The Creativity Portal Update: “Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.”

The Creativity Portal is now a little over a year old and users are visiting the Creativity Portal for its offer of creative partnerships, resources and inspiration, as well as engaging with the Creativity Portal Glow Group behind the scenes in new and exciting ways.

Creativity News Feeds

Nearly 700 partnership opportunities and examples of creativity in the curriculum have already been shared through the Creativity Blog – many of which are free for teachers and community learning groups.

That’s more than four pieces of inspiration and creative opportunities each school day.

You can receive the Creativity Blog in the way that suits you best:

You can also subscribe to specialist Creativity Feeds such as Creativity and LiteracyCreativity and SciencesCreativity and HeritageCreativity and DramaCreativity and DanceCreativity and MusicCreativity and Art & DesignCreativity and ASL, Creativity and Early YearsCreativity and CLD and Creativity and Social Studies.

Creativity Portal website

Nearly 15000 unique users have visited the Creativity Portal already making use of:

  • 74 quality assured creative partners responding to and investing in Curriculum for Excellence
  • 29 quality assured case studies of creative partnerships in action across all ages and areas of the curriculum
  • easy access to 106 creative resources, learning and teaching tools and sources of inspiration
  • listings of 32 national Glow Groups with creativity at their heart to inform your teaching

Creativity Portal Glow Group

Various associated Glow Groups and tools have been developed alongside the public facing Creativity Portal to engage educationalists, teachers and youth workers in sharing, discussion and celebration of creativity’s role in teaching and learning.

Creativity Forum – a national forum for all Glow users to contribute to the debate and seek answers

Creativity Archive – a national repository of creative projects and lessons that any Glow user can add to, ensuring that all our creative learning is shared and no learning is ever lost

Creativity online newspaper – a simple newspaper style newsfeed giving you at-a-glance news from across Scotland in creative learning

Glow TV’s Creativity Channel – featuring an increasing number of creative Glow Meets with authors, theatre directors, artists and creative partners

This is an exciting phase for the Creativity Portal and with changes happening all the time your feedback is as powerful as ever. You can access the Creativity Portal Evaluation tool here – http://glo.li/mrNuJE, leave a comment on the Creativity Forum – http://glo.li/ieF6fA, or email me direct on stephen.bullock@educationscotland.gov.uk

If you have any questions or suggestions then please do not hesitate to ask. You can also find resources to help you promote and share the Creativity Portal’s resources with colleagues in the Creativity Portal Glow Group.

Advice and guidance on new National Qualifications

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nationalqualifications/nqframework/newqualifications/index.asp?dm_i=LQE,MDNO,3GU5HR,1T9Y1,1

Education Scotland is developing advice and guidance for practitioners on the delivery of courses within the new National Qualifications (NQ) framework. A new advice and guidance area within the NQ Support webpages is available, giving further information and linking to a new advice and guidance factfile and an online survey (http://newsletters-ltscotland.org.uk/LQE-MDNO-3GU5HR-8LLGF-1/c.aspx). As part of the ongoing development work associated with new National Qualifications, Education Scotland consulted key partners to determine the type and nature of supplementary guidance which should be developed to support the new NQs. The webpages explain the support that is currently in development and the form that this will take. This advice and guidance will be published in the spring.

Entrepreneurial skills

A.G. Barr’s Food and Drink Challenge provides an insight into the entrepreneurial skills required to operate a successful business programme by encouraging young people to take responsibility and ownership of the challenge.

The project demonstrates the innovative and creative manner in which the pupils have developed a business plan that places teamwork, decision making, assessing risk, literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing, technologies and leadership at the very heart of its objectives. This successful business project has enabled the pupils to develop entrepreneurial skills in a relevant, challenging and enjoyable manner whilst raising their aspirations in the wider context of skills for learning, life and work.

To read the more about the project click here.

Animation in the classroom

Model animation or stop motion animation is a great classroom activity that engages students of all ages and abilities and can support many curriculum areas.

This resource has been designed for teachers to use as a planning aid for an animation project in the classroom or/and as a printable teaching PDF resource. Each section will explain simple approaches to creating a short animated film.

To find out more click here.

To view examples of Animation in Action click here.