Teaching Earth Sciences - Earth Science Teachers' Association

From the Chair
Niki Whitburn
Welcome to issue one of 2010. It doesn’t seem a
decade since we celebrated the new millennium and
I set off to my first GeoSciEd conference in Sydney.
Little did I realise at the time how differently this
decade might unfold for me, including changes
in direction and involvement, some fascinating
conferences and meeting so many interesting people.
Looking back at my life in the previous century it
looks quite tame, although it didn’t seem so at the
time in a challenging primary classroom.
This time I am writing as gales and floods cover the country.
Living where I do, in a hilly, wooded area, our usual
concerns are the millions of leaves covering the garden
and the hope that all the nearby trees are strong and
healthy, thus not liable to come down. However, these
concerns seem small compared to those of the residents
of Cumbria who have suffered such horrendous flooding,
described as a one in a thousand years event. This leads me
to think of all the geological links to what is happening in
Cumbria. Indeed one of the primary workshops is focussed
around rivers and erosion, and linked to underlying rocks
and soils and drainage. All this will have played a part in
the recent events, together with weather systems and the
water cycle. Indeed the events form an ideal topic for an up
to the minute investigation for schools, which could also
be linked to the human aspect with several cross curricular
links.
Once again we experienced an excellent conference at
Southampton, my personal highlight being the talk by
Iain Stewart where we were treated to extracts from his
next TV programme. It was also interesting to talk to Iain
about how his television work fits around and integrates
with his work at Plymouth University. Our thanks go to
Clive Truman for all his very hard work organising the
event for us, which I know at times was fraught with
problems, particularly when the Oceanography Centre’s
boat, Callista, was not available at fairly short notice.
His problem solving skills were much to the fore here and
resulted in delegates being able to visit the Boat Show as
an added extra. You can read more about conference
within this issue.
I recently met with Gawen Jenkin at Leicester, who is
already well ahead with the plans for conference 2010 the
theme of which is Geology and Society. Changing the Inset
workshops from Friday to Saturday had limited success
at Southampton, however the Primary and Key Stage 3/4
workshops will again be on Saturday at Leicester, with
them forming two of the strands within the programme.
Durham has been booked for 2011, for the first weekend
in July.
During conference we held our AGM at which there
were several retirements and elections. Maggie Williams
retired as Treasurer, having looked after our finances so
well for the last few years. If I needed to know anything
Maggie always had the information at her fingertips and
has guided me through many a puzzling moment. We
owe a great debt of thanks for all she has done, which
has not just involved the treasurer’s role, but many other
aspects as well. In fact we shan’t be losing her as a very
active member as she has taken on the role of Newsletter
Editor together with sponsorship liaison person relating
to our moneys from PESGB. Thank you Maggie for all you
have done and continue to do. Dawn Windley finished her
term as outgoing Chair, my thanks to her for all she did
as Chair and for her advice and help over the past year.
Jane Giffould takes over as Treasurer and Cally Oldershaw,
who was one of the previous editors of TES, has become
Chair Designate. Stephen Davies is now our display boards
manager. He would very much like to know if any of you
are attending any conferences where we are represented
(particularly ASE and the Geographical Association) and
could spare an hour to spend with our new improved
display. Jane Ladson is standing down as our Advertising
Officer and to date we still have no one to replace her.
Please consider taking on this important role, which is
quite flexible as far as timing and input. For the future,
Ros Todhunter is standing down as Secretary at the next
AGM (September 2010) so we are looking for someone to
replace her. If you would like any information about the
role please do contact her.
You will by now have received your second issue of ESTA
News, to keep you up to date between magazines. Maggie
www.esta-uk.net Vol 35 No 1 2010 Teaching Earth Sciences