Category Archives: Expressive Arts

Whitelees Primary School – Open Day

School open day

Whitelees Primary School, North Lanarkshire Council

9:30am – 3.00pm, Monday 20th February 2012

Theme:  Sustainable Development Education

This event was originally due to take place on 8th December 2011 but had to be cancelled due to the severe storms. It has now been rescheduled for Monday 20th February 2012.

Whitelees Primary School hit the headlines in 2011 when it became the first primary school to be awarded five ‘excellent’ grades by the school inspectors.  This isn’t the first time their achievements have made news. The school’s accolades and awards include:

  • Finalist, Scottish Education Awards – Sustainable School category (2011)
  • Best Green School Award (2009)
  • Winner,  Scottish Education Awards – Best Enterprise category (2008)
  • Four Green Flags, Eco-Schools Scotland.

A key factor in the school’s success has been the way it has placed global citizenship and sustainable development education at the heart of the curriculum to provide exciting, relevant and engaging contexts for learning. This has helped to create, ‘Highly motivated, confident and ambitious children who are keen to learn and to make a difference in school and the wider community.’

This CPD event offers practitioners and school leaders from across Scotland the chance to visit Whitelees Primary School to meet with the Head Teacher, staff and learners and also tour the classrooms, buildings and grounds. A focus of the event will be to identify and share the practical lessons and ideas that have helped the school develop a successful whole school approach to sustainability and global citizenship including: 

  • A sustained commitment to pupil voice with learners being given real opportunities to shape the curriculum and school decision making
  • Effective use of the school grounds, nature and vegetable gardens to support outdoor learning and deliver the curriculum
  • The inspiring pupil rock band which has achieved notable success through their songs about fair trade and climate change.

Those participating in the open day will also have time to reflect and share their own experiences. 

Click here to download programme for open day

How to book

To book, please email: globalcitizens@educationscotland.gov.uk or Tel. 0141 282 5172.

Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a free event!

Living Streets Competition

Walk Once a Week – WOW – Badge Design Competition

2012’s WoW badge design competition is here, and we’re delighted to confirm that the theme is ‘AROUND THE WORLD‘. We are inviting schools to get their pupils’ creativity flowing and design what could be one of the official WoW badges for 2012/13.

Each winner will have his or her design transformed into the monthly WoW badges worn by hundreds of thousands of children across the country, and will be invited to an awards ceremony and fun day out in London in May 2012.

Our annual WoW badge design competition is one of the UK’s biggest art competitions, with over 150,000 primary school children taking part to design badges for a specific theme. Each participant school is invited to submit three entries for consideration. In 2011 our judging panel viewed over 1,800 fantastic entries on a Sport theme; our biggest competition yet! The deadline for receiving entries will be 16 March. 

www.livingstreets.org.uk

Vox Motus Theatre Company Event

This exciting event will be hosted by the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh on Thursday 26th January at 6pm.

Join us for an exclusive Glow Meet with Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison, the Artistic Directors of Glasgow-based theatre company Vox Motus, who are behind the Lyceum’s show The Infamous Brothers Davenport.

Hear about the show and their directing process. The Meet will also be recorded so you can watch with your class, or encourage them to do so on their own, at a later date!

Sign up and join us live in Glow TV on the night though if you can!

Burns Day Celebrations in Glow

This year Glow is joining Dalgety Bay Primary School in Fife to celebrate Burns Day 2012 with Kevin Thompson and Burns 250.

We are broadcasting two separate events one specifically for P1-3 and the other for P 4-7. The first Glow Meet is for P 1-3 and will involve story telling about the life of Robert Burns, his poems and lots of opportunities to sing along to many of his famous, and sometimes funny songs! This event begins at 9.45am – Sign up and join this event.

Then at 11am we have something for the P4 -7 children. In this our second live session Kevin in his one-man show accompanied by Powerpoint slides will tells Burns’ life-story based around his songs and poems.
The songs and poems are woven into a narrative telling about key points in Burns’ life from his birth in 1759 to his untimely death just 37 years later. The best way to enjoy Burns is to take part so audience participation is encouraged where songs have choruses!! Sign up and join this event.

So why not sign up and join us for these very Scottish celebrations live in Glow TV?!
Further Burns resources can be found on the Education Scotland website.

Glow Meet: King of Masks – Part of Chinese New Year Celebrations

The King of Masks is a brilliant street performer who practices the change-mask opera art of bian lian. He laments that he has no grandchild to pass on his magical skills, so he adopts an orphan boy to become his apprentice. But the boy turns out not to be what he seems… A special film from China full of colour, fireworks and adventures!

On the day of the screening of the King of Masks live in Glasgow Glow TV be broadcasting the introduction to the event which lasts approximately 10 minutes. You are able to request a free DVD to watch along in the classroom during the live screening in Glasgow. To request your free DVD please contact matt@eightandahalf.org.

At 11.55am we will return live to Glasgow to take part in the live interactive workshop with Chinese opera singer and Ricefield workshop leader Fong Liu from St. Ninian’s High School who will be dressed in full Chinese costume. This workshop will last approximately 15-20 mins.

THIS EVENT IS RECOMMENDED FOR PRIMARY 4 AND ABOVE.

Why not sign up and join us on the day Don’t forget to request your free DVD! http://bit.ly/kingofmasksevent

Date and time: 06/02/2012 – 10:15am

Find out more on the Glasgow Film Festival Website

Global Citizenship – JOIN our Glow drop in session

Developing Global Citizens through sustainable development education

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

Where: The shiny new Glow community for global citizenship

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

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

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

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

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

Seafood Scotland Launches Schools Art Competition

Seafood Scotland has teamed up with the 6th World Fisheries Congress to offer a competition that encourages school children to learn more about the relationship between scientists and fisheries, and how this helps to protect the marine ecosystem.

High school and primary school pupils taking part in Seafood Scotland’s ‘Seafood in Schools’ pilot project are being asked to design a T-shirt for delegates at the Congress, which will be held in Edinburgh in May 2012. The design must illustrate the association between seafood and science.

Prizes for the competition are sponsored by Seafish and include £1000 worth of science equipment for the winning high school and £500 of equipment for the winning primary school.

The pupil responsible for the overall winning design will receive a presentation T-shirt at the Congress, followed by a VIP visit to Deep Sea World at South Queensferry. A runner-up will be presented with their own design on a T-shirt and also visit the aquarium.

Jon Harman, Seafish director of development, said: “Seafish is committed to improving awareness and understanding about the importance of the seafood industry amongst all consumers, young and old.

“This competition is a creative, innovative way of encouraging school children to get excited about fisheries and science, so we are delighted to offer our support.

“This is a great way to make learning fun, and to ensure that the pupils gain a sense of how science is being applied in real life to protect our marine ecosystem for the future.”

Click here to read more.

2012: An exciting year for Creativity in Education

Not only is 2012 Scotland’s Year of Creative Scotland, but it will also be the first year of the United Nations/UNESCO endorsed International Week of Arts Education – the fourth week of May.

Let your colleagues know about the Creativity Newsfeeds from the Creativity Portal to ensure they keep up to date with the news and opportunities that will develop around these two initiatives. You can find full details on them and links to subscribe on the following post here in the Education Scotland Learning Blog.

Happy New Year!

Glow Does Panto! – Mister Merlin

Join the Tron Theatre Glasgow Panto characters for a live Glow Meet.

Mister Merlin’s magic is mince if he doesn’t have his wand – a family heirloom handed down through many Merlin generations. The Great Bahooky’s magic has always been mince – so stealing Mister Merlin’s wand, helped (or is it hindered?) by his side-kick Bumble, is part of his cunning plan for wizard world domination.

What he didn’t bank on was Merlin having a guardian angel, in the guise of The Govan Fairy; or two plucky puppet pals Peter and Penny prepared to brave Clabber Castle’s haunted garden to get the wand back.

You will be able to meet the cast, ask them questions and find out all about the magic of Mister Merlin. –
Sign up now and join us in Glow TV on Wednesday 21st December from 1.45 – 2.30pm.

New Video Resources for Scottish Theatre

Visit the national drama teachers glow group

https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Staffroom/Drama%20Teachers/default.aspx

and you will notice new tabs at the top of the glow group entitled ‘Video resources’.  Joe Gallacher from Replico Theatre has kindly offered to share these videos with practitioners who are interested in Scottish theatre.  The documentaries feature a variety of Scottish plays first produced at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first and include interviews with some of Scotland’s leading playwrights, such as Nicola McCartney, Ann Marie Di Mambro, Sue Glover, Liz Lochhead, Stephen Greenhorn, David Harrower and David Greig.

SQA Curriculum Events: Access 1 and 2

SQA, in partnership with Education Scotland, are holding a series of curriculum area events to discuss the new national qualifications and give practical support on their implementation. The events are also an opportunity for practitioners to give their views on the new qualifications. Places have been allocated to local authorities and their schools, independent schools and colleges. The events are part of a range of support to help local authorities and individual centres prepare for implementing the new qualifications.

The Access 1 and 2 day was on the 13th Decemeber. To view the Glow Meet recordings from the event click on the links below (you will need to glow log in to access the recordings):

Introduction and Question/Answers

Workshop documents

To find out about other Curriculum Area Events during December via Glow TV click here.

SQA Curriculum Event: Expressive Arts and PE

SQA, in partnership with Education Scotland, are holding a series of curriculum area events to discuss the new national qualifications and give practical support on their implementation. The events are also an opportunity for practitioners to give their views on the new qualifications. Places have been allocated to local authorities and their schools, independent schools and colleges. The events are part of a range of support to help local authorities and individual centres prepare for implementing the new qualifications.

The Expressive Arts and PE day was on the 7th Decemeber. To view the Glow Meet recordings from the event click on the links below (you will need to glow log in to access the recordings):

Introduction and Question/Answers

Music Workshops

Art and Design Workshops

Drama and Dance Workshops

PE Workshop

To find out about other Curriculum Area Events during December via Glow TV click here.

A Healthy Lunch packs a Healthy Punch

Pupils at Auchinleck Academy are getting arty… and their talent is on display for all to see.

A group of third year pupils recently created a huge, colourful mural for the school dining hall as part of a health & wellbeing / art project.

“The mural has really helped to create a better environment for pupils who take packed lunches in Auchinleck Academy and has boosted the confidence of our art pupils who created the work”.

For more information click here

Advice and guidance on new National Qualifications

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

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

Animation in the classroom

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

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

To find out more click here.

To view examples of Animation in Action click here.

Creativity in the Classroom – a call out to share what works

Consider yourself creative?

The Creativity Portal is looking for examples of simple, short creative exercises that teachers and youth workers like yourself have used in the classroom and youth group settings.

It could be:

  • A creative chemistry experiment
  • The school’s fastest paper aeroplane contest
  • The imaginative alphabet
  • A 30 second dramatic warm-up

We would love to hear what’s worked for you. Get a mention on the national Creativity Portal and an invitation to future creative CPD. A wee bit of text is all it takes.

Add to the Creativity Archive here within Glow.

Or email Stephen.bullock@educationscotland.gov.uk

New Qualifications – November Update

http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47993.html

 More detail about how each new National 5 Course will be assessed is now available. Draft Course Assessment Specifications for National 5 have been published on the SQA website and define the mandatory assessment requirements for Courses at National 5.

The purpose of the Course Assessment Specification is to ensure consistent and transparent assessment year on year. It describes the structure of the Course assessment and the mandatory skills, knowledge and understanding that will be assessed.

 Find out more about the qualifications development stages.

 Draft Unit Specifications have also been published for new Higher Courses. 

Feedback on these documents can be given via Have Your Say until 31 January 2012. The final versions of all SQA draft documents will be published in April 2012.

Institut Français d’Ecosse – Rencontres théâtrales 2012

Rencontres théâtrales is an inter-school drama competition which has been organised by the Institut Français d’Ecosse in co-operation with Local Authorities.

This competition was created to provide an opportunity for pupils to practise French in a fun way, to carry out a project as a team and learn to work in a group.

The competition is open to Scottish primary and secondary pupils who are studying French. There are two categories, which cater for pupils from P3 to S6:

Primary:           P3 to P7 (length of the play between 5 -10mn)

Secondary:      S1 to S6 (length of the play between 10-15mn)

In 2012, the “Rencontres Théâtrales” for both primary and secondary classes, will take place

 Thursday 1rst March 2012, Broughton High School, Edinburgh.
 Wednesday 28th March at Bucksburn Academy, Aberdeen.
 Monday 11th June in Glasgow at Whitehill secondary School, Glasgow.
 at Millburn Academy, Inverness (date tbc)

If you would like your learners to take part then I’ve posted the application forms in a folder in the resources and sharing section of the National Glow group.  To access the forms please click here

Curriculum Area Events on Glow TV

SQA, in partnership with Education Scotland, are holding a series of curriculum area events to discuss the new national qualifications and give practical support on their implementation. The events are also an opportunity for practitioners to give their views on the new qualifications. Places have been allocated to local authorities and their schools, independent schools and colleges. The events are part of a range of support to help local authorities and individual centres prepare for implementing the new qualifications.

The events will take place on 29 November, and 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 December. Each event will be streamed live on Glow via the SQA Glow Group.  Most events and workshops will be shown live and recorded for watching again later.

A number of resources will be available following each event, including opportunities to hear some of the discussions from the day.

Curriculum Update at Glow Key Contacts

Today I went along to the Glow Key Contacts Meeting to give an update about new resources from the Curriculm Team  at Education Scotland. 

You will find the presentation I used here. (Glow log in required)

The resources I highlighted included:

Education Scotland’s Learning Blog

Chalkface Blog

STEM Central

Marks on the Landscape

Scotland’s Songs

Families and friends, heroes and villains, games and laughter, school and work, love and freedom – it’s all here in Scotland’s Songs. Listen to more than 130 songs and tunes, in Scots and Gaelic, and learn about the long and rich tradition of Scottish music, still very much alive across the nation and known and loved across the world.

You can learn about traditional songs and music, understand themes in Scottish music and find out more about Scotland’s instruments, like the bagpipes and the clarsach.

There’s a short introduction to each song or tune, along with song lyrics and the musical notation for almost every tune.

To visit the website click here.

Wise Up Wednesday!

Early Years Glow: Did you know?

There is a whole wealth of Early Years whiteboard activities in the Aardvarks storecupboard!

  1. Visit the National Early Years Glow site
  2. Click ‘places to go’
  3. Click on the Aardvarks storecupboard
  4. Click on a subject area and have fun!

Scottish Ballet launches Glow Group

Today we are excited to be launching our Scottish Ballet Glow Group. The Education Team here at Scottish Ballet have been busily preparing and creating new schools resources and we can’t wait for our Sleeping Beauty ones to be uploaded onto Glow for you all to use in the coming months.

Here are just a few of the ways we’ll be using Glow to get you thinking about ballet soon.

• Brand New Sleeping Beauty Primary School Resources
• A specially devised Sleeping Beauty Workshop for teachers to use in the classroom
• 2 short films – one CPD film for teachers about teaching dance in the classroom and another for pupils about what to expect when you go to the theatre
• Live Sleeping Beauty Webcast from backstage at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre on Thursday 12th January 2012 time??

Why not send us a message using the forum to tell us what you think of our page and what you’d like to see on it. Or you could ask us that ballet question you’ve been dying to know the answer to. Don’t forget to follow the links to our Connect page for lots more exciting games and resources…look out for our Dancer of the Month Interviews coming soon.

https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Creative%20Learning%20Scotland/Arts%20Organisations/Scottish%20Ballet/default.aspx

SQA Update for New National Qualifications

http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47667.html

The Scottish Qualifications Authority has a number of resources to support teachers and practitioners to help them understand the changes to Scotland’s national qualifications. Read more in this update.

Global citizenship and sustainability – visit award-winning schools

Following the tremendous success of earlier open day events, the Developing Global Citizens Team at Education Scotland are providing opportunities for school leaders and practitioners to visit three more schools to see first-hand how they have developed inspiring whole school approaches to global citizenship and sustainable development education. These include:

 Hamilton Grammar School, South Lanarkshire

Theme:  An integrated approach to global citizenship

  • Four Eco-Schools green flag awards; pupil voice; making the most of international links; promoting active and outdoor learning.

 Garrowhill Primary School, Glasgow

Theme: Sustainable development education

  • Winner, Scottish Education Awards (2011) – Sustainable School Category; pupil voice; outdoor learning and school grounds; embedding sustainability within the curriculum; Eco-Schools green flag.

 Whitelees Primary School, North Lanarkshire

Theme: Sustainable development education

  • Recently achieved five ‘excellent’ grades in their school inspection; Finalist, Scottish Education Awards (2011) – Sustainable School Category; Winner, Best Green School (2009); Four Eco-Schools green flag awards.

 How to book

To book, please email: globalcitizens@educationscotland.gov.uk or Tel. 0141 282 5172. Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. These are free CPD events.

 View the full programme of school open day events at http://ltsblogs.org.uk/globalcitizenship/2011/09/28/new-open-day-programme-201112/

 What others have said about the study visits:

‘The best CPD I have ever had.’

‘This was an inspirational CPD event and I found it all very useful and enjoyable – fantastic.’

‘My mind is going into overdrive – I plan to take everything you have given and use it!

Invitation to Drama teachers – SDTN event

Introduction to Scottish Drama Training Network by Professor Maggie Kinloch,
SDTN Chair and Vice-Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

This special event on Thursday 3rd November will welcome those who teach Drama in Schools to the Scottish Drama Training Network.

The event will take place at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 18.00-20.30.
This event will provide an excellent opportunity to learn more about SDTN and also to participate in a special Panel discussion on Equality, Disability and Inclusivity. Companies represented will include Birds of Paradise and Solar Bear. The event will offer an opportunity for Drama tutors and practitioners to meet and network at the end of the session with some refreshments.
Further details from www.sdtn.org
RSVP by email to SDTN Director, Alison Forsyth on alison@sdtn.org

For direct link follow:

http://sdtn.org/news/view/49/sdtn-special-event-thu-3-nov-2011

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G2 3DB

World of Work Wednesdays is Back!!

Yes it is back! The popular fortnightly event that focuses on career opportunities for young people across Scotland returns to Glow TV after a break.

This WoWW event focuses on Working in the Theatre. Have you ever wondered what it is like being part of the magic of the theatre? How does a production begin and who is involved in bringing it to life on the stage?

Why not join assistant directors and associate artists in the Glow TV Studio and find out more?

Sign up and join us in Glow TV on Wednesday 2nd November at the usual time 2pm.

New open day programme 2011/12

New global citizenship open day study visits!

We are pleased to announce a new series of the popular, inspiring and practical school open days from Education Scotland’s Developing Global Citizens team.

Sign up by contacting globalcitizens@educationscotland.gov.uk or call 0141 252 5000

There is increasing recognition that the rich contexts and learning approaches associated with global citizenship are a powerful means of engaging with Curriculum for Excellence.  In this initiative, selected schools are offering an open door to senior leaders and classroom practitioners to share how they have led a whole school approach to global citizenship. 

The schools selected for the open school programme have developed approaches that have successfully woven elements such as sustainable development education, education for citizenship, international education and games legacy into a wider coordinated whole-school approach to developing global citizens. The programme includes a number of award winning schools and schools whose achievements have been widely recognised.

What others have said about the study visits:

‘The best CPD I have ever had’

‘This was an inspirational CPD event and I found it all very useful and enjoyable, particularly the input from the HT/PT and children – fantastic’

‘My mind is going into overdrive – I plan to take everything you have given and use it!’

Date Time School Theme
Thursday 13th October 9.30am – 3pm Mearns Primary School, East Renfrewshire Global Citizenship – learner voice at the heart of the curriculum
Tuesday 25th October 9.30am – 3pm Calderglen High School, South Lanarkshire Leadership of Global Citizenship/ Games Legacy for Scotland
Friday 18th November 9.30am – 3pm Woodacre Nursery, Glasgow >>details International education and citizenship in the early years
Tuesday 22nd November 9.30am – 3pm Hamilton Grammar School, South Lanarkshire >>details Leadership of global citizenship
Tuesday 29th November 9.30am-3pm Garrowhill Primary School, Glasgow >>details Sustainable Development Education
Thursday 8th December 9:30am – 3pm Whitelees Primary School, North Lanarkshire >>details Sustainable Development Education
Tbc 9.30am – 3pm Gracemount Cluster (High School, Primary School, Nursery and Special School), Edinburgh A cluster approach to global citizenship

Further events will be added to the programme in the coming weeks so watch this blog entry for updates.

Places for these events are limited so it is advisable to book early to avoid disappointment.

Sign up by contacting globalcitizens@educationscotland.gov.uk or call 0141 252 5000

Find out more about using global citizenship to develop a whole school approach to Curriculum for Excellence

Download the new global citizenship calendar for 2011-12

Forest Pitch – Meet the artist in a Glowing Thursday!

Glowing Thursday 10th November 2011

Forest Pitch – football strip design competition!

Meet the artist!

Join us on 10th November at 11am on Glow TV!

An opportunity to meet Scottish artist Craig Coulthard, creator of the highly innovative art project Forest Pitch. Funded by Creative Scotland and part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Forest Pitch will culminate in two football matches between amateur players who have recently taken up British citizenship.  At the Scottish Learning Festival in September this year Craig launched a football strip design competition for primary age children to come up with exciting and innovative designs for the football strips that the players will wear.

As an arts project, Forest Pitch encourages debate about national identity, citizenship, the natural world, sustainability and participation in sport.

If you have already signed up for the competition or are thinking about doing so, then join us for this exciting Glowing Thursday to find out more and get some artist’s tips and advice.

Find out more about the competition, sign up and download the design brief and support materials here

And don’t forget – taking part in this competition is a great way of demonstrating a commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic values and joining the London 2012 Get Set Network.  Do this before 16th December and qualify for FREE tickets for the Olympics! Find out more >>

Travelling Green

Travelling Green is a 6 week walking project which aims to encourage as many children as possible to change their method of travel to and from school, by increasing active commuting (walking) to school.

Travelling Green is an interdisciplinary project focusing on Health and Wellbeing with links to Science, Social Studies, Expressive Arts, Technologies and Languages.

Children learn about walking time and distance, they chart their progress to a more active journey to school and learn about healthy eating, why walking is good for them and how to stay safe on the walk to school.

Who is it aimed at?

Travelling Green is aimed at P5s (9 year olds) in primary schools in Scotland, but it can also be used in composite classes.

What can it achieve?

Increases in overall physical activity. Setting realistic, individual, achievable physical activity targets.

What’s new with Travelling Green?

Sustrans has developed new, free, eye-catching interactive whiteboard flipcharts that can be used with any interactive whiteboard. The flipcharts complement the paper resource pack and provide more opportunities for engagement in the classroom. You can download the interactive resources for free from the Promethean Planet partnership pages.

More info is available on the Sustrans website.

Moderation and Assessment in Modern Languages

I’ve added a new section to the CFE Emerging Practice section of the Modern Langauges National Glow Group where practitioners can post any work they are doing on Assessment and Moderation.  Many thanks go to Lochend Community High School for sharing the materials they have developed in the Languages and Communication faculty to help plan a coherent approach to curriculum, assessment and moderation .  It is always interesting and helpful to see how different departments and faculties are coming together to discuss and share the standards, so if you have anything you would like to contribute, please get posting!

To access Lochend’s materials please click here.  You will need your Glow password.

How to …

As part of the Scottish Learning Festival 2011, Molecules in Motion worked closely with Gavinburn Primary School to produce this series of short How To films. Click below to view the videos on Vimeo.
 
 
 
  
 
 

Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival

Now a regular on the arts scene, the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival has grown to become one of the world’s most valued cultural events. The Festival takes place in theatres, cinemas, libraries and community halls throughout October each year to help challenge attitudes towards mental health through the arts. Most learning events are free.

Contact: Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, phone: 0141 572 1661 [ website ]

Using Glow Blogs to engage with actors from the Tron

The Creativity Portal offers the 100 or so nationally funded creative organisations the opportunity to engage with Glow and to post to their own creativity Glow blog.

Some of the organisations have found the tool so useful they are now experimenting with it for other purposes – generating targeted, conversational resources for pupils that would otherwise have been impossible.

Tron Participation Creative Blog

As part of our ever expanding Glow area; Tron Participation wants to give pupils and staff an insight into what happens at the Tron Theatre on a day to day basis. The best way for us to do this is via a blog. This blog will allow actors, directors, designers and many more people who work with the Tron to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences with a wider audience. Pupils and teachers can contact Tron Participation if they have a specific question for the person blogging, meaning we are able to create a dialogue with creative professionals and schools. You can find the blog on the Virtual Learning page of the Tron Participation Glow area.

Currently blogging is Sally Reid and Keith Fleming who are performing in ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ a co-production between the Tron Theatre and Theatre Jezebel.

Glow Meet – Global citizenship DROP IN

Every month the DGC team will be available on our new Glow TV channel to answer your questions about global citizenship and to signpost you to resources and ideas to help you embed global citizenship in the curriculum.  This is an informal session open to any school leader or practitioner in Scotland – just drop into the Glow meet to pick our brains, find out what’s coming up or tell us what you’re up to.

The inaugural session will take place from 3.30-5.00pm on Wednesday 26th October.  The theme for the first 45 minutes of this session will be A Games Legacy for Scotland and will showcase how the London Olympics 2012 and Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 can be used to create exciting learning opportunities for global citizenship activities and interdisciplinary learning.  Find out how to get free tickets to the Olympics, hear about the Forest Pitch football strip design competition and how the organisers plan to Get Scotland Dancing. 

A general Q & A/open floor session will follow from 4.15pm to 5pm. Put the day in your diary and join us for all, or part of, this event to discuss and share or get help with a particular issue. Visit Glow TV to register and take part on the day: http://bit.ly/DGCdropin

If you can’t make this one then the following drop in session will be on Tuesday 6th December 2011 from 3:30pm – 5pm. The theme will be: Developing a whole school approach to global citizenship.

What every supply teacher should know about CPDStepin

CPDStepin is still going strong! This CPD Community on Glow is for supply teachers and others who may not be able to access CPD and PRD through the usual channels. The community is facilitated by Anne McGhee, a CPD Team associate and supported by Susan Lafferty of the National CPD Team at Education Scotland.

In this video, Anne chairs a discussion with CPDStepin colleagues and mentors which features the benefits from membership of the community. You can watch the video over at the CPD Team blog . Enjoy!

Remember,

If you are a supply teacher and want to join CPDStepin, then see this link here. If you don’t have a Glow username, we can help with that
if you have mentoring or other skills that can support CPDStepin colleagues, please drop us a line at stepin@educationscotland.gov.uk

SATH Autumn Conference 2011

A message from Neil McLennan – President Scottish Association of Teachers of History

It gives me great pleasure to attach the programme for the SATH Autumn Conference. We are indebted to the University of Edinburgh for their kind offering of magnificent facilities at the Old Medical School (now the home of the History Department) and to the Heritage Education Forum for thier support and sponsorship of the programme.

I have attached a paper copy of the programme. The link to send around colleagues is:-
http://bit.ly/SATHautumn2011

Please do circulate the paper programme and the link widely amongst other history education professionals. This link will be used to drop in further information about the various speakers as the event approaches. It is also a place where SATH members can link up with history educators to share ideas, teaching resources and learning ideas.

Interest is likely to be high given the wide variety and high caliber of speakers on offer. The theme ‘Learning from each other’ brings together inputs from Europe , the academic world, primary schools and secondary schools. We even have an input from students which brings an interesting perspective. Furthermore there will be plenty of opportunity to network and share with colleagues at the history fayre where history and heritage education providers will be on hand to share what resources and ideas they have to offer.

I hope that the programme is of interest to you and I very much so look forward to seeing you at the conference.

SATH Autumn Conference 2011

New Media Literacy Resource

Screening Shorts is a major new online resource to help and show teachers how to use moving image education in the classroom.
Log in using your glow password to access over 30 short films with teaching resources and helpful advice as to how to use moving image in the classroom. The films are copyright free and can be downloaded for editing/mash ups. The shorts are suitable for all curricular areas and age ranges.

 Link: http://www.screeningshorts.org.uk/

#SLF11 Marks on the Landscape – Creativity and Sciences

The Marks on the Landscape web resource which focuses on inspiring creativity across the curriculum was launched at the #SLF11. Charles Jencks, Landscape Architect & Designer of the Fife Earth Project, is interested in human life and frequently uses ideas from biology, such as DNA and cells, as an inspiration for his landforms, gardens and sculptures.

You’ll find on the resource: opportunities to use Marks on the Landscape to inspire creativity in science; and a design challenge which extends the scientific theme encouraging learners at fourth level to study different types of enzymes and consider their qualities, shapes and functions to design a brainteaser puzzle.

Marks on the Landscape – Technologies

The Marks on the Landscape web resource which focuses on inspiring creativity across the curriculum was launched today at the Scottish Learning Festival.

To view how this resource can be used in relation to Technologies click here.

There are two Design Challenges that have been created for third level Technologies Outcomes:

Design a Computer Game

Design a Logo

Glowing Thursdays – Behind the Scenes at the Citizen’s Theatre

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a National Theatre, who does what and how is the whole production put together?

Why not join us for a sneak preview behind the scenes of National Theatre of Scotland’s seminal production of “Men Should Weep.”

Join the directors, cast and crew members of the Men Should Weep company live from the citizens theatre. A tour of the set led by assistant director Phil McCormack will be followed by discussion with the director and some of the main cast who will reveal their approaches and the many processes adopted to make the show.

You will also have the opportunity to ask your own questions and find out what really goes on behind the scenes.

Register for Glow TV and then sign up and join us on Thursday 22nd from 2-3pm for this exciting event.

‘New Looks’ Arts and Music Workshops for Young People at the New Look National Museum of Scotland

Young people aged 14-18 years have the opportunity to have fun learning new skills from professional artists with the National Museums of Scotland taster sessions (no experience necessary).

  • Stop Frame Animation with professional photographer David Grinly on Sunday 2 October (Price: £5.00 per person);
  • Sound Design course in digital musical instrument making with artist and composer Victoria Gama from Friday 21 October to Sunday 23 October. (Price: £24.00 for three days).

Go to their website here

Information on the New Qualifications

Up to date information on the development of the new National Qualifications, including timelines, draft specifications and opportunities to be involved  and give feedback can be found on the SQA CfE website at:  http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34648.2942.html.

Famine in East Africa

A new resource produced by the Edinburgh Disasters Response Committee aims to support teachers who want to assist with charitable aid relief for the famine in the Horn of Africa. Details of the EDRC education pack, and more information about other educational resources to help young people discuss the situation and its causes, are described on the Education Scotland Global Citizenship blog. http://ltsblogs.org.uk/globalcitizenship/

The pack is available for download from the national Glow Group for Developing Global Citizens. https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Developing%20Global%20Citizens/Lists/Pages/Resources.aspx

David Mach Exhibit

Just to remind you that the David Mach exhibit is still on at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh. This exhibit uses the King James bible as inspiration and David has used sculpture and collage to convey his interpretations of classic biblical stories.

A Design challenge for both Art and Design and RME is being developed with kind permission from David himself – so look out for this in future as a way of linking together two subjects.

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

 

The Creativity Portal is now eleven months old and is playing its part in promoting creativity across learning and teaching. Users are visiting the Creativity Portal for its offer of creative partnerships, resources and inspiration, as well as engaging with the Creativity Portal Glow Group behind the scenes in new and exciting ways. Here are a few of the successes so far.

  • Nearly 12000 unique users have visited the Creativity Portal already, well over a thousand a month.
  • Users have viewed nearly 50,000 pages.
  • 100% of users surveyed say that they will be recommending the Creativity Portal to others.
  • Nearly 500 partnership opportunities and examples of good practice have already been shared through the Creativity Blog – many of which are free for teachers and community groups. Many of these are being re-tweeted and shared with an even wider audience through the @CreativPortal Twitter feed and Facebook page. A direct feed by email is now available (including special feeds relating to individual subject areas including Literacy, Dance and Heritage) and will be rolled out this academic year.
  • New creative partners are joining the Creativity Portal all the time, with Fèisean nan Gàidheal, Eden Court Theatre and Dance House amongst the most recent. By using the search tools users can find extremely local and relevant resources, Glow Groups, Creative Partners and opportunities all in the one place – and stumble across plenty of inspiration they didn’t know they were looking for.
  • 92% of users say that the Creativity Portal will make their search for Creative Partnerships easier, quicker or more successful.
  • Many of these partners are going on to develop their own Glow Groups, offering more for schools and community groups than ever before and embedding the use of Glow into their core activities. There are already 32 creative Glow Groups and communities listed on the Creativity Portal with more developing each week.

Various associated Glow Groups and tools have been developed alongside the public facing Creativity Portal including a Creativity Forum, Creativity Archive of projects and lessons, Creativity Portal online newspaper, listing of Creative Glow Meets and Glow TV’s Creativity Channel.

The Creativity Portal and Creative Learning Networks (CLNs) recently held a week long online discussion around creativity and the Glow Group is still open for business – Is It Creative?. Glow Meets and the Creativity Forum were used to engage CLN and creative organisation staff building a model for future use of Glow Meet technology. For almost all users it was the first time they had used web conferencing technology and the learning curve was impressive. The use of Glow Meet by the creative partners and CLNs will no doubt prove to be a major asset over the next year in their delivery of tailored CPD and creative experiences for young people.

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

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

Perth Grammar showcase Eco Schools work on BBC Radio

In a recent episode of the BBC Radio Scotland show, ‘Out of doors’, pupils from Perth Grammar and their Depute Headteacher, Michael Conlon, talk about achieving their second Eco Schools Green Flag and how this work links to the school motto: Pride, Respect, Ambition.

You can listen to the clip here, starting at around 21 minutes.