<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 TRANSITIONAL//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; CHARSET=UTF-8"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="GtkHTML/3.32.2"> </HEAD> <BODY> On Fri, 2011-06-10 at 11:43 +0100, Sarah Chard wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> O n Fri, 2011-06-10 at 11:15 +0100, gazz wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> We've previously found it difficult to do stuff in schools because policy has rather dictated an emphasis on Microsoft Office skills but this is changing and we're now looking at doing work in schools - particularly to develop a new generation of programmers. Regards, Paula </BLOCKQUOTE> Paula We've talked about this quite a bit at our LUG meetings and have put special emphasis on contacting teachers and students for our open source events - we had some success at our March event as we had a number of students from the local 6th form college who attended. we are looking to build on this for our event in sept for software freedom day - so any ideas gratefully received I would be interested in developing material to make it easier for teachers / students to get started - it would be useful to have a resource that local LUGS and others could then tap into if they are trying to get interest in schools and colleges in their area. Sarah </BLOCKQUOTE> Hi Sarah - OK sounds good! I need to look for some funding to develop this - we're working on doing an Ubuntu-basics course for our non-profits and this could be adapted for schools. We're also looking at doing some programming basics workshops for schools. It's in the very early stages (and I keep getting sidetracked cos we lost the bulk of our funding in April and it's been a bit hellish) but I'll keep you posted. Let me know if you happen to visit London, maybe we could meet up? I think we're doing pretty similar work. Also, I'm in the process of setting up a women's FOSS advocacy network with Anna from Open Computers in Manc (who's also doing similar work) - I'll send you details when we get under way? By the way, do you know Richard Ross-Langley who used to be the circuit rider? He has good contacts with the VCS and comes down to the FOSS Fridays frequently. Paula </BODY> </HTML>