education
Reader’s Day
Love reading, love tea, love cakes
Meet the authors and enjoy home bakes 
Join us in Mearns Community Library on Saturday 27th June, 1.00pm – 4.30pm, for afternoon tea, cakes and authors and share your love of reading with like-minded others.
Supported by Scottish Book Trust, we are delighted to welcome 3 Scottish authors who will talk to you about their work.
The afternoon will be very informal with tea and ‘fine pieces’ on offer and during three 40 minute sessions, you will have the opportunity to meet all our authors and mingle with other readers.
Take part in our quiz, buy books by the authors. Bring along a book you have read that you think others would enjoy and add it to the BookSwap table. Read the rest of this entry »
Get active this summer with the Ranger Service
The nights are getting shorter, the days are getting warmer and summer is just around the corner. This year get out and about, explore a bit more and improve your health and well-being at the same time, by going along to some of the Ranger Service events. The Rangers’ 2015 Summer Programme launches at Easter, with a mix of family favourites and new events for you to try across Aberdeenshire. ![ranger_logo[1]](https://kandmcommunities.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ranger_logo1.gif){kind=logo}
Ranger Service Coordinator, Fiona Banks explains: “This year we will take you along parts of our coastal path where you’ll hear tales of smugglers and shipwrecks to a background chorus of kittiwakes and guillemots. We’ll be climbing the high peaks of Bennachie with rewarding views as far as the eye can see. If you prefer a shorter walk you can discover a different side to our countryside with our ‘Wild Food Walk’ or explore the local area’s prehistoric past on our ‘Stones, Great and Small’ walk.
“For our younger visitors we’ll be delving into the depths of ponds, rummaging in rockpools and, for the brave, we’ll be venturing out after dark to discover some of our night hunters.”
For those who are keen to be hands on with supporting the Rangers programme, the Service is also looking for volunteers to help with the James Ramsay wildlife garden. All volunteers will be rewarded with a tea party and if you can’t help at this time but would like to put your name forward for other projects please email bennachie.warden@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
The full 2015 Summer Programme is available to view on the council’s website under Rangers at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/rangerservice
A sober affair – Transport and the Aberdeenshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP)
For most of us, getting to the doctors or a health appointment isn’t an issue. We might drive, get a lift with a friend or family member, or get the bus or train. We might be disgruntled over the frequency of the buses, or indeed the cost, but nonetheless we would get there.
But what if we weren’t able to get a lift, or couldn’t afford the bus? We hear about how transport is an issue for the ADP and an initiative they have come up with try and address it.
The APD – what is it?
Aberdeenshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) is a collection of public bodies and citizen activists seeking to draw together interested parties to collectively tackle the issues associated with problematic alcohol and drug use and support recovery from addiction.
Key Messages
The ADP’s three key messages are:
- Addiction can affect anyone. Difficulties with alcohol and drug misuse do not tend to occur because people have been hedonistic or irresponsible. They are more likely to occur because people are trying to cope with significant difficulties in their life and may also be affected by a range of fundamental disadvantages in life, including isolation.
- Recovery from addiction is possible. People should be hopeful that with support, they can follow a pathway of recovery that leads to a happy, fulfilling and contributing life. Some of the most inspirational and serene people you can meet are those who have pursued a recovery journey.
- Stigma and inequities in access to support can inhibit recovery and make addiction worse.
What does the APD do?
Aberdeenshire ADP works with communities on issues of prevention, public protection and recovery. The ADP has an active agenda to involve and engage citizens in improving support services and contributing to their delivery.
The ADP and Transport – what’s the link?
For the last few years, a common response from citizens has been that the availability and affordability of public transport in Aberdeenshire has been a barrier to people accessing the services and support of the ADP. Not only this, but it restrains people from regular aspects of community life which are necessary to engage with the wider community and pursue a journey of recovery.
Substance misuse services aim to support people who can afford to access their services but this isn’t always possible.
How are we resolving these issues?
The ADP’s 3 community forums have tried to support people in need by providing funding for bus passes but have struggled with obtaining funding. Meanwhile, the has ADP sought to influence Transport Scotland to open the existing concessionary travel scheme for older and disabled people to include those actively working to recover from addictions. The current criteria for entitlement are here: http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/public-transport/concessionary-travel-people-aged-60-or-disability
Similar requests from a number of other ADP’s across Scotland led to Transport Scotland agreeing in October to support a pilot project in Aberdeenshire to test whether temporary dispensations to the concessionary travel schemes would result in improved engagement and recovery outcomes for alcohol and drug clients in order to influence future policy.
How does the Pilot work?
The pilot commenced on 2 December and will run until end March 2015. The pilot enables certain staff in Substance Misuse services to assess whether difficulties in accessing affordable transport are a real barrier to someone making progress on one or more aspects of their agreed recovery plan.
If so, the staff member is able to authorise the person’s application for concessionary travel and will record their deliberations on a simple spreadsheet. This data will be evaluated at the end of the pilot to assess whether the rate of engagement in recovery activities such as care and treatment appointments, mutual aid, or other activities directly related to supporting recovery has increased and whether this has resulted in improvements in individual’s recovery progress.
If we can show that access to concessionary travel support enhances people’s recovery, we hope to persuade government to change eligibility for the scheme on a permanent basis. We hope the business case will stack up and that stigmatising views about people in recovery don’t get in the way.
For more information on the ADP please visit: http://www.aberdeenshireadp.org.uk/ or follow the ADP on Twitter: @abdnshireadp
There’s no ward like home.
The shape of Scottish society is changing. People are living longer, healthier lives and as the needs of our society change, so too must the nature and form of our public services. 
New legislation, in the form of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, came into force on 1 April 2014. The Act requires Health Boards and Local Authorities to integrate their health and social care services.
Local teams and professionals across health and social care will work together to deliver quality, sustainable care and services resulting in improved outcomes for the people and their families who use these services.
Those individuals with long-term conditions and disabilities, many of whom are older people, will get the joined-up and seamless support and care that they need to live safely and independently in their own homes for as long as possible.
So, that’s the background, but what will it mean to you & I? 
Read the rest of this entry »
Kincardine & Mearns Community Plan
Priority 11 Online Engagement & Information Sharing Supports Our Partnership – 3rd review
Intended Outcomes:
Local partners are confident using social media to meet their needs of their communities and online platforms are developed to strengthen partnership and community engagement. 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 »
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 »
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