Category Archives: Subjects and Themes

National Working Group for Dance

The national working group for Dance met on 8 May at Optima Glasgow.

The main focus of the group is:

• to establish what the barriers are to the delivery of Dance

• to improve communication within the dance community

• to establish a network of contacts within the dance community

Con Morris from Education Scotland gave the group an insight into how Glow could be used to establish better communication and links. How a “Blether account” would allow practitioners to support each other and share good practice.

View full blog post here:

National Working Group for Dance

Photo 14 National School Student Competition

Scran is heading to its 20th year. Periodically, it has run a national photography competition. We thought that, as this is a momentous year for Scotland, it would be a stoatin’ idea to run another National School Student Photography Competition.

http://www.scran.ac.uk/photo14/
Competitions mean prizes.  And there are braw prizes.  There are three sections: Primary, Secondary and ASN and each section winner will win one of Apple’s latest iPads.  In addition, there will be an overall winner who will win a set of 10 iPads for his or her school. The runner up will win 5.

There will be a range of further runner up prizes which will include photo books.

Theme

Competitions need themes and this year’s theme will be “What Scotland means to me.” So think widely and creatively.  In past years the overall winner had a pawky eye, a gallus vision and a canny control of the shutter.

Remember we are Scran – we like odds and ends and bits and pieces and stuff.

Learning Technologies: Design for Impact – briefing event on £1.1m funding

The Technology Strategy Board, the Knowledge Transfer Network, and the Education Foundation will be running as series of UK events to promote an upcoming £1.1m funding competition called Learning Technologies: Design for Impact which will highlight the challenges and opportunities specific to the design, adoption and implementation of digital technologies in the education sector used for learning and teaching.

This event will signpost companies to explore how co-design will engage educators and learners at a deeper level and will stimulate discussion among educators, designers, digital companies and education professionals. Attendees will meet like minded professionals from a range of backgrounds, including education, design, technology and digital, debate the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing innovative learning technologies, and connect with potential collaborators who seek professional expertise during this process covering a range of disciplines, from service or business design through to best teaching and learning practice.

For more information on the funding competition please visit: http://bit.ly/PpzVZU

Register below for a place to attend today.

Glasgow – 20 May 2014 – https://glasgowlearningtechnolgiesfundingworkshop.eventbrite.co.uk

Creative approaches to learning: live and virtual experiences

Definition of a Dream ‘A state of mind in which someone is or seems to be unaware of their immediate surroundings’ – definition of a dream

Friday 6 June 2014 (10:00 – 16:00)

Target Audience

Emporium-logoEveryone interested in creative approaches to learning, including the role of live and virtual experiences.

Venue:
No venue as this is online for registration only
Cost:
This is a free event.

Summary

PLEASE NOTE: To register initial interest for the event please email Paul Gorman onmrpaulgorman@hotmail.co.uk

Using subtle and rewarding storytelling this live and virtual experience will take place over three days during the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas 2014.  Participants will be invited to inhabit a fictional world that breaks the boundaries they have in their imaginations.

Participants will follow a multi-linear narrative that will lead them through a series of highly visual, physical experiences that connect to an overarching story. Combining online platforms and real-world environments, the groups will start to connect their unique experiences to make their own meaning and find the next part of the adventure.

More information about the experience will be shared at the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas launch on Friday 6 June.  However information will be released from the end of May.  If you would like to find out more or sign up to be a participant contact mrpaulgorman@hotmail.co.uk .

Participants are welcome from across Scotland and beyond.  Although the experience will occur over three days it won’t be essential to commit to all of the time.  The journey will exist in the virtual and live world to enable anyone to contribute.

Aims:

To think differently about the role of live and virtual experiences in shaping learning.

Lead:
Karen Lawson Phone: 01786 892024
Event co-ordinator:
Samantha Hay Phone: 01786 892007

The Edinburgh International Book Festival – where fantastic facts meet fascinating fiction

The Edinburgh International Book Festival has over 60 inspiring author events for school pupils of all ages. Running from 18-26 August, the programme features the best writers and illustrators for young people and covers a host of subjects relevant to the curriculum, from the Vikings to the First World War.  A transport fund is available to help schools meet the cost of taking their pupils to the Festival, and every child who attends an event will receive a £2 book voucher to spend in the Festival’s bookshops. There is also a series of Continuing Professional Development events for education professionals. Further information and full programme listings can be found on the Book Festival website and in the brochure.

Website: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/education/baillie-gifford-schools-programme

Brochure: https://d3v4sx4i2y2qe1.cloudfront.net/cdnstatic/36f2615d6cbe2efd637c5808f8a5ebdf5d9425ed/uploads/programme_pdfs/2014_schools_brochure.pdf

The Society of William Wallace – competition for Glasgow schools

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/eslb/2014/04/23/the-society-of-william-wallace-competition-for-glasgow-schools/

Calling all schools in Glasgow City Council! The Society of William Wallace has been successful in securing a new Wallace Monument at the esplanade of Glasgow Cathedral. The monument will be erected in June of this year. We would like to invite pupils to write a short poem which will be inscribed on the monument. The poem must be 20 words or less and should consider the contribution of William Wallace.

This competition will run from 1 May to 14 June for all schools in Glasgow City Council. We are encouraging all schools to run their own competition and send the winning entry from each school to this address: surge2gether@ntlworld.com by no later than 14 June.

Entries will be judged by a prestigious panel and the winner announced on 30 June.

NESTA Primary One Day Digital Creativity CPD event

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/eslb/

NESTA Primary One Day Digital Creativity CPD event on Saturday 10 May, University of Glasgow

Nesta are running a one day digital creativity CPD event for primary school teachers. Find out more about digital activities you can introduce into your own classroom. Choose from four workshops on website creation, animation, Scratch and Kodu. No previous experience is necessary.

Youth Music Initiative Consultation Opportunity

As part of the on-going Year 11 Youth Music Initiative programme in Aberdeenshire the Arts Development team is looking to appoint a researcher to plan and run a consultation exercise with children and young people in the region.

The Youth Music Initiative (YMI) programme, which is administered nationally by Creative Scotland, has two key purposes:

1/ To meet the Scottish Government’s P6 target that “every school pupil in Scotland should be offered a year of free music tuition by the time they reach Primary 6.”

2/ For projects delivered beyond the P6 target the purpose is: “to engage young people (of any school age) who otherwise would not participate in quality music making activities.”

With these priorities in mind and working closely with the Aberdeenshire YMI team, the consultation will engage with children and young people across Aberdeenshire to ascertain what impact the work is having, what areas of music are popular and where gaps exist that can be addressed in future years.

It is envisaged that the consultation will be with a range of participants such as those undertaking YMI projects, children and young people in other music settings, Visiting Music Specialist’s classes, school councils and Community Learning and Development groups.  It is important to note that Aberdeenshire is a large, mainly rural, locality and evidence will be required from a representative cross-section the region.

The research post is open to cultural professionals and creative artists who will be employed on a freelance basis and will need to be available between May and July (2014) to work with school based groups, with the report completed by the end of August.  Successful candidates will be required to be PVG registered with Disclosure Scotland (Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme).

A fee of £5,000 is available for the work, which will cover all research, travel and subsistence, materials and final report.  We will shortlist candidates for interview based on an indication of suitable experience and creative responses to the brief.

To apply please send by email:

  • Your CV
  • A short description of how you would conduct the research on two sheets of A4, with a breakdown of associated costs, based on the figure above.
  • Details of two referees

Deadline for email applications 12 May, 2014 to david.atherton@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Only email applications will be considered.

Please note interviews are planned for 19 & 20 May, 2014 at Woodhill House in Aberdeen.  Candidates will be judged on the basis of a short presentation and responses to questions from the panel.

For informal discussion and more information about the project please contact:

David Atherton, Arts Education Officer, 01224 665363 david.atherton@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or

Jenna Main, Youth Music Initiative Officer, 01224 664604 jenna.main@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Composing Music Survey

To help us better support composing music in the classroom, Education Scotland would like to invite practitioners to participate in a very short survey which will help direct us towards developing appropriate support materials. This consultation will also take into account feedback from our learning blog and inform next steps for the working group.

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/eslb/2014/04/23/composing-music-survey/

Shape the Future competition – creative change

Schools should be aware of the upcoming second Shape the Future competition which will be launched on the 28 April 2014 across the UK. The competition will be open to all UK schools and will ask young people (aged 11-16) to outline and present on their priorities for improving the lives of women and girls worldwide. Following a judging panel, the winning pupils will be invited to attend and present their ideas at a global summit hosted by the Prime Minister in July.

The themes of this short group project fit into subjects across the curriculum, including Modern Studies, RME, Geography, History, English and PSE as well as lending itself to a context for inter-disciplinary learning.  A dedicated ‘Shape the Future’ website will provide teachers with a range of resources to guide pupils through the competition.

Education Scotland has provided a Learning Journey considering aspects of gender equality which will be a helpful resource to schools.  Last year Promoting  Diversity and Equality: Developing Responsible Citizens in 20th century brought to the fore exemplars of good practice and resources to assist in taking forward approaches to diversity and equality.

On 7 May Game On Scotland and Education Scotland  have organised a conference for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games: Promoting Equality and Diversity it will reflect on the three core values of the Commonwealth Games Federation, humanity, equality and destiny.  The conference will provide delegates with a speakers and workshops focused on values education in a global context as well as the inclusion of all.