minutes 25 Febraury 2004

Aberdeen Guidance Network Minute of Meeting Wednesday 25 February 2004 at Summerhill Education Centre
1	Present	Doug Cameron (Chair) – Bridge of Don Ac; Susan Anderson – Kincorth Ac; Andy Parks – Cults Ac; Liz Goodall – Torry Ac; Marion Sutherland – AGS; Judy Palmer – Bankhead Ac; Louise Bonner – St Machar Ac; Ann Lowson – Northfield Ac; Janice Moir – Dyce Ac; Linda Ure – Oldmachar Ac; John MacBean – Hazlehead Ac.
2	Apologies	Terry Ashton
3	Flexible Admission to University	item postponed due to industrial action at University. A handout entitled Aim 4 Uni was given out to help explain the purpose of the plan and it was noted that four city schools with relatively low uptake of university places have been targeted for this initiative. DC had spoken to Denise Shearer from the University and his understanding was that the scheme was related to raising awareness in these schools about the help – including Summer School - which was available to facilitate entry.
4	Career Education : A New Opportunity	Jane Dodgson and Sandra Gates gave a full description of the resources available including those that had already been used by some schools. Among those mentioned were The Get Into Enterprise programme, used successfully by Kincorth Academy recently in an S5 Challenge Day they held. The programme is very flexible and training is available. The next training course in Aberdeen is to be held at Westburn Lounge on 2 March and places are still available. Only teachers who have been on the training course can deliver the course. The materials have SQA accreditation. Career Box, a CD resource, copies of which should have come into schools last week. The CD cover should have a yellow back. There are topics suitable for every year, S1-S6. Training will be on offer hopefully during SQA exam time. Quite a few units would be useful for PSE. The Up For Enterprise materials fit into the S1/S2 PSE programme. ‘Big Dave’, regarded by Jane Dodgson as a worthwhile motivational speaker, can come to talk to pupils prior to using the Anti-bullying topic. There will be a free training day in May on the use of these materials. Determined to Succeed, an Enterprise in Education programme. Aberdeen will be among the very first authorities to get finance for this. Terry Ashton will have more information on this. It will link Enterprise and Citizenship. Basix, a product developed by Standard Life and already in use in the Edinburgh and Lothian areas will be introduced to local companies who will be encouraged to get involved with schools through its use. A pilot will be run locally by Careers Scotland in the Summer Term. It might not be suitable for whole year groups. In Lothian, groups of 12 are involved at any one time. The Teacher Placement scheme was mentioned and it was pointed out that a placement counts towards CPD. Placements can be for between 2 and 10 days and cover is provided. The meeting was very appreciative of being made aware of such a wide range of resources– almost too much to digest in such a short time. JD and SG emphasised their willingness to assist in any way they could.
5	National Review of Guidance	Research is being conducted by a private company and this process is taking longer than originally projected; a recent meeting was delayed for two months. Only 3 or 4 schools are involved and only one, Dyce Academy, from this area.
6	Enterprise in Education	Discussion postponed until the next meeting when TA - a co-author of the Nov ’03 report – will be present. In the meantime, TA’s summary of the report was distributed.
7	Job-Sizing – the "tool kit" post-McCrone.	There is to be a meeting at Summerhill with the EIS President on Thursday 26 February from 4 30 – 6pm to discuss this. Some group members are planning to attend although there was some doubt as to whether it would go ahead because of the snow.
8	Scottish Guidance Association	All Aberdeen schools now have institution membership of the Association; therefore, individual teachers will no longer need to join. The Workshop Day will be on Saturday 28 February. Some members of this group will be attending.
9	Children’s Hearings	PTG’s in one school had concerns about the effectiveness of the hearings over recent years and wished to find out if these were shared by other schools. After discussion it was quickly apparent that they were. All present were agreed that a lack of adequate funding was probably a major related issue but other possible factors were identified in discussion. Chair suggested that we all confirmed with our colleagues that the feelings expressed were truly representative and we should also seek to identify any positive experiences with the system. The group agreed to ask Terry Ashton if it would be possible to call a meeting of all those involved in hearings. A constructive sharing of views could hopefully be useful, especially in the current climate of financial demands on local authorities.
10	Other Issues	Progress File – quite a few present were not aware that the books had been discontinued and that the pages were now on-line and downloadable as required. It was thought that copying costs could be reclaimed by schools but no one present was familiar with the system for this. HMIe Inspection of the education functions of Aberdeen City – information can be linked from the Guidance web-site. It was noted that curricular and vocational guidance over all schools was considered Good-Very Good as was pastoral care. The group were pleased to hear that our own Guidance Network was given a favourable mention. The meeting thought that Terry should take much of the credit for this. Survey of health, development and emotional wellbeing – was postponed until the next meeting as was 4a.) the Buzz. 4b) Drama, Guidance and Alcohol Education – Aboyne Academy have combined these successfully. There is to be an afternoon in-service for city Drama and Guidance teachers to hear about it. Terry Ashton will try to arrange a time.

A big thank you to Linda Ure and Doug Cameron for the minutes and for chairing the meeting - Terry