do in an emergency
I found this a very useful learning experience and would recommend all staff to have a look at this.
The following websites provide more information Allergies and Intolerances and Anaphylaxis Campaign
Learning is a box of chocolates!
Ruth Thomson Health and Technology Department
A great example of Inter-Disciplinary Learning (IDL) and collaboration between subjects can be found in the joint Maths and Health & Technology (H&T) activity currently being run with S1 pupils. In H & T pupils are making chocolate truffles while in Maths they are learning how to design and create presentation boxes for the truffles.
However, as I was to discover through observing three different S1 Maths lessons, pupils are being exposed to a wide range of concepts, skills and experiences not just in relation to H&T and Maths, but in literacy and business too. Continue reading Learning is a box of chocolates!
Wizard Gene
Laura Watson Biology/Science Department
Variation is one of the topics which has been introduced into our S2 Science course. This unit of work involves the pupils learning about cells, DNA, genes and PGD. One of the activities that is carried out is the Wizard Gene experiment which I was introduced to on a SSERC CPD event.
This activity gives the pupils the opportunity to carry out work using gel electrophoresis which simulates DNA profiling. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the experiement which is shown in these pictures.
SSERC Novel Materials
Catherine Kerr Faculty Leader Science
We have introduced SSERC novel materials into our S1 Materials unit. The resources are simple to use and the pupils enjoyed discovering their unusual properties. The photographs and video illustrate pupils working. Pupils said that they found the materials ‘interesting’ the thermochromic sheet ‘awesome’ and ‘loved’ the spring! Let us know what you think!
Use of USB Microscopes (NOT just a Science resource)!
Catherine Kerr Faculty Leader Science
A ‘USB microscope’ can be an interesting and fun tool for pupils in school. It can be used in a variety of ways including; children working in groups or individually, or simply something being demonstrated by a teacher on a large screen in front of the class. Equally as effective, the scope could be taken out doors with the use of a laptop. I have used this with my class to view very small seeds, fabric and materials and they loved guessing the object.
Pass the Parcel – AifL
Laura Williamson Modern Languages Department
I recently observed a colleague in the Modern Languages department using a rather novel and fun way of assessing pupils’ knowledge. The activity, as the name suggests consists of a box that is passed around the room while music plays. The box is filled with sentences to translate, when the music stops the pupil holding the box must open the box and pick out a random sentence to translate. This activity works well because it is fun and the pupils do not realise they are practising their language work. It also helps the teacher avoid always picking the same pupils to answer whilst helping more shy pupils to be become more confident.
This is a great activity for revision and consolidation. The sentences can be of varying difficulty and tenses to suit all learners. The chosen phrase if translated unsuccessfully or answered incorrectly can then even be passed to other pupils, this promotes peer learning. This type of activity can be utilised in other subject areas by substituting the sentences with questions about specific topics.
Consultation on the Revision of the Professional Standards
The General Teaching Council for Scotland are currently consulting with all stakeholders with an interest in Scottish education regarding their Revision of the Draft Framework of the Professional Standards. As such they are inviting your views and suggestions with respect to the attached draft Professional Standards. To participate in the consultation process which closes on October 31st please click here.
S3 Profiling and the Profile – Progress Update
During the INSET day that took place on the 18th of September the Profile team and representatives from most curricular areas engaged in discussions where the next steps towards the creation of the S3 profile were agreed. The next steps included:
- Plans for completion of S3 profile using an amended version of the NAR pilot with a deadline of early December in time for the S3 Consultation meeting
- More information would be shared with parents through the newsletter
- S3 focus week on skills to gather information for pupils to understand their learning in terms of skill development Continue reading S3 Profiling and the Profile – Progress Update
Working Together for Better Science Learning – a Cluster Approach to CPD
St Margaret’s Academy Science department has been approached by SSERC to develop the transition process in science. The rationale and outline of this programme: “Working Together for Better Science Learning – a Cluster Approach to CPD programme” can be downloaded here. Myself and colleague Keith Varty along with one of our primary colleagues Jennifer Currie were invited along to the first workshop of the Armadale cluster to see how this works and if it is something that we would be interested in leading across our cluster. Each cluster primary school had sent at least two representatives to this event and Armadale Academy also had members of the science department there to help support their primary colleagues in the science tasks carried out during the workshop.
Continue reading Working Together for Better Science Learning – a Cluster Approach to CPD
