Blueprint for Education Update - Closures Again - Aith

[crofter]

one west side council leader that lives in lerwick needs to reflect on the fact that he needs us to vote for him for his nice pension to continue. at this moment i doubt he has many fans.

 

Would this be the same councillor who voted to close the Isles schools last time round but thought that he needed to get re-elected/ I meant to say thought the schools at Sandness and North Roe were somehow different and should stay open?

 

At this stage the tensions in the council chamber were strained to breaking point, with some councillors voting to close some schools and to keep others open.

 

Councillor Wills reminded fellow members that the interests of Shetland and not their individual ward should be at the heart of their decision making, while councillor Duncan said that keeping these schools open would lead to “a waste of public fundsâ€.

 

A frustrated councillor Baisley then blurted out that she could no longer stand the “hypocrisyâ€, and asked why councillors could not see the similarities with the schools that have not been saved. “I am pretty fed up with the b*llturd here,†she said.

 

Gary Robinson: close Uyeasound, close Burravoe, keep North Roe, keep Sandness;

 

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/3914-almost-like-a-eurovision-song-contest

[Clickimin Clippie]

Todays decisions is a complete disaster for the education of our children.

 

A complete disaster for Shetlands future.

 

It could have been avoided by slicing the ridiculous development budget which keeps getting frittered away on propping up unviable business relics from the past.

 

Well done!

[paulb]

typical SIC dismiss technology. i bet they have not even looked at the way that the education in Australia in isolated locations is provided. the Alice Springs School of the Air has been using two way sat communication equipment for 10 years. no need to spend 18 million on cable. But hey they are the experts and will have clearly looked at this option.

[Staney Dale]

I can say with some personal knowledge that entrapping children in one tiny community for their whole education is not to their benefit, but more often a sign of the 'issues' of the parents. If you want young people to stay, make it a good place to live, don't cut them off and make wild exaggerations about the perils of commuting.

 

The Councillors at least let most of this report proceed, but the utterances of some of them show they are really just not getting it. Shame on Davy Sandison for allowing Baltasound to escape scrutiny. It is not an appropriate site for a secondary education, and keeping it open will not help keep Unst afloat.

[hairyian]

typical SIC dismiss technology. i bet they have not even looked at the way that the education in Australia in isolated locations is provided. the Alice Springs School of the Air has been using two way sat communication equipment for 10 years. no need to spend 18 million on cable. But hey they are the experts and will have clearly looked at this option.

 

What a good idea I thought. So checked it out.

 

"On air lessons occur daily with class lessons held in the morning. Children are also given a 10 minute time slot each week for the purpose of a private lesson, (PLT) to address individual needs.

 

Pre - Year 3 - 20 min lessons x 3 per week

Years 4 - 7 - 30 min lessons x 3 per week

In addition to the regular classes students have an on air library lesson every week and join in an elective program also once a week."

 

It appears to be a service intended to assist with home schooling for children who live a very, very long way from the nearest school.

[paulb]

yes the style is aimed at home schooling however the tech is working over great distances and is working well. they oppose tech because they say its not reliable enough.

 

clearly the syllabus and length of lessons can be adapted. it will not cost millions and the equipment must be reasonably cheap. better than running cables to outer islands and throughout shetland.

[shetlandpeat]

Who spent 18 million on a cable?

 

I class myself as lucky, having an education in more populated and diverse education establishments, from a pre school in Singapore to Bells Brae to a urban school then to a inner city college. I wonder how a small school can offer such a diverse education experience, I would think there are teachers who would put in the time and effort to achieve that, still, they are not as common as we would like.

 

As for Radio GaGa, it was tried on CB radio, it can only supplement the education a parent would have to give for the statutory time.

 

I think the moving away from home experience could have benefits, it would prepare the young folk for more integration and of course an education off the islands.

 

It has been interesting reading parts of this post, some have done their homewerk . As there is little much you could do, perhaps time should be spent working on how, as a family, you could get the best from this.

 

As far as a tunnel goes, get real, there will be no money for that. It could be said it is good they have not gone for tunnels, the cuts would have been much deeper, and you would still have to pay to cross the gaps.

[hairyian]

yes the style is aimed at home schooling however the tech is working over great distances and is working well. they oppose tech because they say its not reliable enough.

 

clearly the syllabus and length of lessons can be adapted. it will not cost millions and the equipment must be reasonably cheap. better than running cables to outer islands and throughout shetland.

 

How is the syllabus and lessons ging to be adapted?

Where have you got your equipment costings from?

What is the technical performance diferences between your suggested technical solution and runnung cables?

[shetlandpeat]

The internet system will eventually come. How many parents will have to stay at home. Could this be afforded by the parent?

 

If you have not been given enough money to run all the schools, you cannot run all the schools. It will always be ideal to have a school near every doorstep, it is being taken away.

 

Who spent 18 million on a cable?

 

Perhaps it is time parents started their own community schools, no point all of them being at home listening to Rubber Duck and Pig Pen giving 2 hours of lessons, that is, if the system can handle the weather.

 

Sadly, the trends are at the moment show more folk claiming some benefit because of situations like this, a parent will have to stay home, or get part time work to revolve around the education system. With the benefit cuts looming, it is gonna be a rough ride. More people are being pushed into poverty. Estimate show we have only had about 25% of the cuts so far. It is time to find that community spirit.

[crofter]

Who spent 18 million on a cable?

 

Nobody.

 

10:55am - Sandison asks about what training has been done with new technology to create a "virtual learning environment". Budge says video conferencing facilities at AHS are very good, but the hardware has not been put in the remote isles to provide a reliable service and the quality of broadband links has not been good enough. However they are looking at it and it does appear that by the time these facilities will be needed they will be there, but this will not be for some time.

 

Sandison again: Have any costings been done on how this much might cost? Budge: About £18m to get fibre optic links to all the islands.

[humptygrumpty]

Just about every school in shetland , be it primary or secondary is being affected by these ridiculous proposals........all bar 3.....Where in gods name do the lerwick schools fit into all this ? How come no mention is being made about the two primary schools in lerwick , or the ahs ? Why dont they close both the primary schools in lerwick and bus these bairns out to Scalloway...they seem to have created space there !!! And surely the lerwick bairns could survive the arduous 15 min bus ride to scalloway.

 

I dont see why the hell each and every country school is under threat because of cuts etc , but oh no not the precious lerwick schools , they seemingly are beyond reproach , I say there should be a full enquiry into why the above cant happen to save money , or is it the old adage that lerwick is "where" its at................Its bloody pathetic !

 

High time that some of the layabouts that come up with all these wacky schemes included the precious town into their calculations , and remember that the bloody equator doesnt run through the clickimin loch.

[Staney Dale]

I expect Lerwick folk are losing sympathy when this is the kind of stuff that's being spouted.

[trowie246]

I expect Lerwick folk are losing sympathy when this is the kind of stuff that's being spouted.

 

As far as I'm concerned it should work both ways, Lerwick and rural schools should be both looked on equally when it comes to trying to make any kind of savings in education but this is just not happening. All schools in Shetland have to comply with national staffing levels and composite classes but I hear one primary school in Lerwick has resisted this and to date has not reduced it's staffing level.

 

The proposed school closures that were voted through yesterday smacks of desperation to save money with little thought as to how things will work in reality. They haven't thought any further than close the schools and save the money. Any savings will not be immediate and will only become apparant over a number of years and is all dependent on the new AHS and hostel build, details of which are sketchy to say the least. Has the grant money from the Scottish Government been secured and how much is it? And more importantly where is the rest of the money to complete the project coming from? Also, for any staff wanting voluntary severence where does that money come from?

 

If things are really as bad as Jonathon Wills is stating and Shetland is doomed, is this really the right time to be building a new AHS and hostel? Everyone knows that it is needed but we've waited over 20 years why not wait another 5yrs or so until finances (hopefully) are in better shape?

[paulb]

http://www2.plymouth.ac.uk/distancelearning/bcs3.html

[hairyian]

http://www2.plymouth.ac.uk/distancelearning/bcs3.html

 

Really not much detail there ?

Most folk undertsand the concept of satellite technology.

 

HOW is the syllabus to be delivered using this technology ?

 

What is the COST of doing it ?