British Council Scotland announces that the final countdown has begun towards the historic Edinburgh International Culture Summit <http://britishcouncil.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f93e948a279d85ee60e587244&id=56afe9666a&e=861265b16b>  on August 13-14. The first ever event of its kind, the Summit will bring together Ministers of Culture and other representatives from more than 40 countries around the world to debate the power of culture to act as a bridge between nations. The British Council is one of four partners making this groundbreaking event happen, together with the Scottish Government, the UK Government and the Edinburgh International Festival.

http://www.eics2012.com/

Undeterred by the wet weather, over 7000 people turned up to participate in this year’s annual Playday event at Kay Park, Kilmarnock, on Wednesday 1 August, making it one of the UK’s busiest events.
Children of all ages, from toddlers to teens, had a whale of a time – participating in a wide selection of activities including canoeing, mud slides, gunge pools, crate building, face painting, inflatable slides, quad bikes, den building and climbing wall.
While the 2012 Olympics were getting underway down in London, children in Kilmarnock were participating in taster sessions in their very own Olympic Zone, and many tried their hand at karate, taekwondo, weightlifting, judo, athletics and archery.
Playday provides an opportunity for the play sector to raise awareness about the importance of play in children’s lives, and celebrates a child’s right to play. The free event is run by East Ayrshire Council’s Leisure Development Services EA Positive Play team in Partnership with East Ayrshire Community Play Forum.

SQA’s extensive art collection of work produced by students studying Art and Design courses is now available to borrow via SQA’s new service Art Online.

Most artwork in the collection is framed and can be used for local exhibitions or as a teaching resource.

http://www.sqa.org.uk/mini/29272.html