The Creative Conversation Christmas Celebration is on Wednesday 11^th December 2013.This one has a slightly different focus and our Creative Catalysts are people who have been inspired by Creative Conversations to take action. Different ways of working, challenges to the norm, surprises, being outside the comfort zone and inspiring stories of deep pupil engagement can all be expected.

The Creative Conversation is titled ‘What Difference Does it Make?’ and that is exactly what you are invited to discuss with colleagues.

I would also like to thank all of you for coming to Creative Conversations and hope you can join Gillian Tee, David Cameron, Lucy Vaughan, Heather Lucchesi Eileen Littlewood and Lindsay Fullarton in what I am sure will be a very enjoyable conversation about Creativity across Learning.

Coffee is from 4pm and the Creative Conversation will begin at 4.30. Wine and seasonal nibbles will follow at around 6pm till 7ish.

Places will fill up very quickly – please email Linda Lees <Linda.Lees@edinburgh.gov.uk> for an invitation.

23rd International Children’s Paining Competition

The International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment is an international contest, with regional and overall winners, for young people aged 6 to 14 organised by one of the United Nations agencies. It invites children to produce a painting on the theme of ‘Food Waste’ and saving the planet. The Think.Eat.Save website is designed to help inform their thinking around supply, waste and food security issues

Creative Conversations are Edinburgh’s now well established strategic response to developing the Creative Learning Network for the City. They feature as a case study in the recently published 3-18 Curriculum Impact project Creativity Across Learning. This successful approach has been picked up by colleauges in other local authorities and Education Scotland. You help make them the success they are and your invitation to the next Creative Conversation on Creative Leadership is attached.

Creative Conversation Invitation – Don Ledingham – download the pdf invite

Date for your diary:

The first of the 2013/14 Creative Conversations will be on Monday 25^th November at 4pm for 4.30 till 5.45pm with wine and canapes afterwards (venue to follow with confirmation of attendance). I am delighted that our Creative Catalyst this session is Don Ledingham.

Don Ledingham’s Creative Conversation is titled ‘Try a Little Tenderness….’ which may seem like the wrong song title for a session on Creative Leadership, but with Don as the Creative Catalyst, you can expect a few surprises! Don talks about forgiveness in leadership and about creating space for creativity and innovation. He thinks aloud and in public, challenging other leaders to open up and let go. He now works with Drummond International and will go global soon, so catch him while you can. No mere theorist, Don has been a Head Teacher and Director. This will be a memorable start to this session’s Creative Conversations. Coffee is from 4pm and the Creative Conversation will begin at 4.30.

As with all previous Creative Conversations, David Cameron will facilitate the discussion. You are invited to continue the conversation with Don, David and colleagues over wine and canapes at around 5.45/6pm.

Places are filling up very quickly – please email the address in the pdf  if you would like to attend and receive full venue details and confirmation of your place.

Children, young people and students are being encouraged to get creative and follow in the footsteps of a ‘Shoe’ in a competition launched by Edinburgh Museums & Galleries and Red Kite Animation.

http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/News/CITY-S-MUSEUM-COLLECTIONS-TO-PROVIDE-INSPIRATION-F

Inspired by artist Qian Shi’s award-winning animated short film about a toy shoe, the ‘Hidden Stories’ animation competition is designed to celebrate Edinburgh’s rich heritage and the art of animation.

Submissions are being invited from three categories: primary school, secondary school and students / young people (18-24 years). The closing date is Friday 28 March 2014.

The Scottish European Educational Trust has launched the second year of its ‘Our Europe’ film competition for secondary students in Scottish schools.

The European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU have a great deal of influence on the lives of people living within the member states of the Union, but awareness of this is often limited or inaccurate. In this competition, teams of 4 students from S3 to S6 are asked to create a storyboard and produce a short podcast giving their suggestions for the content of a short film to raise awareness of the impact of the European Parliament on the lives of young people. Entries for this first stage must be received at SEET by 10 December.

http://blogs.educationscotland.gov.uk/globalcitizenship/2013/10/01/film-making-and-europe/

24 September 14.00

http://bit.ly/1grThnQ

Turning the ordinary into something beautiful

David Batchelor is an artist, born in Dundee and now living in London who is best known for his brightly coloured sculptures using industrial materials including lightboxes from neon street signs, industrial dollies used to move heavy objects and items from everyday life such as brightly coloured plastic sunglasses and kitchen utensils.

For full details of these and other events, please log in to Glow and view the current schedule:

(Glow log-in and password required).

http://micro-tyco.com/

http://www.micro-tyco-registration.com/

Entry to WildHearts’ ground-breaking national enterprise challenge Micro-Tyco is now open.  Micro-Tyco inspires our children to believe, creates compassionate global citizens and will inspire the leaders our country deserves.

Registration is at www.micro-tyco-registration.com and you can find more information on the website or contact Kezia Rudge at Kezia@wildheartsinaction.org for more details.

Key events at this year’s SLF (or #slf13 as Twitterers will be saying)include the launch of the Creativity Across the Curriculum Aspect Review report, Creative MOTs from the Creative Scotland stand, street theatre with P6 pupils led by the ConFlux project, and a seminar exploring the role of creativity in building capacity for continuous improvement.

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/slf/?campaignkw=ScottishLearningFestival2013only3weekstogo

This year’s SLF takes place on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 September in the SECC, Glasgow. The theme is ‘Raising the Bar in Scotland – transforming lives through learning’.

We will be launching Education Scotland’s Corporate Plan 2013-16 at SLF. Sign up for a round-table discussion about how we plan to work with all our partners to make changes to education in Scotland.

The full programme of keynotes and seminars, along with details of additional activities, are available on the SLF website.  Follow all the action on social media at #SLF13.

Tesco Bank Art Competition for Schools 2014 http://www.nationalgalleries.org/education/competitions-3740/tesco-bank-art-competition-for-schools-2014

The National Galleries of Scotland invites entrants to this art competition.  Last year there were over 11,000 entries.

There are six categories, each with a different theme:

Category A Nursery: Fish

Category B Primary 1-3: Drumming Soldiers and Fluttering Fairies

Category C Primary 4-7: Amazing! I Could Do That!

Category D S1-S2: Speed

Category E Special Education Schools: Fire

Category F Group Entries: Any of the above themes

Pupils are asked to view a small selection of artworks on line. Teaching notes and lots of discussion ideas are provided with links made to Curriculum for Excellence.

Closing date: Friday 2 May 2014.

Tuesday 17th September, 4.15pm for 4.30pm, St. Joseph’s Academy, Grassyards Road, Kilmarnock, KA3 7SL

Keynote Speaker: Gordon Brown, Brain Juice

Once again the Cultural Co-ordinator Team within East Ayrshire’s Creative Minds Team has successfully secured funding from Creative Scotland and Education Scotland to continue to support our growing movement of professionals championing cultural education in our schools and communities.  This promises to be an interesting, informative and enjoyable event providing a platform to connect and collaborate with new partners, generate ideas and make things happen.  Please feel free to share this invitation with anyone you think would be interested in coming along or you feel would benefit from taking part.  All we ask is that they contact us with their details (name/designation, artist etc/establishment) so we have a handle on numbers. There will, as always, be an opportunity to connect with colleagues, teachers, artists, parents and pupils in a welcoming and friendly environment, enjoy our hospitality and a special preview of St. Joseph’s Academy Art Exhibition.

We will also launch our Creative Learning Opportunities Training Diary for 2013/14 which offers workshops, funding advice, visits and experiences to name only a few, and we invite you to book your creative learning opportunity of choice at the event.

As well as being a successful author, our keynote speaker Gordon Brown, has over 25 years experience in sales and marketing, including 14 years with Bass Brewers and as Director of Brands for the Tennents portfolio. He will share his knowledge and ideas to provoke discussion about the role and importance of creative minds in business and to fully recognise the increased value in teaching and nurturing creativity skills in schools. http://www.gordonjbrown.com/about-2

We hope you will continue to support the network in order to safeguard and shape the future of arts and cultural education in East Ayrshire.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you require any further information at this time.

Please RSVP helen.duncan@east-ayrshire.gov.uk to confirm your attendance if you haven’t already done so through our Facebook Page  www.facebook.com/CreativeMindsLearningNetwork

The Creative Learning Networks Fund is managed by Education Scotland, in partnership with Creative Scotland to support the development of Creative Learning Networks (CLNs) in local authority areas across Scotland.