Category Archives: Primary schools

Fife’s Secret Song!

A practice session at St Margaret's PS 🙂

A flashmob of children from four Dunfermline primary schools performed a secret song they helped compose called ‘Fife goes Olympic’ today.

Around 170 primary 6 &7 youngsters gave unsuspecting shoppers at the Kingsgate Shopping Centre a big surprise when they performed their song for the first time ahead of the Olympic Torch Relay in Dunfermline.

The pupils from Cairneyhill, Duloch, St Margaret’s RC and St Leonards Primary Schools have been working together on the top secret project which was supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and Fife Council under the ‘Summer of Song: Celebrating the Olympic Torch in Scotland’ banner.

The children wrote their very own Olympic Song for Fife during a songwriting process which was led by musicians from Edinburgh based charity, Fischy Music.

The charity worked with the children over the course of four weeks to compose their song and co-ordinate their special flashmob surprise. 

Fischy Music has worked directly with children for over 14 years and their resources, promoting emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing, are used in thousands of schools across the UK and beyond.  

Also helping to support the performance on the day were the Kingsgate Shopping Centre Management team and representatives from Queen Anne Singers and Dunfermline Choral Union.

Heather Gibson, Area Cultural Co-ordinator from Fife Council who lead the project said: “This really has been a top secret project as we wanted to make sure everyone got a big surprise!

We were delighted to receive funding from Creative Scotland and the council to make this project come to life. We also worked closely with the council’s Education Service who advised us on potential schools to develop the project with and also recommended the specialised skills Fischy Music could bring to this very exciting idea. 

I’d like to thank them, the children and staff from the schools involved, who really embraced this idea from the very beginning and who were delighted to be involved in making Fife Secret Song a reality.”

As a thank you to the hard work and dedication of the children, the staff, Fischy Music and Fife Council’s Cultural Partnerships Team to make this flashmob happen, please help us promote Fife’s Secret Song – ‘Fife Goes Olympic’ far and wide.  Tell everyone you know to go to www.youtube.com/Thefifecouncil to view Fife Council’s flashmob clip and also search Dunfermline Flashmob which Colin Weaver (parent) kindly put up of almost the full concert!  Get ‘sharing’, ‘blogging’ and ‘tweeting’!
 

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland- CPD

The Short Courses programme 2012/13 from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is now available!

The Short Courses programme at the exists to support access to and participation in the wide range of performance and production arts specialisms here at the Conservatoire.  They also help widen participation by creating schemes, projects and partnerships to engage with communities of students less likely to take part.  Their short courses are designed to benefit all ages and stages of development, lifelong learners and also on-going professional development requirements in dance, drama, music, production, screen and teaching skills. 

Click Short Courses – Portfolio 12-13 to view the programme

Poetry CPD Sessions

June 15th

The Byre Theatre, St.Andrews

10am and 1.30pm

With St.Andrews being named a Winning Words Beacon town for the year 2012, The Byre Theatre is running two CPD sessions with a top poet this June.

Ryan Van Winkle, Poet in Residence at Edinburgh City Libraries, will be running two training sessions for primary and secondary teachers, focusing on how to bring poetry into the classroom via the Olympic Games and Sport.

 Click Winning Words CPD for all the details!

Scottish Learning Festival 2012 – registration now open!

The SLF 2012 Conference Programme and visitor registration are now available on the SLF website. 

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

In addition, there will be the following keynote speakers:
• Professor Keith Grint, Professor of Public Leadership, Warwick University Business School
• Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, RSA.

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

Refugee Week Scotland, 18th-24th June 2012

Each year Refugee Week grows and increases in profile, making its mark on the UK’s cultural calendar. This year’s theme Spirit captures:

  • Spirit of survival and the individual – the determination needed to flee persecution and rebuild your life
  • Community spirit – the connections between refugees and local communities
  • Scotland’s spirit – the cultural diversity of Scotland today.

Click here for more info!

Calling all film makers!

FILM NIGHT: WEDNESDAY 25 JULY

As part of the Aberdour Festival Family Film Night on Wednesday 25th July, Aberdour Festival is hosting its very own BAFTAs – Brilliant Aberdour Film Talent Awards. Budding film makers are invited to submit short films (of around five minutes) for showing on the night. If you have a film that you would like to show, or would like to make one especially for this event, please contact Lewis Banks for details of how to enter (01383 861267 / lewis@gallery8art.co.uk).

Submissions of all types are welcome from all ages and there will be prizes for the audience’s favourites on the night. There is a special prize for the committee’s favourite film produced by anyone under 16: Channel Fife TV has offered to work with a young person as a presenter and one as a camera operator and shoot for Channel Fife a topic of their choice. Your chance to work with the professionals! Graeme Campbell, Project Director at Channel Fife TV, said, ‘Channel Fife TV is developing a web broadcast television service across Fife and is delighted to be able to support local programme making in the community by sponsoring the Aberdour Festival Film Night.’ 

 ‘We are hoping to receive films on a wide range of topics, comedy, drama or documentary, from anyone who wants to pick up their camera or mobile phone and have a go. Maybe you could be the next Quentin Tarantino, Bill Forsyth or Steven Spielberg!’
Lewis Banks
 

“Stop Vandalism in Your Community” Storyboard Competition – Shortlist Announced

Say4schools recently launched a competition for Primary 6 and 7 pupils in Fife Schools to create a short storyboard on the theme of “Stop Vandalism in Your Community”.

The initiative is a joint partnership between Fife’s Community Safety Panels, Fife Education Service, Fife Constabulary and Adam Smith College and is now in its second year.  The aim of the initiative is to deliver messages of safety through cartoons, animation or pupil voices.

The competition has been a great success and attracted over 700 entries from schools all over Fife.  The quality of entries has been outstanding and the judges had a difficult time choosing the 21 shortlisted entries (3 from each Community Safety Area) to attend an Awards Ceremony on Thursday 21 June at Auchterderran Centre, where the winner will be announced.

A big thank you to all pupils who entered the competition – you’re all small genius’ with great imaginations.

Click on the link to see all shorlisted entries http://bit.ly/KSBo0R