All posts by J. Fenby

Assessment, Education News, Resources

Taking a closer look at the National Assessment Resource: A professional learning resource

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Education Scotland’s assessment team has published a professional learning resource for practitioners.  It provides an opportunity to reflect on effective practice in learning, teaching and assessment, drawing on the work published on the National Assessment Resource (NAR).  It also provides a structured look at the NAR flow chart as a tool for planning effective learning, teaching, moderation and assessment.

The resource can be ‘dipped into’ by individual practitioners keen to reflect and improve on their assessment practice as well as pairs, groups of practitioners, associated school groups (ASGs) or clusters working collegiately to reflect on and improve practice.

The resource can be downloaded here: TACLAN_onlinepdf

Careers and Pathways, Drama, Glow

Careers in Theatre – 26 February, Glow TV

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Join the Festival Theatre Edinburgh, The Lyceum Theatre and The Traverse Theatre’s unique interactive one day careers event live on Glow TV on Tuesday 26th February for 3 unique sessions, each one hosted at a different theatre.

Front of House and Box Office Session – 10 – 11.30am
In the first session find out how the operational side of the Traverse Theatre works with representatives from Front of House and Box Office teams. This workshop will explain and explore how we go about creating the best possible experience for our customers/audiences before and after they have been to one of our shows. Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

Technical Theatre – 12 – 1.30pm
During this second event find out more about a day in the life of a theatre technician, with Graham Raith, Head of Electrics at the Festival and King’s Theatres. Including on stage visit to see Scottish Opera’s set of Massenet’s Werther. Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

Acting and Directing – 2.30- 3.30pm
During this session learn more about acting and directing in a Producing Theatre, whilst meeting some of the people involved in Time and the Conways. A great chance to find out how to make a career as an actor or director. Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

The event is aimed at 5th & 6th year pupils interested in pursuing a career in the theatre, and will also act as a CPD session for Drama, Guidance/Support Teachers and Career’s Advisors. It may also be of interest to upper primary and early secondary pupils also interested in the theatre.

Join us for some or all of these exciting events and learn more about the careers involved in theatre and remember that all the events will be recorded and available in Glow TV’s Watch Again section.

CLN News, CPD, West Lothian

West Lothian schools explore creativity in learning and in curriculum design

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Terrifyingly Exciting

West Lothian’s Creative Learning Network

Friday 15th March from 1.30pm at Howden Park Centre

What would happen if learning started with a question that was tricky to answer conclusively?

Imagine it started with the unknown, a world where nothing is fixed until it is chosen to be contained, an adventure that has not yet been lived?

Over the past 7 months teams of brave and imaginative learning cohorts from 4 secondary schools in West Lothian have been working with Paul Gorman from Visible Fictions Theatre Company to explore the fabric of creative learning.  These collectives comprise of teachers, pupils and artists.  By working together they have begun to unpick some of the barriers, perceived or real, that schools face when attempting to establish a creative vision.

This symposium will offer an insight in the schools’ journeys to better understand the benefits of a creative approach to curriculum design.  Over the course of an afternoon you will discover what Bathgate would look like if it became independent from Scotland, understand how the Scottish Government of the year 2050 deals with the hurricane season and be moved by the plight of a Zebra desperately searching for its soul.  Welcome to Creative Learning – West Lothian style.

Please come along and join us on Friday 15th March from 1.30pm at Howden Park Centre, Livingston to hear what has been learnt by the schools participating in this years Creative Learning Network project in West Lothian.

This initiative aims to champion creativity across learning and teaching in schools and communities within the overarching context of Curriculum for Excellence, bringing long-term benefits to learners.

To book your place please contact Fiona Macfarlane, Arts Officer (Learning) either by email: fiona.macfarlane2@westlothian.gov.uk or call 01506 773873 by Friday 8th March.

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.

Clackmannanshire, CLN News, CPD, Falkirk, Stirling

Forth Valley Creative Conversations Programme announced

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You are invited to the Forth Valley Creative Learning Creative Conversations programme.

Thursday 7th March | 4.30pm – 6.30pm | Stirling University:

What is Creative Learning? Keir Bloomer

Keir Bloomer will explore two distinct but linked ways of answering the question what is creative learning? Is it about approaches to learning that are creative?  In other words, is it the creativity of the teacher that is most important?  Alternatively, is the aim to develop the creativity of the learner?  He will consider the connections between these ideas and the principles of constructivist pedagogy – the idea that making meaning is the central intellectual task in learning.

For further details and to book tickets click here: Keir Bloomer Poster

Wednesday 17th April | 4.30pm – 6.30pm | Tolbooth, Stirling:

How do we Capture and Measure Creativity? Paul Collard, Chief Executive, Creativity, Culture, Education

Increasing attention is being given to developing the creativity of children and young people. From Japan to Chile, within Europe and across the US this has become a major preoccupation of educators. But how do you know what creativity looks like, and can you tell if it is being developed?  To support their work CCE commissioned extensive research into the definition and measurement of creativity and trialled numerous approaches in schools. In this presentation Paul Collard will provide a constructive and practical guide to identifying creativity in the classroom to enable teachers and creative practitioners to inspire children and young people.

For further details and to book tickets click here: Paul Collard Leaflet


Forth Valley Creative Learning is a new collaboration between Education in Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, creating together opportunities to explore creativity and creative learning

To find out more about Forth Valley Creative Learning visit: www.forthvalleycreativelearning.wordpress.com

CLN News, Scottish Borders

Scottish Borders Cultural Ambassador wins GTCS Professional Recognition Award for Creative Learning

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Sarah Gulliver-Goodal, Cultural Ambassador for Scottish Borders CLN, was recently awarded the GTCS professional recognition award for Creative Learning. Here she writes about the process of applying for professional recognition and what the award means to her.

“Going for Professional Recognition in Creativity was a huge decision and a long term personal commitment. The first step was very deliberately looking at my own practice and my place within school by evaluating and reflecting on my work. I felt able to go ahead once I was based in one primary school rather than travelling between schools, even though I do have three distinct roles within the school: Art CST, Nursery Teacher and PT cover teaching in P1.

Art and creativity within the primary school is very important to me and I wanted to be part of a change that would see creativity/ arts being a key aspect of learning across the curriculum at every stage. Professional recognition for me included cpd training, professional reading, gallery visits and leading a whole school creative arts project over 12 months which culminated in an exhibition in our local town hall. I benefitted from networking with visual artists, sculptors, sound artists and other professionals working in the Heritage Hub, in SBC planning and at Historic Scotland. Following the project work and the public exhibition the children are much more aware of their own creativity and they have more confidence in the quality of their own work. Staff readily use my expertise both within formal art sessions and informally as a resource for practical help.

Using reflection and evaluation of my work at each stage of the project has benefitted me as an individual and as a teacher. My planning and assessments are more focused now, I’m more aware of actively involving pupils in their learning and of working with pupils in new ways.

Professional recognition has been a very valuable learning tool for me not just a one-off cpd session but a way of working from now on.

The certificate presentation ceremony hosted by the GTCS at the Scottish Parliament was inspirational in itself and it was lovely to be supported in this by my Head Teacher, Maggie Norman. I love my work and get a lot of personal satisfaction back from the extra effort; it felt really good to receive recognition.”

Sarah Gulliver-Goodall

Cultural Ambassador, Scottish Borders Creative Learning Network

To read Scottish Borders CLN blog click here

CPD, Events

Festival of Dangerous Ideas 13-21 June 2013

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What’s your dangerous idea for education?

Dangerous Ed is back!!! Colleges Development Network is delighted to announce that the Festival of Dangerous Ideas will run again this year from 13-21 June 2013.

This year’s festival will be launched in Glasgow by world leading social entrepreneur Mel Young.  Mel is President and CEO of the Homeless World Cup and Co-founder of The Big Issue in Scotland.  Through his experience of working with the homeless, Mel has developed his own dangerous ideas for education.

There will be events happening throughout the week all over Scotland – co-created by people who are passionate about education. Events so far include:

  • A walk on the wild side – an adventure through the wilderness – exploring and creating over the weekend
  • Dangerous assessment – revolutionizing marking and assessment
  • Creative and dangerous – conversations across the nation
  • Game on – creating learning environments virtually
  • Un-conference – you decide the agenda
  • Online forums with dangerous dares and job swaps
  • Wicked problems, creative solutions
  • Resource-free – learn to engage learners for nothing
  • Waste-free world – why recycling isn’t the answer
  • Emporium of dangerous Ideas – trade your dangerous ideas.

Get involved and create your own dangerous event – register by completing the event submission form no later than 31 March 2013.

You can also join the Festival LinkedIn group, find us on Facebook and follow @Dangerous_Ed on Twitter.

CPD, Creative Practitioners, Teachers

SLF 2013: Raising the bar in Scotland – Transforming lives through learning

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SLF 2013 will be held on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th September 2013 in the SECC, Glasgow.
The theme for SLF 2013 is Raising the bar in Scotland – transforming lives through learning.

The Scottish Learning Festival 2013 will support practitioners explore a wide range of practical approaches, resources and research aimed at improving achievement and attainment for all our learners in Scotland. While raising the bar in Scotland will impact on all our learners, it is likely to have particular impact on the learning outcomes and life chances of “those who experience social disadvantage in Scotland, which studies show appears to be a larger factor in attainment than in similar countries.” OECD 2009
Call for Participation Now Open

The Call for Participation is now open and full details of the theme along with an online submission form are available on the SLF website.

Are you aware of establishments that demonstrate good practice or maybe there is a project that you have been working on that could be showcased.  We would encourage you to share this information with your colleagues and networks and submit proposals for consideration.

There is a robust review, evaluation and scoring system in place to help ensure all submissions are treated equally and therefore it is essential that all requests to participate go through the submission process and adhere to the timescales provided.  To ensure that your area of work is represented in the conference programme, please complete and submit the Call for Participation form for consideration.
Last year we received in excess of 350 submissions which allowed Education Scotland to deliver a relevant and balanced conference programme covering all key areas of education.  The 2013 programme will be launched in May and will feature the sessions that have been submitted and selected by the review panel.

The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday 1st March, proposals received after this date cannot be considered for inclusion in the conference programme.

We look forward to receiving your proposals and hope you will contribute to SLF 2013 to help continue to deliver Scotland’s largest annual national education conference and exhibition.
Keep up to date

To keep up to date with what’s happening for SLF, bookmark the SLF website to find out the latest on the conference and exhibition.

If you have any queries regarding SLF 2013, please email the SLF Team.