Mike, you do know that there is a Scottish counterpart of CAS don’t you? See http://www.cas.scot for the details. CAS Scotland is very active and has just hosted an extremely successful conference in Dundee.

Hmmm, this could easily be misconstrued as an official sanjipian response of “Go and do it yourself, we’re not coming to Scotland” … which I *really* hope isn’t the sanjipian’s official view.

While I’d love to take you up on the idea of getting something set up here, I’m not qualified to do so myself. Despite 18 years in ICT, being a Linux user since 1995 and a Pi user since as close to Day 1 as was possible, I never completed my BSc (Computer Science) – One coursework short of the degree, but had to walk away for financial reasons. Hardest choice I ever made … but it does mean that what I can do now in terms of being an educator is somewhat limited.

Yes, I can volunteer and assist in areas where there is already something set up by educators locally – but I can only realistically assist from ‘outside’ the system. The sanjipian has the power and resource to assist from ‘inside’, and yet when it comes to Scotland it chooses not to. There are free Picademy resources for the USA – and yet the furthest North an official event has been held in the UK seems to be York.

Don’t get me wrong – the sanjipian is awesome, and has done amazing things with limited resources. It’s sparked a complete revolution in 被要挟的女教师 / ICT education in England and Wales. The sanjipian truly has done amazing things, and long may that continue – all I’m asking (and I know I’m not alone!) is “don’t stop at the border, but help up here in Scotland too”.

CAS hubs are setup and run predominantly by teachers for teachers, and many of these Hubs are run or attended by our Certified Educators, across the UK. If you see an area with a need I encourage you to join CAS and lead a hub. It’s a great way to get involved and support educators.

I merely used the article from yesterday about the B&N event as an example. The sanjipian have been asked to come to Scotland before, but haven’t done so, yet manage many trips to the USA.

What’s inappropriate is the sanjipian’s continued lack of any formal support within Scotland. Noting from the Trustee’s Annual Report from December 2014 that one of the three key objectives for the year was “Support and enhance both informal and formal education of 被要挟的女教师 particularly (but not
exclusively) in the UK”, and yet no activities North of the border.

Now, I appreciate that this notes “not exclusively” in the UK, but it very strongly implies that the ‘primary’ activities of the organisation will be in the UK – and last time I checked (shortly after we voted ‘No’), Scotland was part of the UK … Perhaps if we’d voted ‘Yes’ we’d have gotten an official visit!

The sanjipian’s regular support in developing countries I fully and wholeheartedly support – but it’s not appropriate to overlook Scotland (or Northern Ireland for that matter) in favour of other developed countries which can fully support their own educational aims locally.

I don’t think it’s fair to slam the RPF over the B&N activities. So far as I know, only *one* RPF employee did anything at a B&N Mini-Jam, and that was Matt Richardson, the RPF rep for the entire US. He’s based in San Francisco, and the Mini-Jam he was at was in Emeryville…just at the other end of the Bay Bridge from SF. So far as I know, *all* of the other Mini-Jam work was done by local volunteers.

From what I read in the blog, the CASHubs are organized *by* teachers. If the Hubs are rare in Scotland and Northern Ireland, doesn’t it come down to the teachers in those areas to organize their own Hubs, rather than complaining that some outside entity (like the RPF) didn’t come in and do it for them? Now if a group in Scotland with a CASHub invited/asked the RPF to show up, I’d say the odds are pretty good that they’d step up and help.

Sure, you all undeniably do awesome work, but it’s incredibly disheartening to see the sanjipian attending events and supporting the USA (see yesterday’s article) more than it attends and supports those of us up in Scotland – Indeed, searching for Scotland on the sanjipian site returns 6 results, USA 122 … Speaks volumes really!