The Making of Katie Morag with Mairi Hedderwick
28 November 11.00
Mairi Hedderwick is bringing her most famous character, Katie Morag to Authors Live. Evoking the spirits of island life, Mairi will be telling her favourite Katie Morag stories, giving you an exclusive insight into what it is like to see Katie Morag being brought to life for CBeebies and telling you how the landscape and your surroundings can inspire what to write and draw. Suitable for Nursery – Primary 3 or 4-7 years.
| 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 25th 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. |
Friday 8th November 1.30-3.30pm, Linlithgow Burgh Halls, Linlithgow
Download the event flyer here: West Lothian Creative Conversation 1
West Lothian Creative Learning Network will hold it’s first Creative Conversation event on Friday 8th November at the Linlithgow Burgh Halls
Our idea is to offer a platform for anyone interested in the future of learning in West Lothian to discuss, debate and create. The structure of the conversation will include specialist input, updates from the residency project we doing this year and space to explore practical implementation in classrooms. We are aware of some inspiring creative teaching in West Lothian and we want to bring these voices together.
Our first conversation…
• …will establish a shared language and vision.
• …will start the debate by identifying the people curious about continuing the conversation.
Although we will be discussing West Lothian, this event is open to all as we know that similar conversations and challenges are happening nationally and we want you to be part of the conversation. Please see the linked PDF for more information, to book your place please contact Fiona Macfarlane, Arts Officer (Learning) on 01506 773873 or email fiona.macfarlane2@westlothian.gov.uk
Please book by Wednesday 6th November.
GOS – Literacy Learning Zone
29 October 2013, 10.00
Game On Scotland and the Literacy team of Education Scotland will present an exciting hour of challenges and fun around the Commonwealth Games. In conjunction with a teacher form West Dunbartonshire learners will engage in a number of stimulating activities using the Games as a context. The session will be interactive and no preparatory work is required. The target audience for this event is pupils Levels 2 and 3.
Find out more about this Glow TV series on the Game on Scotland blog
Exciting news this week as two important documents relating to creativity across learning were launched at the Scottish Learning Festival:
Published by Creative Scotland, Scotland’s Creative Learning Plan aims to inspire educational policy makers and practitioners to utilise creativity to benefit learners in schools and other settings.
The Creative Learning Plan is the result of work by a partnership of organisations working across Scotland in education and creativity and sets out an ambitious vision for creativity in education over the next 10 years.
Among the changes the partnership is aiming for are:
Find out more and download the Plan here: Creative Learning Plan
Education Scotland’s Curriculum Impact Report on Creativity Across Learning sets out key findings from a review of current practice in Scotland and focuses specifically on the development of creativity skills in learners. It proposes a definition of creativity is and identifies a set of core creative skills or attributes.
‘Scotland needs to prepare its young people for life and work in an uncertain economic and social environment if they are to thrive in an era of increasingly rapid change. The need for a well-developed set of higher-order skills will be a key part of the toolkit they will need and the ability to think creatively will be one of the most important tools in that toolkit’.
Download the Creativity Across Learning 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report here:
Author Gordon Brown, from Glasgow, gave the keynote speech – and food for thought – at a recent ‘Naturally Creative’ event in St Joseph’s Academy, Kilmarnock
Around sixty teachers, artists and students from across East Ayrshire interested in networking and finding out more about what’s going on in the arts attended the evening, which was organised by the Council’s Creative Minds Team.
“The Creative Minds Learning Network in East Ayrshire is growing both in numbers and diversity of membership. It’s fantastic to be part of this exciting movement of people championing arts and cultural education in our schools and the wider community. Gordon’s presentation created a real buzz of dialogue and activity challenging the way we work and how we do things providing a stimulus for thought and action.” Helen Duncan, Cultural Co-ordinator
Gordon, who delivers ‘creativity training’ under the Brain Juice brand as well as writing crime novels, shared his ideas about what creativity is and how it works. This sparked discussion about the role of creative minds in business and about the value of teaching creativity in schools.
Those who attended the get-together also had a sneak preview of the outstanding new St Joseph’s Academy art exhibition.
Many took advantage of opportunities to meet and chat with fellow artists, teachers and parents in a friendly, informal setting.
People were also invited to put their names down for future workshops, visits and experiences, as the new Creative Learning Opportunities training diary for 2013/14 was launched. The network is part of a national initiative funded by Education Scotland and Creative Scotland.
Councillor Eoghann MacColl, Spokesperson for Lifelong Learning, said: “There’s quite a network locally of artists, practitioners and people simply interested in the arts and culture.
“I’m delighted that the Creative Learning Network provides such a stimulating forum for like-minded individuals to get together and discuss ideas in this way, in order to enhance creative, artistic and cultural education for our young people, in line with Curriculum for Excellence”.
Helen Duncan
Cultural Co-ordinator
East Ayrshire Council
Educational & Social Services
Creative Minds Team
The Wallace Building
John Dickie Street
KILMARNOCK
KA1 1HW
T: 01563 555 650
www.facebook.com/#!/helen.duncan.313
An innovative conference, entitled Girfec: A creative approach, was recently held in South Lanarkshire as part of the Creative Learning Networks scheme.
South Lanarkshire’s Cultural Co-ordinator team organised the half day conference which was aimed at colleagues from across agencies and aimed to explore creative approaches to achieving positive outcomes for children, young people and their families linking to the wellbeing indicators.
The Cultural Co-ordinators are part of Integrating Children’s Services with a key remit for vulnerable families so undertake a lot of targeted working with schools and also with children and families. The conference gave an opportunity to bring together a wide range of colleagues to highlight the value of creative approaches when looking at girfec.
The conference offered colleagues the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker David Cameron, hear about practical examples and to network and discover the range of services already available within South Lanarkshire.
The objectives of the conference were to encourage staff to:
▫ Identify areas of their work where arts, culture and creativity could be used to address the wellbeing indicators.
▫ Gain a stronger awareness of national policy in relation to arts, culture and creativity in education.
▫ Take forward innovative approaches within own practice.
▫ Adopt collaborative approaches across resources.
The event was targeted at a wide range of agencies including social work, NHS and the voluntary sector. The following chart shows the breakdown of who attended.
The response from delegates overall was positive with people citing the importance to gather information as being an important part of the event, as well as the chance to hear an inspirational and motivational speaker. One delegate noted “Enthusiastic presenters who made me think about new ways to approach my work with children & families” and another “Really put GIRFEC into a context which will enthuse practitioners.”
A short film feature was made by South Lanarkshire TV about the event – it can be found at the following link http://youtu.be/Tw_t2V-6QLg
Tuesday 18th June
Wild Ideas – Celebrating Failure and Success (1000-1500)
West Highland College UHI, Carmichael Way, Fort William
In the first part of the day, the West Highland Way Walkers who will just have completed their 5 day walk, led by young people from West Highland College will exhibit the dangerous ideas that grew during their journey in the wild. In the second half of the day, Outward Bound will lead a session that will explore how they have used the research on Mindsets to develop their work with young people
View Programme and Book Online
Wednesday 19th am and pm
Modern Assessment Tools to Match Modern Literacy Practices in These Dangerous Times
College Development Network, Argyll Court, Stirling (1030-1230)
In order for pedagogy to stay aligned with this seismic shift in communication, how could the ubiquitous practice of digital photography be used as an assessment tool?
View Programme and Book Online
Dangerous Assessment Conference (1300-1600)
College Development Network, Argyll Court, Stirling
Alastair Pollitt from UCLES will put forward the argument that we stop marking exam papers.
View Programme and Book Online
Thursday 20 June 2013
Learning Through Gaming (1000-1600)
Dundee College, Gardyne Campus
As part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, participants at the event are encouraged be as ‘dangerous’ as possible in considering how gaming can influence pedagogy and encourage greater engagement with learning.
Speakers include Chris van der Kuyl of brightsolid, Derek Robertson of Education Scotland and David Renton of Reid Kerr College.
East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust has recently been successful in securing funding to deliver a community consultation. Eight events were held between April and May 2013.
The events asked eleven local communities questions about the importance of local heritage and place and explored the ways in which we can creatively engage communities in their own Heritage through the Arts. The information gathered will inform a stage two application which aims to create a series of community and artist led sculptural trails across the authority thorough a two year programme of cultural activity and volunteer training programmes, working in partnership with local heritage groups and community councils.
This project has been provided in partnership with The National Lottery, Heritage Lottery Fund
For more information please contact Esmee Thompson Cultural Coordinator
Esmee.Thompson@eastdunbarton.gov.uk 0141 777 3092
Queen Anne High School in Dunfermline, Fife and the learning community around the school have achieved outstanding evaluations in two separate reports by HM Inspectors published by Education Scotland today.
Queen Anne High School has become one of the few secondary schools in Scotland to receive evaluations of nothing less than ‘excellent’ and ‘very good’ from inspectors since the issue of updated guidelines by Education Scotland that reflect the increased expectations now applying as a result of the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. At the same time, the learning community has been evaluated as ‘very good’ in all four quality indicators used nationally to monitor the quality of learning communities
The report about the Queen Anne’s learning community states:
The inspection found the following key strengths within the Queen Anne learning community:
Read more by clicking here
