Digital Learning Support Site and Webinars

The Digital Learning Team’s support site contains useful videos, guidance and resources for education staff.  You can access the site at:

https://sites.google.com/ab.glow.scot/g-suite/home

The site also lists the team’s upcoming webinars, which staff are welcome to attend and which cover various subjects including Google Classroom, Glow, G Suite and Google Meet.  You can access the webinars page (which is regularly updated) of the site directly at:

https://sites.google.com/ab.glow.scot/g-suite/webinars

Identity Matching in Glow is Changing

Significant changes to Glow’s identity matching are coming on October 28th 2019, which will affect teachers transferring between local authorities.  These changes are being made to ensure correct data handling by Glow in accordance with current legislation.

For full details, please see the information below from Education Scotland:

When is this happening? The expected release date of this updated functionality is October 28th.

Who will be impacted? From the 28th October all teachers who move to a new position in a school in a different local authority will receive a new Glow account rather than continue to use their existing account.  Their new account will have a different username and password.  Access to old content will be removed along with their old account.

Non-teaching staff accounts are not currently matched as they move between local authorities and therefore they will see no change. Pupils will continue to be matched.

Teaching staff who currently have an account that is manually transferred between 2 schools, allowing them to use the same username and password to access more than one school, will no longer be able to do this if their accounts are in different local authorities.  When the identity matching is removed, their username and password will allow them access to one school only, whichever school was their establishment on the 28th October.

What do you need to do? Please update the teachers in your local authority to ensure they are prepared if they are moving to a school in another local authority after the 28th of October.

If their access is still to their old school then they need to ensure that their RM Unify administrator manually transfers their account to be linked to their new school. If the work record in the old school is closed then this will happen automatically but if not it will require a manual transfer to be completed.

What about the future after the 28th October? Teachers who move between local authorities will need to remember that the content that they currently have access to via their existing Glow account will not be accessible once they start their new role in their new local authority.

We have posted a news item on Glow Connect: https://glowconnect.org.uk/2019/09/27/important-news-for-teachers-using-glow/

Glow account guidance has also been updated to reflect the changes: https://glowconnect.org.uk/glow-account-guidance/

National Digital Learning Week 2019

National Digital Learning Week is a weeklong event led by Education Scotland to give pupils and teachers in all local authorities across Scotland the opportunity to take part in five curriculum focused challenges in STEM, Social Studies, Expressive Arts, Literacy and Numeracy.

This year the event will take place 13 – 17 May.

Education Scotland’s aim is to reach all early learning and childcare centres and schools across Scotland to let them know about the event.

To help you get involved and get started, a pack of support materials has been produced by Education Scotland.  In this pack, which can be downloaded below, you will find: key messages; suggested promotional text for websites, e-bulletins and publications; social media posts; a promotional video and a promotional flyer.

You can download the pack here: NDLW19 Stakeholder Comms Pack Final

Here’s a 2 minute video that tells you everything you need to know about the event.

 

St Andrew’s Primary – VE Day

Today is Victory in Europe Day and a very proud moment in St Andrew’s history as our P6/7 children were invited to attend the memorial service, the reflection on the sacrifice of so many, and the twinning of Bute branch of Royal British Legion with Skipton British Legion.
Curriculum for Excellence came to life for our children in a very real and meaningful way, as they marched, prayed and honoured the fallen and those left to entrust their memory on to a new generation.

“Take One Picture”

The Creative Learning in Schools Team (CAST) have been piloting a project in primary schools in Kintyre, “Take One Picture” installing artworks from the Argyll Collection in six schools to inspire cross curricular creative learning. Pupils and teachers from Carradale, Castlehill, Dalintober, Drumlemble, Gigha and Rhunahaorine Primaries have been working with artists Sian MacQueen, Nicole Heidtke and Stefan Bamberger and dancer Tony Mills to create new work inspired by the artworks, taking part in workshops on conductive printmaking, relief sculpture, dance, digital sculpture, life drawing, shadow puppetry, collage and painting.
Continue reading “Take One Picture”

Get Creative Music CPDs May 2019

Are you interested in developing your skills in delivering music in the classroom?

As part of the Youth Music Initiative, the Creative Arts in Schools Team (CAST) have run CPD sessions in 2018-9 using Get Creative, a new music resource for primary school teachers full of creative ideas, activities and learning outcomes to enable you to deliver musical activities with your class, regardless of your musical experience.

Continue reading Get Creative Music CPDs May 2019

St Joseph’s so proud of Top Student in Argyll and Bute

Sumdog is well embedded in St Joseph’s with children voraciously going on-line at home and school to take part in competitions on the website. At St Joseph’s Sumdog is used for Maths and the children simply love it! One of our P7 pupils is particularly good. On 7 March, 2019 Iona managed to rank as number 4 out of 21837 pupils on Sumdog then on 21 March, 2019 she was the top student in Argyll and Bute!! On that particular week she had been on her residential week at Auchengillan so only had Friday night and Saturday to steam ahead of all the other pupils to take first place!
Iona is not alone in her success with P2 winning class of the week this month too………what a great achievement for all concerned!

St Andrew’s Primary School (World Down Syndrome Day)

Our HT Miss Seery introduced the teaching of Makaton and BSL and the children LOVE it. They sing and sign simultaneously and it is wonderful to listen to and watch. It has become a normal part of our school week so we don’t really think it’s out of the ordinary.

Continue reading St Andrew’s Primary School (World Down Syndrome Day)

Childnet Film Competition 2019

Childnet launched their annual film competition encouraging schools and young people aged 7-18 to take on the challenge of creating a short film about internet safety to promote internet safety awareness amongst their peers. This year’s theme is ‘Our future online’ with a focus on what we can we all do to make our future internet a great and safe place. The three selected finalists from both the primary and secondary age category will be invited to a private screening at London’s BFI where they will be presented with great prizes for their school or youth organisation to award them for their creative achievements.

You can access the content for both primary and secondary categories by going to https://www.childnet.com/resources/film-competition/2019.

St Andrew’s Primary – Junior Award Scheme for Schools

JASS is our award for our young people. This award is progressive, with increasing commitment, learning and challenge at each level and all our children are taking part in this scheme. Parents, staff and pupils alike look forward to their Friday JASS sessions covering the four sections – My Interests; Get Active, Stay Active; Me and My World and Adventure. JASS is fully inclusive and our children have developed greater self confidence, self assuredness and (most importantly) enjoyment!

St Andrew’s Primary – This is My Island

St Andrew’s Pupils in P3/4/5 took part in a project organised by Mount Stuart resident artist, Malcolm Mackenzie. The project saw the children decorating pieces of wood which Malcolm used to make a boat. They wrote letters detailing what their island means to them, the things they love about living on Bute. Rothesay Primary and North Bute Primary took part too. The pupils attended the boat launch at Mount Stuart and class teacher Miss Rae said that it was “A celebration of community, commonality and sharing amazing outdoor spaces”.

Butterflies Exhibition at Campbeltown Museum

An exhibition of work by pupils from Dalintober Primary School will be on display at Campbeltown Museum until April 2019. The pupils worked with staff from Kilmartin Museum and Campbeltown Museum, as well as musicians, photographers and natural historians to create the exhibition.

For an opportunity to enjoy the photography, music, sound and artwork created by the pupils, alongside the Robert Weir Butterfly Collection visit Campbeltown Museum, which is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (9am to 12.30pm, 1.30pm- 5pm) and Wednesday (10am – 5pm).

Funded by Ernest Cook Trust.

The ‘H’ Factor Dunoon School Hostel

Thursday 29th November was the annual show at Dunoon School Hostel. The young people had been busy for quite a while rehearsing for this event.
The evening kicked off with Findlay, the evenings junior presenter introducing our hosts for the evening, Kara & Tristan. They danced a fantastic routine to ‘Twist & Shout’ sung by the very talented Findlay. The Judges came on , this year we had, Rod Stewart, Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger & Robbie Williams. So good of them to give of their time. Continue reading The ‘H’ Factor Dunoon School Hostel

Literacy Fun at St Mun’s Primary

St Mun’s Primary staff and pupils enjoyed a very successful evening when they invited family and friends to an end of term Family Literacy Night.

The evening began with Primary Seven pupils reciting a famous Roald Dahl poem ‘Television’ that warns of the danger of too much TV, whilst reminding us of the joy to be had from books and reading.

Continue reading Literacy Fun at St Mun’s Primary