All posts by Olivia Wexelstein

Art, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Dance, Drama, Events, Expressive Arts, glow, Glow TV, Literacy and English, Music, Science, Technologies

Look, Capture, Create

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Curious and creative learners from across Scotland have been exploring the importance and beauty of Scottish Biodiversity through Scottish designer/illustrator Johanna Basford’s exhibition ‘Wonderlands’ via Glow TV. This interdisciplinary learning experience has been developed in partnership with Dundee Contemporary Arts and is being supported by Sarah Derrick, Head of Education at DCA and Anna Rossvoll, Emerging Technologies Development Officer with Education Scotland.

Look Capture Create outline for educators

Johanna Basford is an ink evangelist who creates beautifully intricate hand drawn designs using black ink. ‘Wonderlands’ is her first solo exhibition and it is proving to be a magical context for creative learning through expressive arts, science, mathematics and languages.

Before the project went live learners were invited to join the Look, Capture, Create Glow group by submitting an InkyME! The response was astounding. Currently there are  InkyMEs exhibiting from Burravoe, Carron, Clackmannan, Hythehill, Lochgelly West, Lincluden, St Andrews and St Patricks primary schools.  The InkyMEs have even travelled to Dundee to attend the first live Glow TV event ‘Wondertales’ at Dundee Contemporary Arts on 13th May.

‘Wondertales’ encouraged learners to look at the intricacy of Johanna’s designs and to capture the detail in words to create a Wondertale!  Wendy Woolfson, an incredibly talented storyteller led the event, creating breath taking stories based on three of Johanna’s wallpaper designs. She then went on to create a collaborative tale as learners submitted their ideas live during the event. You can watch Wendy in action here.

This use of an exhibition as a form of text truly captured the imagination of learners and they have submitted incredible  Wondertales to the Glow wiki.  Learners are taking the  time to read each other’s work and leave comments. It would be lovely if you could do the same. (Glow username and password required)

Keep up to date with the Look, Capture, Create Glow blog and the next Look, Capture, Create Glow TV event will take place at Dundee Botanical Gardens at 10am on the 4th June.

Post taken from Education Scotland’s Learning blog written by A.Rossvoll

CPD, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Dance, Drama, Expressive Arts, Music, Opportunities

Discover Dalcroze

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Discover Dalcroze is a two-day event taking place at University of St Andrews Music Centre 2-3 November 2013, providing a practical insight into the Dalcroze Method.  Workshops will be led by the UK’s leading experts and there will be specialist sessions on its application is a wide range of settings.
  • Movement and instrumental teaching – Flautist Lis Dooner and students from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland demonstrate how Dalcroze can be used to enhance practice and performance skills
  • Dalcroze and String Teaching – Monica Wilkinson will show how Dalcroze can be used to develop physical awareness and technique alongside musicianship
  • Music, Connectivity and the Plastic Brain – Eric Barnhill takes us on a tour of the musical brain
Other topics addressed in relation to Dalcroze include:
  • Dyslexia and dyspraxia
  • The elderly
  • Special needs
  • Relationship between Dalcroze and Music Therapy
  • Dalcroze for singers
Detailed information can be accessed by clicking on the logo below, where bookings can also be made.
Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Drama, Events, Expressive Arts, Secondary schools

Quality Drama in June

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CALUM’S ROAD – TUESDAY 11 & WEDNESDAY 12 JUNE  7.30PM

SPECIAL SCHOOLS PRICE – £5  Suitable for age 14+

Directed by the highly-acclaimed Gerry Muldrew, the National Theatre fo Scotland presents Calum’s Road in co-operation with Communicado Theatre Company.

Calum’s Road has become the stuff of modern folklore. It is the remarkable true story of one man’s single-minded determination to challenge the powers-that-be and that story is returning to stages across Scotland by popular demand.

TEECHERS by John Godber – MONDAY 17 JUNE  7.30PM

TUESDAY  18 JUNE  10AM

SPECIAL SCHOOLS PRICE – £8.50  Suitable for age 12+

Brought to the stage by the highly acclaimed Blackeyed Theatre, with high energy, break-neck comedy and breathtaking ensemble performances, Teechers is a modern classic with something vital to say about education for the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’

Fast-moving, inventive and highly entertaining, Teechers is John Godber’s brilliant take on life at a modern Comprehensive

Box Office: 01592 583302    www.onfife.com

CPD, Creativity, Events, Opportunities, Scotland Colleges, Technologies

Learning Through Gaming

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Thursday 20 June 2013 (10:00 – 16:00)
Dundee College, Gardyne Campus


This event will consider the current and developing context of games in education and how education can embrace the potential for these environments.
As part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, participants at the event are encouraged be as ‘dangerous’ as possible in considering how gaming can influence pedagogy and encourage greater engagement with learning.
Speakers include Chris van der Kuyl of brightsolid, Derek Robertson of Education Scotland and David Renton of Reid Kerr College.
For more information about the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, visit the website,Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Challenge, Competition, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Health and Wellbeing, Opportunities

Game On Challenge– put your goals for 2014 on the map

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Is your school or organisation planning to mark the Commonwealth Games with a specific initiative? A fun run or sports day perhaps? Getting involved in the Queen’s Baton Relay? A whole school initiative? Or is your local authority running a Mini Games programme?

No matter how big or small your Games related initiatives are we invite you to share them through the Game On Challenge and add to the excitement now building towards Glasgow 2014, the biggest multi-sporting event ever hosted in Scotland.

Benefits of taking the Game On Challenge

  • Your school/organisation will be showcased on the Game On Challenge interactive map alongside other entries from across the UK and beyond. This will provide others with ideas and inspiration for learning through the Games.
  • Every school and organisation that takes part will receive an official ‘Game On Scotland’ certificate.
  • Education establishments may also be eligible for a Game On Scotland plaque in recognition of imaginative ways they have used the Games as a context for learning.
  • All entries will be in with a chance to win exclusive Glasgow 2014 prizes.
  • Scottish schools who sign up by the 24 May will be entered into a free prize draw to receive a visit from Clyde, the official mascot for the Games.

How do we share our challenge?

Simply visit the Take the challenge page and complete the form.

Creativity, Education Scotland, Global Citizenship, Glow TV

Simple Acts 2013 – Cook a Dish from Another Country

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For 2013, we have chosen four simple acts, which we think are great ways for the pupils in your school to get involved. They fit in perfectly with Curriculum for Excellence,the theme of heritage for Refugee Week Scotland 2013, and are great fun too!

In this Glow Meet students will be able to cook along with a Scottish Refugee Council representative. The dish will be a simple recipe from another country. As well as baking the dish, students will learn about the country the dish comes from.

Click here to find out more.

Creative practitioners, Creativity, Funding

New Funding Opportunity Launched by Fife Council

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A new one-off Culture and Heritage Investment Fund for 2013/14 of £200,000 has been launched by Fife Council to help encourage local people to discover the wealth of cultural and heritage facilities in Fife. The fund aims to increase access to the wide range of facilities available in Fife and to support organisations to encourage members of the public to visit their cultural and heritage attractions.

As well as making cultural and heritage facilities more accessible for Fifers the fund will also be used to support organisations:

  • widen access to, and develop, new audiences
  • increase opportunities for schools and young people to experience and learn from Fife’s rich heritage
  • enhance the marketing and promotion provision
  • support business and skills development to help ensure long-term viability

This fund will support cultural and heritage activities, events and projects which can deliver against one or more of the priorities relating to Education & Skills, Employment & Enterprise, Community Engagement and Partnership Working.

Applications can be submitted from 18th April 2013 and will be evaluated as they are received and the outcome advised within 3 weeks.

Although activities, events or projects may run into 2014/15, the funding must be allocated and spent towards the costs before 31st March 2014. Funding will be considered up to a maximum of 50% of the total cash costs of the project and up to £20,000.

Please click here to download information and application form or contact Angela Scott, Events Strategy Officer, for advice and guidance on 01383 602123.

Creativity

Fife’s Creative Learning Network (FCLN)

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Fife’s Creative Learning Network (FCLN) is now coming into its 3rd year of development.  In 2012/13 the network increased its membership to 150 individuals (made up of a range of creative/cultural organisations and teachers from Fife) and supported the development of 25 creative learning and 4 event/networking opportunities within Fife.  Additional to this, the FCLN managed to capture 7 creative learning opportunities through the Network, which had either been funded by strategic partners or external funders.

A temporary Glow Development Officer post was funded from 3 September 2012 until 1 March 2013 to continue with the development of the FCLN Glow Group and Blog and to ensure that all FCLN social networking was current and up to date.   This post was filled by Amanda Higgins, Teacher from Kirkcaldy West Primary School and FCLN would like to thank Amanda for the hard work and passion for creative learning as an educator that contributed to these developments.  FAST FACT:  In early March 2013, the Blog had reached 9005 hits!

From 13 May 2013, we have been very lucky to secure volunteer support to continue the development work of the FCLN Blog and Glow Group from Olivia Wexelstein.  Olivia has introduced a new discussion thread called #creativemonday.  Have you had a chance to interact with Twitter and Facebook to let us know about your creative learning experiences under this hashtag?

Olivia is currently on secondment at RM Education involved in staff training and development using Glow, the online community for Scottish schools.  Olivia is very passionate about the use of emerging technologies in the classroom to help embed ICT throughout the curriculum. Over the last 20 years she has developed a very high level of skill using various elements of ICT with a recent focus on Glow. Using her in depth experience Olivia can very quickly see the impact that using IT has had in her classroom.

We are delighted to have Olivia on board until the end of June to ensure that we are keeping you abreast of creative opportunities, developments and news … locally and nationally.

If you would like to become a member of Fife’s Creative Learning Network, please contact Heather Gibson on 01592 583255 or email heather.gibson@fife.gov.uk.

Creativity

Scotland’s Nature Festival 18-26 May

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Scotland’s Nature Festival (formerly Biodiversity Week) is organised by Scottish Natural Heritage and other strong partners in environment and forestry, outdoor learning and play to highlight and celebrate Scotland’s natural landscape, areas of wild beauty and city greenspaces. This year’s theme is ‘Love Life, Love Nature’ and aims to inspire fun, adventurous and positive engagement with nature as a way to promote biodiversity, sustainability, enjoyment and well-being.

A collection of resources, with weblinks for celebration activities and nature based experiences suitable for all ages can be found on the Education Scotland outdoor learning blog. Also included is a presentation on the top ten reasons why Scottish teachers say they love leading learning in the outdoors – why not choose one to explore in a nature-based action learning project? Love life, love nature!