Category Archives: Literacy and English

Competition, Literacy and English, Secondary schools, Technologies

Creative pupils invited to ‘impress’ at the Scottish School Media Awards

January 19, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Pupils attending Scotland’s secondary schools are being encouraged to submit their print or online ‘newspaper’ for the Scottish School Media Awards, with the best of the entries from Scotland’s young creative talent being revealed at a ceremony in Edinburgh on Friday 13 June.

The awards aim to encourage young people into careers in publishing and the creative industries, and are of particular interest to pupils who have an interest in writing, photography, design and business, giving them a unique opportunity to demonstrate their organisational skills, team work and creative flair, while gaining hands-on experience in managing a project from start to finish.

There are 14 categories, from outstanding features to the most exceptional finished magazine or newspaper. Pupils have until Wednesday 30 April to submit their entries, with the imPRESS judging panel looking for projects that have evidence of strong content and commercial thinking.

For more information and to register visit www.impressscotland.co.uk.

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.

Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Literacy and English, Primary schools, resources, Secondary schools

Making Makars

January 16, 2014 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

The Scottish Poetry Library has launched our shiny new blog for teachers! Here you can find resources for poetry teaching in primary and secondary schools. Plus in our Over to You category you can share your own resources and examples of class work. Clyde Valley High in Wishaw have already sent us a photo and poem. By the time you read this, there’ll probably be more!

Click here to read Making Makars

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, 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.

Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Drama, Early Years, Glow TV, Literacy and English, Primary schools

Authors Live – The Making of Katie Morag with Mairi Hedderwick

November 24, 2013 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Mairi Hedderwick is bringing her most famous character, Katie Morag to Authors Live. Evoking the spirits of island life, Mairi will be telling her favourite Katie Morag stories, giving you an exclusive insight into what it is like to see Katie Morag being brought to life for CBeebies and telling you how the landscape and your surroundings can inspire what to write and draw. Suitable for Nursery – Primary 3 or 4-7 years.

Click here for more information.

Competition, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Literacy and English, Technologies

City’s museum collections to provide inspiration for young animators

November 11, 2013 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Children, young people and students are being encouraged to get creative and follow in the footsteps of a ‘Shoe’ in a competition launched by Edinburgh Museums & Galleries and Red Kite Animation.

Inspired by artist Qian Shi’s award-winning animated short film about a toy shoe, the ‘Hidden Stories’ animation competition is designed to celebrate Edinburgh’s rich heritage and the art of animation.

Submissions are being invited from three categories: primary school, secondary school and students / young people (18-24 years). The closing date is Friday 28 March 2014.

Click here for more information.

Creative Learning, Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Literacy and English

Scottish Book Trust – Book Week Scotland

October 23, 2013 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

Book Week Scotland is about celebrating books and reading in every part of life in Scotland. Between 25 November and 1 December 2013, people of all ages and of all walks of life will be able to come together in libraries, schools, community venues and workplaces to share and enjoy books and reading. They will be joined in this celebration by Scotland’s authors, poets, playwrights, storytellers and illustrators to bring a packed programme of free projects and events to life.

For more information click here.

Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Creativity, Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Glasgow2014, Glow TV, Health and Wellbeing, Literacy and English, Primary schools, Secondary schools

Game On Scotland – Literacy Learning Zone

October 17, 2013 Olivia Wexelstein Leave a comment

29 October 2013, 10.00

Game On Scotland and the Literacy team of Education Scotland will present an exciting hour of challenges and fun around the Commonwealth Games. In conjunction with a teacher form West Dunbartonshire learners will engage in a number of stimulating activities using the Games as a context. The session will be interactive and no preparatory work is required. The target audience for this event is pupils Levels 2 and 3.

Click here for more information and to sign up.