Christmas Event 2007

Hi everyone! When Paul Crockford asked me to write about the Christmas event, I had to seriously think!! I don’t know about the rest of you but it seems a lifetime ago. What did we do and where did we go? The only things I remember about Christmas are the rain pouring through my conservatory roof, and the credit card bill that landed on my mat on the 21 Jan!! Supposedly that was, according to research, one of the most depressing days of this year (I know what they meant).

Well lets start with a positive, a little late in coming but Happy New Year to all lets hope its a good one, As we know for those of us that got thrashed at Exeter Mega bowl, we had a fun time catching up with those we hadn’t seen for a while whilst being shown up by the younger generation with us that we couldn’t bowl and if we where lucky enough to get a strike (I did say lucky) then it didn’t last for long.

I felt, so I hope you did too, that it was a fun afternoon, with lots of laughs and giggles coming from different alleys, although a little disorganised initially, with everyone’s help it turned out to be a good event. So from me many thanks to you all and I hope to catch up with you soon.

New Staff Member – Sarah Scott

I have worked in the field of children’s’ social care for 20 years and have been a social worker and a senior manager. My special area of interest is Fostering and I worked within Plymouth City Council Fostering and Support Service for a total of 7 years.

My proudest achievements were introducing new developments into the Service, such as a Foster Carers Forum, free membership of Fostering Network for foster carers and a diversity of support groups. The performance of the authority improved and Ofsted were pleased with the improvements we had achieved.

Following a Departmental restructuring I moved back to front line social work as a manager. However, my true interest and area of expertise is fostering and I wished to move to the independent sector. Therefore, I said goodbye to 20 years of local authority social work wishing for more exciting opportunities. These, I found with Regional Foster Placements.

I am very pleased to be with organization and seldom have met such friendly and supportive colleagues. The Foster Carers are truly dedicated to the children they look after and I am delighted to work alongside them.

I am hoping for and working toward a very positive future with the organization.

Website Review

www.edontheweb.com

There are pieces of research that show primary school pupils are suffering from stress because they are made to sit difficult tests. Its time for 'Ed on the Web', a new website created to help parents and kids with education. The site, developed by a teacher, focuses on learning English, Maths and Science but manages to do this in a fun way.

In the Ed Zone, you can find animated guides to different careers and simple games. Or click on Get Edwise for a quick guide to the internet. But if you join the site as a full member, you get access to a lot more. In Club Ed, you can find spelling tests and a poetry corner, The Ed Files test your skills in English, Maths and Science and in Ed Revisions you can get some revision practice on different topics.

The website claims to be able to enhance our children's love of books and reading whilst improving confidence in reading skills and helps children learn in a fun, interactive way. The site features recently published books specially selected to excite children's imagination and has downloadable literacy activities including quizzes, word searches and poetry to complement the books of the month.

To join it costs £9.99 for a one-year single-user membership, which does not seem a lot if it helps kids to learn in a fun way.