The Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Area Impact Project Report Launches at SLF 2012

 Yesterday saw the launch of the Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Area Impact Project report in a lively and challenging session at SLF 2012. We were delighted to welcome to the session practitioners, partners, young people and parents as we shared the key messages from the report, and our strategies for taking this forward. Delegates were enthusiastic in joining the debate around the key strengths and aspects for development, talking together and reflecting on these, and on their role in taking forward the sciences 3-18 in Scotland.

 If you haven’t yet seen the report, you can find it on the Education Scotland website and join the debate on our Sciences Curriculum Area Impact Project blog. We have posted the shared outcomes of the discussions at SLF2012, which we hope will inspire you to blog and comment too!

Free CPD from Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Come along to these free CPD sessions by Colin Webster to learn more about the circular economy: a long-term, regenerative industrial system. The idea is taking off in boardrooms and in governments the world over. The only way to tackle the depletion of raw materials with their associated rise in prices and environmental after-effects, is to take a systems approach and design for disassembly.

Secondary school teachers of Design Technology, Business Management, the Sciences, Geography and other subjects will find the circular economy of great value to the curriculum. These interactive CPD sessions include a look at the free teaching and learning resources of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

 Find out more about the Ellen MacArthur Foundation at www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org.

In each case, teachers from the local authority should sign up for the CPD via the usual channels. Teachers from outwith the authority should contact colin@ellenmacarthurfoundation.org for more information.

Get Game Design Software here…

Education Scotland has a strong record in working to develop, grow and share innovative practice in learning and teaching with digital technologies. Recent work and support materials available in Glow enabled our emerging technologies team to help spread the practice of computer game design and much of this work has gained a strong reputation for being of real worth and value to educators and learners.

We are looking to continue our work in this area so that new ideas and contexts for learning can be offered to our various client groups. As part of our efforts in this area we have arranged a partnership with YoYo Games – a Scottish based computer games design company – who make a game design application called Gamemaker.

YoYo Games have donated a number of full licences for Gamemaker 8.1 to Education Scotland so that we can make those available to educators who wish to make use of them.

Our aim is to make these available to educators but to encourage them to join a collaborative and collegiate community within Glow so that we can continue to grow a culture for teachers and learners of creation and not just consumption of digital assets.

If you feel that Gamemaker 8.1 is something that you would like to use in your educational setting then can you submit a bid for up to a maximum of 30 licences detailing:

  • The context of your educational setting
  • How many licences you would need
  • How you plan to use Gamemaker 8.1  with learners
  • How you would commit to playing a constructive role in our Glow community

The closing dates for bids is Friday 5 October 2012 and the successful schools will be announced on this blog on Friday 12 October 2012.

Bids should be submitted to derek.robertson(at)educationscotland.gov.uk