Category Archives: CLD

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Senior Phase, Skills, Social studies, Technologies, Young people, children & families

Last Chance: Community Resilience Conversation and Networking event – Monday 17th March 2014 at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel. (09:30 for 10:00 start – 15:00)

Leave a comment

There are still places available at Education Scotland’s Community Resilience Conversation and Networking Event on Monday 17th March.

The day is aimed at members of the Scottish Government, emergency planning and civil contingencies teams from local councils, representatives from local education authorities, and members of other key organisations to consider community resilience as a rich and exciting context for teaching and learning.

Conversation activities will provide delegates with opportunities to network with one another and engage in professional dialogue in relation to preparing for emergencies and developing resilient communities. Selected examples of good practice will also be shared through engaging presentations delivered by government, local council and school representatives.

We would like to invite you to take part in the event at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel on the 17th March 2014 to explore how we might take forward resilience education in schools and consider important developments in teaching and learning.

We would be grateful if you could register online at http://svy.mk/Mb8ZM7 by end of day Thursday 13th March 2014 to confirm your attendance and inform us of any special dietary or access requirements you may have.

CLD, Early Years, Young people, children & families

Family Learning in Perth and Kinross: A Local Authority Case Study

Leave a comment

Education Scotland in partnership with Perth and Kinross Council set up a project to explore the issues around, and identify current practice in, family learning within a local authority. Family learning is seen as a powerful method of learning which can challenge educational disadvantage, promote socio-economic resilience and foster positive attitudes towards lifelong learning. The project team wanted to identify family learning in different contexts (both rural and urban), and see if there was a consistent, needs-led approach being taken towards engagement and learning.

A report has now been published on the Education Scotland website outlining the findings of this project along with case studies reflecting current practice within this area. For more information and to download this report follow the link below.

Family Learning in Perth and Kinross: A Local Authority Case Study

CfE, Supporting Learners, Young people, children & families

Join the SPEN Network!

Leave a comment

The Scottish Peer Education Network is an initiative hosted in Edinburgh by Fast Forward. Peer Education is a term wide used to describe a range of initiatives where people from a similar age group, background, culture and/or social status educate each other about a certain issue. SPEN supports and promotes peer education and the work of peer educators, practitioners, and policy makers involved in this sector across Scotland.

What does SPEN do?
SPEN works in partnership with organisations, young people, professionals, the NHS and schools to encourage and enable youth participation in peer education. It works by connecting, promoting and supporting a diverse range of projects that cover a variety of topics and skills across Scotland. SPEN advisory group meetings are held every few months to allow members to discuss their projects, exchange ideas and learn more about how peer education is being run across the country.

Why should I join?
Join SPEN for free and you will be joining around 200 other peer education projects throughout Scotland, with access to the following services:

• Training
• Events
• Information
• Consultancy
• Resources
• Networking Opportunities

Visit our website at www.spen.org.uk to become a free member, to find other Peer Education projects near you, or to simply sign up for the monthly newsletter featuring Peer Education news, funding, training and resources.

Twitter: @SPEN_Scotland
Facebook: Scottish Peer Education Network
Blog: http://fastforwardorg.wordpress.com
Contact: simon@fastforward.org.uk / 0131 554 4300

Adult Learning, CfE, CLD, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Sciences, Young people, children & families

Small Steps-Big Changes- the Learning for Sustainability dimension of Community learning and Development

Leave a comment

The Small Steps-Big Changes? Seminar on 27 February 2014, organised jointly by Education Scotland and Learning for Sustainability Scotland attracted over 60 participants from across Scotland interested in how those working in Community Learning and Development and those with sustainable development experience and expertise could work more closely together.

The seminar heard about learning for sustainability through Scottish Government policies, Education Scotland initiatives and local projects.

Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Children and Young People set out the policy context for this work. Ms Campbell highlighted the opportunities offered by the Children and Young People’s Bill, the National Youthwork Strategy, the CLD (Scotland) Regulations, the Community Empowerment Bill and the recent Adult Learning Statement of Ambition. She said that ‘Learning for Sustainability is a Scottish Government and international priority for every type of learning’.

Professor Pete Higgins, Professor of Outdoor and Environmental Education at the University of Edinburgh and Director of Learning for Sustainability Scotland said, ‘Through learning together we’ll ensure that people and communities in Scotland have opportunities to understand more about the sustainable development issues that concern them, and to use their learning to help them shape their future as members of a nation that takes these responsibilities and opportunities seriously’.

Learning for sustainability is not just about One Planet schools but also involves the wider community. The links with Curriculum for Excellence and communities were ably illustrated as were empowerment approaches in partnership with Malawi and through community development in Scotland.

The showcase sessions provided eight examples of learning for sustainability in action and stimulated lots of discussion. The presentations and filmed clips of the seminar will be made available through i-develop.

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Senior Phase, Skills, Social studies, Technologies, Young people, children & families

Community Resilience Education – Conversation Day and Networking Event – Mon 17th March 2014

Leave a comment

Time: 09:30 (for 10:00 start) – 15:00

Venue: Glasgow Hilton Hotel, William Street, Glasgow, G3 8HT

Education Scotland is excited to be hosting its first community resilience conversation and networking event with a view to developing a shared, partnership approach to provide 3-18 resilience education opportunities.

The day aims to bring together members of the Scottish Government, emergency planning and civil contingencies teams from local councils, representatives from local education authorities, and members of other key organisations to consider community resilience as a rich and exciting context for teaching and learning focusing on a range of contexts such as flooding and other forms of extreme weather and their impact on our lives.

Conversation activities will provide delegates with opportunities to network with one another and engage in professional dialogue in relation to preparing for emergencies and developing resilient communities. Selected examples of good practice will also be shared through engaging presentations delivered by government, local council and school representatives.

We would like to invite you to take part in the event at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel on the 17th March 2014 to explore how we might take forward resilience education and consider important developments in teaching and learning. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. There is no cost to attend.

We would be grateful if you could register online at http://svy.mk/Mb8ZM7 by Monday 10th March 2014 to confirm your attendance and inform us of any special dietary or access requirements you may have.

CfE, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies

Reminder – Climate Week 2014 (3rd – 9th March)

Leave a comment

Climate Week 2014 is fast approaching. It is Britain’s largest climate change campaign, with half a million people attending over 3,000 events each year.


Climate Week is about how people can live and work more sustainably, and you can run any kind of event or activity you wish. Here are some ideas:

Don’t forget to enter the Climate Week Challenge, a competition for small teams in schools and workplaces. It needs no preparation, is free and helps develop innovation and teamwork. There are one-hour and one-day versions – register here.

Also enter the Climate Week Awards for professional achievement that is helping to create a more sustainable society – click here to find out more. Deadline – February 14th 2014.

Run a Climate Week Swap event at which people can exchange clothes, books or children’s toys they don’t want any more – find out more here.

Please remember to register your events and activities with Climate Week – they will then be listed as an official part of Climate Week, encouraging others to take part and so growing the movement for environmental change.

Technologies, Young people, children & families

Safer Internet Day 2014

Leave a comment

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR PARENTS TO ASK THE QUESTIONS THAT MATTER TO THEM ABOUT KEEPING THEIR CHILDREN SAFE ONLINE!

If you could ask Facebook, Twitter, Xbox or BT a question, what would it be?

Do you want to know what Xbox game ratings mean? Not sure how to report abusive comments on Twitter? Do you know how to set parental controls in your home provided by your ISP?

Through Safer Internet Day TV you can now ask these questions directly of the people, who make these decisions. We have a panel of experts from Facebook, Twitter, Xbox & BT who will be answering questions about keeping children and families safe on the internet on 30 January in Belfast! The film will become part of our SIDtv programme on Safer Internet Day, 11 February 2014.

We are calling parents, carers and grandparents to send in their questions to be answered by these experts, who are involved directly in shaping privacy, safety and content rating features on Facebook, Twitter, Xbox & BT in the UK.

To see your questioned answered, just tune in to SIDtv on 11 February from 3 pm or 7 pm at www.saferinternetdaytv.com

To send your question email sidtv@saferinternet.org.uk BY 23 JANUARY! Just state your first name and how old your children/ grandchildren are and we will try and respond to as many questions as we can.

SIDtv will have special programmes for young children and young people aged 11 -16 too on the day, so encourage them to tune in too to find out more about being safe on the internet! www.saferinternet.org.uk

Join the Safer Internet Day supporters list
Join the Thunderclap – register now to join the tweet campaign on #SID2014

Community Capacity Building, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning

Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools

Leave a comment

Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools

When:            Saturday 1st March
Where:           St Joseph’s Academy, Kilmarnock
Time:              9.30am – 4pm

In the revised GTCS Standards for Career Long Professional Learning teachers are required to “understand and develop the most appropriate contexts for learning including outdoor learning and be able to apply appropriate pedagogies for these environments”. This event aims to support this and build confidence and capacity in the delivery of outdoor learning in secondary schools in particular within Broad General Education (S1-S3).

Throughout the day participants will have the opportunity to attend a variety of practical outdoor workshops delivered by teachers and outdoor partners. These workshops will showcase outdoor learning approaches and will demonstrate how these have been incorporated into practice.

A market place at the event will allow practitioners to meet with outdoor partners and find out more about the range of resources available to further support outdoor learning.

This is a free event open to secondary teachers in Scotland – in particular those who are starting out on their outdoor learning journey and wish to develop their confidence in taking the curriculum outdoors. There is an expectation that those who attend this event will be willing to share their learning with colleagues in their establishment.

Registering for this event:

If you wish to attend this event please register online by Wednesday 19th February @ https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VSCB9NP

Early registration is advised as this event is likely to be very popular. Workshop choices will be sent out mid-February.

If you would like further information about this event please contact:

Fiona Cruickshanks, Development Officer, Outdoor Learning Fiona.Cruickshanks@educationscotland.gov.uk

Early Years, Young people, children & families

Starting Primary School: For parents who have learning disabilities

Leave a comment

Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability

Starting Primary School is a new DVD for parents with learning disabilities who have pre-school age children. It gives them first hand practical advice to help them navigate their children’s transition to primary school. If you are a parent yourself, an advocate or a professional who supports parents, this DVD is for you.

If you would like hard copies of the DVD you can contact George Gordon (george.g@scld.co.uk) or Robert Knox (robert.k@scld.co.uk) or phone the SCLD offices on 0141 559 5720.

There is a short video Starting Primary School available to view on their website: www.scld.org.uk

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Young people, children & families

Climate Week 2014 – Countdown!

Leave a comment

It’s time to start planning for Climate Week – eight weeks from now on 3-9 March 2014. It is Britain’s largest climate change campaign, with half a million people attending over 3,000 events each year.


Climate Week is about how people can live and work more sustainably, and you can run any kind of event or activity you wish. Here are some ideas:

Enter the Climate Week Challenge, a competition for small teams in schools and workplaces. It needs no preparation, is free and helps develop innovation and teamwork. There are one-hour and one-day versions – register here.

Enter the Climate Week Awards for professional achievement that is helping to create a more sustainable society – click here to find out more. Deadline – February 14th 2014.

Run a Climate Week Swap event at which people can exchange clothes, books or children’s toys they don’t want any more – find out more here.

Please remember to register your events and activities with Climate Week – they will then be listed as an official part of Climate Week, encouraging others to take part and so growing the movement for environmental change.

CfE, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All

Learning from extreme weather and flood news releases in Scotland

Leave a comment

Over the festive period, persistent rain across Scotland has taken its toll on communities throughout the country. Areas such as Ayrshire, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway have been hit particularly hard, requiring people having to be evacuated from properties or rescued from areas where rising river levels have placed people in immediate danger.

A number of emergency meetings were been held by the Scottish Government resilience team before the new year – many involving ministers. Local multi-agency response arrangements have since been initiated in a number of places across Scotland to support those worst affected and to mitigate the impact.

The Scottish Government newsroom has released several articles in relation to the extreme weather. The following links can be used to access more information:

Flooding response continues: http://bit.ly/197P775

Latest Weather warnings: http://bit.ly/JDuPGX

Vigilance urged as flood threat continues: http://bit.ly/1dIDnqW

Flood Threat Continues: http://bit.ly/KvSCcF

Weather – Scotland’s Response:  http://bit.ly/1cT46AY

More information can also be found from BBC news footage:

UK weather report – Sever warnings: http://bbc.in/1lvUobr

High tide in Ardrossan: http://bbc.in/KsWnim

Dumfries and Galloway flooding: http://bbc.in/1klRzeY

A full account of 2013’s global weather and links to climate change can be also be found at: http://bbc.in/KsNC81

For teaching and learning ideas related to extreme weather, flooding and climate change, visit the resources section of Education Scotland’s ‘Ready for Emergencies website’.

Also be sure to sign up for free flood warning in your local area through the SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) website: http://bit.ly/1cCJ2uB

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Young people, children & families

Power cuts and flooding after gales hit west coast. Are you Ready for Emergencies?

Leave a comment

Severe weather has caused disruption through utility failures and signifiant flooding in various areas throughout Scotland.

Winds of up to 90 mph hit parts of the country last night causing power cuts, rough seas and heavy swells. Those regions partcularly badly affected include Glasgow, Aberdeen, the Western Isles, Shetland, Orkney and Dumfries and Galloway among others.

For further details go to: http://bbc.in/1klW9Yb

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has been issuing regular flood warnings urging the public to take immediate action against the predicted flooding.

The ‘Ready for Emergencies’ website contains free teaching resources to help young people and their local commuitites to prepare and cope in extreme weather situations like these. For severe weather learning journeys go to: http://bit.ly/1gmTEml

Make sure you are signed up for SEPA’s free flood alert service. Register at: http://bit.ly/1cCJ2uB

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Young people, children & families

Scottish Water – Play safe around water this winter!

Leave a comment

Scottish Water is reminding teachers and learners of the importance of playing safe this winter.

In recent years Scotland has witnessed some of the coldest winters for generations, so there’s no telling what the coming weeks may bring. Scottish Water is advising customers that they should remain vigilant and should not take any risks around freezing cold watercourses.

While it’s important that youngsters enjoy their school holidays and that people across Scotland take pleasure in the country’s beautiful lochs, rivers and reservoirs, it is also vital that they stay safe. Latest figures show 22 people died accidentally or from natural causes around water in Scotland last winter, but there are easy ways to prevent tragedies, and equipping yourself with the knowledge of what to do in an emergency can save a life.

For further details of Scottish Water’s recent release and advice on how to stay safe around water this winter, go to: http://bit.ly/1b4agsG

Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Sciences, Social studies, Young people, children & families

Climate Change in Scotland – Reflecting on Typhoon Haiyan and the impact of global climate change

Leave a comment

The number of people confirmed dead in the Philippines from Typhoon Haiyan now stands at in excess of 4000, and a further 4 million people have been forced to leave their homes since the storm hit.

At a recent conference at the Royal Society in central London, the Prince of Wales claimed that the typhoon is a ‘direct result’ of climate change and that ‘the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events has increased, and is set to increase even further’.

In the face of global warming and it’s possible impact closer to home, Scotland has set world-leading greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and has plans in place for how to reduce further by 42% by 2020.

Adaptation Scotland provides advice and support to help ensure that Scotland is prepared for, and resilient to, the impacts of climate change. Find details of key messages, climate information and adaptation suggestions in light of climate change in Scotland.

Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies, Young people, children & families

Reminder – Make your booking today! Free interactive urban flood model visits and workshops.

1 Comment

Not to be missed! Heriot Watt University still have availability for schools interested in receiving a visit from the interactive flood model and flood experts.

For a flavour of what you can expect, see the flood model in action at: http://bit.ly/1dNfNIa

What is it?

An interactive, free workshop has been developed to explain the processes involved with urban flooding and flood prevention. It also introduces the concept of community resilience and the role that individuals can play in protecting themselves and their neighbours.

The main element of the workshop is an interactive physical model, representing a typical town with a river, houses, shops, industrial units, roads and parks. The model simulates rainfall, with water being fed to sprinklers and the river via a system of pumps. Workshop participants are able to change certain elements of the urban fabric to help reduce the severity of flooding.

Is it any good?

Since 2009, over 5000 people have participated in the workshop, most of whom were young people. Independent evaluation of the workshop “…yielded strong evidence for the learning that took place during audiences’ interaction with the project”.

Work with the Scottish Government and SEPA has supported on-going flood risk awareness raising, and again the feedback has been very positive.

Can it come to my school?

Sure. The Scottish Government have commissioned Heriot-Watt University to take the workshop to Scottish schools in 2013/14.

We can visit you to run our interactive workshop for your pupils for free; all you have to do is provide us with some space to run the workshop and some interested children. We will also leave you with a follow up lesson plan to reinforce some of the key workshop messages

Contact Grant Wright to arrange a visit (Tel: 0131 4518261, Email: g.b.wright@Hw.ac.uk)

For more information go to http://urbanfloodmodel.wordpress.com/

Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Outdoor Learning, Technologies

Free SEPA flood alerts to your phone.

Leave a comment

SEPA can provide free flood alerts to your home or school.

To sign up to the Floodline direct warning service you will need to have the postcode for the property that you wish to receive flood messages for.

SEPA can provide two different types of warning messages depending on your property location. When you enter your postcode, the system will check and confirm which warning service is available for your area.

  • If your school/property is within an area covered by a SEPA flood monitoring system, you will be able to sign up to receive a targeted Flood Warning message for your local area;
  • If your school/property is not within a Warning target area, you can sign up to receive a more general Flood Alert message for the wider geographical area, usually representing Local Authority boundaries.

For more information on Flood Alert and Flood Warning areas please click here.

To register your post code for flood alerts go to: http://bit.ly/1hIkOHK

If you would like to register more than one property address, or you require any further assistance in registering, please call Floodline on 0845 988 1188 for more information.

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

FREE to your school!! Urban Flooding Model Workshops

Leave a comment

What is it?

An interactive, free workshop has been developed to explain the processes involved with urban flooding and flood prevention. It also introduces the concept of community resilience and the role that individuals can play in protecting themselves and their neighbours.

The main element of the workshop is an interactive physical model, representing a typical town with a river, houses, shops, industrial units, roads and parks. The model simulates rainfall, with water being fed to sprinklers and the river via a system of pumps. Workshop participants are able to change certain elements of the urban fabric to help reduce the severity of flooding.

Is it any good?

Since 2009, over 5000 people have participated in the workshop, most of whom were young people. Independent evaluation of the workshop “…yielded strong evidence for the learning that took place during audiences’ interaction with the project”.

Work with the Scottish Government and SEPA has supported on-going flood risk awareness raising, and again the feedback has been very positive.

Can it come to my school?

Sure. The Scottish Government have commissioned Heriot-Watt University to take the workshop to Scottish schools in 2013/14.

We can visit you to run our interactive workshop for your pupils for free; all you have to do is provide us with some space to run the workshop and some interested children. We will also leave you with a follow up lesson plan to reinforce some of the key workshop messages

Contact Grant Wright to arrange a visit (Tel: 0131 4518261, Email: g.b.wright@Hw.ac.uk)

For more information go to http://urbanfloodmodel.wordpress.com/

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Sciences

Sciences Conversation Day 3

Leave a comment

Delegates attending our third conversation day at Millburn Academy were asked to reflect on the findings of Education Scotland’s Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report and, through group discussion, identify what they saw as the key priorities for action.

Priority areas for action

The priorities below are listed in order of prevalence. Those mentioned more frequently in group responses appear closest to the top of the list.

  1. Cluster approach – Local cluster science improvement plans should be developed – early years/primary/secondary school links, including links with further and higher education institutions, should be further developed to allow staff access to specialist equipment and expertise and to facilitate dialogue between practitioners.
  2. Primary science – There is a lack of specialist knowledge in primary schools. There is a need to increase access to and quantity of science learning pre-secondary by building confidence of primary practitioners. Science should be made explicit in primary schools – not just taught through interdisciplinary learning. There is a role for science champions in primary.
  3. Transitions between early years, primary and secondary and into work/FE/HE need to be improved. There should be planned progression through increased dialogue within and between centres and clear maps of learning and contexts.
  4. Leadership for sciences within schools at every level, including learners, should be developed to ensure support is in place and to facilitate good communication.
  5. Pupil voice should be strengthened at departmental and whole school level – the experiences of learners, and their involvement in decision-making, can be used to drive improvement. There is a need to develop a culture of talking to learners and including them in evaluation of learning. Facilitation of informal feedback should be encouraged and programmes of learning should be explained to learners.
  6. Better and more accessible links with industry, including STEM ambassadors, are required – it is essential to secure the involvement of people with real experience of STEM subjects. A coherent approach, and mapping process, is required to pull together different agencies and employers to ensure support structures are in place and to make young people aware of job opportunities.
  7. Learning and teaching in sciences needs to be dynamic and up to date so that learners understand the relevance and applications of their learning. More outdoor learning and interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary learning (IDL) should be encouraged to put science into context. There should be consistency in terms of the provision of high quality learning and teaching in sciences.
  8. Increased opportunities for science related career-long professional development, including through initial teacher education, should be made available to develop enthusiastic, confident and skilled practitioners who employ effective teaching strategies.
  9. Resources – Practitioners need to know about the resources out there. Funding to local authorities and partner agencies should be prioritised to ensure all centres are well equipped. Effective dissemination of available resources is required including online resources, outdoor spaces for learning etc. Education Scotland should consider developing a resource bank with download log and feedback.
  10. Practitioners would benefit from increased sharing of good practice at all stages.
  11. Skills – There is a need to improve knowledge and expectations in terms of wider skills development.
  12. Science a priority – Raising the awareness of education leaders, directors of education, head teachers, councillors of the importance of science is necessary. They should all recognise that science and STEM is a priority.

Education Scotland is keen to hear your views. Click on the title of this blog post to leave a comment.

Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Young people, children & families

SUSTRANS in Scotland

Leave a comment

SUSTRANS works with communities across Scotland to help people improve their local areas through a number of exciting and innovative projectshttp://bit.ly/Hpu9Um

Possible projects include:

  • Re-designing streets to create liveable spaces outside front doors.
  • Creating important links that connect people to the places they want to get to by car and bike.
  • A grant programme making Scottish Government funding available to local authorities for the creation of cycling infrastructure in Scotland – including links to schools.

Sustrans Scotland also has 120 expert officers working across Scotland to encourage young people to get active through cycling. Further details of their work with schools can be found at: http://bit.ly/16JKw9U

Further online resources are also available:

  • Bike to school week: http://bit.ly/1itpMmF
  • Suss it out – 10, 20 and 30 minute simple and snappy activities to inspire action and discussion on active travel: http://bit.ly/199Q24n
  • Big Street Survey – a curriculum resource where young people study the area around their school to identify the good and the bad, and draw up a manifesto for change and deliver it to local and national decision-makers:http://bit.ly/1adklmX
  • Moving up – A guide for those working with 11 – 18 year olds, setting out how best to promote active travel at secondary schools: http://bit.ly/1aH8xNW
Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Young people, children & families

Maternal and Early Years Newsletter

Leave a comment

Sign up for the Maternal and Early Years Newsletter and find out about up to date information and resources such as:

Early Years Image Bank CD

NHS Health Scotland has developed a photo bank of images for use across early years publications. The images include representation of parents from across Scotland from all the equalities strands. A CD is available containing a selection of these images for use by the early years and children and families workforce. The images are vibrant, expressive and appealing and include images of babies, children and their families, as well as of the early years professionals who work with them.

Themes include:

  • safety
  • bonding
  • play and interaction
  • food and nutrition
  • routine care
  • breastfeeding, and more

If you would like a copy of the CD, email lynn.soutar@nhs.net and include your postal address.

CfE, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Young people, children & families

Grounds for Learning – Parent Play

Leave a comment

Following the success of its Nurturing outdoor play project, Grounds for Learning has compiled a series of 30 simple and low-cost outdoor play ideas for parents/carers for early years professionals to share with the families they work with.

This is a great way to continue to encourage parents to play outside with their children.Learning through Landscapes

Additional Support for Learning, Young people, children & families

Autism-friendly Disney’s The Lion King Performances

Leave a comment

Disney’s THE LION KING is working closely with The National Autistic Society to create a friendly and supportive environment to enjoy this award-winning musical which is currently playing at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.

The specially adapted performances will be suitable for people with autism, with trained staff on hand in dedicated quiet and activity areas should anyone need to leave their seats.

For more details about these performances please visit the The Lion King -Autism Friendly website.

Adult Learning, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Young people, children & families

Developing school play times to support the curriculum and nurture happy, healthy children: new Free CPD Resource launched

Leave a comment

In recent years, a number of Scottish primary schools have developed innovative approaches to enabling child-led outdoor play in morning and lunchtime breaks.

This new training resource has been created with support from Education Scotland to share the learning from these schools. Its aim is to demonstrate how outdoor play in schools can support the curriculum and nurture happy, healthy children and to share practical, tested ideas and approaches to providing richer play experiences in primary schools.

This resource has 11 sections, each of which is based around a short film with accompanying discussion questions and links to useful online resources. It’s designed for anyone who is interested in pupil health and wellbeing but will be of particular relevance to playground support staff. In each film clip you’ll hear from support staff about why they have developed these new approaches and how they deal with the various practical issues that arise.

The films are on the Education Scotland website while further support is available at www.ltl.org.uk/playtimerevolution.

Community Resilience

NOW LIVE! Ready for Winter Launch Week Activities 2013/2014

Leave a comment

As promised, the activities to promote the Scottish Government’s ‘Ready for Winter’ 2013/2014 launch next week are NOW AVAILABLE to access.

Key messages for this year include: ‘Thinking Ahead’ and ‘Taking an Hour’ to prepare for severe winter weather in the community, at home, on the move and in the workplace. With the clocks moving back one hour on the 27th of October, let’s use this extra time pro-actively! Education Scotland are therefore working in partnership with the Scottish Government to ensure that Scottish schools are as ready as possible for winter.

Throughout next week (Monday 21st – Friday 25th October 2013), Education Scotland and the Scottish Government are asking teachers to run health and wellbeing sessions ranging from simple class lessons to larger projects. Everything you need to complete the free downloadable activities can now be found on the ‘Ready for Emergencies’ site: http://bit.ly/H3H6CJ

Show how ready you are!! Don’t forget to leave feedback on the activities you try throughout the week in the ‘contact us’ section of the ‘Ready for Emergencies’ website: http://bit.ly/18RetCB

Early Years, Outdoor Learning, Young people, children & families

Inspiring Scotland Funding Opportunity

Leave a comment

Go2Play Capacity Building Fund for Scottish Charities

Inspiring Scotland are offering Scottish charities an opportunity to bid for support to develop innovative projects which are play based. This capacity building fund is offering up to 12 months of tailored capacity building support and up to £15,000 for Scottish charities to develop new work which will help children benefit from more play.

Go2Play capacity building fund is a small fund looking to support innovative and exciting people within the play sector. Through this fund they are offering tailored capacity building support to help turn great ideas from a concept into a reality, positively impacting upon the lives of children and supporting the development of play in Scotland.

The next deadline date is Friday 25 October 2013 at 5 pm.

The criteria document and application form are now live on the Inspiring Scotland website.

Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies, Young people, children & families

Ready for Winter 2013/2014 – Are You Ready?

Leave a comment

The 2013/2014 ‘Ready for Winter’ campaign will be launched by the Scottish Government on the 21st October. Key messages for this year include: ‘Thinking Ahead’ and ‘Taking an Hour’ to prepare for severe winter weather in the community, at home, on the move and in the workplace. With the clocks moving back one hour on the 27th of October, let’s use this extra time pro-actively! Education Scotland are therefore working in partnership with the Scottish Government to ensure that Scottish schools are as ready as possible for winter.

To promote the launch of ‘Ready for Winter’ and its rich links to resilience education, teachers are being asked to run health and wellbeing sessions (21st to 25th October) ranging from simple class lessons to larger projects. Web links and free downloadable activities will soon be made available for schools to access from Education Scotland’s ‘Ready for Emergencies’ website http://bit.ly/GJ8CWz

Further details and links to activities will follow shortly. In the meantime, general information about ‘Ready for Winter’ and resilience education can be found at http://bit.ly/1gmTEml and http://bit.ly/1aiEZnp

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Young people, children & families

Ready for Emergencies? – Resilience Education Web Resource

Leave a comment


Have you ever been affected by difficulties such as severe winter weather, flooding, utilities failures or pandemics (amongst others)? What would you do if you were? Would you know how to cope in an emergency situation and what procedures to follow? How could you ensure that you and your community were fully prepared for times of crisis?

The ‘Ready for Emergencies’ website provides information on all of the above and is a valuable resilience education resource to help develop resilient attitudes and pro-active strategies among young people to prevent and deal with emergency situations.

The site contains a wide range of links to free downloadable teaching and learning materials http://bit.ly/1gmTEml including learning journeys, challenges and media files covering numerous real-life emergency contexts linked to the experiences and outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence.

For further details – visit: http://bit.ly/GJ8CWz

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Community Resilience, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Technologies

Scottish Water – Science/Resilience Education Resources and Volunteer Programme

Leave a comment

The Scottish Water organisation provides a range of educational resources through their website http://bit.ly/GKSF1Z These include:

Scottish Water Volunteer Programme – Launched in Spring 2011, Scottish Water has a team of enthusiastic volunteers located across different locations in Scotland to deliver a range of talks and presentations to schools and organisations. http://bit.ly/1bGKYYB The programme is highly rated and praised by local communities who have benefited from its input to date.

Teaching and Learning Modules – Recently developed teachng ideas in relation to experiences and outcomes from Early to Fourth level of CfE, covering topics ranging from water safety to climate change and pollution. http://bit.ly/1gpAJaG

All About Water Factfiles – Teaching notes to help practitioners deliver learning around water themes. These contain useful links to other relevant websites, downloadable posters and other resources to enhance practice. http://bit.ly/18Otp4m

Discover More Section – Further edcuational resources including water films and links to the Water Ways exhibit at the Glasgow Science Centre.

Partnership Work with Go Safe Scotland

Scottish Water has also been recently working in partnership with Glasgow City Council and Go Safe Scotland to launch an education programme and resources in conjunction with members of the emergencies services. Find out more at http://bit.ly/1bYDRaH

Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Young people, children & families

GIRFEC Survey for Parents

Leave a comment

For parents within your early years establishment!

What does the national ‘Getting it right for every child’ approach to children’s health and wellbeing mean to parents?

‘Getting it right for every child’ (GIRFEC) is the national policy for improving the lives, health and wellbeing of all children and young people and for ensuring that services such as education and health work together, focussing on the needs of children and young people. The wellbeing of children and young people is at the heart of GIRFEC which asks whether children are safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included.

We have been asked to help in gathering parent views on their current understanding of GIRFEC and would be very grateful if you could encourage parents to take a couple of minutes to complete the short questionnaire.

This survey is anonymous. Individuals and individual responses will not be identified in the reporting of these findings

Parents will find the survey at https://response.questback.com/scottishgovernment/girfec/

The survey will close on 1 November 2013 .

Additional Support for Learning, Community Capacity Building, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, MCMC/16+LC, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Universal Support, Young people, children & families

Royal Horticultural Society – The Edible School Garden

Leave a comment

Royal Horticultural Society

The Edible School Garden
Dumfries House, KA18 2NJ – Tuesday 19th November 2013, 10 am – 3 pm

Kilbarchan Primary School, PA10 2LA Thursday 28th November 2013, 10 am – 3 pm
To give teachers of all age groups the skills to confidently grow and manage a simple productive garden throughout the year. To ensure that produce is used in tasting, cooking and enterprise activities. Every school should be a food growing school.
Objectives
At the end of this course you will:
a) Have the knowledge and skills to sow and grow the RHS top 14 fruits, vegetables and herbs for the school garden, to provide a range of fresh, healthy produce throughout the school year
b) Get hints and tips on tasting and cooking with the produce, outside in the garden and in the school canteen
c) Know how to add value to your produce through correct harvesting and storage, preserving and other simple enterprise ideas.
Experience: Suitable for beginners and those with some experience.
CPD Provider

Angela Smith
angelasmith@rhs.org.uk

RHS Development Officer for Scotland

Early Years, Young people, children & families

Development Officer – Children and Families Team

Leave a comment

Secondment Opportunity

An exciting opportunity has become available for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual with proven track record within Children and Families to work as part of a team to promote effective and innovative approaches to improving outcomes for children and their families. They will support and deliver professional learning opportunities for the Early Years and Family Learning workforce and contribute to guidance relating to the Early Years, children and families.

Candidates should possess a degree, or equivalent, have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and sound knowledge of Curriculum for Excellence.

The successful candidate may be based at any Education Scotland office however this will be dependent upon availability. The post is being offered on a 23 month secondment basis. For further information and to apply please go to www.educationscotland.gov.uk. The completed application should be returned to recruitment@educationscotland.gov.uk

The closing date for applications is Friday 4 October 2013.

Early Years, Literacy, Literacy and English, Young people, children & families

National Poetry Day 2013

1 Comment

Scottish Poetry Library have announced National Poetry Day will take place on Thursday 3 October 2013.

The theme for this year is ‘Water’, and they are delighted to be working in partnership with Scottish Water to provide a great range of teaching resources to support.

Online resources are now available free on www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/learn and include:

a set of teaching notes for each poem

a pdf poster of each poem (doubles as a larger print text) to download and print

a pdf poster to advertise National Poetry Day

Scottish Water’s updated education materials, including a range of activity-based modules all about water for early, first, second, third and fourth level are now available free on www.scottishwater.co.uk/education

Themed water-related resources for teaching activities – images, audio & film clips on subjects ranging from Puddles, Ponds, Reflections or Ripples to Waterfalls or Waves can be sourced free to establishments on www.scran.ac.uk

Assessment, CfE, Community Capacity Building, Languages, Literacy, Literacy and English, Young people, children & families

Edinburgh International Book Festival / SottishPower – Calling All Writers Of The Future

Leave a comment

A search is on to find the school with the most creative minds.

The annual Story Generator competition is a national writing competition which invites young people across Scotland to collaborate and create their own stories.

This year, budding young writers from S1 and S2 are being asked to create a digital picture book about what life might be like in the future, using the first line of the George Orwell classic, 1984, as their inspiration: ‘It was a bright, cold day in April…’

The school that has written the best book will win a collection of books from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, with a printed copy of their Storybird online book included. The Pupil who devises the best page wins a Kindle which will come loaded with their own online book.

To find out more and to register your school, visit www.storybird.com/scottishpower


Early Years, Young people, children & families

National Early Years Network

Leave a comment

The National Early Years Network is hosted by the NHS to provide information for all professionals working in the early years sector. NHS Health Scotland are conducting a  review of the information needs of early years professionals,  this review will help them to tailor the support they offer to professionals in all sectors.

They will be conducting telephone interviews lasting approximately 30 minutes during September – November 2013. The telephone interviews will explore your thoughts on information currently provided to support you in your role, your preferences on the information you would like to receive and how this information is provided to you.  There will also be an opportunity to respond via email if this would be your preference.

In order to help us support the needs of early years professionals working in different areas it is essential that we hear for as wide a range of people as possible.

If you would be willing to contribute please contact Laura Martin (laura.martin3@nhs.net) for more information.

Additional Support for Learning, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, MCMC/16+LC, Supporting Learners, Young people, children & families

Getting the right help in school – two new guides from Enquire explain young people’s rights

Leave a comment

Getting the most out of education can be difficult if you are looked after or struggling to be in school. That’s why Enquire have produced two new guides to help young people understand their rights to support in school.

“What happens when you can’t go to school?” will help young people understand their rights to get support so they can carry on with their learning even when they are not at school. The guide considers a number of reasons young people might be away from school including being ill, caring for a family member, being excluded, home schooled from a travelling community or a refugee.

“Extra help at school when you are looked after” will help looked after pupils understand their rights to extra support and what that support might be. It explains how they can be involved in making decisions about their learning and the planning that should be in place for them as they prepare to leave school.

Created with help from children and young people, the guides are an essential tool for all those working with young people who aren’t in school or who are looked after. Short and easy to read, like all Enquire’s resources, it has been accredited by the Plain Language Commission.

The guides can be used as a teaching resource for a whole class or with individual pupils.

Both guides can be downloaded from the website

Additional Support for Learning, Adult Learning, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Social studies, Universal Support, Young people, children & families

Outdoor Learning with the National Parks Inspiring Landscapes – Inspiring Learning

Leave a comment

Senior Leaders Professional Learning Event – Dounans Centre, Aberfoyle: Friday 20th September 2013

A one day event for head teachers and deputy head teachers, focusing on whole school approaches, inspection and self-evaluation for school managers. Delegates will hear from senior managers, education officers and others with experience of outdoor learning in the context of school improvement.

Staff Professional Learning Weekend – Dounans Centre, Aberfoyle: Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd September 2013

This opportunity is aimed at staff from all schools and settings within the partner authorities, and will provide inputs from project and centre staff, from the National Park ranger service, and from Education Scotland staff to support you in embedding Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning in your school or nursery. As well as a variety of ‘sharing good practice’ sessions run by teachers across all sectors.

The weekend will provide staff with practical tools, ideas and inspiration for developing progressive and frequent outdoor learning opportunities for pupils which will support and enrich all aspects of their learning.

Spaces are still available on these programmes for further information contact

Joan.Reilly@educationscotland.gov.uk

Workshops Staff Professional Learning Weekend

Staff CLPL residential weekend 2013 – info for schools

Final Programme Staff PL Weekend

Final Programme School Leaders

Additional Support for Learning, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, MCMC/16+LC, Responsibility of All, Supporting Learners, Universal Support, Young people, children & families

Children’s Services Scotland Conference

Leave a comment

 

Children’s Services Scotland (Capita Conference)
Wednesday 11th September 2013 – Edinburgh 

As the Children and Young People Bill progresses through the Scottish Parliament, this event features the breadth of elements under review and addresses the associated key issues linked to the implementation of the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) components. 

This conference will focus on implementing the multiple forthcoming policy changes within children’s services. Attend to hear from key stakeholders about the future of children’s services and how to deliver effective interventions in your area. This event is your opportunity to share best practice and take away guidance to help shape and strengthen services to improve outcomes for Scotland’s children.   

Website:
http://www.capitaconferences.co.uk/public-sector-conferences/childrens-services/full-conference/article/childrens-services-scotland-conference.html?code=MKRGS 

Brochure:
http://www.capitaconferences.co.uk/pdfgen.html?filename=ChildrensServicesScotlandSept13.pdf&code=MKRGS

Early Years, Young people, children & families

Volunteer to review the Early Years Network

Leave a comment

The Early Years Network is for early years practitioners from all areas of work. It covers a wide range of information and settings within the early years topic and provides information that is relevant to practitioners at many levels. A key element of the network is to provide the best possible links to up-to-date information, resources and support.

NHS Health Scotland is conducting a review of the Early Years Network to guide the future support of its network members. The review will explore:

  • how members prefer to communicate
  • where members look to for information
  • how members share information and their access to technology.

They are looking for members of the network to participate in a 30 minute telephone interview, conducted at a time suitable for you between July and October 2013. For further information, or to volunteer to take part in the review, please email: laura.martin3@nhs.net

Early Years, Supporting Learners, Young people, children & families

Wise Up Wednesday: We Can and Must Do Better

Leave a comment

CELCIS has launched a new website for the revised We Can and Must Do Better training materials.

The We Can and Must Do Better training materials were originally produced on a DVD-ROM in 2008. CELCIS has now reviewed and updated these materials to reflect current research and Scottish policy and practice around:

  • Getting It Right for Every Child
  • Curriculum for Excellence
  • Additional Support for Learning
  • The Looked After Children Regulations 2009
  • Early Years
  • Parenting

The materials are relevant to anyone working with looked after children, care leavers and their families; in particular residential workers, foster carers, kinship carers, teachers, social workers and health professionals. They may also be relevant to professionals from across the wider child care workforce who are working with any vulnerable children and families.

These materials can be used for self study or/and as a resource for trainers to develop tutored training courses.

View the We Can and Must Do Better website.

Additional Support for Learning, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Supporting Learners, Universal Support, Young people, children & families

We Can and Must do Better – revised training materials from CELCIS

1 Comment

We Can and Must Do Better – new website launched

CELCIS has launched a new website for the revised We Can and Must Do Better training materials.
The We Can and Must Do Better training materials were originally produced on a DVD-ROM in 2008. CELCIS has now reviewed and updated these materials to reflect current research and Scottish policy and practice around:
• Getting It Right for Every Child
• Curriculum for Excellence
• Additional Support for Learning
• The Looked After Children Regulations 2009
• Early Years
• Parenting
The materials are relevant to anyone working with looked after children, care leavers and their families; in particular residential workers, foster carers, kinship carers, teachers, social workers and health professionals. They may also be relevant to professionals from across the wider child care workforce who are working with any vulnerable children and families.
These materials can be used for self study or/and as a resource for trainers to develop tutored training courses.

Community Capacity Building, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Young people, children & families

Scotland’s Nature Festival

Leave a comment

Scotland’s Nature Festival (formerly Biodiversity Week) is organised by Scottish Natural Heritage and other strong partners in environment and forestry, outdoor learning and play to highlight and celebrate Scotland’s natural landscape, areas of wild beauty and city greenspaces. This year’s theme is ‘Love Life, Love Nature’ and aims to inspire fun, adventurous and positive engagement with nature as a way to promote biodiversity, sustainability, enjoyment and well-being.

The .pdf below lists a collection of resources, with weblinks for celebration activities and nature based experiences suitable for all ages.

2020 Scotland’s Nature Festival

Also included below is a presentation on the top ten reasons why Scottish teachers say they love leading learning in the outdoors – why not choose one to explore in a nature-based action learning project? Love life, love nature and enjoy celebrating!

Dalkeith Top Ten Reasons to Love OL

CLD, Early Years, Young people, children & families

Children and Families Team Vacancies

2 Comments

Education Scotland wishes to appoint two Development Officers on secondment to the Children and Families team. The team supports quality and improvement in early years education and families from the period pre-birth onwards. Key areas of work include inspecting and reviewing pre-school education provision and developing, delivering and supporting aspects of Early Years Care and Education and Family Learning.

You can find more information about these exciting opportunities on our website.

CfE, CLD, Early Years, Young people, children & families

Early Years Matters

Leave a comment

Have you seen the new edition of Early Years Matters? The new edition can be read online or downloaded from the Education Scotland website.

This edition has a focus on children and families and the articles give a flavour of the wide range of work being undertaken in Scotland. We are extremely grateful to those who have contributed to this edition of Early Years Matters and we look forward to hearing your comments.

Additional Support for Learning, Health and wellbeing, Young people, children & families

Afasic Scotland

Leave a comment

Afasic Scotland is a charity that supports children and young people with speech, language and communication difficulties. Afasic is a registered Professional Learning provider for teacher training, partly funded by The Scottish Government to support delivery of training, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure that the course opportunities and supplementary information reaches all of the schools.

They are offering a Spring Training Day entitled ‘Improving Social Communication Development’ on Thursday 9th May 2013 in Dundee. The course is designed to appeal to teachers who wish to develop skills in supporting children with social communication difficulties. The morning session will be built around awareness and skills-building to overcome difficulties and challenging situations in school. The afternoon will focus on practical solutions with some opportunities to share expertise through workshops. The training is suitable for nursery and primary school teachers, classroom assistants, Learning Support teachers and parents.

For more details please download the attached flyer –AFASIC SCOTLAND Training Flyer.
and the AFASIC TRAINING BOOKING FORM MAY2013.

NB Bookings have now been extended until Thursday 2nd May.

CfE, CLD, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Young people, children & families

Festival of Dangerous Ideas 13th – 21st June 2013

Leave a comment

The brilliant folks from the College Development Network have put together another wonderful programme for this year’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas. The festival was created to ‘re-establish the importance of dangerous ideas as agents of change in education – to shift the axis of what is possible!’ There is a real focus on adventurous approaches to learning, especially in the outdoors, which fits completely with our work in professional learning and Adventures in Improvised Living. More information about the week and the overall programme of events which are suitable for a range of educators can be found on the CDN website: http://bit.ly/Vw0nzT

There are two outstandingly innovative events which feature outdoor learning prominently. The first is a repeat of the most excellent Edible Edinburgh Breakfast at the Botanics Event which takes place in the Royal Botanic Gardens on 19th June. Check out the details: http://bit.ly/109G01s If you enjoy a stimulating, delicious and nature connected start to your working day, this event is a ‘must’ for you!

The second is a fabulous whole day event at West Highland College UHI in Fort William: Celebrating Failure and Success http://bit.ly/YZLfy1 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. Mindset is a model developed by Professor Carol Dweck of Stanford University. At its heart is the distinction between students’ perceptions of their abilities. The belief that you have innate, unchanging capabilities is called a Fixed Mindset. The belief that you can develop your capabilities through hard work and practice is called a Growth Mindset. The implications of these two are significant, and will frame this workshop.

CfE, CLD, Community Capacity Building, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Sciences, Social studies, Young people, children & families

Mission:Explore celebrates John Muir with launch of a new ebook

Leave a comment

A partnership between the John Muir Trust and Mission:Explore – a group of teachers, artists, activists and adventurers – has launched a free ebook to introduce the great explorer, naturalist, writer, mountaineer and conservationist to a new audience.

Supported by Scottish Natural Heritage, Mission:Explore – John Muir, features a range of activities that reflect the adventures and ethos of the Victorian Scot, whose 175th birthday will be celebrated this month in his adopted homeland the USA as well as in the land of his birth.

It encourages people of all ages – including groups and families – to follow in the footsteps of Muir by taking part in an imaginative set of ‘missions’, which involve looking, touching, walking, exploring, thinking, and even dancing in wild nature wherever they find it.

Suggested activities range from observing how frogs swim to getting windswept, creating a mini-National Park, and staring at the stars.

The book launch ties in perfectly with Year of Natural Scotland 2013 and its theme of celebrating John Muir. There is already interest across the UK and in America.

Your ebook is free to download from Mission:Explore and John Muir Award web pages, and can be used on smart phones, laptops and tablets, or printed off and read in the old-fashioned way.

Link to John Muir Award launch page – http://www.jmt.org/jmaward-mission-explore-john-muir.asp
Link to Mission:Explore launch page – http://www.missionexplore.net/shop

Daniel Raven-Ellison, Guerilla Geographer at Mission:Explore, said: “Mission:Explore and the John Muir Award have much in common. We’re both all about discovering, exploring, conserving and sharing, so making this book together made perfect sense.

“We had a great time making it and we’re sure that our readers will have an even better time doing each of the quirky adventures inside. Good luck!”

“These missions are great, you can really see the spark they’ve generated with teachers.” Carol Walker, South Lanarkshire Outdoor Learning Development Officer

Featuring 20 activities that reflect the adventures and ethos of the Victorian Scot, you can access the free Mission:Explore John Muir eBook or PDF in a number of ways:

• eBook – on-line with Graphicly http://graphicly.com/mission-explore/mission-explore-john-muir/john-muir
• eBook for iPhone or iPad – via ‘Mission Explore John Muir’ in iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/mission-explore-john-muir/id627660952?mt=11
• eBook from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=The%20Geography%20Collective&search-alias=books-uk&sort=relevancerank
• Printable PDF version (5.3MB) from http://www.jmt.org/jmaward-mission-explore-john-muir.asp

Find hundreds of other missions on the Mission:Explore website http://www.missionexplore.net

About Mission:Explore

• Mission:Explore is a collection of books created by the Geography Collective, a unique team of over 25 geographers, teachers, educators and artists who work together to help young people explore and see the world in new ways. It makes books full of illustrated challenges that aim to make children a little more confident, happy, empathetic and knowledgeable.They think that learning in the real world, in real places and about real issues are vital to any childhood.

• Mission:Explore has won awards including National Trust & Hay Festival Outdoor Book of the Year 2011, and a Pink Stinks approved stamp for being gender neutral.

About Year of Natural Scotland 2013

• The Year of Natural Scotland 2013 is the latest in a series of themed years for the Scottish Government. It aims to highlight Scotland’s stunning natural beauty and biodiversity, and promote opportunities for visitors and residents to enjoy our beautiful landscapes, wildlife and heritage responsibly. http://www.snh.gov.uk/enjoying-the-outdoors/year-of-natural-scotland-2013

About The John Muir Trust

The John Muir Trust is the leading wild land conservation charity in the United Kingdom, with a membership of around 10,000.

We seek to ensure that wild land is protected and enhanced, and that wild places are valued by and for everyone.

The Trust does this by:
• Owning and managing wild land for conservation
• Assisting others in wild land management
• Campaigning for the long-term legal protection of wild land
• Encouraging people to connect with and care for wild places through the John Muir Award and volunteer conservation programmes.

We take our name and inspiration from John Muir (1838-1914), the pioneering, influential Scots-born American conservationist who dedicated his life to protecting wild places and campaigned successfully for the establishment of National Parks to safeguard vast tracts of wild land, including Yosemite Valley in California.

CLD, MCMC/16+LC, Senior Phase, Social studies

Be Extraordinary for a Day!

Leave a comment

What could you change in a day? Could you challenge yourself to do something extraordinary? Live UnLtd want to back your idea to make a real change!

Be Extraordinary for a Day is for 11-21 year olds who’d like to try their hand at addressing a social or environmental issue in their area over a short period of time e.g. a day to a week. If your application is successful, award winners will receive support and up to £500 to help you turn your idea into a reality. Some people may choose to develop their ideas after this short term award while others will not.

Basic Criteria
Your idea must be a short project that will tackle an issue in your area. If successful, your project must take place in a short timescale (for example, a day or a week) between July and December 2013.
This competition is open to individuals aged between 11 and 21 years only. Clubs and organisations cannot apply; however, applications from individuals within a club/organisation setting are welcome to apply, providing the project is run separately from the club/organisation.
People aged between 11 and 21 can apply for £250-£500. Those aged 11 – 17 must have parental permission, and must work with an advisor to assist in making the project happen (for example, a youth club worker, parent, guardian, or teacher). Cash Awards can only be used to cover project costs and not direct salaries.

Apply now and Be Extraordinary For A Day!
Closing date for applications is Friday 14th June 2013
Winners will be announced on Friday 28th June 2013

Early Years, Senior Phase, Supporting Learners, Young people, children & families

National Play Strategy Consultation Extended

Leave a comment

The Scottish Government has extended it’s consultation about play until 23rd April 2013.

They are looking for individual children and young people and groups aged 3-18 to let them know what they think about play. The views collected will inform into the National Play Strategy which is due to be published later this year.

You can find out more at www.bit.ly/PLAY8129 .

Early Years, Responsibility of All, Young people, children & families

Wise Up Wednesday: GIRFEC supports UNCRC

Leave a comment

A report by Professor Jane Aldgate reviews how embedding the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach supports implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Read or download  UNCRC: The foundation of getting it right for every child.

How are you embedding children’s rights into your provision? We’d love to know. Why not share in the comments below or if you are a GLow user share it with us on the Early Years Professional Learning Community.

CLD, Community Capacity Building, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Young people, children & families

The National Play Strategy – Consultation with Children & Young People

Leave a comment

The Scottish Government want Scotland to be the best place in the world to grow up. Making sure that children and young people are able to take up their right to play is an important part of this. The Scottish Government is writing the strategy to make sure that people know about children and young people’s right to play and understand why it is important.
The views of children and young people are important and the Scottish Government would like to know what they think.

If you are a child or young person you can help by filling in an online survey, either as an individual or as a group. The group could be a group of friends, a class at school, a football or hockey team, your Scout or Girls Brigade Group – it is up to you.
If you are a parent or carer of a child or young person who is not able to complete the survey by themselves, you can help by recording their responses for them.
If you work with groups of children or young people, in whatever setting, please help by gathering their views with one of our group surveys.

Just choose the link that is right for you:
For individual 3-5 year olds
For groups of 3-5 year olds
For individual children and young people of primary school age
For groups of children and young people of primary school age
For individuals aged 12 – 18 years
For groups of 12-18 year olds

If you want to print out a PDF of the survey to take along to your group you can download the group surveys here:
NPS Group Survey – 3 to 5
NPS Group Survey – Primary
NPS Group Survey – 12 to 18

Printed copies should be returned to National Play Strategy Consultation, Education Scotland, The Optima, 58 Robertson Street, Glasgow, G2 8DU or emailed to enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk. Please note that the closing date has now been extended to the 23rd April.

Early Years, Responsibility of All, Young people, children & families

Children &Young People Bill Consultation Response

Leave a comment

The Scottish Government has today published its response to the consultation on the Children & Young People Bill. This sets out the results of the consultation and the next steps. The Bill will be introduced to Parliament this year, with the intention that the early learning and childcare provisions (increase in pre-school entitlement and support for looked after 2 year olds) will start in 2014. Dates have not yet been set for the implementation of other aspects of the Bill.

Read the Scottish Government response to the consultation

Early Years, Young people, children & families

BBC Baby Britain Series

Leave a comment

The Baby Britain Season starts tonight on BBC3. It sets out to explore what life is really like for Britain’s young parents. Tackling everything from post-natal depression to the role of dads in the delivery room, this provocative BBC Three season explores what it means to be a young parent in Britain today.

You can find out more at:
The programmes are likely to be available on the BBC iplayer for up to a week after their broadcast date.

It will be interesting to see the approach taken by the BBC to these issues. It would be great to hear what you think about these programmes and whether they reflect the lives of the families you are working with.Are there lessons for us to learn about how we support families? What kind of messages about parents and parenting are being portrayed in the media and what is the impact of this on families living in Scotland today?

Remember you can join in the discussion in the comments here or, if you are a Glow user,  on the Early Years Professional Learning Community at : http://bit.ly/earlyhome.

Glow TV, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Young people, children & families

Forced Marriage in Scotland

2 Comments

Figures collated from Scottish agencies, who support victims of forced marriage, estimate that almost 20% of the 59 people who contacted them in 2011/12 in fear of being forced to marry were under 18 years of age. Those seeking help included both boys and girls and agencies believe that these figures may just be the tip of the iceberg, with many victims often too scared to speak out.

This shows that forced marriage is a very real issue affecting young people in Scotland and it is important that they know how they can get help. In November 2011, legislation came into force in Scotland to protect those affected by forced marriage. The Forced Marriage etc. (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Act 2011 provides civil remedies for those at risk of forced marriage and those who have already been forced into marriage.

Teachers and education professionals therefore play an important role in recognising potential victims of forced marriage and in signposting them appropriately to ensure that they receive the right kind of help they need.

With this in mind, a forced marriage information resource is being launched this month for those working with young people in Scotland. A Glow TV event has been scheduled for Monday 18th March at 4pm to give education professionals the chance to discuss the issues which surround forced marriage and how they can help those in their care who they are worried might be affected. The Glow TV event is appropriate for all education practitioners.

To help education practitioners understand the legislation and how their work might be impacted by forced marriage, a panel of experts, including a forced marriage survivor, will be present to answer questions on the issue such as:

• What is a forced marriage?
• Are many young people in Scotland being forced to marry?
• How does the law in Scotland to help those in a forced marriage or under threat of one?
• How can education professionals help any young person in their care that they are worried might be affected by forced marriage?

Why not sign up and find out more in Glow TV – Forced Marriage in Scotland Or if you miss it click the Watch Again link to view the recording.

Early Years, Young people, children & families

Wise Up Wednesday: This Is Where It Starts

Leave a comment

The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS) is a charitable company with a mission to Promoting positive outcomes for people who use Scotland’s social services

As part of their Early Years Evidence Project for 2012/13, they have produced the “This is where it starts” collection of case studies of work with children and parents in the early years (pre-birth to eight years old).

The case studies are based on in-depth interviews with those working with children and parents in the early years to uncover what professionals perceive supports positive outcomes, early intervention and prevention. The case studies attempt to capture some of the experiential knowledge held by professionals working in the early years, to share this knowledge more widely across the sector and to provide inspiration to others.

An overview report, which explores learning from the seven case studies, is also available.

Read This is where it starts overview report and case studies.

As always we’d love to hear what you are doing to support children and families in your area. Why not share in the comments?