Green fingered gardeners have been offered a guide to help identify some of the most common weeds which could threaten British backyards this summer.
Garden gurus at BillyOh.com have researched nine weeds that can be found in UK gardens and revealed how to recognise and remove them. Continue reading How to identify most common UK weeds
EDINBURGH Napier University has welcomed the first intake of students on to its newly-launched Professional Graduate Diploma in Education programme. Continue reading New teacher training programme gets under way
Symphonic Ibiza, Underbelly’s Central Hall
9pm – 11pm
Saturday 17th August, Thursday 22nd – Sunday 25th August
Celebrate the European island of clubbing this summer with this unforgettable two-hours of heart pounding dance classics at Underbelly’s Central Hall.
Created by DJ and Producer Andy Joyce, whose credentials include residencies at Ibiza super-clubs Pacha, Amnesia, Eden and Café Mambo and Music Genius and Composer Steve Etherington, Symphonic Ibiza fuses a thrilling live orchestra, DJ and vocalists with high tempo beats bring this new experience to the Fringe.
Following its successful launch at the famous Ibiza club ‘Eden’ in 2018, and its UK debut at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay last year, Symphonic Ibiza is proud to be returning to Edinburgh for this year’s Festival featuring some of the most famous Ibiza club anthems from the last 30 years.
Symphonic Ibiza is a party like no other and a totally unique and massive night out.
Presented by Underbelly in association with Dan Colman Creative.
Continue reading Mossmorran: regulator demands speedier improvements
UK Minister for Africa, Andrew Stephenson announced an extra £18 million of UK aid on his first visit in his new role, which will be given to trusted partners to help vulnerable families in desperate need. Continue reading UK aid to provide vital food to hundreds of thousands of people in troubled South Sudan
Police in Edinburgh have issued CCTV footage of a man they wish to speak to who may be able to assist with their enquiries following an assault.
https://youtu.be/mPlm97Pc41c
The incident took place on Sunday 28th April 2019 at 4am on Dundee Street, when a man was injured and required hospital treatment.
Detective Constable Keith Tulloch of Corstorphine CID said: “This was a particularly nasty incident from which the victim has sustained a serious injury.
“We believe the man in the footage may be able to assist us with our enquiries and we are appealing for him, or anyone who may know him, to make contact with Police Scotland.”
Anyone with information can call Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 900 of the 28th April, or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to report anonymously.
When: Wednesday 21 August at 6pm
Where: Craigroyston Community High School, 67 Pennywell Road
Sign up and join us for a cup of tea, a bite to eat and a chat with people in your area. We want to understand what services you use and value to help us spend and save in the right areas.
Help us shape your city’s budget and register for the session at edinburgh.gov.uk/change
How would you spend £1 billion? What Council services would you prioritise where you live and citywide? This sounds like a lot of money, but it has to go a long way to meet the needs of our growing population. We want to provide the best services we can with the limited resources we have.
The Council are hosting open sessions where citizens will be invited to take part in group discussions with other people in your area, designed to raise awareness of where the Council invests its resources now.
So, what do you think we can do differently? What services are used and valued by you, your family, your community and fellow Edinburgh residents?
If you are interested in having a cuppa and a bite to eat with people in your area, and giving us your views about the future of Council services, please register using the link below.
Please note, spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Northern and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson performed the official opening of Citizens Advice Edinburgh’s new North Edinburgh Community Resource Centre on Pennywell Road this morning. The Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development will be joined by local Edinburgh West MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton. Continue reading Local MSPs open new Resource Centre
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop will celebrate Scotland’s musical heritage when she serves as Chieftain at the World Pipe Band Championships this weekend.
The two-day event, held on Glasgow Green, will showcase the number of young people taking up the pipes and drums, with up to 30% of the 8,000 competitors under the age of 25. Continue reading Culture Secretary honoured as Chieftain of ‘the Worlds’
Education, Children and Families Convener Councillor Ian Perry writes about the positive progress being made in meeting the increased 1140 hours early learning and childcare in a year’s time:
Last week heralded one year to go before we have to meet the ambitious target of providing an additional 1140 hours funded early learning and childcare in Edinburgh. Providing double the number of hours for three and four-year-olds plus eligible two-year-olds is a huge undertaking.
It presents many challenges but thanks to innovative thinking by the Council and early years staff and full Scottish Government funding we are making positive progress towards meeting this ambitious target.
Our exciting and forward-thinking plans, underpinned by four key themes of quality, flexibility, accessibility and affordability, are transforming the early years learning and childcare landscape in the Capital.
Unlike some other local authorities Edinburgh started implementing the additional hours two years ago giving us plenty of time to take on board any lessons learnt and adapt our plans going forward.
We already have over 3,000 children benefitting from the extra hours and our proactive approach to taking our partner providers with us on this journey has resulted in 79 of them coming on board and five forest kindergartens up and running by late October to add to the mix.
There’s no doubt that two of the biggest challenges are recruiting staff and providing the necessary infrastructure.
Through our recent national recruitment drive we have an additional 360 staff already in place ranging from senior early officers and practitioners to modern apprentice trainees. Add to this our own Early Learning and Childcare Academy which is helping grow and develop our workforce by delivering training and upskilling staff.
Our new state-of-the-art early years settings are all designed on sector-leading research to support children’s learning and development and aim to be nurturing environments which are homely, inviting and calming.
New buildings have already opened at Corstorphine, Davidson’s Mains, Ferryhill and Leith primary schools with early years centres also opening at Granton and Tynecastle.
We are currently on site building five more nurseries this coming year at Craigentinny, Granton, Nether Currie, St John Vianney and St Mark’s primary schools. Each of these will provide between 64 and 137 places and are expected to open their doors in Spring 2020.
Other innovative ideas to meet the additional hours include our partnership with the Scottish Childminding Association and our successful Forest Kindergarten project which is going from strength to strength.
We now have three fully operational forest kindergartens sites at Laurieston Castle, Cammo and Cliftonhall and a further two sites will be ready in October at Craigmillar and Newbattle providing a blended model of early learning and childcare for around 200 children.
There are now 11 local authority settings open from 8am to 6pm all year round and we are considering proposals to open more settings for 50 weeks a year.
Obviously, we will continue to engage with the community as our plans progress and are always wanting to hear innovative and new ideas.
This is an exciting time for early learning and childcare in Edinburgh. We and our partners are grasping this opportunity with both hands to ensure our children get the best possible start in life on their journey to becoming successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.
