Meggetland opening

Official opening of Meggetland this morning, with the "plaque-unveiling" being undertaken by the Scotland Manager Alex McLeish.

Of course, the press were much more interested in covering his thoughts on the Scotland team than on the facilities at Meggetland ;-(

Council Executive meeting

Council Executive meeting this morning ... main agenda can be found here.

And, as always, the individual reports can be accessed by searching Council Papers On-Line at:

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cpol/Link/index.html

... I do often think this is a much under-used facility.

Adult Learning Link

Later this afternoon went over to Craigmillar to visit 'Adult Learning Link' ... again, very impressive range of supports being offered to the local community from this central base.

More information about the general work of the Edinburgh East Community Learning and Development (CLD) team can be found by following this link.

Covered my two recent CLD visits in the periodic Department Newsletter - can be found here.

Full Council away-day

Another Full Council away-day this morning ... hasten to add it was only in George Street again!

I'm sure this will be the last one before the Scottish General (and local) elections in a few months time.

Theatre and Rugby

Went to see "To Kill a Mockingbird" on Friday evening. Read the book when still at school and found this performance just as powerful as I remember my original reading of the story. Very sobering tale.

On an even more depressing note, went to see Scotland play Italy at rugby yesterday afternoon - convinced of course that victory was at hand!

How wrong I was ... this summary of the match says it all really. Tried to drown our sorrows after the match, but it was all genuinely very painful ;-((

Weekly Director's meeting ...

Weekly Director's meeting and, despite the budget now being set, discussion still focused on the many practical implications of seeing through the decisions made.

Guess this is one very big difference between being in an administration and being in opposition - the 'opposition' never have to implement their budget proposals and can move on swiftly to other things once budget-day is out of the way.

If only that was the case for me ;-(

Benmore Centre for Outdoor Education today

Up to Benmore Centre for Outdoor Education today ... bit of a drive to get there, but did promise both Benmore and Lagganlia Centre Managers that I would visit before the election-period kicked in proper!

A really enjoyable day ... was a serious side to the visit, as regards budget pressures, which I spent a considerable time discussing with the Centre Manager, and do feel reasonably confident that the main concern over timescales for long-term decisions can be resolved pretty quickly. In essence, both Managers are looking for a clear way forward by August this year ... I think this is achievable, but a challenge obviously given the intervening election!

Talking of challenges, had a go on both the indoor climbing wall ... boy, were my arms aching afterwards ... and undertook a spot of gorge walking; described on Benmore's website as "one of the most outrageous of our activities and certainly one of the wettest. You will be negotiating rocky streams, waterfalls and other obstacles trying to stay dry for as long as possible. Generally ropes are not required although sometimes they can be used as handrails or for traversing over the water."

Sadly for me ... this is an entirely accurate description
;-((

Joking aside ... very enjoyable afternoon spent doing these activities. Staff, and students present, could not have been more friendly and accommodating.

Edinburgh South Children & Youth Work team

Over to Gracemount Leisure Centre this morning to visit Edinburgh South Children & Youth Work team (part of Community Learning and Development - CLD) ... very impressed with the wide-range of support activities that are being undertaken in this part of the city. This aspect of CLD's work is, all too often, overlooked I feel ... glad I've been to visit today.

More, general information on Edinburgh South CLD can be found by following this link.

Gracemount Leisure Centre facilities pretty impressive also!

Technology and Tynecastle ...

One added benefit of modern technology, apart from the existence of this blog of course, which I really welcome is the ability to occasionally (not often it has to be said) work from home and access and work on e-mails remotely ... if only there were fewer scintillating meetings to constantly attend, I'd certainly make use of the facility a lot more ;-((

Preparatory meeting (yes, another meeting, so no more remote accessing of e-mails!) later this afternoon for the public event on Tynecastle Nursery School (mentioned earlier here), which is at 7pm tonight in Tynecastle High School.

Adult Learning Project discussion

Was asked to contribute to an Adult Learning Project (ALP) discussion on the forthcoming implementation of STV-PR this evening.

Thoroughly enjoyed the event, but was a classic reminder of how confusing the 'mechanics' of how STV-PR is counted can be ... contrasted with the absolute simplicity of its use.

But, as someone present this evening rightly remind us all, most people who drive a car wouldn't know where to start if they had to fix it but they're perfectly capable of making it 'go where they want it to' ... I've a feeling the same will be true of the Scottish electorate on May 3rd!

quieter Sunday

Quieter Sunday ... went to see (with younger family members I hasten to add!) "Arthur and the Invisibles" ... everyone seemed to enjoy the film, with great concern being expressed about the next time I cut the grass and how do I know whether the 'MiniMoys' will be safe when I do it?? Difficult one to answer ;-(

Over to the west to see my parents later in the afternoon ... both seemed reasonably well.

Leaflets, leaflets, leaflets ...

More leaflet delivery this morning ... weather was great locally, which always makes it much more enjoyable ;-))

COSLA Education Meeting

Later this morning went to the periodic COSLA (The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities)
'Education Executive' meeting at their offices in Haymarket.

Agenda and papers all here.

Fairly prompt meeting, with the one note of disappointment being the report on 'English as an Additional Language (EAL)' provision in schools. It's a service under particular pressure here in Edinburgh - for entirely positive reasons I hasten to add - and the 'time-lag' between numbers being recorded and money coming to the service is causing some difficulty. I sense this has always been more manageable historically, due to much lower numbers being involved overall, but the large increases in Eastern European migration to the city has added a whole new dimension to the language and teaching needs that now have to be met.

I do have to add, that every single head-teacher I've spoken to concerning this, is nothing but positive about the added dimension that the actual children are bringing to their schools ... without exception its also always commented that their personal application to the work set before them is absolutely first class.

Car Key Crisis!

I know it will come as a rude shock to many ... but we do actually own a car ... a rather smart, red Citroen Saxo ;-))

Joking aside about the quality of the car, bit of a serious "car key crisis" earlier this morning ... having lost the spare key several years ago (and having never bothered to replace it - a big mistake I now realise!), the only remaining key 'snapped' right in two whilst I was attempting to shut and lock the boot.

Not a good situation to be in - no spare key, only remaining key broken in two, half of that stuck in the boot lock, no way to lock the car boot or to actually even drive the car ... not good at all.

Thankfully, discovered a whole new trade that I didn't even know existed - "Auto Locksmiths" ... and one of them in Edinburgh had the situation sorted within a few hours ... broken key extracted, two new keys subsequently cut (and electronically chipped?) and all is well.

Of course, I wasn't about to use the car to commute to work but merely extracting bloody election leaflets from the boot ;-((

The Selfish Gene

Almost finished Richard Dawkins book "The Selfish Gene" last night (or I should say very early this morning!) ... like many I suspect, know a lot 'about' his work but have never actually read any of his books cover-to-cover.

And I've really enjoyed this - both as a thoroughly captivating thesis, but also as just a really good read. A combination that is rare indeed!

It's also amazingly fresh, even though its now 31-years old ... sign of a really good piece of research and writing.

Very quiet Valentines Night ;-((

With the rest of the family having abandoned me for the sunnier climes of London, have spent a very quiet Valentines Night at home ;-((

Normal, chaotic family life resumes tomorrow with the return of the southern hordes ...

... last few days haven't been all bad mind you, with a rediscovery of just how damned good Goldfrapp sounds when played at above average volume ;-)) ... so good, its almost made up for all those instant dinners!

Local "Amenity Map"

Meeting with some 'Neighbourhood Officers' at the Council later this afternoon to discuss progress with an "Amenity Map" for the Hutchison/Chesser area (interesting memories of the area from the 1940's here!).

There are a lot of very good (but slightly, geographically disparate) local services being provided and the local Community Council is really keen to see them all 'pulled together' into one source - thus the idea for an "Amenity Map" - which we could distribute widely throughout the local area.

Great idea - and it's come mainly from local residents! - which will hopefully come to fruition very soon. I'll be sure to report further progress ;-)

More on the budget

The main revenue and capital budgets may have been set for 2007/08; but the third-party "grants to organisations" are still to be decided.

Recommendations for these grants come to the Council Executive meeting on Tuesday 13th March (for final agreement) ... and I'm now starting to receive quite a bit of correspondence on a variety of applications.

The amount of work that voluntary organisations undertake for local authorities is often completely under-estimated - have a look at last year's report, which shows that some £20.7million was allocated in 2006/07.