Category Archives: Literacy

New Gaelic resource pack for Commonwealth Games available now!

We are delighted to announce that Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig, with support from Education Scotland, are distributing a colourful Gaelic resource pack on the Commonwealth Games.

The pack includes a poster with the Commonwealth flags; a poster showing the 17 sports which will be at the Glasgow Games; stickers suitable for sport, such as A’ Chiad Àite, Tha mise math ann an sgioba, Bhuannaich sinne! (First Place; I’m a good team player; We won!) and two sets of cards about the sports at the Games and about the Commonwealth countries.

The cards convey information in a way which will encourage the Gaelic reading, comprehension and speaking of the pupils, and there are assignments for them to do too. There are questions on lifeskills maths, and plenty opportunities for research. The findings can be presented in a variety of ways such as reports, web pages and podcasts.

There is differentiation in the maths work, and it is expected that pupils will work to their own level in the other activities. There will be something for everyone, whether working on their own or in a group, and with the help of the cards, pupils will be able to speak in some depth about the sports and about the countries which are part of the Commonwealth.

Teacher’s Notes with suggestions for using the resources, sample questions, country data, and links which will help with the research, are available on the Stòrlann website. We are also organising a competition with cool prizes in conjunction with Bòrd na Gàidhlig, and interactive on-line games.

We hope there will be plenty winners with this Commonwealth Games pack!

Youth Leadership programme: 33Fifty

33Fifty is a leadership programme for young Commonwealth citizens aged between 18 and 25. Devised by a partnership of the Royal Commonwealth Society and social enterprise Common Purpose, the programme aims to develop young people to lead change and use the Commonwealth’s networks to greater effect. The name of the initiative is derived from the statistics that 33 percent of the world’s population live in a Commonwealth nation or territory, and 50 per cent of those are under 25 years old.

The programme will involve participants in a range of practical activities in July 2014, focused around a challenge relating to an issue of importance to all Commonwealth countries – “what role does the youth of the Commonwealth need to play in progress towards low-carbon economies”.

Organisers are inviting young people, aged 18-25 on the 17th July 2014, to apply to become part of the programme. Applications must be submitted by the deadline of 16th March 2014. The programme will bring together 100 young people, from Scotland and from the wider Commonwealth, to investigate, discuss and prepare some conclusions on the key challenge issue. Participants will then present their responses to some of the senior politicians who have gathered in Glasgow for CG2014.

The programme has attracted funding from both Scottish Government and commercial sponsors. It forms part of the cultural legacy of CG2014, and was launched in Scotland last week by Shona Robison, Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport.

Digital Common Wealth Schools Programme

Learners from 32 school clusters from targeted areas of most socio-economic need across Scotland will be given the chance to participate in the Digital Common Wealth schools programme, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, the University of the West of Scotland and the MediaTrust and launched formally on Friday 25th October 2013, with a great deal of interest shown from the education and cultural sectors and over fifty attendees.  The project aim is to involve every Local Authority in Scotland in the digital reporting of the Commonwealth themes in the run up to the Queen’s Baton Relay in June 2014, promoting digital media literacy skills through a series of specialist workshops (with associated learning materials mapped to Curriculum for Excellence requirements) focusing on audio, video, blogging and social media storytelling techniques, for up to 20 pupils (at P6 – S2 level) per cluster.  These will use readily available technology to help learners use their imagination and knowledge to produce creative, appropriate and engaging content based around four broad Commonwealth themes of People, Place, Culture and Exchange.  Participating schools will see their work showcased on a project website which will be archived as a record for future generations and there will be opportunities for working on a collaborative and cross curricular basis.

To participate in the project the Digital Common Wealth project team are looking for a Local Authority representative in each area to submit an indication of interest form

detailing how the proposed school cluster meets the project eligibility criteria and why they would like to take part, as well as details of how the project would be embedded in the curriculum.  Indications of interest should be submitted to the Digital Common Wealth Educational Coordinator, Alison McCandlish by email (alison@digitalcommonwealth.co.uk ) by 5pm on Friday 29th November 2013.

For more information on the project, together with detailed eligibility criteria you may wish to visit the Digital Common Wealth website www.digitalcommonwealth.co.uk , and the links below:

 Digital Common Wealth schools project website http://digitalcommonwealth.co.uk/project/education/

 Digital Common Wealth Twitter account @DigCW2014 with project hashtag #DigCW2014

Digital Common Wealth on EDUtalk http://www.edutalk.info/radio-edutalk-11-09-2013-david-mcgillivray/

 Digital Common Wealth launch event schools project summary slide  http://www.slideshare.net/DigCW2014/schools-presentation-for-launch-27532818 

Digital Common Wealth launch audio http://mixlr.com/johnpopham/showreel/digital-commonwealth-launch-live-from-glasgow-digcw2014-3/

Take Part in “Authors Live: Storytelling Relay”

Lari, Mara and Peter

When: Thursday 31 October at 11am (50 minutes)
Age: Primary 4-7 or 8-12 years
Where: your classroom, library, hall or computer at home!

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To celebrate the Queen’s Baton Relay setting off on its journey around the Commonwealth, Authors Live has brought together storytellers, Peter Chand, Lari Don and Mara Menzies (India, Scotland & Kenya) to share traditional tales from their homeland in this storytelling relay.

You can apply to be part of the audience, use the learning resources and even win prizes in a special draw. To find out more about the event, and to register, visit http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/node/111293.

The Sorytelling Relay will be streamed live on  www.bbc.co.uk/commonwealthclass and schools can email  commonwealthclass@bbc.co.uk for more information.

Authors Live is a collaboration between Scottish Book Trust and BBC Scotland Learning, funded by Creative Scotland.