They are lucky to have you Alison. Have a great time!

Wow. I had no idea this was the case. What a shambles.

Of course, these are rough figures, you’d need accurate data on age profile of workforce and average retirement age to be more certain.

The age distribution of those with 15+ years will range from 37-65+. Assuming a mid point of 51, around half of those teachers with 15+ experience may be expected to retire within 15 years, or 25% of the total cohort (rather than 50%).

Nearly 10% of registrants having less than 3 years experience seems quite high given teachers coming into the profession now will be working 40+ years. There will obviously be some who don’t become fully qualified but, given the lack of jobs, we perhaps still have too many entrants.

Meeting staff to agree development plans, organising school trips, attending the Migrant Voices CPD at Kelvingrove, redeveloping H Mods resources & sorting cover. Highlight of the week though as always was the wee moments with the kids, and laughs with my lovely team. Teaching really is a fab job 😊

Both on basis of free speech and support for their stance on Gaza. With S2 I started our brand new unit on Scotland & the British Empire. Writing it has been a labour of love - it’s such an important area of our history but rarely taught & lacking resources. Along with teaching, I was kept busy

First up - first week of study leave for seniors. It’s been lovely to have 1:1 time with N4 pupils, many of whom need more attention that I can give within our big mixed-level classes. With S3, I looked at the Kneecap story - should they be banned from playing TRNSMT? Resounding no from pupils -

The link to this story keeps breaking for some reason 🤔

It would be good if EIS and EdScot could start to advertise events like this to members through their bulletins, magazine etc. Since leaving X it’s been hard to find out about things going on - only found out about the Step conference when I saw your posts today.

Fantastic, thanks for flagging up to me!

Yes, though Glasgow is slightly different from Bristol and Liverpool as our involvement was mostly in the trade of goods produced by enslaved people (tobacco, sugar), rather than directly in the trade of enslaved people. Many Scots left for opportunities in the Caribbean & N. America.

Yes, it needs to be core as it’s such an important part of our history. It does require difficult decisions re simplification and what to leave out! I’ll be sharing the new course once finished, hopefully that will mean more schools teaching it as there’s a dearth of resources at the moment.

This is interesting though not surprising, thanks for posting. I am in the middle of writing a unit on Scotland and Empire for core S2 History. It’s a topic which is often not covered till later within school history (if at all) with resulting gaps in knowledge.

Between Mods and History we teach every controversial topic out there and in 17 years I have never once had a parent either ask what we teach or raise issues with it. I suspect teachers are more concerned about how to sensitively manage debate within their class, than worried about parents.

Surely, in 2025, we can put our considerable resources as a wealthy country towards really thinking about children’s lives? Less measurement - more focus on creating experiences which help kids make friends & get fit. 6 weeks of fun every summer, not 6 weeks screen time. That’s my new year wish 🤞

Fast forward to 2025 & our once lovely parks are dilapidated. Most pools have gone and those which remain cost £. Leisure access reflects privilege. Our poorest kids have no access to holidays & spend too much time indoors. Obesity, mental ill health and school avoidance have all increased.

The 1950s and 1960s were much poorer than now, with Glasgow also having to meet the challenge of rebuilding a war torn city. Yet, kids were prioritised, and the social and health benefits of trips/outdoor education recognised.