“What should I be?” – Careers in the Food and Drinks Industry

Herald Mag - food industryEducation Scotland and partners link up with The Herald and Evening Times

The third issue in a series of publications for young people called ‘What could I be?’ has been produced by The Herald and Evening Times newspapers, together with Education Scotland, the Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Parents, carers and teachers will also find this innovative series of publications about careers helpful. This edition looks specifically at career ideas in the food and drink industry.

Access the Magazine here

It’s good to share…

We’ve recently published some new informative case studies on our Early Years cupoftea_tcm4-617386sharing practice webpage.

The case studies feature examples of good practice across a variety of settings, covering a range of themes to inspire approaches to 0 – 5 education for early learning and childcare practitioners.

If you have any questions about the case studies featured above or would like to share examples of good practice from your early years setting, please get in touch with Education Scotland’s Children and Families Team.

The case study’s featured include:

Confidential Books at St kenneth’s Primary Nursery Class

Staff at St Kenneth’s RC Primary School Nursery Class developed a confidential booklet to allow staff quick access to key information relating to children.

Children’s voices at Victoria Quay

Staff at Victoria Quay Nursery are actively listening and responding to children’s voices through involving them in the recruitment process.

Children’s learning journeys at Monkton Primary School Nursery Class

Staff at Monkton Primary School Nursery Class introduced responsive planning and children’s learning journeys.

An open plan learning environment at Wellgreen Nursery

Staff at Wellgreen Nursery reflected on the creation of an open plan learning space for children aged 2-5 years.

The use of floor books at Queen Street Nursery

This example shows how staff at Queen Street Nursery School incorporated planning for children’s learning into floor books.

The Seedling Room at Hailesland Early Years Centre

Staff at Hailesland Early Years Centre used knowledge gained from training on the Froebel approach to transform their provision for the youngest children.

Scottish Learning Festival 2015 – Social Studies

SLF_2015logoThe Scottish Learning Festival is Scotland’s largest annual professional learning event, offering education practitioners a great opportunity to increase their knowledge, discover new work, and improve their practice. Delegates can take part in a range of Conference sessions (Keynotes, seminars, discussions and more) and meet Exhibitors from organisations with products and services which benefit learners.

Scottish Learning Festival 2015 will take place at the SECC in Glasgow on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th September 2015.

The theme of this year’s event is “Raising attainment and achievement for all”, with a focus on maximising educational outcomes through local partnerships and collaboration; self-evaluation; and work-related learning.

Education Scotland is inviting organisations to submit proposals for seminars that will become part of this year’s programme. Full details of the themes and the online submission form are available on the SLF website. The closing date for submitting proposals is Friday 27th February 2015.

In the Social Studies team we are keen that the final programme includes great examples of effective and stimulating practice from schools, including creative projects and fresh approaches to learning. We are interested in all the subject areas within Social Studies, and in any sector. If you would like to showcase some of the work that your school or class is undertaking, or an activity that supports the professional development of teachers, please do consider submitting a seminar proposal.

Collect data about the environment and win £1000!

Do you have an environmental issue in your local area? Can you collect data about the issue?

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Can you think of a solution to the problem?
Collect data about an environmental issue in your local area, propose a solution and submit your ideas and you could win £1000 for your school.
Ideas, resources and last years entries can be found here.

March 30th closing date

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ComPound Interest – Chemistry Resources

ComPound Interest

 

Looking for a weekly summary of both new chemistry research and studies that have been in the news? ComPound Interest is a blog by Andy Brunning, a chemistry teacher in the UK, creating graphics looking at the chemistry and chemical reactions we come across on a day-to-day basis. This week’s summary features a nanoparticle drug that prevents the spread of cancer in mice, the discovery of polymeric organic material on comet 67-P, and more.

The Infographics he creates can be used as corridor and classroom displays and cover Elements, Food chemistry, Colour chemistry, Organic Chemistry and many more. You can subscribe to receive new content posted on the site automatically via email.

Celebrating LGBT History Month

Small - LGBT ImageEducation Scotland are excited to be holding a Glow TV event to celebrate LBGT History month. We will be joined in the studio by Graeme Ross, Education Capacity Building Officer for LGBT Youth Scotland. Graeme will be sharing opportunities for learners and practitioners to engage in LGBT education specifically for the month of February, such as Purple Friday as well as approaches to promoting positive relationships throughout the year such as gay straight alliance groups and the LGBT Charter Mark. Graeme is keen to answer any questions as well as hear of your own practice.

Join Glow TV on Thursday 5th February at 4pm. Register now to take part – Celebrating LGBT History Month

New Road Safety Scotland App

Small - Road SafetyThe team at Road Safety Scotland have been buried away over the last six months researching, testing and creating an exciting new app full of games for children aged 8-11. KLANG: The Road Home tracks the journey of an alien robot called Klang who’s been stranded on the strange and mysterious planet Earth and is in need of a few intrepid explorers to help him find his way home again. The app, which uses cutting edge technology and design, will help to teach children about road safety and encourage discussions and learning. This Glow TV broadcast will give you and your class the opportunity to learn more about the technology, the design and the story of Klang from two of the app’s creators. They will be answering questions and offering a sneak peek at the game before it goes live.

Join us in Glow TV on Thursday 5th February at 11.15am.
Register now to take part – New Road Safety Scotland App

NMS – Mary Queen of Scots

Small - Mary QS copyGlow TV is off to the National Museum of Scotland on Wednesday 4th February at 1.45pm to find out about our very own Mary Queen of Scots.

Join our expert curator as he tells us more about the life and times of Mary, Queen of Scots, by looking at some of the objects closely associated with her. For this unique Glow session, the team at the National Museum of Scotland have taken objects out of the cases to let classes see them up close over the webcam. Classes will also be able to ask questions about Mary and the objects that they’ll see. The session will also include poll questions for classes to discuss.

Register now to take part – NMS – Mary Queen of Scots

PL Session: Using Divided City to Explore Sectarianism

Small - Divided CityJoin us live in Glow TV on Monday 2nd February at 4pm for this hour long session which will explore themes highlighted in Theresa Breslin’s novel Divided City.

The Citizens Theatre has developed a Resource Pack which will allow teachers to lead fun and interactive activities with their pupils, exploring sectarianism, discrimination and intolerance; focusing on the characters and plot from Divided City. Join us for a live Professional Learning tutorial and then have a go yourself in class. Suitable for upper primary teachers.

You can download the free Divided City Resource Pack here: Divided City Resource Pack

Register to take part in the live event – Using Divided City to Explore Sectarianism

Live Like Burns

Small - Burns Birthplace copyGlow TV is concluding its Burns celebrations this year with a visit to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayr. Find out how Robert Burns lived with his wife Jean and join us as we see how they would have dressed and find out some new Scots words that you maybe didn’t know already!

Join us on Tuesday 27th January at 2.30pm in Glow TV.
Register to take part – Live Like Burns

Submit your seminar proposals for SLF 2015

SLF_logo_URLSLF 2015 takes place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September in Glasgow.

SLF provides high quality continuing professional learning and is a rendezvous for educational professionals both nationally and internationally, providing a unique platform to engage with a diverse range of experts, colleagues and suppliers.

We are now accepting seminar proposals for the 2015 conference programme which will feature around 100 seminars over the 2 days.

Is there a project you have been working on that could be showcased? Or perhaps you are aware of establishments that demonstrate good practice? We would encourage you to share this information with your colleagues and networks and submit relevant proposals for consideration.

The theme for SLF 2015: Raising attainment and achievement for all, with a focus on maximising educational outcomes through:

• local partnerships and collaboration – to share approaches that lead to better outcomes
• self-evaluation – to ensure creative and innovative approaches to sustained improvement
• work-related learning – to improve transitions into sustainable, productive employment.

Full details of the theme are available on the SLF website.

If you would like to submit a proposal for consideration please do so before Friday 27 February. Proposals received after this date will not be considered for inclusion in the conference programme. All proposals must be submitted online.

There is a robust review, evaluation and scoring system in place to help ensure that all submissions are treated equally therefore it is essential that all requests to participate go through the submission process and adhere to the timescales.

Last year we received in excess of 300 proposals which allowed Education Scotland to deliver a relevant and balanced conference programme covering all key areas of education. The 2015 conference programme and registration will be launched in May and will feature the sessions that have been submitted and selected for inclusion.

We look forward to receiving your proposals and hope you will contribute to SLF 2015 to help continue to deliver Scotland’s largest annual national education event. If you would like any further information about SLF 2015 please contact the SLF team.

Online learning spaces – the Learning Experience space

This is the second post in a series which describes some of our work on ‘content-free’ templates for educators and learners to use in CfE  learning.

learnex_logo3This space is on Glow O365, so it is best to log into Glow (eg on the Learning Spaces Community) before you explore the links below

What’s the thinking behind the Learning Experience space?

This space helps learners and educators co-create a learning experience starting from a bundle of Experiences and Outcomes.

It follows closely the approached offered by the NAR flowchart. In fact, there is a behind the scenes planner which may reduce some of the workload associated with some other methods of planning learning.

Nar flowchart

​​What does it do?

For the learner, they can be involved in devising learning intentions and success criteria, talking about their learning, showcasing learning and getting support when needed.

For the teacher, it makes the planning and delivery of a BGE learning experience a wee bit easier.

How do I get it?

The Learning Space template is on Glow O365 and is available to any member of staff from their school site. See How to create a Learning Experience Space for more details

Summary of support available

See also Online learning spaces – the Class Space

INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE PUPILS WITH BIOLOGY

SoBbbsrclottery

 

 

The Society of Biology launched a project (June 2014 – March 2015) named “Biology: Changing the World”, funded by BBSRC and the National Lottery to promote and celebrate the lives and contribution of famous biologists to the way we live now.

The project utilises heritage plaques present on buildings nationwide to highlight famous biologists in local areas. A tablet based App (freely downloaded from App’s store) has been developed which locates plaques closest to the user giving information about the scientist, such as their life stories and their contribution to biology. Interviews with contemporary biologists are also included.

SoB infoFor schools, and in particular for children aged 7-10 years, there is a teachers booklet and poster available (free of cost) to explain the project with suggestions for workshops and lessons.

More details can be found on the website below.

http://biologyheritage.societyofbiology.org/bcw-schools

 

Scottish Youth Parliament Launch Child Poverty Campaign

B8BNSIzIcAARPFbThe Scottish Youth Parliament today launched their new campaign “Poverty – See It / Change  It” from the innovative Fuse Youth Cafe in Shettleston in Glasgow.

Louise Cameron, the Chair of SYP, spoke eloquently and passionately about the overwhelming support from MSYP (Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament) constituents to back and support a campaign seeking to eradicate child poverty in Scotland, where 1 in 5 children are growing up in poverty. Read the facts about child poverty in Scotland from Save the Children. Louise said that:

“Scotland could be the best place in the world to grow up” and that child povery was an “issue that transcends party politics” and that “together let’s do more!”

Supporting the event were many MSPs and MPs, including the MSP for Shettleston, John Mason (SNP) and the MP for Shettleston, Margaret Curran (Labour). John Mason said that, “challenging stigma to poverty and raising awareness to poverty” were key parts of the campaign. Margaret Curran stated that young people should be able to “fulfill their potential and make their own decisions of the life they want to live.” And that “life shouldn’t be determined by the postcode in which you were born.”

MSYP Nairn McDonald set out the aims for the campaign:

  1. SEE IT  Raise awareness and let people see the reality of poverty in Scotland
  2. CHANGE IT MYSPs will work across the country speaking to young people, charities and other groups – changing attitdues and challenging stigma through peer to peer discussions.
  3. KEEP IT MYSPs will actively urge decision  makers to ‘keep’ their committment to tackling poverty.

The campaign is already in full swing and thoughout the day MYSPs have been meeting with various charitable groups to learn more about what they do to alleviate child poverty and how the MYSPs can support their efforts. To find out more and chart the progress of the campaign follow the hashtag #seeitchangeit on Twitter.

To find out more about the Scottish Youth Parliament and how the MSYP are elected look here: http://www.syp.org.uk/about-syp-W21page-94-

tam-trauchleIf teachers wish to explore some of the issues around child poverty there are some thought provoking archive films from Scotland On Screen that can be used as great lesson starters.

Tam Trauchle’s Troubles (1934) is a fundraising film for the Glasgow Necessitous Children’s Holiday Camp Fund, which raised money to help send poor children on a holiday during the summer break.

Man Without A Wife (1970)  is about a man whose wife left him to bring up six boys on his own and the difficulties he experienced.

Children of the City (1944) is a dramatised study of child delinquency in Dundee during World War II.

The Health of a City (1965) describes the foundation of day nurseries in Glasgow for children with missing parents.

Glasgow Today and Tomorrow (1949) outlines the Glasgow Corporation’s plans for the redevelopment of Glasgow, including the removal of slum housing and overcrowded tenemants.

Newsletter: Gaelic Medium Education

Comann nam Pàrant, the national organisation that advises and supports parents/carers of those in Gaelic Medium Education (GME), has recently published a newsletter.

In this newsletter you will learn of:
• activities to raise awareness of the benefits of GME
• partners working with schools to help children use Gaelic beyond the classroom
•forthcoming conference for parents/carers of children and young people in GME.
• useful information to help parents/carers support their child’s learning.

British Science Week 13 – 22 March 2015

BSW 2015British Science Week (BSW, formerly National Science & Engineering Week (NSEW)) is a ten-day programme of science, technology, engineering and maths events and activities across the UK aimed at people of all ages.
Anyone can organise an event or activity, and the British Science Association helps organisers plan by providing free activity and support resources. It welcomes and supports any type of organiser, from schools to community groups and from parents to large organisations. The resulting programme of events is a hugely varied and eclectic mix.
Get lots of information about how to plan your events for British Science Week and find events you can attend near you.

For further information and details regarding registration click on the link below:
http://britishscienceweek.org/

APPEAL FOR MORE SCHOOLS TO SIGN UP FOR SCOTS LANGUAGE AMBASSADORS SCHEME

Education Scotland’s Scots Language Coordinators Katrina Lucas and Simon Hall are looking for more schools who may be interested in taking part in a new scheme to promote the use of Scots Language in schools.

The Scots Language Ambassador scheme was launched in Edinburgh during Book Week on 24th November 2014. So far, Education Scotland has enlisted around 40 confident Scots speakers from different walks of life from all over Scotland who are willing to volunteer their time to work in partnership with a school, to encourage staff and pupils to use Scots within the classroom and raise the status of the language.

The Ambassadors will be expected to become champions of the Scots language, and work with schools for a period of three years to foster a love of the Scots language amongst learners. They will be expected to visit schools to learn about good practice in Scots education. They will also get involved with other activities within the school such as leading assemblies, writing a blog or newsletter, and acting as guest speakers or judges at school events.

A number of Ambassadors have already confirmed their involvement in the scheme including the cast of the Singing Kettle, Scottish Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2014 Robyn Stapleton, prizewinning author James Robertson and poet and Dundee Laureate W.N. Herbert. They will develop meaningful partnerships with schools that will provide a positive environment for Scots to flourish.

Dr Simon Hall, Scots Language Co-ordinator with Education Scotland, said: “We’re bringing together schools and Scots speakers from all over Scotland in order to celebrate and promote Scots language education. All of the Ambassadors and practitioners involved share a love of Scots and a commitment to providing young people with an understanding and appreciation of what is, after all, a priceless national treasure.

“The scheme works to create links between schools and Scots speakers within their communities to offer learners the chance to meet role models who use Scots, and show them that it can be used in their careers, and in their personal and professional lives. We want to celebrate and publicise good practice in Scots education and demonstrate that it is appropriate to be used in formal school and other contexts.

The introduction of the scheme is already proving popular amongst primary schools, with many considering Scots as a possibility within the 1+2 languages framework. Secondary schools are also getting involved to develop the new Scottish Qualifications Authority Awards in Scots Language to formally recognise learning in and about Scots.

If individuals or schools would like to find out more or to request a partnership with an Ambassador, please contact Simon Hall or Katrina Lucas at Education Scotland.

 

Seashell citizen science survey

Scottish Seashell Survey

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Keep Scotland Beautiful is encouraging all beach visitors this summer to participate in the first citizen science Scottish Seashell Survey.  A fun way to learn about the natural world while helping to collect useful information about the creatures that live around our coasts.

11-18 Secondary School Play research project (Scotland)

Grounds for Learning Logo  go2playlogo  Inspiring Scotland

Grounds for Learning (GfL) the Scottish school grounds charity has carried out research into play in secondary schools. Funded by the Scottish Government via the Go2Play fund at Inspiring Scotland, these reports lay out a clear messages about the value of play for our adolescents in secondary school.

The project set out to understand the value of play in secondary schools – how do pupils benefit from good play and relaxation at break? In the process researchers spoke to Scottish schools to understand the current provision, opportunities and challenges. Finally the researchers looked in Scotland and beyond for inspiring ideas to improve play provision in our secondary schools.

Grounds for Learning is now looking for partners who wish to take this project forward, and lead changes in a number of Scottish secondary schools. To view the research and for further information on the project and how to get involved click here.

Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards

Now open for applications!

Scotland’s Finest Woods (SFW) and the Outdoor & Woodland Learning Scotland (OWLS) (formerly Forest Education Initiative Scotland) have once again teamed up to run an annual Schools Award in Scotland.

The Award is to encourage and reward schools that increase young people’s understanding and appreciation of the environmental, social and economic potential of trees, woodlands and forests and of the link between trees and everyday wood-based products.

Prize money and prestige to be won!  Closing date for entry – 31st March 2015

For further information click on this link – www.sfwa.co.uk/

Raspberry Pi Network on Glow

Raspberry Pi ImageDo you like Raspberry Pi? How about checking out the tasty offerings over at the…… Raspberry Pi Network.

What is the Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages such as Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the Internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.

Where can I learn more about the Raspberry Pi?
Education Scotland has developed a Raspberry Pi Network on Glow.

Log into Glow, open any MS Office tile and click on the following link (www.bit.ly/raspberrypiedscot)

The Raspberry Pi Network is a dedicated site where both teachers and learners can create, collaborate and innovate. Some of the features available on the site include:

•NEWSFEED
Discuss approaches to teaching with colleagues from across Scotland.

•ANNOUNCEMENTS
Keep up to date with Raspberry Pi events throughout the year.

•USEFUL RESOURCES
Share your own resources and access those created by other teachers and learners.

•CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Find out about events in relation to the Raspberry Pi.

•RASPBERRY PI NOTEBOOK
Using OneNote to explore relevant discussion themes.

•WEB LINKS
Explore links to find out about other related Raspberry Pi projects.

•VIDEO DISCUSSIONS
View and discuss relevant videos aimed at promoting some of the projects which can be carried out using the Raspberry Pi.

HMD 2015 – Glow TV Events

HMD 2015As part of Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 Glow TV will be running a series of events during the week beginning the 26th January to keep the memory alive and convey the important messages of this day.

You can register for all these events in Glow TV and join us live on the day.

HMD 2015 – South Ayrshire Schools Event – Tuesday 27th January at 11am
National Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 schools event live from Kyle Academy in South Ayrshire. Led by HMDT Youth Champions with survivors Ela Weissberger and Hasan Hasanovich and young people from all over S Ayrshire commemorating the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. This is an ideal way to remember the victims of the Holocaust on this special day. Suitable for young people from Primary 6 to S6. Register now.

HMD 2015 – Scottish National Holocaust Memorial Day – Tuesday 27th January at 6.30pm
The Scottish National Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 event this year is live from Ayr Town Hall. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will open proceedings, with survivors Ela Weissberger and Hasan Hasanovich and musical contributions from South Ayrshire schools orchestra and choirs and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. This will be a moving and emotional commemoration of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides hosted by South Ayrshire Council. This event is suitable for young people from Primary 6 to S6. Register now.

HMD 2015 – Glasgow Schools Event – Wednesday 28th January at 10am
Glasgow City Council Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 schools event hosted and designed by young people for young people to remember the Holocaust. The young people will also be joined on stage survivors Ela Weissberger and Hasan Hasanovich as well as musical contributions form Glasgow schools. This event is suitable for young people from Primary 6 to S6. Register now.

HMD 2015 – The Arts and the Holocaust Workshop
Join us as we mark Holocaust Memorial Day by exploring how those in concentration camps used art as a means of survival. We will hear from Ela Weissberger who used art as a means of survival. Together with her mother, grandmother, her uncle and her sister, Ela was deported to Theresienstadt in February 1942. She performed the role of the cat in the Hans Krasa’s children’s opera “Brundibár” at the concentration camp. We will also find out about Marianne Grant who also credits her love of art with saving her life in the death camps and see examples of her work. Also speaking will be Morag Reid from Queens Park Church who will tell us about the remarkable Jane Haining who gave her life to help Jewish children. There will be an opportunity to ask questions of all speakers. This event is suitable for all pupils P6 – S6. Register now.

Holocaust Memorial Day – Learning Blog

HMD 2015Education Scotland will be supporting an online learning conversation exploring how Art can be used to depict and understand the Holocaust.

The artist Gordon Cockburn, who is the proprietor of Cockburn Galleries in Maybole, South Ayrshire, has agreed to share his work with learners to support Holocaust Memorial Day activities and events.

Learners can use a Glow based collaborative space to support each others learning around this topic. Curriculum materials will also be provided.

The site also features:

• Survivor stories;
• Collection of video and audio content;
• Learning tasks/intentions to engage learners in their study of this topic.

Interested in finding out more? Then come and visit the site at:

http://tinyurl.com/ma2qzss (Glow login details required)

Scotland Sings Burns

Small - Singing BurnsJoin us as part of our Burns celebrations for a unique opportunity to sing along with two top Scottish singers as they teach you two songs that you can sing along live with us!

Join us as Glow TV celebrates Burns Day on Friday 23rd January at 10.45am with a unique sing along opportunity. Top Scottish singers Jenn Butterworth and Laura Beth Salter will teach you two songs that you can all join in with. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and to be part of a large online choir!

Register to take part in this exciting opportunity – Scotland Sings Burns

You may also be interested in our Burns Glow Showcase – https://glowscotland.sharepoint.com/sites/learners/burnsshowcase/SitePages/Home.aspx and our Scots Blether – http://bit.ly/scotsblether – Wa nae gie it a gang?!

Early Learning and Childcare (ELCC) Local Conversations

Monday 26 January 2015
Glasgow – Room G09 Meeting Room – the Europa Building (Conversation 1: 09.30-12.00; Conversation 2: 13.30 – 16.00)

Thursday 29 January 2015
Dundee – Conference Room – Endeavour House (13.30-16.00)

Education Scotland is holding Local Conversations in Glasgow and Dundee for Early Learning and Childcare practitioners and managers to engage with them about the proposed revision of the self-evaluation toolkits.
The views of participants will be gathered about:
• What are the benefits and considerations of revising in tandem How Good Is Our School? and Child at the Centre?
• What are the strengths of the current tool that you would want to retain?
• How might the tool(s) be improved and developed in light of recent developments in education generally and in Early Learning and Childcare more specifically?
Invitations have already been sent to key contacts in local authorities and EY national partner agencies.
If you would like to attend please contact Marie.O’Donnell@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk

Online learning spaces – the Class space

This is the first post in a series which describes some of our work on ‘content-free’ templates for educators and learners to use in our learning.

This space is on Glow O365, so it is best to log into Glow (eg on the Learning Spaces Community) before you explore the links below

classspace_logo3What’s the thinking behind it?

This space helps support the learning of a class throughout an extended period of time.

It covers the first 2 or 3 stages of the Salmon model reasonably well, helping learners with easy access to resources, encouraging socialisation and information sharing.

At the same time, it offers the potential for ‘flipping’ some of the teaching and learning .

What does it do?

It has a number of functions that will support class learners; teacher announcements, newsfeed, calendar and learning resource areas. The slides below will you give some idea of the functionality…

Ok, how do I get it?

The Class Space template is on Glow O365 and is available to any member of staff from their school site. See How to create a Class Space for more details.

Summary of support available

Thanks for reading!

Your Burns Supper – Where does it come from?

Small - Burns SupperJanuary sees us celebrating the life of our famous bard Robert Burns. One of the many traditions is to eat a supper in his honour – but where does it come from?

Join us on a Burns night supper journey on Thursday 22nd January at 1.30pm as we visit a sheep farmer, a tattie farmer and a turnip farmer to see how the raw ingredients are produced. We will then visit a butcher on the road to discovering how haggis, neeps and tatties are grown and produced in Scotland. So join us and find out where your Burns Supper comes from!

Join us live in Glow TV on the day – register to take part Your Burns Supper – Where does it come from?

You may also be interested in our Burns Glow Showcase and our Scots Blether Wa nae gie it a gang?!

NMS – Dinosaurs

Glow TV once again returns to the National Museum of Scotland to find out more about our past and this time we are going back to prehistoric times to find out more about dinosaurs!

Explore fossil evidence to discover clues about how dinosaurs lived. Join the team at National Museums Scotland who will take you through some fun experiments and calculations to find out some facts and figures about dinosaur life.

Join us on Wednesday 21st January at 1.45pm in Glow TV to take part live. Register to take part – NMS Dinosaurs

Interested in becoming a teacher? Find out how with Teach in Scotland


Do you want to become a teacher or know anyone that’s interested in a career in teaching? Then visit the Teach in Scotland website.

The website is a great resource for anyone wanting to teach in Scotland, with information about applying for Initial Teacher Education, advice on teaching specialisms and guidance for teachers qualified outside of Scotland. There are also case studies from probationer and newly qualified teachers working in Scotland today – you can find out why they chose teaching, what they did to quality and how they are enjoying their new careers.

There are also contact details for organisations offering information on teaching in Scotland, universities where you can study to be a teacher, local authority websites for local job vacancies and events where you can find out more about becoming a teacher.

Feb 5th: National Voter Registration Day

Celebrate your 16th birthday in style and register to vote! February 5 marks National Voter Registration Day. Run by the youth political engagement charity, Bite The Ballot, they aim to get as many new voters on the register as possible. Last year they registered 50,000 new voters with just £9000. It costs just 25p each to register a new voter. Help them raise the bar even higher.
Bite The Ballot have lots of brilliant resources to help you organise your own voter registration day. http://bitetheballot.co.uk/nvrd/
Use the Twitter hashtag #NRVD to keep tabs on what other schools and colleges are doing to raise voter awareness and register young people on the electoral register.

BBC Learning Survey and Social Studies Resources


A wee reminder about all the fabulous learning resources to support Curriculum for Excellence on the BBC.
BBC Scotland Learning are currently developing new CfE materials but are also looking at how they improve communicating with teachers about these resources. the BBC have put together a very short, multiple-choice survey that attempts to find out how they could be better at keeping teachers informed.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/997CYLT
Please share with your friends, neighbours and colleagues who teach. There’s also a box for further comments where any thoughts, gripes, requests or ideas are welcomed.

When you have completed the survey check out the revamped Bitesize site that has resources to support National 4, National 5 and Highers. BBC Bitesize

The fabulous new iWonder site, designed to ‘feed your curiosity’ has some brilliant thought provoking materials. Have a look at the various resources supporting History and the BBC’s Democracy Day.

The home of BBC Learning Scotland is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/

Invitation to Love your Clothes with Betty & Bee at SR:D Limited Edition store

Please find attached an invitation to attend a fun evening with Love your Clothes and Zero Waste Scotland, hosted in the Scotland Re:Designed store at Ocean Terminal, Leith. 

The event, on Thursday 22nd January 2015 6pm – 8pm, will be co-hosted by bloggers Betty & Bee, who will illustrate and demonstrate how they love their clothes, and how easy it is for us all to make more mindful choices when it comes to waste in fashion.

Full details of the event, and how to RSVP can be found by clicking here.

Game Masters: Teachers Orientation Event

Game Masters: Teachers Orientation Event

Date: Monday 2 February 2015
Time: 16:30-18:30
Venue: Studio 1, Learning Centre, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Cost: Free
Booking: Please book your FREE space by emailing schools@nms.ac.uk or phoning 0131 247 4041. Tea/coffee and cake will be provided. Spaces are limited so please book your place as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

This session will introduce teachers to the Game Masters exhibition in preparation for visiting with a class.

The event will run as follows:

4.30pm – Registration and Refreshments

4.45pm – Introduction, practicalities about visit & overview of resources

5pm – Sarah Rothwell, Assistant Curator (Modern & Contemporary Design), introduces exhibition

5.15pm – Short tour of exhibition, followed by opportunity to explore exhibition and try games

6.15pm – Finish

More details about school visits to Game Masters: www.nms.ac.uk/schoolgames

Save The Date: Social Studies and Digital Technologies Day


Social Studies and Digital Technologies Day
organised by Education Scotland

Date: 21st March 2015

Time: 9:30 – 3:00

Venue: Stirling Management Centre, Stirling

Places: 40 – open to all primary and secondary practitioners

This is an excellent CLPL opportunity to refresh and learn new approaches to integrating ICT and Technologies through Social Studies.
There will be three exciting keynote speakers in the morning, followed by an afternoon session with a choice of three interactive workshops.
A complete programme for the day and the opportunity to book a place will be published in early February.

OneNote Hack Day for Primary & Secondary Practitioners

Glow Product Owner Ian Stewart is looking for teachers to come together and start developing multimedia textbooks based on OneNote. In his very own Glow blog, Ian explains:

“I am aiming at these at the National Courses as this is an immediate pressure point for lots of teachers. Several primary colleagues have said they would be interested but it’s not aimed at them.

They are right, what I have in mind is not aimed at them but if there is something they would like to develop one on (a particular topic, for example the Vikings). Why not join us and learn how to develop a notebook for this purpose, or as my wife says, keep us right.

This is a start, not a one off. This start will be in Microsoft Scotland’s Office in Edinburgh. On Saturday 31st January, we are looking to welcome people from 9 am with a kick off time at 9.30 with the space available till 4.30.

Ideally we want people to work together to form groups and set targets for themselves. I would hope these groups will continue to develop the Notebooks.

Also arrange more of these hackdays in different parts of the country.
Are you interested? Sign up on the Office 365 Spreadsheet (Glow login required). Speak to your colleagues and friends.

If you can’t make it on the day, that’s ok. You can join in online as the work continues.

The start of an exciting year.”

See the following blog for further information:

http://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/ab/mainlandian/

Learning for Sustainability award

The countdown is on for nominations to the Scottish Education Awards and your school could be the inaugural winners of the newly established Learning for Sustainability award. This award replaces the separate categories for global citizenship and sustainable schools. It aims to recognise the connections schools and centres have made between the different aspects of learning for sustainability (sustainable development education, international education, education for citizenship, global citizenship, outdoor learning, children’s rights and play) and how they have successfully implemented them across their schools and wider communities.
See our Conversations about learning for sustainability report for case studies of schools and centres that have demonstrated a commitment to learning for sustainability.
The full list of award categories is online, and we would encourage teachers, schools and local authorities to consider nominations before the deadline on Monday 16th February 2015.
Reminder – sign up to our new learning for sustainability ebulletin to keep up to date with the best news about new resources, professional learning and events.

New WW1 Gallipoli Resources on Glow

25th April 2015 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli. Education Scotland have created new resources to support secondary teachers with this topic. The resources approach the topic from the specific Scottish context and the involvement of Scottish regiments.

The resources can be found here on Glow: http://bit.ly/WW1Gallipoli

52nd Division
Scotland’s impact on Gallipoli was enormous and in fact, Gallipoli’s impact on Scotland was even greater. A whole Scottish division, bar two battalions, served at Gallipoli. The losses of the 52nd Division were so enormous that for the Scottish Lowlands it has been dubbed a ‘second Flodden.’ On 3rd July 1915 the division numbered 10,900 men of all ranks; by the 13th it had lost over 4,800 men. The impact on Scottish towns, villages and families in the Borders was so immense that scarcely a household between the Tweed and Forth did not mourn a loss. Hawick hosts its own Gallipoli Commemoration Event every year on the 12th of July to honour and remember all of the soldiers who lost their lives at Gallipoli whilst serving with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.

Quintinshill Train Crash
Poignantly, 210 52nd Lowlanders lost their lives before they had even left the country. Tragedy struck on 22 May 1915 when a train carrying the battalion HQ and two Companies of the 1/7th Royal Scots crashed in an accident at Quintinshill near Gretna while on route to Liverpool to meet the troop boat. 3 officers and 207 men died while 5 officers and 219 troops were injured. This is thought to be the worst rail crash ever to have occurred in Britain. Not only did the death toll reach 227 after two collisions but a secondary fire left very little behind.

Our Environment Competition now open for submissions.

Our Environment competition is now open for entry submission!
They want you to:
• find an environmental problem that you want to fix (or a potential problem you want to prevent);
• describe the problem;
• work out what you want to change, how that could make us healthier and happier; and
• work out how you are going to make it happen.
They are looking for ideas which:
• are ambitious & inspiring;
• are of high quality and well presented;
• engage with other members of your school or community; and
• have a legacy potential.
There is a £1000 prize for the best group entry from all the age categories, and a £100 prize for the best individual entry.
Find out more information on Scotland’s Environment Web.
Or on the Our Environment homepage to view other entries and get inspired!

ROYAL INSTITUTION GRANT SCHEME FOR ENRICHING STEM TEACHING

The Ri and the Causeway Foundation are offering UK schools grants of up to £500 to host a show, talk, workshop, debate, challenge or other STEM activity to supplement their students’ classroom activities.

Grants of up to £500 are being offered to eligible state-funded schools, academies and FE colleges in the UK to take part in an Enrichment and Enhancement (E&E) STEM activity from the STEM Directories before July 2015. This is an exciting opportunity for students to take part in a mathematics activity and help integrate mathematics enrichment in school practice.

The Scheme is now open and the deadline for applications is 9th February 2015 at 5pm.

For more information and to apply, visit the STEM Directories website. Priority will be given to schools meeting certain criteria; please see the grant terms for more details.

If you have any questions relating to the grant scheme or the STEM Directories, please contact info@stemdirectories.org.uk.

Ponte City: new exhibition and private teacher viewing at Scottish National Portrait Gallery


Teachers Private View
Thursday 15th January 5.15pm – 7pm
Enjoy a guided tour of the Ponte City exhibition with the curator and find out more about the schools programme.
Exhibition runs 6th Dec 2014 – 26th April 2015
at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Queen St Edinburgh EH2 1JD

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibitions/ponte-city

Please book by contacting lconacher@nationalgalleries.org

This photographic exhibition documents the Ponte City tower block building in Johannesburg, South Africa from 2007 to 2012.

Potential curriculum links: (especially suitable for secondary school pupils)
• People, place and environment
• Social issues – apartheid / equality and diversity / poverty
• Comparison with Scottish cities eg. the demolition of the Red Road Flats in Glasgow
• Values, beliefs and cultures
• Global Citizenship
• Expressive Arts

Ponte City was built for white people at the height of apartheid, but with the end of the Group Areas Act in 1991 became a refuge for black newcomers from the townships and rural areas, and then immigrants from elsewhere in Africa.

The building entered into a period of decline; by the turn of the century Ponte City symbolised urban decay and was perceived as the epicentre of crime, prostitution and drug dealing in Johannesburg. In 2007 developers evicted half of the residents and began gutting the empty apartments, but financial difficulties halted the renovation process before completion.

During this time artists Subotzky and Waterhouse began to document the building by:
• interviewing the remaining tenants
• photographing every door in the 54-storey structure
• photographing the view from every window
• photographing TV screens in the flats where residents were watching television
• collecting documents and other debris from the abandoned units

Scottish Education Awards 2015 – Headteacher of the Year Award

Headteacher of the Year Award

The Scottish Education Awards recognise schools, centres and individuals that have developed a vibrant and progressive culture and climate of continuous innovation.
The award for the Headteacher of the Year recognises headteachers that provide inspirational leadership, who motivate and involve staff, children and young people across the establishment, bringing learning to life and inspiring all to fulfil their potential.

Do you know a headteacher that stands out from the rest? If so, can you answer the questions below? Then why not nominate them for the Headteacher of the Year Award?

• Is the headteacher in your establishment, or an establishment that you know, an inspirational leader who motivates children, young people and staff to achieve all they can?
• Can you give examples of why they are seen as an outstanding individual by children, young people, parents and staff?
• Can you describe how they work to develop and make the most of the leadership of others?
• Can you describe how they are good at involving parents and members of the community in the life of the establishment?

In what ways has this person made an impact on:
• children and young people
• the whole school community
• the wider community

Nominations close at midday on Monday 16 February 2015
NOMINATE TODAY AT www.scottisheducationawards.org.uk

Learning Through Technology Award

 

Do you know a school or centre that has:

  • Developed a vibrant and progressive culture and climate of continuous innovation.
  • A culture and ethos that promotes respect, ambition and achievement while improving outcomes for all learners in ways which eliminate inequity.

If so the Scottish Education Awards would like to hear about your nomination.

Further details can be found at: SEA2015_Flyer_Learning through technology_Final

Computing Science – CPD materials

Staff training materials commissioned by Education Scotland covering the new web development topics in Higher and Advanced Higher Computing Science are now available here: http://cfecomputing.org.uk/.  Coding languages included in the resource are

  • HTML5/CSS3
  • JavaScript
  • JQuery
  • PHP
  • PHP/MySQL

The HTML5/CSS3 and JavaScript materials have been created using Codecademy. The JQuery, PHP and PHP/MySQL materials are available as online or downloadable HTML pages with access to a live MySQL database to further develop your skills in this area.

You can see more details of the course here.

Examples of what is available illustrated below. 

 

PHP/MySQL Screenshot

 

If you have any comments or suggestions please forward to

Kirsty.McFaul@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk

Elizabeth.montgomery@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk.

Create a book trailer and win £250 of book tokens!

If you want a brilliant way to promote reading for pleasure and enhance critical reading skills, look no further than book trailers! Head over to Scottish Book Trust’s web site where you can find out more about our Scottish Children’s Book Awards book trailer competition.

We’ve got loads of book trailer resources, including tutorial videos, exemplars and a full unit of work to get you started. The closing date for the competition is 6th February 2015.

Scottish Education STEM Award 2015

The Scottish Education Awards celebrate the hard work and success which takes place in Scottish education. They recognise the achievements of people who dedicate their lives to children and young people and showcase the valuable work and innovation in Scottish classrooms

This year a new award category for STEM, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, has been introduced.
This category recognises establishments who are helping children and young people develop STEM skills and apply these across the four contexts for learning – curriculum, inter-disciplinary learning, ethos and life of the school and opportunities for personal achievement.

Nominations should be able to evidence the following questions and describe the impact on learners, the school and wider community:
• In what ways do learners in your establishment demonstrate successful application of STEM skills?
• In what ways are learners using STEM to develop skills for learning, life and work?
• In what ways do you work with partners/parents/wider community to support STEM?

Nominations for this year’s awards are now open.

Nominations close 12pm on Monday 16 February 2015.
#primaryscience

Ready for Winter

RFW graphic

We are pleased to launch a Ready for Winter site on Office 365 on Glow with a range of resources and fun activities for learning at school and at home.

The site contains a wide range of wintery activities and has been designed to be used by learners over the holidays, during periods of bad weather and during school time.

The Ready for Winter site will engage pupils in creative learning challenges, sharing and collaborating – it’s a fun space where learners can take part and create learning challenges around the theme of winter.

LEARNING CHALLENGES

We have created a few learning challenges to kick it off but we need your help with making some more challenges. It is very easy to add a challenge via a simple form and we are hoping that teachers and learners alike will add more so that this space offers an exciting range of wintery learning for all users.

NQ REVISION SITE-discussion zones for exam subjects

As well as the winter resources and challenges, there is a Community for NQ revision subjects for senior phase with discussion zones for each exam subject that allow learners and their teachers a communal space to discuss and share NQ exam-related questions and resources.

 

Please have a look – especially given the bad weather forecasts for the coming days: Ready for Winter (Glow login required)

Embedding Anti-Sectarian Education in our Schools

Education Scotland are excited to be inviting members of Glasgow City Council into the glow studio to share their work in tackling sectarianism.

We will be given an exciting insight to the Glasgow based model, Sense over Sectarianism, and find out more about the key roles, from the classroom to the education authority.

We will be joined by Mark Adams, Sense over sectarianism; Geraldine Parkinson, Head Teacher, St Thomas’ Primary School and Lisa Sweeney and Sarah Clark from St Paul’s Primary.

All our guests will be keen to share their experience and take your questions on the day. You may also be interested in our new discussion forum for equalities and diversity –bit.ly/equalityanddiversity

Join us for this live Glow TV event on Wednesday 14th January at 4pm. Regsiter now in Glow TV – Embedding Anti-Sectarian Education in our Schools

NMS – The Romans

Once again we are off to the National Museum of Scotland to find out more interesting things about the past. This time we are finding out about the Romans.

How do we know about the Romans in Scotland? Find out about the work of archaeologists to discover Roman remains and some of the objects in the National Museums Scotland with our museum experts.

Join us on Wednesday 14th January at 1.45pm in Glow TV. Register now to join the event – NMS- The Romans

Assessment in the Sciences

Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.

Key aspects for development emerged, which included primary and early years practitioners requiring guidance and exemplifications for assessment in the sciences.

To address this aspect the sciences team will be hosting the second of four Glow Meets, complimented again by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.

The Education Scotland assessment support documentation will be explored, using exemplifications from the NAR and addressing particular science Significant Aspects of Learning.

Join us on Tuesday 13th January at 4pm in Glow TV to find out more. Register now to take part – Assessment in the Sciences

Junior Saltire Awards Competition 2015

Join us in Glow TV on Tuesday 13th January at 11am to find out more about this year’s Junior Saltire Awards. This engaging, hands-on, topical competition sets the challenge of designing, building and testing a simple floating Wave Energy Converter.

We will be live at the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility which is the world’s most sophisticated ocean simulator. The first of its kind in the world, the circular FloWave test tank combines complex wide-area multidirectional wave simulation with fast tidal flows.

You will have an opportunity to find out more about it from the experts and to ask your own questions!

Register today to take part – Junior Saltire Awards Competition 2015

For all enquiries about the Junior Saltire, please contact Melanie Riddell, melanie.riddell@scdi.org.uk

Gaelic Education Award at the Scottish Education Awards 2015

Nominations are now invited for the Scottish Education Awards to recognise the achievements of schools and individuals who dedicate their lives to education and delivering opportunities for every child and young person to succeed in life. There are 17 award categories with new awards for sustainability, languages and partnerships.  These include Gaelic Education Award / Duais Foghlam Gàidhlig which recognises establishments who are providing opportunities for children and young people to develop fluency in the Gaelic language.  The Making Languages Come Alive (Primary) award recognises establishments who are working effectively to implement the 1+2 policy for language learning.  For other awards, please visit Education Scotland’s website. The Daily Record organise the Scottish Education Awards, with Bòrd na Gàidhlig sponsoring the Gaelic Education Award.

Project STEM, Book of Insights 2014

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) is the Government department for economic growth.
It works with further and higher education providers to give students the skills they need to compete in a global employment market and supports the UK’s science and research industry, which is important to economic growth.

The organisation has produced Project STEM, Book of Insights 2014 which details young people’s attitudes, beliefs, motivations and behaviours that affect their decisions on subject choice and career paths to add depth to the current understanding of how they perceive STEM careers.

The book brings together four phases of research activity with young people; qualitative, social listening, co-creation and quantitative research activities that ran between February and March 2014.
To complement the qualitative research, the researchers listened to young people’s social media conversations to understand their sentiment towards STEM careers and subjects.

To access the research document Project STEM, Book of Insights 2014

Assessment in Science, Glow Meet and Professional Learning Twilight Sessions

Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.

Key aspects for development emerged, which included primary and early years practitioners requiring guidance on and exemplifications for assessment in the sciences.

To address this aspect the sciences team will be hosting the second of three Glow Meets, complimented again by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.

The Education Scotland assessment support documentation will be explored, using exemplifications from the NAR, addressing particular science Significant Aspects of Learning.

The second Glow meet Assessment in the Sciences will take place on Tuesday 13th January 3.45-4.30pm

To register: https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/e7wzsiv2uvs/event/event_info.html

Dates, times and venues for the complimentary twilight sessions to date are:

Dundee, Education Scotland Endeavour House, Monday 26th January 4-6pm

Dumfries, Lochside Education Centre, 27th January 4-6pm

Inverness, Mercure Hotel, Wednesday 28th January 4-6pm

Aberdeen, Satrosphere Science Centre, Thursday 29th January 4-6pm

Edinburgh, Dynamic Earth, Monday 2nd February 4-6pm

Glasgow , St Andrew’s Secondary, Thursday 5th February 4-6pm

Please sign up through https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/twilightsessions

Revisit the first Glow meet Supporting Primary & Early Years Science