Tag Archives: Woodfarm

Edinburgh and Cli-fi

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A merry band of S2 pupils and the lovely Ms Beaton from English joined me on a trip to the Edinburgh International Book festival.
never one to miss an opportunity to reduce our carbon emissions we invited along our mirror class from Woodfarm to hop on our bus and come along as well.

Our trip was to see us meet up with two brilliant clifi authors – Kate Kelly, marine biologist and aothor of the clifi novel Red Rock, and Sarah Crosson Carnegie short-lister and author of the environmental novel Breathe.


Kate and Sarah both read us little nuggets from their books and told us about their inspirations for their books and thoughts on the environment.

The tagline for our project in East Renfrewshire is “Can books save the world?” After hearing the two authors I think we might have a tiny glimmer of hope.

Pupils then has the chance to ask the authors some questions and then the hour was over!
We assembled more neatly than the Avengers in the book signing tent where Kate and Sarah took the time to speak with our pupils on a one-to-one basis and sign books galore.

It was a great event and certainly gave us all a little more to think about as we move on in our project.

Comic Clinic with Metaphrog

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As part of our Unmasked project we met up with our counterparts from Woodfarm and our experts Glasgow graphic artists Metaphrog.

The lecture theatre was awash with creativity as our groups moulded and developed their stories guided by our knowledgable guests.

Questions on storyboarding, drawing, setting scenes and creating effective dialogue were all answered with a flourish.

I am sorry to say that this is the last time we will be meeting with John and Sandra; AKA Metaphrog but they have promised to keep in touch and answer any questions we might have. In return I have promised them a copy of our finished work.

A great day and thanks to everyone who put in so much effort… keep up the great work and many thanks to the Scottish Book Trust for helping us fund this brilliant event.

International Book Festival 2013

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pipe=boffin


This is what a scientist looks like…well isn’t it?
James Kakalios is a scientist but one with a secret – he is actually a super hero – well sort of – he certainly is a super nerd -just like the audience at the Edinburgh Book Festival. Now , now that is no way to talk to a nice bunch of folk who have paid to see you!
Now, this talk could have gone two ways – one a snorefest of symbols and formulae or a ridiculuously entertaining foray into the word of physics and the science behind superheroes.
Lucky for us it was the latter.
Never before had physics been so much fun!
The eternal questions of who would win in a fight – Superman or the Hulk? were anwered with scientific precision ( come and see me and I will tell you who and why!).
A brillaint morning and a fascinating chappie who left us with something to ponder – “You all have a super power” he told the bewildered audience.”Your intelligence and that’s what you should use to fight evil”.
Isn’t he right?

After a quick lunch we headed to the Baillie Gifford tent to an intimate gathering with Sita Brahmachari and Cat Clarke. We were told to confront our fears and feelings and think about what it means to be a teenager today. A thoughtful and insightful afternoon.

Then a quick squizz about the festival and on to the bus where an A-Z of Harry Potter was created ( don’t ask!).

Again another great day at the festival – already thinking about who might be on the cards for next year…. anyone up for a trip?

P.S. Many thanks to Mrs. Mundie and the girls from Woodfarm who came along on the trip with us and who were great company and this time no one was sick on the bus!