James Gillespie's Xmas Carol Concert

James Gillespie's Xmas Carol Concert this evening ... a very impresive evening indeed, with such a wide variety of talent on display.

It really is this type of showcase for the state sector that just doesn't get enough attention - I seriously doubt anything better is undertaken within the private sector.

Carrick Knowe Primary School this morning

Over to Carrick Knowe Primary School this morning ... really calm atmosphere throughout the school. Yet again, this was pretty evident within a few minutes of being in the building, and only re-inforced as I went around some of the classrooms with the Acting Head Teacher.

All of this, the more impressive when you consider the devasting issues that the school community have had to face this year.

Very seriously impressed.

Council Executive meeting - Transport-lunch!

Council Executive meeting (agenda here) this morning ... John Owino from Meru South (in Kenya) District Education office spoke briefly to the meeting before it began. Ongoing discussions about setting up a formal trust have led to his visit and a paper was approved at the meeting taking this to the next step.

Transport-lunch this afternoon! ... went out with all the principal Communications Officers, and my ex- Departmental Assistant, who saw me through a very challenging final few years at the Transport brief.

Enjoyable afternoon and just a very small thank you for all of the unstinting help they provided over the years.

Lismore Primary School Board this morning

I've been invited to a Lismore Primary School Board meeting later this morning ... suspect it may be a lively meeting, with some bridges to be built for sure! And it did turn out to be a much wider meeting than just the School Board - even Gavin Strang MP was there and actually chaired the gathering?

Did my utmost to reassure everyone that I wanted to see a successful future for the school - was undoubtedly an air of scepticism, but entirely understandable given the recent history of events surrounding the school. Tried to press home the message that as well as the Local Authority supporting and promoting the local school, the more important support and promotion would always come from the local community itself ... and to achieve that, everyone needs to move on from yesterdays' issues.

Not sure I fully succeeded in getting the message across??

Xmas Decorations

Spent this morning - with a very excited 9-year old! - getting the 'Xmas Decorations' up in the flat. Most of my side of the family coming over to Edinburgh this year - looking forward to it.

London today for Electoral Reform Society Council meeting

Down to London today for the quarterly Eletoral Reform Society (ERS) Council meeting.

Been on the Council now for several years - lost out in the vote for one year recently - and in the main the level of debate is vastly improved on my earlier years. That said, little bit of the old factionalism did seem to creep in to the second half of the meeting today ;-((

Hopefully was just a minor reversion and won't become a depressing pattern!

Weekly Director meeting

Weekly meeting with department Director this morning ... budget for 2007/08 still dominating general discussion.

Other topics covered ranged from Tynecastle to Portobello educational issues; from 'Children 1st" to 'school computer refresh programme'.

Blackhall Primary School and Local Community Council Xmas night-out!

Blackhall Primary School this morning ... very impressive establishment and really enjoyed being taken around by the Head Teacher and Chair of the School Board - even had a good bit of debate about aspects of educational policy with them ;-)

Amazingly calm atmosphere throughout the whole school - which I always think speaks volumes for what is going on.

Blackhall throws up some interesting dilemmas ... very successful school in terms of attainment, pretty good building fabric when compared to others across the city, probably not traditionally 'top' priority for investment ... but should all of that really prevent it being considered for further investment? Edinburgh is always banging-on about 'investing in success' and not just 'spending to avoid failure' ... apply that general argument to school fabric?? Not sure, needs to be a balance really and ultimately children's education simply has to be the top priority ... good fabric undoubtedly makes a difference, but so many other crucial elements require support as well ... staffing; parental-backing to mention but the obvious two.

On to my local Community Council Xmas Night-Out this evening - very enjoyable occasion at Jimmy Chungs in town! Managed about 4 main-courses and 2 puddings ... I do have a reputation to keep up after all ;-))

Lot of chit-chat about computers making all our lives easier (??) ... can't say it feels like that to me when I look at the number of e-mails I get on a daily basis! ... lots of them from members of the said Community Council ;-((

Murrayburngate Social Work centre yesterday and Braidburn School today ...

ooops ... didn't log an entry yesterday (Tuesday), but was at Murrayburngate Social Work centre for most of the morning and also forgot to mention that I went out to Westfield House Social Work Centre yesterday afternoon. Having been round several now, I'm more than ever convinced of the need for a pretty large boost in the base-revenue budget for the Children and Families Department ... there's really impressive work going on, but a lot of 'professional' time is being spent on tasks that could be undertaken by others thus releasing the qualified Social Workers to do what their job title suggests.

Braidburn School this (Wednesday) morning ... a fairly new special school with the complete age range from 3 years up to 18 years old ... also pretty wide range of educational, physical and emotional needs being catered for as well.

A really excellent facility all-round but still the odd snagging issue with some of the new fabric ... just a tiny, little bit frustrating that this still seems to get blamed on the school being PPP financed; if anyone can point me to a traditionally-funded school that had absolutely no snagging issues on the day it opened I'd be very pleasantly surprised ;-)

That said, there clearly is an issue about speed of response to fabric issues that are being raised ... something that definitely needs to be pursued!

Young Edinburgh Awards

Young Edinburgh Awards ceremony this evening ... meant I had to cancel my weekly surgery, which I never like doing, and hopefully the door signs were in clear view! ... but the alternative was a really enjoyable evening, which even the Evening News reported positively - have a look at this link, and here, but make sure you're sitting down first ;-)

No wonder the roof blew off Meggetland the very same day ;-))

Birthday weekend!

Birthday weekend for the family this Saturday/Sunday ... complete exhaustion now very evident after having 16 X 9-year olds for a couple of hours ten-pin bowling and then all back at the house ;-(

Self-inflicted madness - but the kids all thoroughly enjoyed themselves ;-))

Some expert bowling ...

St. Crispin's School

St. Crispin's School visit this morning for a special St. Andrew's Day assembly ... only just got there on time (typical politician!), which was all a bit embarassing, but was made to feel very welcome and the school assembly was hugely impressive. The 'whole' school did seem to be involved and it was very evident that a massive amount of preparation had gone into the morning, which is no small feat when dealing with such challenging young people.

Following the school assembly, got a tour of the classes, and outside areas - it is a typical 1960s/70s building and clearly does need some refurbishment, but that said the patience and calmness being shown with the young people was exemplary.

Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel

Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel this morning ... interesting discussion about funding for social work and child protection services. There was almost universal political agreement that the baseline revenue budget for these issues needs to be radically increased ... I'm not holding my breath for ALL of the political budgets responding to this on February 8th when we set the 2007/08 spend ;-((

It is, no matter what actually happens in February, a real change in attitude from a few years ago when these services were just not considered an absolute priority - by any of the political groups.

Captain's Road Social Work Centre ...

Captain's Road Social Work Centre today ... one of the larger Social Work centres in the city and I sensed a real change in atmosphere in the air. I'm not for a minute claiming all was perfect - I'm sure the staff would be the first to agree! - but there was a palpable sense of purpose and pride in the place that you simply didn't detect in Social Work centres several years ago.

I've got nothing but admiration for the vast, vast majority of social workers (and teachers!) who clearly work in extremely pressured environments, dealing with very challenging circumstances on a daily basis ... sadly, they get precious little public praise for the work they do; even more tragically it's often the reverse with totally unjustified attacks on their professionalism.

Anyone who doubts a social worker's (or teacher's) public worth should just go and spend a day with them.

Carrickvale Community Centre and Juniper Green Primary School

Council Executive meeting this morning at Carrickvale Community Centre ... just on the edge of my current Ward. Was only able to stay for the first half-hour, but did manage to catch the local presentations before having to rush off quickly out to Juniper Green Primary School ... Hugh Henry, the new Minister for Education and Young People, was visiting to launch the Scottish Teaching Awards.

Juniper Green was chosen, I guess, due to the presence of Susan Ward who recently won the Scottish and UK Probationer of the Year ... spent a brief spell in her classroom, and despite a dozen or so strange adults invading the room the children were still clearly completely engrossed in what they were doing and got right on with doing it.

No wonder she won the Probationer of the Year award!

Oban and 2 Edinburgh Community Centres

Spent all of Saturday up in Oban ... now I'm politically biased obviously, but do have a read at Jack McConnell's speech and then contrast it to the bit of the SNP website that actually mentions policy ...

Go on ... have a quick look and make up your own mind about who is proposing a serious programme of policy development to change people's lives??

Anyhow, enough of the political advert - Oban was looking great during the Saturday morning; great journey up and stunning scenery, then late afternoon and the heavens opened up big-style and the whole area was completely drenched. The drive back down to Edinburgh was pretty grim and unenjoyable.

Monday spent visiting two Community Centres in Edinburgh - Bingham and Royston/Wardieburn ... both very different, Bingham pretty small but with an active local programme; and Royston/Wardieburn a very big centre with a huge programme and focus on children and young people. Seemed to be really good work being undertaken at both centres.

Oaklands School

Visited Oaklands School today - not the existing one, but the new-build which is about to open in a few weeks time! Building not quite finished - but just about, with the staff and pupils moving in just before Christmas. It's clearly been a huge investment for the city and is certainly going to be a showcase for special needs provision. Really impressed by the relationship that was evident between the staff (practictioners) and the architects/builders ... it does seem to have been very fruitful and has led to a specialist facility of great quality.

All got me thinking, especially on top of the visit to Macdonald Road on Wednesday, about just how good the specialist educational services that City of Edinburgh Council provides are ... I know you'll be thinking 'he would say that' but it is actually true.

Full Council meeting today

Full Council meeting today - with a huge number of deputations attending, so looks like it could be a long meeting!

In fact, it did go on right through to nearly 3.30pm ... but again, mostly dominated by transport and other areas, with Children and Families issues only really coming up through one of the reports. It will though be very different next month, with the outcome (and recommendations) from the Portobello Schools consultation coming back for a final decision.