Prize potential
The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway is the favourite to win the Art Fund Prize for the UK’s best museum this week.
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6087739

How to teach creative writing Part 2 – Tuesday 14 June, 4 pm – 5 pm

This is part of Scottish Book Trust’s Online Teacher in Residence Programme. This exclusive CPD series gives teachers practical tools, ideas, and classroom confidence for teaching creative writing of scripts and other media at either primary or secondary levels. Only those who attended the first session are eligible to attend the second session.
Sign up here .

Swap competition and Glow Group

Scots Words and Place-names (SWAP) is running a competition for all school pupils in Scotland during June. The competition is open to all ages and aims to get people talking about the Scots language in their classrooms, as well as using it outside of them. Everyone on Glow will get a chance to read the best pieces of writing and vote on which one they think deserves to win.

All pupils need to do is to write a story, poem or piece of discursive writing relating to Scots and upload it to the SWAP Glow group.

This could be about their favourite (or least favourite!) Scots words, about what a Scots place-name means to them, or could even be a whole story written in the Scots language. The possibilities are endless – the only requirement is that the piece of writing should clearly relate to Scots words and/or place-names. The competition is split into four age groups, P1-3, P4-7, S1-S3 and S4-S6.

Click here for more details about the competition and how to enter.

Learning and Teaching Scotland has commissioned a research project in conjunction with the Scottish Book Trust.  The research will look at the impact of author events on the confidence, enjoyment and attainment of young people’s literacy skills in primary and secondary schools across Scotland.
In order to provide a thorough overview, we want to hear the opinions of as many teachers as possible and are encouraging teachers to complete the survey between now and 11 July.

http://www.snapsurveys.com/swh/surveypreview.asp?k=130468635906

We have commissioned Blake Stevenson to carry out the research on our behalf.  The findings from the research will be published in spring 2012.

Inspiration and resources for creative activities exploring and using the Scots language now listed on the Creativity Portal. This and many more resources and partners are available by searching under Languages and Literacy.

Illustration, drawing, and upside-down painting with the author of the Katie books. James Mayhew, author of the Katie books (a great early introduction to art) talks to a live audience of primary school children about his passion for art, his beautiful illustrations and his stories, as well as painting live in the studio!

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/news-amp-events

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/podcasts/video/authors-live-with-james-mayhew-full-session

The Highland Council reports that an innovative partnership has been forged by The Highland Council, Moniack Mhor Writers’ Centre and Abriachan Forest Trust for a creative writing project which will give P7 pupils from 11 schools the opportunity to work with professional writers after exploring and getting inspiration from the forest.

http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/news/newsreleases/2011/May/2011-05-18-03.htm

Running over a two week period, the pupils will spend the mornings in the Abriachan forest planting new trees and searching for animal tracks and signs ranging from mammals, dragonflies on the wing, trout in the burn and toads in the undergrowth.  After a picnic lunch the learners will move to Moniack Mhor Writer’s Centre and work with writers Linda Cracknell and Gerry Cambridge to compose poems or riddles on what they saw during the morning session.