Category Archives: Creativity

FREE TALK – CREATIVE RESILIENCE – How culture enables young people to thrive on change‏

In response to popular demand after Paul’s successful Creative Conversation ‘How do we capture and measure creativity?’ for Forth Valley Creative Learning last year, we are very excited that Paul is able to open our 2014 programme of Creative Conversations.

Young people today are confronted with a tough, complex and deeply challenging environment in which to grow up. Some thrive on it, some find coping strategies, others are destroyed by it. What we know is that those young people who manage most effectively in this environment have the capacity to understand where they are coming from and to imagine different futures. In this conversation, we will explore the role that culture and creativity plays in developing this form of resilience. We will look at the combination of skills that underpins resilience, and the places where these can be learnt. Most of all we see whether the creative and cultural programmes can make a significant difference to the outcomes of young people here.

If you would like to join us please book free tickets via:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/575922

For further information contact: creativelearning@stirling.gov.uk

Game On Scotland Event: 26 March, Dundee

Click on the image for more info

With less than 24 weeks to go before the before the biggest multi-sport and cultural event ever to come to Scotland, we invite practitioners to find out more on how the Commonwealth Games may provide a unique opportunity to create stimulating learning across the curriculum and beyond.

We invite you to join us for an inspirational day of sharing and collaborative thinking around a variety of exciting opportunities by registering for the event online or directly with Diane Carson:Diane.Carson@educationscotland.gov.uk.

BBC Commonwealth Film making competition

School story competition – promoting your school, community and Commonwealth values (extended deadline: 21 February 2014).

The BBC are looking for 3 schools – 1 in the UK and 2 from other Commonwealth countries who will make a film with the help of a TV crew, which best reflects the Commonwealth values and shares what it means to be a global citizen.

Winning schools will have their films featured on the BBC Commonwealth Class website www.bbc.co.uk/commonwealthclass.

Youth Music Theatre UK – auditions

Throughout January and February, Youth Music Theatre UK, the UK’s national music theatre company for young people (aged 11 – 21), will be heading to 24 cities across the UK looking for talented young performers and musicians to star in their new body of music theatre this summer. Now in their 10th year, they will be performing nine brand new shows right across the UK from London to Belfast as well as at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in summer 2014.

They’re holding four auditions dates in Scotland: Sat 15 Feb – Glasgow (Scottish Youth Theatre), Sun 16 Feb – Edinburgh (The Studio at the Festival Theatre), Mon 17 Feb – Inverness (Spectrum Centre), Tue 18 Feb – Aberdeen (Danscentre).

For more information, download the flyers below:

Performer Audtions Flyer

Musician Auditions Flyer

ON at Fife Theatres – Spring 2014 – Primary Schools

Below are all the performances available at theatres across Fife ( Adam Smith Theatre, Carnegie Hall, Lochgelly Centre and Rothes Halls), suitable for primary aged pupils.

  • ON across all the venues, The Secret Life of Suitcases , an Ailie Cohen Puppet Maker/Unicorn Co-production. Suitable for 5+ (Dates in March)
  • The Singing Kettle are back at Adam Smith Theatre in April with Fantastic Funfair
  • On at both Adam Smith Theatre and Carnegie Hall in May, Too Many Penguins is suitable for children from the ages of 1-4 yrs.
  • Adapted by Ian Wilkinson from the book by Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped is brought to Carnegie Hall by Sell A Door Theatre Company. This is an imaginative re-telling of the classic story and is perfect for young and old audiences alike. Suitable of age 6+. Special schools price £7. Workshops will be available – details to be confirmed.
  • The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk is a coming of age tale about friendship, bullying and overcoming adversity brought to Carnegie Hall in March by Catherine Wheels. Suitable for Age 9+
  • Visible Fictions present Robin Hood, a silly and unexpected take on Robin Hood. Suitable for Age 7+

PUPPET ANIMATION FESTIVAL

Adam Smith Theatre

Carnegie Hall

Lochgelly Centre

Rothes Halls

  • Jabuti Theatre – My City – Age 5+

My Place Photography Competition and new website

Happy New Year! Happy new website!

The Scottish Civic Trust enters 2014 with a fresh new look on our websitewww.scottishcivictrust.org.uk with a dedicated area for the My Place Photography Competition click HERE to view now.

The My Place Photography microsite has lots of new features for all of your My Place Photography Competition entries.

There is a new member’s area for schools and teachers with a multiple image upload facility that automatically resizes your photographs, so no need to crop or cut before you submit.

Click HERE to register as a new member

Our resources section has lots of hints tips and help sheets on how to use the site and on how take make great photography.

Click HERE to view our competition resources

My Place Photography Competition is open to all school age children in Scotland; it is FREE to take part in and is a great way of getting out and about with young people, getting into your local cities, towns and villages and exploring your very own built environments through photography.

Click HERE for more information on the My Place Photography Competition

The competition closes on Friday 31 January so make sure to register and upload images as soon as they are ready.
Happy snapping from all at Scottish Civic Trust

Get pupils excited about reading with Book Trailers

Creating Book Trailers is a fantastic way to enthuse your learners about reading and develop their critical skills. This year, Scottish Book Trust are running their first ever book trailer competition for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards, and have published a wealth of resources to help you get creative with trailers. Closing date for entries is 7 February.

Expressive Arts Conversation Day 1

The first Expressive Arts Conversation Day was held on 25 November 2013 at the Raploch Community Campus in Stirling. The event featured several stimulating practitioner inputs and lively discussion throughout.
The main themes we explored (identified during the morning session) were:
• developing appropriate expressive arts CPD
• providing appropriate support
• developing an effective model that balances creative space with skills development
• creating sustainable partnerships.
A second Expressive Arts Conversation Day is in the planning phase and we intend that it will probably take place in Inverness in February or early March to provide greater opportunity for our colleagues from further afield to attend. For more information, please read the blog post.

Resource Calendar (January 2014)

The events in this calendar are celebrations, awareness days and action weeks all covering topical issues relevant to schools. Each of the events includes details of websites and support materials to help plan activities for learners.
The January events include:
· World Religion Day (19 January)
· Martin Luther King Day (20 January)
· RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch (20 January – 14 February)
· Burns Night (25 January).
Click here for the calendar.

Scottish Poetry Library resources for librarians & teachers‏

Looking ahead to Burns Night

To help teachers and school librarians plan for Burns Night recitals and Scots performances, we have created a new database tag – ‘Scots recitals for children’. This is a database of traditional and modern Scots poems which are suitable for children. The poems are or varying length and complexity to suit different age groups. We will continue to add more poems to the tag in January but there are quite a few to get you started.

Read poems suitable for Scots recitals for children