trowie246

Does anyone know what criteria has to be met before a teacher is deemed to be delivering an acceptable standard of teaching? I don't know but I'll just go with your scenario that the head teacher and QIO recognise that they have a "failing" teacher and that their efforts to improve the situation are in vain. To my mind there should be only one solution and that is dismissal of the teacher from the profession. This is what would happen in other professions including nursing. You say in your reply to spinner that you do not want to see teachers dismissed. So what do you think should happen to them? The problem here in Shetland is that the schools service (apparantly) have difficulty recruiting teachers. It could be that there is a more tolerant attitude to teachers that are not up to scratch, also we live in very small communities where teachers are more likely to be known on a personal level. Whatever the case teachers who can't teach ( and head teacher, central management, parents and pupils know it) are being left in the classroom. To my mind this is a failure of the system - if there even IS a system in place for failing teachers in Shetland. From what I hear in the scottish news today this is a very topical subject with proposals from GTCS to fast track cases of incompetence.

^^^^ You are right, it should be just like any job. But teaching is unique and it's extremely difficult to assess whether a teacher is doing a good enough job or not. The main problem as I see it is that children are individuals and some will inevitably do better than others in school regardless of the quality of teaching. On saying that there obviously must be standards set and I would have thought that this would be the job of the headteacher working in conjunction with the school's Quality Improvement Officer, making sure that certain goals and criteria are being met and improved on as necessary.

There is the possibility that it was a Harry Potter film the child was taken to see but Cars 2 (rated U) was also advertised for that weekend. Since the person who started the thread hasn't said what film it was we don't know.

I didn't even take my 3 year old to see the panto that year because at that age she couldn't concentrate on anything for more than 2 minutes and I knew her inevitable fidgeting, up off the seat, on the floor and general noisiness would annoy other people. I would never have dreamed of taking her to see a film never mind Harry Potter (if that is what it was).

Divide and conquer, an effectvie tactic. Can't believe some people still fall for it and sadly what it means is that if Shetland and other coastguard stations are targeted for closure in the future people like Mustaffa won't support them therefore playing right into the government's hands.

I don't know who's to blame for what happened or what can be done about it but I think some of it had to do with youngsters now a days having more respect for a gangster criminal wearing lots of bling bling and carrying a loaded gun on him then for Mrs Miggin's who is up tae her oxters in pastry trying to earn a decent crust running the pie shop.

For the first dance my suggestion would be Shania Twain, From This Moment or Wet Wet Wet, Love is all around or Savage Garden, Truly Madly Deeply. The rest is good going tunes, Dire Straits - Walk of life Bon Jovi - Living on a prayer Cyndi Lauper - Girls just wanna have fun Beyonce - All the single ladies Katy Perry - Firework Kenny Logan - Footloose Status Quo - Rockin all over the world Black eyed peas - I gotta feeling Right said Fred - I'm too sexy for my shirt Pink - I'm coming up Steve Earle - Galway girl Queen Crazy - little thing called love The Wanted - Glad you came Boy George - Karma chameleon Sugababes- About you now Westlife - Uptown girl Kylie Minogue - All the lovers Dead or Alive - You spin me right round The Saturdays - Just can't get enough Girls Aloud- Jump David Guetta -When love takes over Dexys Midnight Runners - Comeon Eileen Johnny Cash- Folsom Prison blues Katrina and the Waves - Walking on sunshine Diana Ross- Chain reaction Madonna - Hung up Leona Lewis - Collide The Grid - Swamp thing The Rembrandts - I'll be there for you Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the dark Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand Fallout Boy - Dance Dance Anything by Lady GaGa Anything by Abba. The village people YMCA goes down well as does the conga. If there's alot of bairns you could also do the grand old duke of york.

Not sure if I get your drift here. It sounds like you feel the upgrading of a facility which already exists is more deserving than to finally provide the skatepark. Sorry if I didn't make my point clear enough. My point is that ALL leisure activities should now be seen as being non-essential and councillors should no longer be spending money on it in todays financial climate. The Dale golf club was quite rightly refused their annual grant, but councillors have turned around and given money towards a skateboard park. Am I the only one who can see the inconsistancy here? Councillors need to start getting their priorities right and put a hold on dishing out money on non-essentials.

^^^^ I'll remember the above statement when the bigger schools around Shetland complain that Skerries, Sandness and North Roe schools should have been closed.

We have the likes of councillor Wills warning the people of Shetland that there are dire cuts in services around the corner and difficult decisions to be made, the SIC could be facing bankruptcy etc etc, then this decision is taken? It's a joke and the elected members are becoming a laughing stock. They need to get a grip and start getting their priorities right. To spend 100,000 pounds on a leisure activity that will mainly ( and note I say MAINLY, before anyone jumps down my throat) benefit youngsters in and around Lerwick is just plain wrong. Leisure for youngsters in Lerwick has been put above education where there are going to be cuts in budgets which will affect the bairns education in the classrooms of ALL the schools in Shetland. For 3 years now our community playpark has been promised an overhaul. This year, once again, we have been told we will have to wait until next year before work can begin because of cuts. We have taken this with good grace because we understand the seriousness of the situation here in Shetland, you can't get blood out of a stone. But you can see how confused we are that suddenly there is 100,000 available to spend on a skateboard park in Lerwick?

I wondered what people think about the graduate placement scheme. I listened to the depressing news on radio Shetland the other night about the huge amount of savings that have to be found, then the next item on was about the graduate placement scheme. They are looking to employ 7? (I think) post graduates throughout the SIC over the next year. One will be looking into the decline in Shetland cattle. I'm sure the irony of this will not be lost on the cattle breeders who asked the SIC for financial help in buying a herd of Shetland Kye from the Scottish Government last year and were refused assistance. The graduates will each be paid over 19 thousand pounds salary. The retention rate is 30%. But will this matter if there are no jobs available? Maybe savings could be made here?

I have it on good authority that head teachers do make suggestions at the head teachers meetings for ways of saving money and nothing ever happens. It is my belief that schools service knows fine well that there will be very little money saved by closing small primary schools, I think they just want fewer schools in Shetland because it will make life a helluva lot easier for them.

I might be wrong but I think it is the councillors who ask for the reviews of education which is carried out by the officers. They make their recommendations which can be supported or rejected by the councillors. We have had 3 reviews of education since my daughter started school 7 years ago. They end up with the same recommendations - closure of schools. The second review was thrown out by the newly elected councillors before it could get properly underway. I hope this moratorium at least gives rural areas breathing space. Three reviews of education in 7 years has been extremely stressful and means that education in Shetland as a whole has suffered because of it.

Yes, there are alternatives, and when you factor in things like transport and teaching staff into those alternatives the savings are minimal if indeed any at all. Last I heard the Lerwick primary schools were having to employ an extra teacher into P1 and P2 classes because they are over the government limit of 25 pupils, so that is 2 teachers in each class instead of one. Cost per pupil figures have to be viewed with caution as it all depends on costs that year and numbers of pupils in the school that year. Amno, you'll be glad to know that since Cullivoe school has an increasing school roll our cost per pupil is decreasing every year.

Anyone who has been following the schools debacle will know that it is the secondary education in Shetland that is expensive, not primary. I don't know about nursery. At my JHS there was no 5th and 6th year. There was a very limited number of o'grades that could be sat at the end of 4th year, woodwork/metalwork, technical, home economics? Don't know if there was anything else. The vast majority of pupils went to AHS for 3rd year. I think this system worked extremely well, don't know how it would fit in now with curriculum for excellence and hub schools. I would think it would be much cheaper than the present situation. As for nursery schools I wouldn't want them cut altogether but I don't know why it has to be a primary school teacher teaching the bairns. I think it used to be called playgroups with playleaders. Are there not one or two still in existence in Shetland?

Another tip, if you have kids and they drink apple juice you should always dilute it anyway ( better for their teeth) but I have started adding water to mine as well, the carton goes further and I don't really notice a difference in flavour.

Be careful when buying multi-packs from supermarkets. I bought a four pack of tesco's own apple juice. When I got home I worked out it costs 81p per carton. The lifestyle apple juice in my local shop is 78p.

Obviously the canteen areas in small schools are used for other purposes - ie music, art etc. The point is that schools service are saying that these areas which are dedicated canteen areas with occasional other use would be removed and be turned into dedicated classrooms where pupils would be expected to eat their lunch at their desks. There no longer would be a separate dining area. This would be the case at Uyeasound school as they only have 2 rooms, one classroom and one kitchen/canteen/social area. If I remember correctly their capacity was the same as Cullivoe, 60 pupils. In my opinion it is a bit deceitful for schools service to imply to the general public that schools are so empty and I'm not sure that people realise that in order to fit in all the pupils that they say they can schools would have to be drastically altered (which costs money) and dedicated areas would be taken away from pupils. When I grew up our house had no inside toilet or running hot water. It didn't kill me and I knew no different. However, I wouldn't want to go back to it now and I certainly wouldn't want it for my children. You say that pupils shouldn't have to eat at their desks and I fully agree with you.

www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/01/20528/50015 The above is the link for guidence on school capacity.

There is guidence from the Scottish Government on capacity where it is recommenced that "non-teaching" areas such as social areas and dining space in schools should be taken into consideration by the local authority. Unfortunately it is only guidence and not policy therefore schools service can ignore it.

I spent all of my education years eating lunch at my desk, and so did thousands of other students. I'm afraid I do not see why this would be a problem, to be honest. We didn't have a cafeteria. On Friday's we could order a boiled hotdog in a bun from the Home economics Dept. kitchen with our 250ml of milk, but that was it (for those who could afford it, I must add, and they were cooked by the teachers, not kitchen staff). Our 'social areas' were the hallways. We didn't have dedicated rooms for such purposes. I don't feel that my primary & secondary education was inadequate or harmed because of a lack of these facilities. Change of times, I suppose. If you want to make that point then I suppose the lack of canteen space shouldn't be a problem at the AHS. When the Scalloway pupils transfer they can eat their lunch at their desks.

Yet more spin from schools service about the capacity of the peerie schools. When they work out capacity they include social areas, dining areas and cupboards etc. They more or less work it out on the floor area of the school. For example, Cullivoe primary school on paper has a capacity of 60 pupils. In reality it is more like 30. There are 20 pupils at the moment with an increasing school roll. The only way Cullivoe school could accommodate 60 pupils is if they knocked down walls and built an extention. Uyeasound school had its dining area included in the capacity and when they asked where the pupils were expected to eat their lunch they were told at their desks!

Wrong. From The Shetland Times, Friday 25th March, 1959 A school inspector has suggested to Shetland Education Committee that they should consider combining Virkie/Quendale/Boddam schools into one new three-teacher school, sited probably at Virkie. When the suggestion came before the committee on Monday night, a cautious attitude was adopted, and it was agreed in the first place to send a five-man deputation down to the Ness to meet the local education Sub-Committee to test local reaction. The letter from Mr Dryburgh pointed out that Virkie, Quendale and Boddam schools lay within a circle of diameter about 3 1/2 miles. Since Levenwick and Bigton were not far distant there was unlikely to be a large hinterland. The roll at Virkie was likely to continue a little above the one-teacher level. Boddam might be slightly greater than that of Virkie. Neither school had a general purposes room, and both had sub-standard infant rooms. Dining at Boddam took place in the classroom, and there were no amenities for teachers at either school. The roll at Quendale fluctuated greatly. At present the room was far too small for the numbers, and the second room was far too small to act as a general purposes room for free movement exercises. There was a dining room at Quendale, but no solid teacher’s room. Mr Dryburgh had noted several different firms running service buses in the area, so transport was available. He suggested careful examination of all the points which could be made by centralisation. The total roll would be well within the three-teacher level; at present there were five teachers, three of whom received responsibility payments. There were two meals kitchens with staff, plus transport costs to deliver meals to Boddam. Virkie would have to be planned as a two-teacher school, and it would cost only a few thousands more to make it a three-teacher school. Against the saving would be extra transport costs and the wishes of the parents. The separation of classes should lead to increased efficiency, especially when the classes were small. If it was decided to centralise, Mr Dryburgh suggested that the new school be placed in a centre of population, not some isolated spot mathematically equidistant from Virkie, Quendale and Boddam. Virkie seemed to be the natural centre of population. If that was selected, care should be taken to keep it well clear of likely aeroplane paths. The chairman said this was something that would require a good deal of consideration. Mr R.A. Anderson said that the county architect had mentioned this possibility to him six months ago, when they were discussing new building projects. Mr Conway had advanced the theory from the point of view of the effectiveness of building a new school, rather than trying to take three other schools and spending a lot of money on them, and perhaps in the end not being quite satisfied. At that time, Mr Anderson thought if they did anything like this, perhaps this was the one part of Shetland where it might be done with the agreement of the local people. The whole area seemed to be populated – there were no long stretches of uninhabited ground between one house and another, and one village and another. It was not difficult for a Yell man to regard it as one very complete parish where an arrangement of this kind could work profitably. There would not be the feeling that the local people had been robbed of their school because the new school would still be comparatively near to the children involved. Be that as it may, it was still a very difficult decision to make, and one that would have to be made in agreement with the local people. The first thing should be to have representatives of the Education Committee meet the local Education Sub-Committee, so that they could have a full discussion of facts and figures, and to get full agreement in the area. He would move accordingly. Mr Tom Henderson said that seemed to imply the Education Committee had agreed in principle that this was a good thing. Chairman: Oh no. This is the first I have heard of it. Mr Henderson said he would most definitely object to that. All three schools named were not old dilapidated buildings. Quendale was brought up to a very good standard about 1946; there was a canteen and dining facilities there. Virkie fell somewhere in between the two. Boddam had a considerable amount of money spent on it last year. All three were of very good standard. “Are we to condemn two of these buildings for the sake of centralising the whole thing at the most distant point of the population in the district?†he asked. It was a fair distance from Vanlop to somewhere down in the Sumburgh area, especially when dealing with young children in wintry weather. This was a matter that wanted considerable thought. The architect said the canteen and kitchen at Quendale were in a HORSA building, now in a very rough state. The only thing he disagreed with Mr Dryburgh about was the site – he thought it should be nearer Boddam than Virkie. The director suggested the best thing to do would be to prepare a memorandum on the question, showing possible things for and against, and send a copy to the representatives of the local Education Sub-Committee and members of the Education Committee, if it was agreed there should be a joint meeting. The committee decided this was the best method of approach, an appointed Messrs Ollason, R.A. Anderson, W. K Conochie, Tony Anderson, and R. B. Blance to meet the local Sub-Committee. Tags: Shetland Life Comments are closed. Yes, sorry Marooned in Maywick, looks like the distance was 3 and a half miles according to this report in Times Past, the Shetland Times. (Apologies for going off topic).

It makes my blood boil when da flea brings up the schools in the sooth of Shetland. None of the schools for closure were more than 3 miles from the brand new purpose-built primary school, although I assume some of the pupils would have had to have travelled more than that to get to Dunrossness. If Cullivoe school shut the bairns have to travel 12 miles to get to school in Mid Yell, some from up the road it is nearer 13 miles and if there are bairns coming from Gloup your talking about 15 miles.