Just been up to my eyeballs in filling out an application form for a teaching post. I think I answered all the questions pretty well, though I sometimes worry that these things can be a bit of a raffle as well, depending on the number of applicants the posts attract, which I suspect might be pretty high.
Two things. myjobscotland is a great idea, bringing all the jobs together in one place and all that. But the implementation isn’t so great. Giving each authority a micro-site of their own makes a bit of a mockery of the bringing-it-together notion, and the interface is clunky, if I’m being generous. Also, it saves all of your data from application to application, work history and all that stuff. But it doesn’t afford you the same possibility with the actual answers to the questions themselves—i.e. the hard bit! Obviously, you’ll want to tailor the application to the individual post, but retyping 1000 odd words again? No thanks!
The other thing was that the authority I applied to (who, you’ll understand, I don’t want to name as yet) are to be lauded for their extremely sensible policy of not requiring a head teacher’s report unless you’re selected for interview—lots of potential needless running around and paper saved, as well as being an indication that they’re actually going to *read* what you write in your application, which I suspect doesn’t always happen when there’s a heidie’s report sitting alongside.
Fingers crossed!
After the disappointment of watching Scotland completely fail to a Lithuanian coo oan the erse wi a shovel, it was nice to see Pollok get a good win. Had a frustrating drive there and back with the blue rinse brigade driving along the Clyde Valley at 30mph, and Lanark’s perennial traffic congestion made an annoying journey worse.
Lanark’s wee ground was quite nice, if a bit basic. I didnae bother with a pie or anything, cos I’m loaded with the cold and feeling a bit rotten. Good parking facilites in that you can park your car all the way around the pitch, with the exception of the wee shed. I started off in the shed, but found the view quite restrictive, so I moved round to the other side and stood on the grass. Next time though, I think I’ll bring the car round and sit in it while I watch. Especially if we end up down there in the winter. Anyways, a convincing 4-1 win, Callum Hardie knocking the ball in just outwith the keeper’s reach, a double from Roddy Hunter, and late tap in from Ian Diack secured 3 points for Lok. Lanark’s goal came from a stonewall penalty in the first half.
A good, well-contested game, and well refereed too. Well, to be fair, a lot of the Lanark fans around thought otherwise, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. (NB if I ever comment on poor refereeing in future posts, this should under no circumstances be cast up).
Next match sees us take on the current league champions Beith at Newlandsfield. Should be good.
This has been doing the rounds online for a week or so, but I reckon I should post it here cos it’s absolutely brilliant. Someone a bit more prone than I am to bombast might say that it redefines both (a) what you can do in a web browser and (b) the very essence of pop music videos. The song’s not bad either.
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/
Regular visitors to this site might notice… regular visitors? The site’s been down for a few months, and it seems I’ve lost everything in the process (I’m quite sure the old posts are still there, including the entire history of the Chain, but I’m screwed if I’m going to spend the day mucking about with SQL databases!)
So, I’m starting from scratch.