Category Archives: Primary schools

Art, Art and Design, Competition, Creative Partners, Curriculum for Excellence, Health and Wellbeing, Primary schools, Secondary schools

On Your Marks! The MUSA Young Artist Award 2014

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Sport will be on everyone’s minds in 2014. The highs and the lows, the triumphs and the failures, the hard work, the dedication, the mixture of nations and cultures; all these aspects of international sport can inspire great art.

Your goal is to create a 2D or 3D artwork inspired by the sporting, artistic and ethnographic items collected by the University of St Andrews. You could be on track to win vouchers or art materials up to the value of £40 and see your work displayed at the University’s Gateway Galleries.

Free workshops for schools rooted in the Curriculum for Excellence take place at MUSA between 27thJanuary and 28th March examining the competition themes, giving children new artistic skills and preparing them for the competition.

For more details visit www.st-andrews.ac.uk/museum/art-competition

Competition closes Friday 28th March 2014.

To enquire about a school visit to MUSA contact:

Rebecca Prentice, Curatorial Trainee (Learning & Access), Tel. 01334 461663, Email museumlearning@st-andrews.ac.uk

Click below to download a poster with more information.

MUSA Young Artist Award 2014 poster

Creative Partners, Creative practitioners, Curriculum for Excellence, Funding, Opportunities, Primary schools, Science, Secondary schools, Social Studies

St Andrews Botanic Garden Free Transport for School Visits‏

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St Andrews Botanic Gardens have been fortunate in being awarded a grant from Fife Culture and Heritage Fund to cover the TOTAL cost of  your transport for educational visits to  Garden between now and the Easter Holidays.
They have lots of indoor and outdoor activities  which meet Curriculum for Excellence outcomes for all levels  in science, social studies,  maths, language and art. Their most popular activities are  Rainforest / Plant Lifecycles/ Seasons / Weather / Climates / Plant Growth / Grow your Own /Animal Homes / Wildlife Gardening / Conservation /Senses / Enterprise /  Dig for Victory / Egyptians / Tree-mendous Maths / Gruffalo Trail/ Pond Dipping and Minibeasts  and they are happy to devise activities to suit your requirements. See the attached programme for full details.
Charges for tutor-led visits are £3 for a half day (two activities, 10 am to 12 pm) or £4.50 for a full day (three activities, 10 am to 2 pm, including lunchbreak). They have an indoor Glass Class which takes up to 60 pupils, indoor facilities for lunch and refreshments are provided for accompanying staff and helpers.  You can also come for a free self-guided visit to the Glasshouses and Garden as a taster until the end of March 2014. There are tree trails and guide books and they can provide support materials to accompany your self-guided visit.
Creative practitioners, Drama, Expressive Arts, Glow TV, Literacy and English, Music, Primary schools, Secondary schools, Social Studies

Glow TV – Scotland Sings – Celebrate Burns

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24/01/2014 09:30-10:15

Join us live from the Glow TV Studio as we celebrate Burns with a feast of Scottish songs – and accompanying instruments.

Sing along with us and learn some new songs and some new Scots language as well!
You can also tell us what you are doing to celebrate Burns in your schools – we want to hear about all the exciting things you are doing.

So join us to sing and share in our Burns celebration!
Creative Partners, Opportunities, Primary schools, Secondary schools, Young Scot

Nominations open for the Young Scot Awards 2014‏

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LET’S CELEBRATE SCOTLAND’S AMAZING YOUNG PEOPLE

We are on the lookout for young unsung heroes who have made a positive difference to the lives of others and their local community.

Nominate an inspirational young person aged 11-26 by the deadline 18th February.

Get the lowdown on the 11 award categories and online nomination form at: www.youngscotawards.co.uk

Let’s make the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards 2014 the biggest celebration of young people this country has ever seen – but it’s in your hands so make sure to get your nomination in!

Follow #ysawards14 on Twitter for exclusive updates.
CPD, Creative Partners, Dance, Primary schools

CREATIVE LEARNING FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS / WHAT ABOUT DANCE?

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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.

Curriculum for Excellence, Events, Glow TV, Primary schools, resources, Secondary schools, Social Studies

Holocaust Learning Events‏

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This year Holocaust Memorial Day 2014 will be commemorated in Scotland on Monday 27th January and Glow is pleased to be able to bring teachers and learners across the country a number of unique and innovative opportunities to discover and share more about this important period in history.
Holocaust Learning Experience Launching on Monday 20th January

The Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) ‘Journeys’ Learning Experience is a collaborative space to share what your school is doing for HMD 2014 and take part in learner activities.

We will be providing interactive opportunities for learners across the country to participate in events and learn more about the Holocaust via the new Glow environment.

The learning experience is aimed at upper primary and secondary learners and will include a number of learning starters and a Holocaust discussion newsfeed to share what your schools are doing to commemorate the event. Videos and audio content and a number of learner challenges will be available to help you learn more about the history of the times surrounding these events.

To help support practitioners, curriculum documents will be provided with the learning experience.

Visit the Learning Experience today.
Live Glow Meet with Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning on Wednesday 22nd January

Minister for Education Mike Russell recently visited Auschwitz with pupils from various schools and during this Glow TV event you will have the opportunity to hear about his experience.

Viewers will also hear from pupils at Broughton High School who also visited Auschwitz last year.

There will be an opportunity to ask them your own questions during the event and learn more about their experiences when they were there.

For more information and to get involved, visit Glow TV.
What is the Holocaust? on Monday 27th January

The Holocaust was a very important period in history and every year it is commemorated in January through the Holocaust Memorial Day.

In this Glow TV event find out when these events took place, what actually happened and who was involved.

In addition we will also look at how similar events have taken place since then throughout history and how it has affected the survivors.
National Event Scotland on Monday 27th January

The Scottish National Holocaust Memorial Day 2014 event will be broadcast live across Scotland through Glow.

The MacRobert Centre in Stirling will welcome Holocaust survivor Alfred Munzer and Cambodian genocide survivor Arn Chorn Pond.

The event starts at 6.30pm and the 2 hour programme will be filled with performances carried out by the Roma community and Rwandan community to make this a memorable and moving event.

Information on how to take part can be found on Glow TV. If this time isn’t suitable, you will have the opportunity to Watch Again.
Meeting a Survivor on Tuesday 28th January

As part of HMD 2014, survivors of the Holocaust and genocide are visiting schools in Scotland.

On 28th January Holocaust survivor Albert Munzer will be visiting the Glasgow Gaelic School and Glow TV will be there to broadcast the event to schools across Scotland.

Join us to hear Albert’s experiences and ask him questions about his life.
HMD 2014 Glasgow Event Live from the City Chambers on Wednesday 29th January

Glasgow City Chambers will once again host this live event through Glow for schools across Scotland.  This special broadcast, taking place from 10am, is run by young people for young people and the event is handed entirely over to pupils to develop the programme and broadcast the event.

Find out more in the Glow TV events schedule.
Arts Response Challenge with Cambodian Genocide Survivor on Thursday 30th January

There will be opportunities to join with pupils around Scotland in several national HMD 2014 events including an arts response challenge with Cambodian genocide survivor, flautist and human rights activist Arn Chorn Pond.

On the day, schools from around Scotland will share their response to the theme of HMD 2014 – Journeys in the form of music, drama, poetry and more.

For more information on this event on Glow TV.
Although these events are all broadcast live, they’re also recorded and you will have the opportunity to Watch Again.
Education Scotland has developed a range of other resources on the Holocaust to help support practitioners.

Kindertransport: escaping the holocaust resource, suitable for the broad general education and senior phase, explores the significance of the children’s transport during the Holocaust. The resource includes images, downloadable materials, video stories interviews and more.
Creative Partners, Primary schools, resources

Chinese New Year – Primary Education Pack

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Chinese New Year celebrations start on 31 January this year, when we enter the Year of the Horse.

The British Council has prepared a free primary education pack with lesson plans, assembly plans and other activities to help schools bring Chinese culture and language to life in the New Year period. Schools already registered on the British Council Schools Online website will have received a copy in the post. You can also download an electronic copy of the pack from the website.

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

Big Big Sing – Song Writing Competition

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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, Events, Health and Wellbeing, Primary schools, Scotland Colleges, Secondary schools

Scotland’s Big Laugh‏

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Did you know that January 24th is a day for laughing?
In partnership with Suzanne Zeedyk Ltd & Starcatchers we invite everyone to join in the fun!
Global Belly Laugh Day has a Scottish Twist this year.
After last year’s Laughter Day (you may remember lost polar bears, hopping ladies and surprise orchestras)  we are cranking it up to Scotland’s Big Laugh this year.  Everybody can take part . . . just by creating laughter on the day and sharing your journey with the rest of us!
Join us on Facebook and Twitter to create some giggles, after all laughter is the best medicine and we all need a bit of that in January!
CPD, Creative Partners, Early Years, Health and Wellbeing, Primary schools, Science, Secondary schools

The RHS and Growing Schools Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Courses for Spring 2014

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Available to teachers, support staff, school governors and others who are involved in teaching and inspiring children about plants gardening and keeping animals in school. A wide range of topics is available, encompassing the use and development of school grounds, thus providing practical experience, activities and ideas for utilising horticulture in all areas of the curriculum.

The aims of this Programme are:

  • To enthuse and support adults in developing and using gardens in school.
  • To support progression through the RHS Campaign for School Gardening benchmarking scheme, levels 1 to 5.
  • To encourage and advise teaching of the curriculum both inside and outside the classroom using, plants, gardens, animals, school grounds and environmental areas.
  • To improve knowledge and understanding of plants, gardening and raising animals in school.

For further details about the courses and to register your school for the RHS ‘Campaign for school gardening’ visit: rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening