The Science Technicians Page

Tech Stuff for School Science Technicians
Last updated 23rd May 2002.
It's about days until we break up for the Summer Holiday. I think.

Page created & maintained (badly and infrequently) by science technician Séamus King, Old Hall School, Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

A source for school science technicians, a place to exchange ideas, to gripe about teachers,
useful educational links, links to manufacturers & suppliers and maybe some other stuff too.

Updated 23rd May 2002. I really must get around to updating this page properly. Doh!!!

Just click on the link to go to the bit you're after.
Whingin' Technicians	Sites that may interest...	Search Engines	School Websites
Technician's Tips	Contacts	Cartoon

Science Requisition and Risk Assessment Form, http://uk.geocities.com/seamustuff/requisition.html
Feel free to copy or modify for your own use.

The Scitech Technician Discussion Forum Badge, https://sdk.tripod.com/makebadge.html
Be sure to wear one at meetings and on courses.

Back to the top of the page.

A Bulletin Board, Hurrah!! Installed 9th March.
Click on Go to Message Board to go to the message board...
Click on one of the index's to view the postings

**Cartoon**
	"Oh no," cried the HOD as he collapsed to the floor,"I expected saccharin in my coffee not strychnine." Séamus King "Maybe venting the new fume-cupboards through the staffroom wasn't such a good idea...On second thoughts." Bee Lake, Eastleigh College

If you can think of a better caption email me at one of the addresses at the bottom of the page.

Back to the top of the page.

Whingin' Technicians

Blast . . .
the Governors have decided that we're no longer allowed to use electric cattle-prods to move pupils out of the way in the overcrowded corridors when we're trying to move apparatus between labs.
It was bad enough when they banned the use of pump-action shotguns. (S.K.)

"What I dislike:
is when , having pointed out at the planning stage that teachers wouldn't use their so-called work room and would continue to use the prep-room as a tea-room perhaps they should scrap the idea and build a new pre-room instead then being told by HOD to stop moaning, I can't get into the prep-room to do my job 'cos it's full of teachers drinking coffee which they'd made in the spacious work room (which must under no circumstances be used as a prep-room, HOD) then carried into the already crowded pre-room, we used to have 3."
- when you get this kind of behaviour, and telling them about Health & Safety and the standard rules of not eating/drinking in areas where chemicals are being prepared and handled are completely ignored, you could always point out to them that you might have accidentally spilt some phenolphthalein into the kettle. After three hours in the loo, they might go elsewhere for their tea. (Ruth C.Black).
Back to the top of the page.

Things I dislike -
Being told how indispensable my opinion is then having it totally ignored.
Seeing the a new lab being constructed that cost more than my house.
Seeing a new lab constructed after being asked for my indispensable opinion on the plan, being totally ignored, then having to listen to every teacher that tries to teach in it moan about the stupid layout. (it made the Starship Enterprise bridge look archaic - the James T Kirk era I hasten to add) - and the head still brought parents round to gasp at the wonder of it - duh!!!
Teachers who look amazed and say are you sure you put 15 scalpels out when only 13 come back, and then add they're a good bunch, I'm sure there's no need to worry!!!!!!
Uh - hello, this is planet Earth!
byeeeeeeeeee somerset tek. ( nuttercot )
Back to the top of the page.

Things I dislike -
Teachers who use fume cupboards as a place to keep their broken glass.
Teachers who put milk bottles in the glass bin and forget about them for weeks at a time.
Teachers who cannot be bothered to return their milk bottles to the shop and so take up space in my prep room.
Fume cupboard testers who send the final report to the head who does not send it on to the department. We therefore have no record to show them when they come back the next year and they have nothing to compare their latest figure with.
People who show up with no prior warning and expect to be shown where everything is. Teachers will still want all their equipment in place though.
PAT testers who take up a huge amount of space and test things which do not need doing. How do you PAT a battery operated set of computer speakers?
People who do not delete the initial part of an e-mail meaning that you have to read reams of stuff to get to the new stuff.
Andrew Checkley, Moorside High School
Back to the top of the page.

Re RPAs. Please contact CLEAPSS. We collect them. We nearly have a full set but will swap one for a Pokemon card.
If teachers are having coffee in your work room, please start diluting the ammonia or get the autoclave working. Takes me hours to read all this stuff. Seamus would you like to have 30 minutes of stand-up comedy time at the next summer technician's meeting!
Bob Worley Back to the top of the page.

Technician's Tips

Get a job at KFC.There's far more job satisfaction and the pay's better too and you get a nice uniform that you'd look real cute in. I'd be running my own branch if I'd taken that job. Dammit!

**Solutions for pH Testing**
pH	Chemical
1	Hydrochloric Acid
3/4	Acetic Acid
5/6	Magnesium Chloride
7	Distilled Water
8/9	Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate
11	Sodium Hydroxide

**Colours for Flame-Testing**
Colour	Chemical
Lilac	Potassium Chloride
Orange/Yellow	Sodium Chloride
Crimson	Strontium Nitrate
Lime Green	Barium Chloride
Pale Blue/Grey	Lead Nitrate
Orange Sparks	Iron Sulphate
Brick Red	Calcium Chloride
Blue Green	Copper Sulphate

Back to the top of the page.

Contacts
I'll put some here as soon as I get around to it. I wonder who stocks them.

**Links to Contacts**
ATP Instrumentation Ltd., Tournement Way, Ivanhoe Industrial Estate, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 2UU Tel Sales: 01530 566800 Tel Technical: 01530 566804 Fax: 01530 560373 email: sales@atp-instruments.com Website: http://www.atp-instrumentation.co.uk
Beecroft, Northfield Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S60 1RR Tel: 01709 377881 Fax: 01709 369264 AND Beecroft, 21,Alston Drive, Bradwell Abbey, Milton Keynes, MK13 9HA Tel: 01908 221860 Fax: 01908 313269 email: sales@beecroft-science.co.uk Website: http://www.beecroft-science.co.uk
CLEAPSS School Science Service, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH Tel: 01895 251496 Fax: 01895 814372 email: science@cleapss.org.uk Website: http://www.cleapss.org.uk
Commotion, Unit 11, Tannery Road, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1RF Tel: 01732 773399 Fax: 01732 773390
Economatics (Education) Ltd., Epic House, Darnall Road, Sheffield, S9 5AA Tel: 0114 2813311 Fax: 0114 243 9306 email: education@economatics.co.uk Website: http://www.economatics.co.uk/education/
Griffin & George, Bishop Meadow Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 5RG Tel: 01509 233344 Fax: 01509 231893 email: griffin@fisher.co.uk Website: http://www.griffinandgeorge.co.uk
Philip Harris Education, Novara House, Excelsior Road, Ashby Park, Ashby de la Zouch, LE65 1NG Tel: 0870 6000193 Fax: 0800 7310003 Website: http://philipharris.co.uk/education

Back to the top of the page.

School Websites

Where I work, Old Hall School, is a Technology College Serving it's Local Community,
a City Learning Centre and a Beacon School.

Another Rotherham school with its own website Wickersley Comprehensive .

Can you still hack it as a speedy technician? Find out here with this online Reaction-Timer I set up. Gosh, I am clever, modest too.

Back to the top of the page.


Excite	Yahoo	Hotbot	Ask Jeeves	Ask Jeeves UK	Dogpile
Mamma	Info Find	Angelfire	Tripod	Tripod UK	Geocities

Back to the top of the page.

Sites that may interest...
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority website
The Association for Science Education website
Who knows what CLEAPSS stands for ?
The National Grid for Learning Virtual Teachers Centre
The National Grid for Learning computers for teaching
Roger Frost's Dataloggerama
The official Logit website
The official Datadisc website
Looking for a new job within Rotherham borough . Good Luck.
The Technology College Trust rubbish website

If you know the the details of any useful suppliers or science websites,
please send me an email....seamustuff@yahoo.co.uk

or at....seamustuff@excite.com
Did you spot the delliberate mistakes? Back to the top of the page.