Category Archives: Drama

I Knew A Man Called Livingstone: Edinburgh performances for schools

Storytelling theatre show, I Knew A Man Called Livingstone is on at the National Library of Scotland in August.
They’ll be performing at the Library during the Fringe (7-21 Aug, 4pm), and staying on for 5 special schools-only performances (suitable for upper primary and S1-3) on:

Monday 26th August (1.30pm)

Tuesday 27th August and Wednesday 28th August (10.30am and 1.30pm each day)

“A high quality production which was uplifting and enjoyable. Good fun and informative”. S2 English teacher

“A thoroughly entertaining hour, which brings a subtly different vision of Livingstone to life – and his times into a new focus.” Thom Dibdin

All tickets are at the special rate of £4, and can be booked direct with estherjblackburn@gmail.com. They’ll reserve seats for your chosen performance and can invoice your school. If you’d like to see the performance in advance, please get in touch and they can arrange a complimentary seat for you during their Fringe run.
The performances tie in with an excellent free exhibition on Livingstone at the National Library of Scotland – a real visual treat.

Learning Experiences Catalogue now launched

Education Scotland has announced the launch of the Learning Experiences Catalogue which aims to develop a sustainable programme of relevant, engaging and challenging learning experiences for children and young people aged 3–15 within a broad general education.

Learning experiences have been designed to support children and young people to learn to create, collect, code, animate, bake, garden, build, tell stories all set within contexts and many of them are interdisciplinary.

The catalogue provides learners with a brief description of each learning experience which they can read or can be read to them by clicking the audio file beside the LearnCat icon. Graphics have been designed to support learners in understanding where the learning will take place, which curriculum areas they will learn within and who they will learn with. Educators are provided with more information about each learning experience and planning guidance.

Each academic term a new collection of learning experiences will be launched. The autumn collection of learning experiences will be live from September 2013.

Explore the Learning Experiences Catalogue today.

Glow – the M-Factor

The M-Factor is an interdisciplinary project aimed at Midlothian pupils in the upper stages of primary school (P6 and P7).  This project uses the context of the pop music industry to combine a range of curricular areas that enable pupils to develop knowledge and skills.

The M-Factor challenges pupils to write and record a pop song and create an associated pop video.
Pupils, teachers and parents throughout Scotland can get involved by voting for their favourites and a daily top 10 chart will be produced.

Click here to find out more (Glow log-in required)

Join the ‘Commonwealth Class’

The BBC, the British Council and the Commonwealth Secretariat have joined forces to bring you Commonwealth Class, an exciting new opportunity for schools.

Commonwealth Class is a special initiative that provides teaching resources, online debates and interactive activities for schools to mark the run-up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games. It celebrates the values of the Commonwealth and connects schools and young people as they learn about how to be active, responsible global citizens as part of the Commonwealth family.

The Commonwealth Class education pack is an exciting resource designed to teach young people about Commonwealth values such as rights and responsibilities, protection of the environment, respect for others and what people need to lead healthy lives free from poverty.
Produced by the British Council, the resource pack contains cross-curricular activities, short films and discussion guides with learning outcomes that link to key skills, curriculum subjects and Commonwealth values. Activities include what qualities you need to be a successful Commonwealth athlete, and an exploration of the route of the Queen’s Baton Relay which will visit all 71 countries and territories taking part in the 2014 games.

Get set for 2014 and download the British Council Commonwealth Class education pack today.

BBC online debates
Commonwealth Class partner, the BBC, is hosting a series of monthly online debates commencing this summer. The debates are intended to create a platform for schools in the UK and Commonwealth countries to teach and learn together.
The first debate in the series will take place on Thursday 13 June.
Visit Schools Online and sign up to Commonwealth Class for more resources and interactive activities that support lesson planning and teaching across the curriculum
And a week before the first debate you can visit the BBC’s Commonwealth Class website to find out how you can take part!

Glow TV – War Horse – Exclusive Launch 11 June, 11.00 am

Glow TV is delighted to be able to host the Exclusive Launch on Tuesday 11th June at 11am!

War Horse is the theatrical phenomenon that has taken the world by storm. At the heart of this awe-inspiring show are life-sized puppets which bring galloping, charging horses to life on stage. Now you are invited to a unique opportunity to meet one of these truly remarkable puppets up close at an exclusive launch event.

You are invited to see the central character, Joey, in action and discover first-hand how these “living, breathing steeds” are created and brought to life in what has become one of the most anticipated theatrical productions in years.

Joining us will be Finn Caldwell of Handspring Puppet Company and Associate Puppetry Director for War Horse, and Stephen Rebbeck (Managing Director for War Horse around the world)

The exhilarating story of a young man’s journey to find his beloved horse Joey, against the backdrop of World War One, is an incredibly powerful production. It’s a spectacle you need to see to believe!

Click here to sign up for this event.

Funding to help groups celebrate the 2014 Commonwealth Games

A new £4 million fund has opened which will help the people of Scotland celebrate their part in the Commonwealth before, during and after the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Celebrate‘ is a joint scheme developed by the Scottish Lottery Distributor’s Forum which is made up of Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Creative Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund and sportScotland.

Grants of between £500 to £10,000 are available to help communities across Scotland come together to hold arts, heritage, sports and local community celebrations of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The fund will also support communities to celebrate the diversity of the Commonwealth and create a legacy of community and Commonwealth connections.

Celebrate is open to

  • voluntary and community organisations
  • community councils
  • statutory bodies (such as schools, local authorities or health boards)

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until 12 December 2014. For more information, and to apply, visit the Celebrate website.

Enterprise Music Scotland – Traditional Arts Fund

Deadlines: 5 July 2013, 27 September 2013 & 28 February 2014

Enterprise Music Scotland has an allocation of £120,000 available for the funding of small traditional arts projects.

This fund is devolved from Creative Scotland and is managed centrally by Enterprise Music Scotland. It will provide grants of between £250 and £3,000 to support traditional artists and organisations to create, platform, tour and showcase their work, as well as supporting professional development projects.

Individuals, groups and organisations can all apply to this fund. The applicant must be able to demonstrate a positive track record and professional commitment to one or more of the traditional art forms: Scottish Traditional Dance; Scottish Traditional Music and Scottish Traditional Storytelling.

For more information visit the Enterprise Music Scotland website.


Scottish Learning Festival 2013

Registration is now open for this year’s Scottish Learning Festival (SLF), which takes place on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 September in the SECC, Glasgow.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning will give the opening address to SLF.

In addition, there will be the keynotes from the following international renowned speakers:

  • Prof Andy Hargreaves, Thomas Moore Brennan Chair, Lynch School of Education, University of Boston;
  • Dr Avis Glaze, Edu-quest International Inc. and former Chief Student Achievement Officer of Ontario; and
  • Dr Pasi Sahlberg, Director General, Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation, Finland.

As well as round table discussions led by:

  • Prof Petra Wend; and
  • Dr Bill Maxwell and partners.

The full programme of keynotes and seminars along with details of the range of additional activities are available on the SLF website.

Seminars which may be of interest

The M Factor

Finding their Voice: Engaging teenagers with poetry and debate through rap and performance

3-18 Curriculum Impact Reviews: Creativity 3-18

Launch of Education Scotland’s Building Capacity for Continuous Improvement strategy

Global Citizenship – Bringing It All Together

Learning experiences through Glow – Partnership working

Moving image education: Screening Shorts

Expressive arts: What’s on the third horizon?

English language class arts exhibition project: East Kilbride

Short & sweet: Short films as a route to developing modern foreign languages