Category Archives: Subjects and Themes

Creativity in abundance at the Scottish Education Awards

June 17, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

The Scottish Education Award winners were announced this week. Top schools and teaching professionals from across Scotland received their prestigious awards at a ceremony at the Hilton Hotel on 14 June. All three education ministers attended the awards and the Education Secretary Michael Russell congratulated the winners.

Notably all three Finalists in the Probationary Teacher of the Year category appeared to have Creativity at the core of their work with young people – drawing upon the strengths of drama, visual art, singing and heritage to empower and enthuse their pupils.

http://www.engageforeducation.org/2011/06/scottish-education-award-winners-announced/<http://www.engageforeducation.org/2011/06/scottish-education-award-winners-announced/>

Languages and Literacy

Grampian Children’s Book Award awarded by S1-3 in schools across Moray, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire

June 17, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

Grampian Children’s Book Award goes jointly to The Enemy and Grass. It’s a librarian’s dream to see so many children showing their enthusiasm for reading. There were more than 500 young people in the audience to hear who had won this year’s Grampian Children’s Book Award.

The decision is a popular one and children from schools across the north- east greet the news with screams and cheers of approval. It’s refreshing to see books produce such passion.

This is the seventh annual award open to voters in S1-3 in schools across Moray, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. The youngsters have voted two books into joint first position – Catherine MacPhail’s Grass and Charlie Higson’s The Enemy.

MacPhail is there and signs copies of her book afterwards: “I’m absolutely over the moon. I can’t explain it – I am so chuffed,” she says, as a long line of teenagers queue up clutching copies of Grass.

Twelve-year-old Adam Mair from Buckie High in Banffshire is glad that both books are sharing joint first place. “I liked The Enemy because I like a good horror book. Grass was different from what I normally read – I usually read more science fiction and it was more reality-based, so I found it interesting.”

Chloe Johnston, 13, from Meldrum Academy in Inverurie, has enjoyed an afternoon listening to extracts from the six shortlisted titles. “It was a really good atmosphere and a good experience. I read every day. I think this competition introduces kids to other books they might not otherwise have read,” says Chloe.

A committee of librarians runs the event and children at schools across the region vote for the winner. The other four books that made it to the shortlist of six were Angel Cake by Cathy Cassidy, Wasted by Nicola Morgan, Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

Drama, Technologies

New Glow Cookbook added: Testing the Waters: Schools and Museums Working Together

June 16, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

A new Glow cookbook from West Dunbartonshire has been added to the articles and links section of the Creativity Portal.

In it we are taken along the journey of Clydebank Museum and a local primary school who embarked upon a highly creative and inspiring project using Glow to expand the possibilities of pupils’ learning.

Visit the Cookbook or search for this and similar resources on the Creativity Portal itself:

http://cookbooks.glowscotland.org.uk/blog/2011/05/25/testing-the-waters-schools-and-museums-working-together/

Developing the Young Workforce, Music

NATIONWIDE MUSIC COMPETITION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO FIND NEXT BRIT THING

June 16, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

Young people aged 11-19 from Great Britain and Northern Ireland are being encouraged to register for Next BRIT Thing – a major new nationwide music competition backed by the UK music industry and The Government.

The competition is a major cross-curricular learning opportunity from Government and the music industry with wide appeal, enabling 11-19 year olds to develop their creative talents, confidence and skills.] Young people entering Next BRIT Thing will also have access to high-quality tutorials and resources to help them improve their skills, develop confidence and explore careers in the creative industries.

Next BRIT Thing is looking for young musicians in any genre to share their performances, compete in online charts and perform live. There are separate categories for both pop and classical music, with an additional award for composition.

Next BRIT Thing is open to all 11-19 year olds whether in formal education or not. It offers entrants a raft of prizes and money-can’t-buy opportunities, including the chance to perform in front of thousands and exclusive support and guidance from musicians and songwriters.

The lucky winners – to be chosen by Take That star Gary Barlow and a team of influential artists and music industry executives – will be crowned Next BRIT Thing and receive a unique award.

The Next BRIT Thing website at www.nextbritthing.com is already open for registration. From September 2011, entrants can submit video and audio of their performances to be assessed by their peers as a weekly chart. The most popular entries each week will progress to regional finals in November 2011, culminating in a national final early in 2012.

Music

Youth Music Initiative Funding for Youth Music Forums

June 16, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

YMI have announced that they will be continuing to fund the development of youth music forums. Information on how local authorities can apply to a number of funding streams will be released over the next couple of months – individuals/music networks within CLNs would be eligible to apply.

Please see guidelines attached and a link to information on the Creative Scotland website below: http://www.creativescotland.com/investment/investment-programmes/youth-music-initiative <http://www.creativescotland.com/investment/investment-programmes/youth-music-initiative>

Developing the Young Workforce, Languages and Literacy

Young Writers Awards – 14-17 years – mentoring by a professional writer

June 16, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

Young Writers Awards http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/young-writers-awards

Do you love to write? Ever dreamed about getting published? Would you like to work with a professional writer?

Scottish Book Trust is currently on the lookout for three enthusiastic writers between the ages of 14 and 17 to participate in our Young Writers Awards.

They could have the chance to be mentored by an established teen writer over a period of six months as well as meeting industry professionals and visiting a top London publisher.

Dance, Developing the Young Workforce, Drama, Music

Opportunity for creative school leavers! – Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund

June 15, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

Sky Arts is offering five young artists £30,000 each to fund their work for a full year as part of the Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund – in association with IdeasTap.

Sky Arts recognises that there’s an incredible amount of young talent in the arts today – but finding a way to get your work made is an ever-present challenge. The fund is designed to help bridge the gap between formal education and becoming a working artist.

So, whether you want to direct a piece of theatre, choreograph a new dance piece, write a novel, record an album, create a sculpture or produce a live art performance, Sky Arts will give you the time and money to make it happen. We’ll also pair you with a mentor from Sky to help you develop your networks, skills and knowledge in the arts and the commercial sector.

The Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund is open to individual artists working in visual art, theatre, performance art, film, music, dance orliterature. To apply, you must be an IdeasTap member aged 18-30 on 19 September 2011 and be based in either the UK or Ireland. It’s free to become an IdeasTap member and just takes a few minutes – sign up here.

Tell us how the Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund bursary can help take your work to the next level and you could be in with the chance of receiving one of five £30,000 bursaries, as well as an opportunity to showcase your work on Sky Arts – be it on TV, online or on demand.

Two winners will be selected during this round of funding. The next round will open in early 2012 from which three further winners will be chosen.

The Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund is part of the Sky Arts Ignition Series, which seeks to collaborate with six arts organisations over the next three years in the creation of brand new works, and further expanding Sky’s support of the arts in the UK and Ireland.

About Sky Arts

Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with channels dedicated solely to the arts, with 48 hours of the best arts content from around the world across Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 daily. Recent highlights include the latest season of the Met Opera, Chekhov Comedy Shorts, a season of brand new plays starring the cream of British comedic talent, Tim Marlow on Sculpture 3D and The South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

Sky Arts also seeks to connect with culture on the ground; creating and collaborating with the best of the arts in the UK and Ireland to bring new experiences to life.

For more information on Sky Arts, please visit www.sky.com/arts.

Download the terms and conditions here.

Read an interview with Sky Arts Channel Director James Hunt.

Applications close at 5pm on Monday 19 September 2011.

Drama

Gaelic speaking primary pupils now serve as Junior Guides at Edinburgh Castle

June 15, 2011 S. Bullock Leave a comment

Historic Scotland

Gaelic Junior Guides at Edinburgh Castle http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/news/news_article.htm?articleid=32313

Gaelic medium education pupils from Tollcross Primary School in Edinburgh have seen the culmination of weeks of training to become Historic Scotland’s Gaelic speaking Junior Guides at Edinburgh Castle. The pupils gave a costumed performance in Gaelic of a 16th century royal banquet scene for an invited audience in the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle on Monday 13 June.

At the end of the performance they were presented with their graduation certificates as fully-fledged Edinburgh Castle Gaelic Junior Guides.

During the past few weeks the pupils have also become film stars. Their guided tour of the Great Hall, delivered as a costumed performance, has been filmed to produce an educational DVD about the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle for both Gaelic learners and Gaelic speakers, whatever their age.

News, opportunities, research and strategy relating to creative teaching and learning in Scotland