Daily Archives: January 18, 2012

Mathematics, Sciences, Technologies

Annual STEM Ambassadors &Teachers Celebration Event

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Education Scotland Development Officers for Science are pleased to be joining our STEMNET partners for the annual STEM Ambassadors and Teachers Celebration Event at Glasgow Science Centre on Tuesday 31st January 2012. Science Connects and Global Science (STEMNET contract holders covering the South West and East of Scotland) are delighted to invite you to the Annual STEM Ambassadors and Teachers Celebration Event at the Glasgow Science Centre on Tuesday 31st January from 5:00-7:30pm.

STEM Ambassadors are volunteers who offer their time as inspiring role models for young people. They are people using science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills in their everyday lives and can help illuminate the potential of STEM subjects and careers through talks, hands-on activities, workshops, challenges or helping teachers with Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes.

This event offers you the chance to meet informally with over 200 Teachers and Ambassadors as well as visiting a showcase of 36 local and national organisations exhibiting STEM related resources, activities, challenges and ideas.

Programme

5:00 – 5:45pm Registration (Exhibition area open)
5:45 – 6:15pm Presentations in IMAX Theatre

  • Welcome
  • Introduction from STEMNET – Kirsten Bodley Chief Executive, STEMNET
  • Working with schools from an industry perspective – Stuart Sharkie, Engineering Manager, Thales UK
  • Working with Ambassadors from a school’s perspective – Dawn Crewes, Biology Teacher, St Mungo’s High School, Falkirk
  • The vision of Glasgow City of Science – David Gani, Deputy Principal at University of Strathclyde

6:15 – 7:30pm Exhibition and Workshops
8:00 pm Close

Refreshments will be available from 5.00pm and throughout the evening . Car parking will be free of charge in the Science Centre.

Places are limited for this event so please register today to make sure you can attend! You can register by emailing alan.kerr@glasgow.ac.uk with your name, organisation and contact details or by visiting www.stemscotland.com/stem-registration.html and completing the online form. More details concerning location and organisations exhibiting can also be found at this webpage.

Thank you and we look forward to meeting you at the Celebration Event.

Modern Languages, Social studies

The Multilingual Debate 2012

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 Heriot-Watt University’s Multilingual Debate is an annual event that showcases the interpreting skills of undergraduate students on their Languages (Interpreting and Translating) degree programme, as well as the developing professional skills of postgraduate students on their MSc Translating and Conference Interpeting programmes. The event takes the form of a formal debate with two multilingual teams arguing for and against a motion of topical interest in a range of languages. The teams deliver their views in their various native languages (French, German, Spanish, English, Chinese, British Sign Language (BSL)).

The Multilingual Debate stimulates an interest among young people in the international politics and social issues of the modern world whilst also setting language acquisition in a realistic context.

The audience is mainly made up of pupils coming from Scottish and English secondary schools, but also university undergraduate students considering entering the interpreting profession, as well as government and local authority representatives. The audiences participated in the debate by listening to the arguments, putting questions to the speakers in the languages represented and voting on the motion. Electronic voting is used and the audience are able to see clear changes in their opinions before the debate compared to after the debate.

This year, debate topics are:

  • ‘This house believes that the spread of Globish* will enhance inter-cultural understanding’
  • ‘This house believes that if the Euro fails, Europe will turn into a global backwater’

*see references online such as: http://www.oed.com/public/globish/the-rise-of-global-english.

In past years, the debate has been so popular that we are looking to provide access and participation online to allow as many people as possible to join in.

If you would like your learners to take part in this “true celebration of linguistic diversity”, then please click here to visit Herriot Watt’s website.

Early Years, Gaelic Learners, Responsibility of All

Wise Up Wednesday!

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Robert Burns – Lets Celebrate

Happy New Year from the Early Years Team at Education Scotland!

Its time to celebrate the life of Robert Burns on Burns’ Day 25th January.

To give you some ideas on where to get started we have provided you with some links to good practice and some interesting resources which will enable you to explore Burns’ birthday as well as Scotland itself including the languages of Gaelic and Scots particularly within the early years.

  • Why not explore the stories of Katie Morag by Mairi Hedderwick? Katie lives on a Scottish Island.

What is it like to live on an island?

What Islands are around Scotland?

Sing and speak the Scots language by tuning into our Glow meet on ‘watch again’.

Matthew Fitt, author of many stories in Scots for young children including “Katie’s Coo” and “A Wee Book O’ Fairytales in Scots” sings, tells stories and will have you ‘burlin roon’ before you know it!

Have a wee sing song

Visit the Education Scotland Knowledge of Language site and listen to auld favourites such as ‘Coulter’s Candy’ and ‘Ye Cannie Shuv Yer Grannie’. Also visit ‘Scotland’s Songs’ and see songs for the early years and songs in Gaelic too!

Celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday in a nursery setting

You could make a book all about things relating to Scotland. This would also encourage reflection and recall. You could add various pictures of Scottish food, tartan, animals, landmarks, places etc. The children may also want to add the Scots word that they like to use in conversation!

The Early Years team at Education Scotland hope you have a fabulous time during you Burns’ celebrations.

Additional Support for Learning, CfE, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, MCMC/16+LC, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Supporting Learners, Technologies, Universal Support

Global Citizenship – JOIN our Glow drop in session

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Developing Global Citizens through sustainable development education

Time:  3.45pm – 4.45pm, Thursday 26th January

Where: The shiny new Glow community for global citizenship

 2012 is a big year for Sustainable Development Education (SDE):

  • World leaders will gather in Rio to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and decide on further action
  • 2012 is the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
  • We only have three years until the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Education and there is a buzz of activity happening in schools and local authorities across Scotland.

If you’d like to tune into all that’s happening and are looking for inspiration and ideas to kick start 2012 then this is the Glow meet for you. The Developing Global Citizenship Team will be hosting this informal session open to any practitioner or school leader – just drop into the Glow meet to pick our brains, find out what’s coming up or tell us what you’re up to. If you missed the previous sessions then click here to see how they work.

Note: if you join us with a headset or webcam then it means we can have a good blether. However, if you prefer to type fast with wonky spellng then that’s good too!

One click (then another small one) to take part >>  http://bit.ly/DGCdropin3