Category Archives: Expressive Arts

CPD, Creative Partners, Dance, Primary schools

CREATIVE LEARNING FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS / WHAT ABOUT DANCE?

January 19, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

CPD Sessions this March for primary school teachers

We’re back from the festive break and raring to go with another term of fun and active CPD sessions for primary school teachers starting this March. In these sessions you can expect to take part in creative tasks and come away with fresh new ideas which can be adapted by you to deliver the Curriculum for Excellence in your classroom.

The important thing to remember about our sessions is that it’s not about teaching you to dance. It’s about helping you deliver the curriculum for excellence to your pupils in a fun way which will help them remember. It’s all about creative learning.

TESTIMONIALS

Primary teachers who have come to our sessions in the past had this to say…

“I have learned lots of useful ideas to take forward into the classroom. Gained more confidence in how to deliver a dance lesson”
Primary Teacher at Auchinleck Primary School

“Great ideas that could be easily adapted…Fantastic Training”
Primary Teacher from East Ayrshire Council

“Useful to have loads of ideas which I could then develop according to class/ideas etc. Liked how you can use a traditional dance as a starting point”
Primary Teacher at St Andrew’s Primary School

“Lots of useful ideas to use in practice also very helpful ideas of how to differentiate for different abilities”
Primary Teacher at New Cumnock Primary

“Teaching dance 20 odd years. Still getting lots of inspiration and ideas that I will take away and use tomorrow”
PE Specialist at Linlithgow Primary School

DATES

Nursery & Lower Primary

Basic Components of Dance
5 March 2014 (9.30am to 12.30pm)
@ a venue in Glasgow tbc – £40

Dance & Stories
5 March 2014 (1.30pm to 4.30pm)
@ a venue in Glasgow tbc – £40

Upper Primary

Basic Components of Dance
12 March (9.30am to 12.30pm)
@ a venue in Glasgow tbc – £40

Dance & Science (Making Science Physical)
12 March (1.30pm to 4.30pm)
@ a venue in Glasgow tbc – £40

Basic Components of Dance
19 March (9.30am to 12.30pm)
@ a venue in Glasgow tbc – £40

Dance & Numeracy (Let Numbers Dance off the Page)
19 March (1.30pm to 4.30pm)
@ a venue in Glasgow tbc – £40

BOOKING

Bookings can be made easily through our online booking form via the website

Alternatively you can email victoria@ydance.org or call the office on 0141 552 7712.

DISCOUNT

Feel free to contact us at any time with any questions you may have – we offer discounts for multiple bookings.

Competition, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Curriculum for Excellence, Glasgow2014, Literacy and English, Music, Opportunities, Primary schools, Secondary schools

Big Big Sing – Song Writing Competition

January 19, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Write a Commonwealth Games song! Big Big Sing is a nationwide celebration of singing that will inspire thousands of people to get singing in the lead up to and during Games Time. As part of this project, Big Big Sing is running an exciting songwriting competition open to Primary and Secondary School pupils in Scotland.

Big Big Sing invites pupils to write a song inspired by the Commonwealth Games, pupils can work individually or as a class to write a song between three and five minutes in length. With the games just around the corner there’s no shortage of inspiration for budding songwriters!

For more information click here.

Art, Art and Design, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Dance, Drama, Glow TV, Music, Primary schools, Secondary schools

Glow TV – Puppetry Workshop for teachers – linked to War Horse

January 8, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Join us for this exciting behind the scenes look at puppetery as teachers work with Finn Caldwell who is one of the original War Horse puppeteers. Finn has directed the puppetry for productions of War Horse in the West End and in Australia. He has also just directed the puppetry in The Light Princess at the National Theatre and is directing a children’s puppetry show called Elephantom in The Shed.

For more information click here.

Competition, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Drama, Literacy and English, Music, Technologies

Get pupils excited about reading with Book Trailers

January 6, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

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.

Art, Art and Design, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Dance, Drama, Expressive Arts, Music

Expressive Arts Conversation Day 1

January 6, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

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.

Art, Art and Design, Creativity, Dance, Drama, Education Scotland, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Literacy and English, Music, Numeracy and Maths, Science, Social Studies, Studying Scotland, Technologies

Resource Calendar (January 2014)

January 6, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

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.

Curriculum for Excellence, Expressive Arts, Secondary schools

New web based materials for National 1 and National 2 (Glow log-in required)

December 22, 2013 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Education Scotland has published new materials for National 1 and National 2. Materials are currently available and more will publish later in the week on the dedicated area for support for new National Qualifications on Glow.

National 1 – Learning and teaching advice has been published to support practitioners who are delivering programmes of learning at National 1 level. The advice and guidance provided covers all units which fit into one of the following five broad areas: Personal Development; Physical Education; Food for Health; Food Preparation; and Independent Living Skills.

National 2 – Learning and teaching advice has been published to support practitioners who are delivering programmes of learning at National 2 level. The advice and guidance provided covers all courses as outlined below:

Expressive Arts – Creative Arts, Performance Arts

Health and Wellbeing – Physical Education, Food, Health and Wellbeing

Languages – English and Communication, Modern Languages: French, German, Italian and Spanish (one generic set of advice)

Mathematics – Lifeskills Maths

Sciences – Science in the Environment

Social Studies – Business Practice, Social Subjects

Technologies – Information and Communications, Practical Craft Skills

Art, Competition, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Expressive Arts, Opportunities, Primary schools, Secondary schools

NATIONAL ART COMPETITION

December 15, 2013 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Livingstone’s Legacy: Equality and Education

A national art competition has been launched to mark the bi-centenary of David Livingstone’s birth. The competition is open to primary and secondary schools in Scotland who are invited to submit entries byFriday 31 January 2014.

Winners will be announced by the Minister for External Affairs and International Development, Humza Yousef, on Friday 7 March and winning entries will be displayed at a public exhibition at the Edinburgh Storytelling Centre from 8 -15 March 2014 alongside artwork by young people from Malawi.

The competition is being co-ordinated by The Open University in Scotland and the Scotland Malawi Partnership. Further details of the competition including links to Curriculum for Excellence can be found at www.tinyurl.com/LivingstoneArt.

Art, Art and Design, Competition, Creativity, Opportunities, Primary schools, Secondary schools, Technologies

The Scottish Civic Trust My Place Photography Competition

December 11, 2013 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

What is the My Place Photography Competition?
Now in their ninth year the Scottish Civic Trust My Place Photography Competition is a heritage photographic competition for young people in Scotland of school age. It is aimed at encouraging young people to explore their built environments in a creative way using photography as means of investigation and creative expression.

The My Place Photography Competition is part of Scotland’s contribution to European Heritage Days, and links into the International Heritage Photographic Experience run out of Barcelona and to the Council of Europe.

The awards are supported by the Scottish Government, The Lighthouse and Architecture + Design Scotland
Who can enter?
All young people in Scotland are eligible to enter.
Entrants should be of either primary school age or secondary school age.
Entries should be made by a group leader or teacher on behalf of their students.

All entries are recognised with a certificate and will be placed in an online gallery, displayed in a public exhibition at The Lighthouse, Scotland’s Centre for Design and Architecture.
Two winners will be selected by a panel of judges and these will go on to represent Scotland in a worldwide exhibition and catalogue.

How can you take part?

· Participation is free, simple and straight forward, guidelines can be found on our website HERE

· Register your interest by email sct@scottishcivictrust.org.uk or by phone 0141 221 1466

Nominations must be made by 31 January 2014