Hotlips!

As I feel like a bear of little brain today I'm responding to queries yesterday while I remember. My College was Callendar Park Teacher Training College in Falkirk. It opened in 1964 as a training centre for primary teachers. The course was full time over three years and on qualification we received a DipCE a diploma not a degree. In those days primary teachers did not get degrees although the entrance requirements were the same as for university and the study full on and full time five days a week. My friends at University seemed to have a much easier life.
By the time I started in 1972, the college was training 900 students, 300 per year. In my second year the BEd was introduced in conjunction with Stirling University but I chose not to do it as it would involve a 4th year .
Our training was excellent - in depth study into all of the primary school subjects, PE, arts and sciences as well as psychology, education theory and history and practice of education. Over the the years we spent a lot of time in schools and a whole term of our final year in a classroom alongside a teacher party of the time and on our own for the rest . One of the benefits of such long classroom stints was that teachers had the opportunity to go into the colleges for focussed in-service training. I was always well received at interviews when I said I had trained at Calendar Park, it quickly gained an excellent reputation.
Colleges at Craigie in Ayr and Hamilton opened at around the same time as specialist teacher training institutes. Sadly though, by the 80's, things had changed, class sizes increased and the population growth slowed so the Colleges were earmarked for closure. In 1982 Calendar Park closed after a long campaign and the remaining students graduated from Moray House in Edinburgh.
There has always been a strong family feel to the College though, and it continues, even after all this time.
The blue and gold in the balloons were our hood colours along with navy which also appeared on our college scarves.

My blip today is from the garden, two different fuchsia still going strong, Coccinea, sweet peas and Hot lips Salvia all flowering well. I had some raspberries for lunch too but the runner beans have finally finished - I think .