Local Blog
Milk Bottles to Postcards: An Interview with Brian Watt
Brian Watt is the local historian and collector that has contributed the old postcards for this months competition. We interview him here to find out what he loves about old pictures, what happens at the Grampian Postcard Club and what his council job in Environment Planning involves.
November’s Old Postcard Competition Launch!
This month’s K&M Communities Competition will ask you to identify the locations pictured in 10 old Postcards from the Kincardine & Mearns area.
Here’s first postcard. Do you know where it is?
November Topic Launch – Reminiscing
Human beings have a unique ability to focus on things that aren’t happening right now. This allows them to reflect on the past and learn from it.
This month at K&M Communities we have asked you to help us explore some the reasons, benefits (or otherwise) of reminiscing and the ways you come together to do it locally.
Always Learning – Milltown Community
Milltown Community – set in the historic village of Arbuthnott, amid the rolling countryside of the Mearns in South Aberdeenshire is a busy and vibrant place, five residents live in Milltown House, a big old farmhouse and two tenants live in Peesie’s Knapp, a new wooden kit house . Twenty-two more clients come in every week to the Day Workshop. Read the rest of this entry »
Mearns Academy – Moving On, part 5
Enjoy the final instalment of Ian Parkin’s trip through the history of Mearns Academy…..
Sports and Other Activities and Experiences
As well as on-going classroom experiences, pupils at the school have over the decades benefitted from a wide range of other opportunities including sporting, musical and cultural activities. Read the rest of this entry »
Education – a human right?
LITTLE FIGHTERS
Kids are sitting quietly at their desks and concentrating on the day’s lesson. No romping about, no noise or giggling, even though there is no teacher around. Only a soft murmur fills the small classroom in the convent near Kalaw, Myanmar. Nothing can distract the children. Definitely not the foreign-looking woman who enters, watches for a while and takes 
a picture. In every child, there is something of a little fighter. They have an uncompromising will to learn, to evolve. As if they sense that learning is a way out of their current lives.” Read the rest of this entry »
Mearns Academy – Moving On, part 4
Spare the rod and spoil the child, or not? How has learning and teaching changed since 1895?
Learning and Teaching
Music-Making & Fun for 0-7’s
Do you have the next Mozart or perhaps Liberace tinkling the ivories? Maybe singing is more their thing? If so, read on to find out more about the early years musical experiences on offer in K & M.
Tooters have been delivering unique and exciting music sessions to children aged between 0 and 7 years across the North East of Scotland since 1999. The weekly music sessions for parent/carer and child provide an early years’ music programme that reflects current educational developments but also draws on approaches to music education that have been used for many years. All Tooters’ activities are devised to appeal to the child of today, but have an underlying musical and developmental objective. However, at the heart of the Tooters’ ethos is enjoyment, with the emphasis on having fun in a warm and welcoming environment. Read the rest of this entry »
Mearns Academy – Moving On, part 3
Was truancy a problem in the past? Read on to find out.
Attending School
Today, quite rightly, consistent attendance by pupils is seen as one of the key benchmarks of a school’s success. Thankfully, attendance at Mearns Academy remains very strong with some young people going through school for six years with a 100% attendance record. Read the rest of this entry »
Mearns Academy – Moving On, part 2
Enjoy the second installment of the history of Mearns Academy…
Changes in Accommodation 1895 – 2014
Progress continues with the new building and from August, Mearns Academy will be sited on the brand new Community Campus. The facilities for learners will be excellent and indeed the whole community will benefit from the site including a community library, theatre and hugely improved sports facilities. Read the rest of this entry »
Listening & Learning – To Improve Our Healthcare
A ‘Stronger Voice’
The ‘Stronger Voice’ project comes as a response to the recognition that we need to involve the people who need and use health services in their design and delivery. This way of working has been developing over a number of years, it has been a challenge to the ways things have been done but a lot has been learned about how to do it properly. Read more about the Stonger Voice project here. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s that time of year again…..
Adult Learning Classes Starting Sept 14
It’s that time of year again. Are you going to while away some of the winter hours by picking up a new skill? Master new technology?
As ever, there is a variety of courses on offer during evening or daytime at Stonehaven Community Centre and other venues in Stonehaven and Inverbervie. Read the rest of this entry »
K&M Communities 