Update
Holiday Playscheme
Children on the University Summer Playscheme enjoying the attention and activities offered by student staff at the Perse Girls School. Photo: Jenny Woodhouse.
Following a successful pilot playscheme run jointly by Anglia Polytechnic University and the University of Cambridge in the summer of 1995, both institutions have now agreed to run regular playschemes for the children of staff. Playschemes will be provided for the Easter and summer school holidays and for all half-term holidays. Both institutions are members of the Opportunity 2000 campaign and see this initiative as an important part of the work which is going on to help staff, both men and women, to combine their work and family responsibilities.
The University of Cambridge is to appoint a Childcare Co-ordinator who will manage the playschemes on behalf of both institutions, to provide information and advice on childcare for the staff of the University of Cambridge, and in addition will work with the Cambridge Childcare Information Service, recently set up on the initiative of the M.P. for Cambridge, Anne Campbell.
Many thanks are due to Sue Ifould, the Co-ordinator of the pilot playscheme, who created an efficient organisational structure and inspired her team of playleaders to provide a range of activities both on site (the Perse Girls' Junior School in Brookside) and in a variety of other venues. Activities included swimming, as much sport as the heat last August permitted, visits to Willers Mill animal sanctuary, Kettle's Yard, and other places of interest, arts, crafts, science, performance (including the production of the Playscheme's own video). The playleaders were recruited from students, mostly studying Education, resident in Cambridge, who were able to combine their professional expertise with youth and enthusiasm. The children benefited from a ratio of adult to child varying from 1:5 to 1:8.
In the course of the playscheme 123 children from 83 families attended. A sample comment from a parent is: 'The staff are to be complimented on their ability to make the children feel comfortable and welcome. Both boys said they enjoyed all the activities and outings. I cannot see how I would have done my experimental work without the Playscheme. That the boys had a marvellous time is an added bonus!'. Children's feedback included 'Coming to this playscheme is the bestest'; 'The best is probably making things and sport'; 'You can choose what to do and how to do it'.
SET 96
Programme details for SET 96, National Science, Engineering and Technology Week, are now well underway, and the event will run from Friday 15th March to Friday 22nd March. Six main lectures will be held at 7.00pm each evening (excluding Saturday and Sunday) in a central University venue, whilst Saturday 16th March is reserved as a Science Activity Day. It is hoped that SET 96 will attract a wide cross-section of adults and children into the University. Not only will people be able to hear about some of the achievements of science and the current work of Cambridge's top scientists, but the Saturday events on 16th March promise to reveal some of the many wonders of the University's research laboratories and museums.For information, contact: Louise Simpson, Press Office, University of Cambridge, network 32300.
Newsletters international
The Alumni team in the Development Office produce a series of Newsletters for alumni in different parts of the world. These newsletters are sent out with CAM. Jenny Jardine is always pleased to receive suggestions of stories which might be of particular interest overseas. Jenny can be reached on network 30240.Lent Term (copy deadline January 15th)
Sub-Saharan Africa
(Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe)East Asia
(China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand)Canada
Easter Term (copy deadline May 15th)South Asia
(India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal)Europe
USA*
* A newsletter is also sent three times a year to the United States of America. Please send information to: Mrs Tamsin Palmer, American Friends of CU, 10 Trumpington Street.Telephone directory
The new telephone directory is out this term. It aims to be more user-friendly, and the section of the Central Administration has an even more detailed guide to its functions. If you have any comments or feedback, please send them to Martin Rowley, Telecom Manager, Mond Building, or to Janet Keystone, Publications Unit, 1 St Mary's Passage.Mercury
In November, the General Board decided to accept in full the recommendations contained in a report of an expert committee asked to advise on the health issues surrounding the use of the Old Cavendish Laboratory. The building has been contaminated by mercury and an extensive decontamination programme is nearly complete. The report was summarised by the panel chairman, Professor Anthony Seaton of Aberdeen University, at a meeting for staff and students in November.As there are no Government-agreed standards on exposure to low levels of mercury, the panel was asked to set a safe limit for everyone in the University community, including the most susceptible, such as those with medical conditions, pregnant women, young children and the unborn child.
The report details limits, as well as how the building and those working in it will be monitored. The report also looked at health concerns and concluded that there has been no risk of acute illness through exposure to mercury; that it is exceedingly unlikely that anyone is at risk from long-term effects on the kidneys, the most sensitive organ; and that an appropriate margin of safety has been ensured for all susceptible persons.
Detailed environmental monitoring is being arranged for the New Year. Comments from the public meeting are being taken into acount in the arrangements for the timetable of monitoring and in the selection of persons to be monitored.
The report is available to all those working in or in the vicinity of the building and extra copies can be obtained from John Williams, Safety Office, 1 Fitzwilliam Street, network 33301.