Category Archives: Scotland Colleges

Competition, Scotland Colleges, Secondary schools

WorldSkills: registration opens Monday 10 February 2014

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A reminder that registration for WorldSkills UK National Competitions opens again on Monday 10 February 2014.

There are a number of tools available to assist with pre-competition activities that can be carried out at your college to prepare competitors for participation in WorldSkills UK competitions:

  • Take a look at the WSUK Coaching Manual
  • The Competitor Preparation Toolkit is available to help competitors fully prepare themselves ahead of the regional and national competitions
  • There are also a number of  Lesson Plans, which are designed to help you guide and support individuals and groups of learners as they prepare to participate in competition activities.

Registration is open from Monday 10 February 2014 until Friday 21 March 2014.  Find out more on the WordSkills UK website.

Challenge, Competition, Funding, Scotland Colleges

18+ Scotland’s young innovators challenged to transform our society

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Young people across Scotland are being challenged to find groundbreaking ways to address the country’s most pressing social problems. The Young Innovators Challenge is open for entries, with a new focus on social innovation, ideas which will help address some of society’s most complex issues. Entrants with the best ideas stand to win £2,500 and support to help develop their plans further. The challenge is open to all young people living in Scotland over the age of 18 in college or university education or on apprenticeship programmes.

Click here for more information.

Creative practitioners, Curriculum for Excellence, Education Scotland, Events, Primary schools, Scotland Colleges, Secondary schools, SLF14

SLF 2014 – call for seminar proposals now open

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The Call for Participation in the Scottish Learning Festival 2014 is now open.  The festival will once again host around 100 seminars over the 2 days and you are invited to submit a proposal to be part of the programme. SLF 2014 will take place on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 September in the SECC, Glasgow.

The Scottish Learning Festival 2014: raising achievement and attainment for all will focus on maximising educational outcomes through:

·         early intervention and prevention – for children, young people and adult learners in order to maximise educational outcomes

·         health and wellbeing – ranging from physical education and sport to the full  range of health and wellbeing subjects which are the responsibility of all  practitioners

·         employability skills – to secure a highly educated, well prepared and well-motivated young workforce able to compete in a global market.

Full details of the theme are available on the SLF website.

Creative practitioners, Primary schools, Scotland Colleges, Secondary schools

The Research Emporium of Dangerous Ideas

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Friday 13 June 2014
City of Glasgow College

It’s 2024.  Imagine your research results and recommendations or hypothesis have become policy and practice.  What changes have taken place as a result of your research?  What difference to education has your research made?  Whatever your level and scale of research, as long as it is related to shaping the future of education, you are invited to present your future vision at the Research Emporium of Dangerous Ideas.

What’s involved?
You will present your vision supported by theory/research in 7 minutes – the choice of how you present is up to you.  Participants and Merchants of Danger at the Emporium will be able to ‘buy’ into the research they think will have impact on educational change, and support that research further.  This may take various forms, not necessarily monetary.

What do I do next?

Please email Kelly Fitzpatrick with a 200 word synopsis of your research and implication for future policy and practice by Friday 28 February 2014.  We are looking for research that spans diverse areas of education and welcomes work in progress.

CPD, Creative practitioners, Curriculum for Excellence, Health and Wellbeing, Opportunities, Outdoor learning, Primary schools, Scotland Colleges, Secondary schools

Without Walls: The Outdoor Classroom

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16-18 June 2014

Never tried outdoor learning?  College Development Network, John Muir Award, The Outward Bound Trust and Youth Scotland invite you to break out into the most exhilarating, imaginative, thought-provoking environment that you will ever experience.  Challenge yourself to think differently about outdoor learning, the curriculum and what it takes to develop the outdoor classroom.

What’s on offer:

3 days, 2 nights at The Well Road Centre, Moffat, where you will experience a range of outdoor learning experiences and consider how you can build your own outdoor learning class.

Who it is for:
Priority will be given to those who do not have experience of outdoor learning.  In keeping with the philosophy of The Emporium of Dangerous Ideas, we will be looking for a mix of participants from education providers.

Cost:
£100 per person – covers accommodation, food and outdoor learning experiences.

How to apply:

Please email Kelly Fitzpatrick with a short piece (200 words) describing what you would hope to get out of this residential, and clarifying what your role and work setting is by Friday 14 February 2014.

CPD, Creative practitioners, Opportunities, Primary schools, Scotland Colleges, Secondary schools

The Emporium of Dangerous Ideas

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For the past two years College Development Network has curated the Festival of Dangerous Ideas – a festival aimed at re-establishing the importance of ideas as agents of change in education – shifting the axis of what is possible in education.

The festival has been highly successful, but we didn’t think that ‘festival’ with its connotations of celebration and one off events really reflected what we are trying to do.

We have decided to develop the festival into an Emporium of Dangerous Ideas – purveying the finest danger in education.  In fact there will be many emporia where the focus will be on selling, exchanging and creating the education of the future.  Events will be happening across the country, developed and facilitated by a range of partners, but always with the aim of challenging what exists and thinking about how it could be.

Dangerous Conversations

Fancy hosting a ‘dangerous conversation’ in an exciting location between the 9th and 18th June?

As part of the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas 2014, would you be willing to help organise a conversation about the future of Scottish education in an unusual, exciting or challenging environment? It could be talking timetabling on a train through the Highlands; or debating classroom layout round a campfire; maybe creativity in a castle or lecturing on a mountain peak?  The only requirement is that you give partners the chance to talk, think and engage in a space which takes them away from their desks/classrooms.

Building on the success of previous Philosophy Cafes, and Creative Learning Network’s Creative Conversations series, we are eager to continue to promote the importance of creative debate and conversation about the future of education.

We aim to have ‘dangerous conversation’ events across the whole of the country, and we would be delighted if you could host one in an exciting location in your area.

All we ask is that you feedback on the debate, and send some pictures which will be collated into an overall presentation of all of the thoughts, questions and images from across Scotland.

Key questions that are likely to be covered are:

  • What will Scottish education look like in the year 2024?
  • What is creativity, and what does it mean for us now?
  • What is the creative space, and how can it best be used?
  • What is the creative lecture, and what is the creative lecturer?
  • What is creative learning and what is the creative learning provider?

All we want you to do is sign up as a host, and pitch us the exciting location that will really inspire debate, get people thinking and talking creatively. We hope your event will be arranged and supported through partnerships; however, small amounts of money could be made available if lack of funding is prohibitive. Please include a brief outline of any such requirements you might have.

Please email Karen Lawson your ideas by Friday 14 February 2014.

CPD, Creative practitioners, Primary schools, Scotland Colleges, Secondary schools

Radio Edutalk – Professional learning for teachers channel

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Radio Edutalk (http://edutalk.cc) is an online radio station and free professional learning resource, organised by teachers David Noble and John Johnston. There are no costs to listeners and shows can be streamed, downloaded or subscribed to anytime, anywhere via most web-enabled devices, including mobile phones and tablet PCs. Shows are broadcast every Wednesday and Thursday evenings at http://www.edutalk.cc/listen.

A series of international education keynotes begins on the ‘Professional learning for teachers’ channel on Thursday 13 February (http://www.edutalk.info/upcoming). These online radio shows feature excellent content, delivered by acclaimed speakers from across the education world. Listeners are able to interact with each speaker via email or Twitter.

A new ‘Professional learning for teachers’ channel has been launched on Radio Edutalk (http://bit.ly/17WB5Sf). Fortnightly online radio shows feature teachers who, having conducted practitioner enquiry and other forms of research into teaching, learning and education, have improved teaching and learning, and pupil attainment and achievement.

For your diary:

·         Thursday 13 February, 6.45 pm – Gerd Leonhard: Futurist in Human Futures, Media, Content, Publishing & Entertainment, Telecommunications and ICT,  Marketing, Branding, Advertising & Communications, Culture & Creative Industries, Energy, and Environment and Sustainability.

·         Thursday 20 February, 7.45 pm – Clare Bryden, Teacher of English at Oban High School.

·         Thursday 6 March, 7.45 pm – Bonnie Stewart and course participants in Communications in Education at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. ‘Considering Networked Communications for Educators’.

·         Thursday 13 March, 7.30 pm – Professor Paul Kirschner, Welten Institute, Open University Netherlands. ‘Urban Legends in Education: What does good science say?

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 practitioners, Health and Wellbeing, Scotland Colleges

Free Webinar Series: Gonnae no dae that!

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‘Gonnae no dae that’ is a series five of webinars focusing on positive behaviour management strategies for working with younger students in college.  There is an expectation that there will be increased numbers of younger students working and learning in colleges and this series of webinars will focus on strategies to promote a positive response from and self-regulation in student behaviour.

Please click on the links below to view the programmes and book online:

CPD, Creative practitioners, Scotland Colleges

Activity generator: participatory ideas to spice up your classroom and engage your learners

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Friday 7 February 2014 (10:00 – 16:00)

College Development Network, Argyll Court, Stirling

View Programme and Book Online

This half-day experiential event will provide participants with lots of ideas for engaging students from induction through to pre-exit.

We will be demonstrating how to build a positive classroom climate, engage students and how to structure sessions that maintain cooperative behaviours.

Activities will include:

  • Ice-breakers – how to develop positive relationships from the start
  • Building a positive classroom climate – maintaining relationships
  • Energisers – dealing with apathy
  • Settlers – creating focus and structure
  • Promoting both individual and group work
  • Evaluating the class experience, learning and the teaching approach.