Easter Island Heads!

Expressive arts

What could you do if you had a big stone head in your playground?

CAST has funding to take part in a national arts project called ‘Giants in the Forest’ and has offered primary schools the chance to take part in an Argyll and Bute off-shoot. To date we have 71 primary schools signed up to take part. Each school is being sent a large ceramic ‘Easter Island’ head, which can be planted up with seedlings/plants of their choice. A bag of compost is also being supplied.

GITF involves enormous heads being erected in woodland in Argyll as well as Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. These are being planted up with indigenous growth from the surrounding habitat and used as a catalyst for a wide variety of arts and education events. The national project is run by ‘vision mechanics’. Continue reading Easter Island Heads! →

Khan Academy

Learning Tech

Every so often a new website pops up that seems like a game-changer. I am completely bowled over by the online teaching resources and the underpinning approach of the Khan Academy. Their mission is to make quality teaching available to anyone, anywhere in the world and they have received 1.5 million dollars from the Gates Foundation to help them achieve it. Aimed at older learners, Secondary school and beyond, they are rapidly adding to a bank of virtual whiteboard lessons mainly on maths, sciences and the humanities, but the list of lessons is already huge and growing rapidly. If you are a Secondary teacher in any of these areas, you cannot miss this site, it shows how teaching can be shared worldwide.

Oban High Bookbug Sessions 2012

Early Years, Expressive arts

Oban High, Early Years Team, Oban Library and CAST offered Lorn cluster schools and playgroups the chance to take part in the ‘Oban High Book Week’ held in February 2012. CAST offered spaces to pre-school and P1 & P2 children in Bookbug song and storytelling sessions lasting approx 50 mins. During each session we covered 8 songs and two stories delivered by the fabulous visiting storyteller Andy Cannon. CD’s and word sheets of the songs were sent out early January to allow schools to practice before the big day! Continue reading Oban High Bookbug Sessions 2012 →