Category Archives: Literacy and English

Audit of Career-Long Professional Learning (CLPL) needs for practitioners working in Gaelic Medium and Learner Education

As part of our Gaelic Language Plan, Education Scotland is committed to producing a CLPL needs analysis for staff.  The findings of this audit will be used to plan future programmes of professional learning.

There are three audits:
GME Secondary: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K5TKSFL

Gaelic Learner Education 3-18: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K56D32D

GME Early Learning and Childcare Centres and  Primary: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8KVBLNC

We appreciate your support in completing these audits by 23 March 2015.

 

Digital storytelling update – part 2

We told you last week about our Digital Storytelling exercise. Well, already there has been a major plot development!

Award-winning childrens’ author, Theresa Breslin, has kindly agreed to provide the story starter for Digital Storytelling 3.

Among the schools who will be taking part are Kilbarchan, Lochfield, Invergowrie, Pumpherston and Uphall Station primary schools.

The great news is that as of the time of writing this blog post, there are still slots available. So if you want to take part, get along to the storytelling learning space

<Please note, there are also still slots available for Storytelling 2 (for older writers) see Digital Storytelling 1 and 2 update for another surprise!>

Theresa_Breslin_400x400About Theresa Breslin

  • Carnegie Medal winning author of over 40 books
  • Her books include Divided City, Ghost Soldier and Illustrated Treasury of Folk & Fairy Tales
  • Her work has appeared on Stage, Radio & TV

You can keep up to date with Theresa’s work online:

Digital storytelling update – part 1

We told you last week about our Digital Storytelling exercise. These two stories haven’t even started yet and there has been a major plot twist!

Renowned Scottish childrens’ author, Cathy MacPhail, has kindly agreed to provide the story starters for both Digital Storytelling 1 and Digital Storytelling 2.

First to take up Cathy’s challenge will be the young writers of St Michael’s Primary in Dumfries. Of course, they won’t see Catherine’s starter until just before they start writing!

You can see all the other schools taking part in this particular challenge on Glow by going to the storytelling learning space

<Please note, Storytelling 1 is full but there are still slots available for Storytelling 2 and Storytelling 3 –see Digital Storytelling 3 update for another surprise!>

Cathy_MacPhailAbout Cathy MacPhail

  • Cathy is Patron of Reading at Falkirk High
  • She is also an Ambassador for Children 1st.
  • Her novel , Out of The Depths, was shortlisted for the Grampian Book Award and she is weel kent for her Tyler Lawless Mysteries.
  • Her novel, Another Me, is soon to be released as a film, Panda Eyes.

You can keep up to date with Cathy’s work online:

Tune into the Brydekirk LearnMeet!

brydekirk_PrimaryYou may have heard of TeachMeets, where teachers take turns to share their practice? Well, the learners of Brydekirk Primary in Dumfries and Galloway Council are running their own LearnMeet.

Hosted by Mr Archibald, the Brydekirk learners will take turns to ‘pop-up’ and share the whats and whys of their favourite learning. It takes place on Thursday 5th March and kicks off at 11am.

There are two ways that learners and educators from all over Scotland can join in using their Glow access:

newsfeedOne – Post messages for the Brydekirk  young learners using the tag #learnmeet on the Glow Learners’  community at http://bit.ly/learnershome
glow_tv Two – Take part in the event live via Glow TV – Register now in Glow TV to take part.

 

St Michael’s and #digilearnscot Week

St_MichaelsThe learners of St Michael’s primary in Dumfries and Galloway Council are delighted to do their bit for #digilearnscot week!

Supported by Mrs Cubbon, they will be the first class to take up the Digital Storytelling Challenge on Monday 2nd March

On Thursday 5th, the St Michael’s team will be doing yet more storytelling and taking the time to present and record some of the ways that they use technology in their learning.

There are two ways that learners and educators from all over Scotland can join in:

newsfeedOne – Post messages for the St Michael’s young learners using the tag #stmichaels on the Glow Learners’  community at http://bit.ly/learnershome

digilearn_wikiWatch for the contributions on the Digilearn wiki as soon as possible

 

Digital storytelling

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Calling all learners!

From 2nd to 6th March, we’re going to co-create stories using Word Online on Glow.

Renowned authors, Theresa Breslin and Cathy MacPhail are providing the story starters!

These will be published at 9am on the 2nd March. At 9.30, the learners of St Michael’s Primary in Dumfries will write the first chapter.

Classes who sign up each get about an hour to write their chapter of the story. The twist is the storyline and characters have to flow, that’s the fun bit! Any learner or educator can ‘tune in’ and see the story developing live.

By the end of the week, we will have three fab co-written stories!

There are three separate storytelling experiences. To take part, you should ask your teacher to read the Teacher guide – storytelling for digilearnscot week and sign you up on one of the spaces on Glow

digilearnscotloho
Another learning experience brought to you by #digilearnscot

Fife’s BIG Book Brains Quiz Final 2015

Small - BBBQ2015On Wednesday 18th February at 10am join over 80 primary schools in Fife for the final of the amazing BIG Book Brains Quiz, organised for the sixth year running by Fife’s Public Library Service.

Reading Challenges and Quiz Heats have been taking place across Fife since last September and now we have over 80 school teams who will come together to compete for the title of BIG Book Brains 2015. As well as winning some fabulous prizes, our champions have the chance to be ‘Librarians for a Day’ and select £500 worth of books for their school library sponsored by Scotia and Chameleon Books in Kilsyth.

You are all invited to tune in and rise to the challenge as you pit your book knowledge against the teams who have won through to the final in Rothes Halls, Glenrothes. Compered by Jonathan Meres, hilarious author of The World of Norm books, all schools joining us on Glow will have the chance to send a shout out to wish our teams good luck and the chance to win some great spot prizes. Don’t miss it!

The event runs from 10am – 12pm with a break for lunch then we’ll be back at 1.30pm we announce the winners at our 2015 Award Ceremony.

Register to take part live in Glow TV – Fife’s BIG Book Brains Quiz Final 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

BBC Schools Report Practice Day

There is still plenty of time to sign up for the BBC’s School Report. The next practice day is on the 11th December.

www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/

BBC News School Report gives 11-16 year-old students in the UK the chance to make their own news reports for a real audience.

It is a collaborative project run by BBC News and BBC Learning.

Using lesson plans and materials from this website, and with support from BBC staff and partners, teachers help students develop their journalistic skills to become School Reporters.

In March, schools take part in an annual News Day, simultaneously creating video, audio and text-based news reports, and publishing them on a school website, to which the BBC aims to link.

School Reporters produced a stunning array of content on 27 March 2014, with more than 1,000 schools across the UK making the news on the biggest ever School Report News Day.

The ninth News Day will be held on 19 March 2015.

Sign up to the Social Studies e-bulletin: bit.do/e-bulletin


Scottish Education Awards 2015 – now open for nominations

Nominations for the Scottish Education Awards 2015 awards are now open. Celebrating the hard work and success in Scottish education, the awards recognise the achievements of people who dedicate their lives to children and young people.

There are 17 awards available across a range of categories covering all areas of education. New awards for this year include learning for sustainability, making languages come alive and transforming lives through partnerships.

If you know of a school or teacher that deserves to be recognised for their hard work visit the Scottish Education Awards website for more information and to submit a nomination.

Nominations must be submitted by Monday 16 February 2015, good luck.

Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools – Speyside High School, 15th November 2015

On Saturday 15th November the second of our ‘Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools’ events took place at Speyside High School in Aberlour. The day began with an opening presentation from Nigel Engstrand, Head Teacher, Speyside High School who shared his thoughts on the relevance and importance of learning outdoors and discussed the commitment that Speyside High School has made to outdoor learning.

Throughout the day 12 workshops ran offering participants a variety of practical ideas on how to use outdoor learning approaches across the curriculum. Examples included using the outdoors to develop literacy skills, outdoor learning through physical education and physical activity, creativity in the outdoors, taking science outdoors and progression in outdoor learning from S1-S6. Many workshops also highlighted how partnership working had also helped enrich outdoor learning experiences. Details of all the workshops which took place can also be downloaded here: Workshops – Detailed descriptors

Representatives from 11 partner agencies also took part in the market place providing a wealth of information on further resources available to support outdoor learning.

But the undoubtable highlight of the day was the captivating keynote speech delivered by S4 Speyside High School pupil Zeki Basan. Zeki, a junior ‘Ray Mears’, provided a fascinating talk on bush craft (or the term he has coined ‘Bushology’) in which he shared his vast knowledge of the medicinal properties and practical uses of the wild plants and trees which exist in the local Speyside countryside. Most inspiring was Zeki’s candid account of how a meeting with Ray Mears together with his own passion for the natural world and thirst to learn more about it helped him to overcome his own personal barrier to learning.

Many thanks also to the other Speyside High School pupils Lee Tarling, Annemiek Daggert, Connel Laing and Elliot Gould who kindly gave up their Saturday to help meet and greet the participants and to share their experiences of outdoor learning at Speyside High School.

Feedback from the event has been very positive with many participants already making use of the contacts, resources and ideas they gained from the day:

“It was good meeting such positive teachers and outdoor learning providers. Seeing a school being successful in incorporating OL in the curriculum and not making it an add on.”

“Having young people involved and sharing their passion was the most engaging part of it.”

“I have already discussed using the local farming community with a geography colleague who wasn’t sure where to start.”

“I have an increased awareness of the value of outdoor learning within school and will work with others to improve, increase, support good practice.”

Participants have also had the opportunity to put forward suggestions for future outdoor learning events which will of great use in our planning.

Further information on this event including presentations and materials from the workshops and links to all of the partner organisations that took part can be found on the new Glow Outdoor Learning Community which can be accessed via: http://bit.ly/1umiCug. From here click on the tile ‘Previous events’ to access the sites for the Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools events.

Many thanks to staff from Moray Council, Speyside High School, Banchory Academy, Kemnay Academy, Grantown Grammar School, Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET), The National Trust for Scotland, Horseback UK, Cairngorms National Park Authority, The John Muir Award, Field Studies Council, OPAL, Grounds for Learning, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Adventure Aberdeen, Classroom Outdoors, The Outward Bound Trust, Abernethy and Angus Education Service.

Ross Rocks Reading Launch Events

Ross Rocks Reading is an exciting and innovative challenge for schools and their communities to get more involved with reading.

Glow TV will be joining pupils from various primary and secondary schools in East Lothian as they tell us all about the books that they have been reading and what books they are looking forward to reading.

Join us to find out more about this exciting opportunity and how you and your school/community can become involved in your own Rocking Reading Challenge!

We are delighted to have two separate events on Tuesday 9th September – Primary Event at 9.30am and Secondary Event at 11am. Sign up and join us on the day or Watch Again if you are unable to watch us live!

Calling all Bookworms in Edinburgh and Glasgow!

To celebrate the tenth year of sponsoring the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the ScottishPower Foundation is offering one lucky primary school in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh and the Lothians the chance to win the ultimate library makeover and their very own book festival.

We love books and we know how important reading is to schools; that’s why we’ve launched the Library Energiser competition. Whether your school has a library, reading room or poetry corner, this is your opportunity to turn that space into the ultimate bookworm’s haven.

To enter the competition, simply email a photo of your current space and 100 words on how you’d like to transform it into your perfect reading area to – libraryenergiser@stripecommunications.com.

The winning school will be given a makeover worth £2,000 to help create the perfect reading space, whether that be with a lick of paint, new furniture or a stash of the latest books. The revamped library will be officially opened by a renowned Scottish author at the school’s very own mini book festival.

Closing date is 26 September 2014. For full terms and conditions please visit the website – Library Energiser.

Become an inspection volunteer today

Passionate about good care?

The Care Inspectorate is looking for people to help them carry out their work. They would like people with first-hand experience of care to help make sure care in Scotland continues to improve, by becoming an inspection volunteer. Inspection volunteers are members of the public who use a care service, have used a care service in the past or care for someone like a family member or friend who has used a care service.

Volunteers help the Care Inspectorate get the views of people using care services.  They work closely with the Care Inspectorate’s teams of specialist inspectors and together they help spot where things need to improve, help keep people safe and ensure that the rights of people receiving care are respected and their needs met.

Interested?

To find out more please click the link below

http://www.scswis.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7731&Itemid=757

John Muir – Back to the Future

2014 has seen John Muir leap to prominence, with a Way, a Festival, a Conference…not to mention a recent trend for beards (coincidence?!).

But what does the younger generation make of a man who left Dunbar, East Lothian for America aged 10, became an adventurer and conservation visionary, helped set up the National Parks movement, and died 100 years ago?

The John Muir Trust asked them – and found out some fascinating facts, interesting insights, and whether Muir’s message has relevance to young people today.

Watch a 5 minute film created by the John Muir Trust at http://vimeo.com/95260067 .

“The film captures young people’s thoughts and integrates John Muir’s life story fabulously.” Koren Calder, Young Adult Project Manager, Scottish Book Trust

“A lovely evocation of the roots and the meaning of Muir set into teen parlance.” John Beatty

The Society of William Wallace – competition for Glasgow schools

Calling all schools in Glasgow City Council! The Society of William Wallace has been successful in securing a new Wallace Monument at the esplanade of Glasgow Cathedral. The monument will be erected in June of this year. We would like to invite pupils to write a short poem which will be inscribed on the monument. The poem must be 20 words or less and should consider the contribution of William Wallace.

This competition will run from 1 May to 14 June for all schools in Glasgow City Council. We are encouraging all schools to run their own competition and send the winning entry from each school to this address: surge2gether@ntlworld.com by no later than 14 June.

Entries will be judged by a prestigious panel and the winner announced on 30 June.

Divided City by Theresa Breslin: New Musical Version for Primary Schools

Join Theresa Breslin and Elly Goodman of the Citizens Theatre as they offer a unique insight into the history of bringing this iconic book to the stage. Pupils and teachers will get the chance to ask Theresa and Elly questions about the play and the book and to find out more about this ground-breaking project.

The Citizens Theatre has now staged three large scale musical theatre productions of Theresa Breslin’s Divided City, adapted for the stage by Martin Travers with an original score and songs by Claire McKenzie.

Featuring a cast of 45 secondary pupils this show was staged twice at the Citizens Theatre in 2011 and 2012, in South Lanarkshire in 2013 and Derry as part of the City of Culture 2013.

A new abridged (50 minutes) version of Divided City has since been developed specifically for upper primary school pupils.

In 2014/ 2015 the Citizens Theatre will be working in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council with 22 casts from 44 primary schools (one denominational and one non-denominational primary 7 class working together each time) across North Lanarkshire. Over 1200 children will take part in the productions.

Theresa Breslin is the critically acclaimed author of over thirty books for children and young adults whose work has appeared on television and radio and is read world-wide in many languages. She won the Carnegie Medal, the UK’s most prestigious award for children’s literature, for Whispers in the Graveyard, her compelling novel about a dyslexic boy. Other bestsellers include Spy for the Queen of Scots and Remembrance, a tale of youth in WW1. Ghost Soldier, a story set in the Borders during WW1 and suitable for mid-range readers, is to be published in August 2014.

Divided City, one of her most popular books, tells of two boys, one Celtic fan, one Rangers fan, and how they are brought together by an attack on a young asylum seeker. The fast-paced story explores themes of racism and sectarianism and shows, in a positive and humorous way, the power of friendship to overcome these prejudices.

Divided City has been shortlisted for 10 different children’s book awards winning two outright.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV on Monday 28th April at 11am.

Bookbug Week, 19-25 May 2014

Join us for Bookbug Week, 19-25 May

Celebrate Bookbug Week between 19 and 25 May, with a whole week of FREE, special events taking place all over Scotland for families with babies and young children.

This year’s theme is Bookbug’s Big Sports Day, and there will be a whole host of fun story, song and rhyme activities taking place in local libraries and community venues.
Bookbug is Scottish Book Trust’s Early Years programme, which encourages and supports parents to share books, talk, sing and cuddle their children from birth, and helps every child in Scotland to develop a love of reading.

Sharing books with children has many wonderful benefits and Bookbug Week is the perfect chance to get involved, meet other parents and get ideas to make sharing books, songs and rhymes with children a fun part of each day.

For details of Bookbug Week events in your area, visit www.scottishbooktrust.com/bookbug or ask at your local library.

M Factor Scoops Excellence Award

Last year Glow worked in partnership with Midlothian Council to support a new and innovative approach to learning – the M Factor. This successful partnership was recognised as the team scooped the COSLA 2014 Scottish Government Delivering Excellence Award last Thursday at a star studded event in St Andrews.

The M-Factor was an interdisciplinary project aimed at Midlothian pupils in the upper stages of primary school (P6 and P7). The project used the context of the pop music industry to combine a range of curricular areas that enable pupils to develop knowledge and skills.

The M-Factor challenged pupils to write and record a pop song and create an associated pop video. Alongside this activity was a range of related activities, including:

• Advertising and promotion
• Branding
• Creating a simple website
• Planning a concert tour
• Carrying out research into the pop music industry

The project integrated a range of CfE experiences and outcomes covering Literacy, Numeracy, Technology, Art and Design, Music, Social Subjects and Enterprise.

Glow was able to provide the national platform for the final music video productions with thousands of pupils across Scotland casting their votes for their favourite bands. Voting took place over a 3 week period and the enthusiasm this generated amongst the teams was phenomenal – they were being recognised for their work by pupils all over the country!

The education team was presented with the award by First Minister Alex Salmond who said that Midlothian’s M Factor Project was an outstanding example of excellence in education – an innovative project where teachers became learners and learners became teachers.

Win £150 of books for your school

Every year Scottish Book Trust love to see what schools have been up to during Book Week Scotland. If your school got involved in any activities during Book Week Scotland 2013, however big or small, we’d love to hear from you!

Fill out our quick survey, and you could win £150 of books for your school. Our deadline for submission is Friday 28 February 2014.

Cineworld Education Events

Cineworld has partnered with a number of organisations to create some unique learning opportunities this year.

First on 18th March at 10.30am we have a special schools encore screening of War Horse from the National Theatre. PG 8 cert 180mins

Substantial teaching resources are available at:

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover-more/digital-classroom/resource-packs

On 31st March at 10.00am there is a live interactive Q&A with the author Michael Morpurgo and a screening of Private Peaceful. U Cert 180mins

Every child has the opportunity to submit a question to the author and will receive a free copy of his book A Medal For Leroy.

http://www.privatepeaceful.co.uk/

On 5th June we have a live presentation from the British Museum’s Viking exhibition, last years Pompeii presentation was very popular and this is sure to be the same and directly relevant to the curriculum. U cert 60mins 

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/vikings/vikings_live.aspx

Finally on 17th March at 7.15pm there is an opportunity to see the amazing documentary Hubble and hear a talk and Q&A by the wonderful Professor Martin Hendry from Glasgow University Astrophysics department.  U cert 90mins

http://www.cineworld.co.uk/whatson/hubble-qanda-with-martin-hendry 

 These events are only available in cinemas. For details of which Cineworld cinemas in Scotland are screening these events please see www.cineworld.co.uk.

For bookings and any other queries please contact Gow Gibson, Education Officer at gow.gibson@cineworld.co.uk   0141 419 1740 or 07815707921

National Literacy Network – March 2014

The NLN Conference is once again taking place in Stirling Management Centre on Thursday 6th March and for those of you who are unable to attend we will be broadcasting two sessions live from there on the day.

Our first live broadcast is a Keynote presentation from David Didau, literacy specialist, teacher, author and blogger. He will discuss and explore writing across the curriculum.

This session will be broadcast from 9:40am.

Our second live broadcast is the popular 10 minute presentation slot. Practitioners from a range of establishments will share ideas and practice related to Writing.

This session will be broadcast from 11.50am.

We hope that you can join us live on the day but if not the recordings will be available in Watch Again.

The Daily What

This service is under review and no longer available. We are committed to procuring high quality content that aligns with Curriculum for Excellence and meets the needs and expectations of our key stakeholders. The Daily What has been available on Glow since August 2010. We are currently reviewing content available on Glow to ensure it meets the requirements of users.

Please tell us what you think by taking this short survey and by leaving any comments below.
Many thanks.

Daily What Newsround: Medics Against Violence

Join us for our first programme of the new year on Friday 17th January at 11am with our regular look at recent news stories and a live topical discussion.

This week our special guest is Doctor Christine Goodall from Medics Against Violence.

Medics Against Violence is a group of volunteer health professionals who help young people to stay safe. They visit schools to talk about of the consequences of violence and how to avoid it. Since it was launched the group has spoken to more than 12,000 young people about attitudes to gang membership and violence.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear from Dr Goodall and to ask her questions about her efforts to stop young people from getting hurt.

Sign up and join us in Glow Tv or remember you can Watch Again!

Get pupils excited about reading with Book Trailers

Creating Book Trailers is a fantastic way to enthuse your learners about reading and develop their critical skills. This year, Scottish Book Trust are running our first ever book trailer competition for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards, and have published a wealth of resources to help you get creative with trailers. Closing date for entries is February 7.

Make your pupils’ voices heard in the Scottish Children’s Book Awards

Every year thousands of children of all ages vote for their favourite book in the Scottish Children’s Book Awards. Why not get them writing reviews of the books to help them make their decision? Our review competition is a great opportunity to win some fabulous prizes, including book tokens and a visit from one of the shortlisted authors. You can find more details in the Get Involved section of SCBA. Closing date for entries is February 7.

Daily What Newsround – Children in Need Special

Fraser Falconer, head of Children in Need Scotland will be in the studio on Children in Need Day 2014 on Friday 15th November at 11am to answer questions from viewers. And pupils from St Bernadette’s Primary School in Larbert will be sharing all their enterprising ideas live in the studio.

Stephen English from Kingspark Academy and Lauren Muir from St Aiden’s High School in Wishaw are co presenting this week’s Children in Need Special.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to share your fundraising plans with other schools and to tell Fraser all about what you have been doing.

And you can quiz him on how all the money will be spent this year, as well as catch up on a few stories from last year.

Plus we’ll have the usual guess the headline quizzes and we’ll announce our caption competition winners!

Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

NLN Conference November 2013

The NLN Conference is taking place in Stirling Management Centre on Wednesday 6th November and for those of you who are unable to attend we will be broadcasting two sessions live from there on the day.

Our first live broadcast is a showcase from learners from Duncanrig Secondary School who will demonstrate how they developed and applied their listening and talking skills by participating in the School Radio Station.

This session will be broadcast from 10am – sign up and join us in Glow TV.

Our second live broadcast is the popular 5 minute presentation slot. Practitioners from a range of establishments will share ideas and practice related to Listening and Talking.

This session will be broadcast from 11.40am – sign up and join us in Glow TV!

We hope that you can join us live on the day but if not the recordings will be available in Watch Again.

Daily What Newsround – Kelpies Special!

Kelpies special with internationally renowned sculptor, Andy Scott

If you are not too full of Hallowe’en sweets this morning then please join Andrea and guest presenter Michaela for a very special Daily What Newsround with Scottish sculptor Andy Scott.

P4-7 at Bothkennar Primary School wrote a report about their visit to The Kelpies which you can read here – Kelpies Report on Daily What

Thanks to them we are devoting a whole Daily What Newsround to The Kelpies and Andy Scott will be live in the studio to answer all your questions on Scotland’s newest and most ambitious public art project.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to speak to Scotland’s renowned artist!

Sign up and join us on Friday 1st November at 11am in Glow TV!

Authors Live – Storytelling Relay

To celebrate the Queens Baton Relay setting off on its journey around the Commonwealth the Scottish Book Trust has brought together storytellers, Peter Chand, Lari Don and Mara Menzies (India, Scotland & Kenya) to share traditional tales from their homeland in this storytelling relay. This event will be taking place on the BBC Author’s Live website on Thursday 31st October at 11am and is suitable for Primary 4-7 or 8-12 years.

Find out more about this exciting event in Glow TV.

Game On Scotland Glow Meet series

Join us for a series of 19 exciting montly Glow meets running throughout the academic year 2013/14. The themed sessions are being broadcast live for all Glow users and will provide a wide variety of stimulating opportunities to engage with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Who are the Glow meets for?
The sessions will allow practitioners and learners find out more and get directly involved in educational opportunities related to the Commonwealth Games. Glow access is required to join the sessions.

What types of Glow meets are on offer?
There will be two types of session:
1. CPD : These are for educators who want the latest information about programmes and initiatives relevant to specific curriculum areas.
2. Learning Zone: These will provide interactive learning opportunities with a specific curriculum focus for learners across all age groups.

The Programme:

Full detail for each Glow Meet (programme, age group, participants etc.) will be available closer to the event.

How do I join?

To register for a specific session follow go to the Glow TV sign-up area . If you wish to join on the day simply enter the Game On Scotland Glow Meet Channel.

Missed a session?

Don’t worry. All sessions will be recorded and you can watch them again here.

Daily What – Deep Fried Mars Bar Special!

Have your say on Scotland’s favourite (or should that be least favourite?) snack.

And and learn some new healthier Mars recipes too with guest presenter and kitchen gourmet Graeme Kerr, S6 from Springburn Academy.

Plus our usual round-up of top stories from the Daily What News.

Hope you can join us on Friday 4th October at 11am – Daily What Newsround Friday 4th October 2013

Tell-a-Story Day on 25 October 2013

What is Tell-a-Story Day?

Tell-a-Story Day is the national celebration of oral storytelling, when people all over Scotland make, share and listen to stories in schools, libraries, community centres, churches, hospitals, homes, gardens – and some more unusual venues!

Tell-a-Story Day is a great way of taking part in the Scottish International Storytelling Festival wherever you are and is a fun way of spending time with family and friends whatever your age.

Enter a magical world of enchanting fairy tales, scary Halloween stories or treasured family legends, and bring your community, workplace or family closer together on Tell-a-Story Day. Organising a storytelling event is easy, and the team at Scottish Storytelling Centre is at hand to help you with your planning. Find tips and advice from their professional storytellers, and download free resources and tales to help you prepare for the big day.

Register your TASD event here

Book a professional storyteller

Everyone is a storyteller and anyone can run a Tell-a-Story Day, but if you want to make your storytelling event extra-special you can book one of their professional storytellers to host your event, tell tales and encourage participation. Have a look at their Schools and Communities Outreach Programme to find out more.

Happy planning!

For more information and support in organising your event, please contact Davide Panzeri a call on 0131 652 3272.

National Poetry Day 2013

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

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

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


Dinosaur Discovery

What kind of dinosaurs do you know about? Which was the largest, which was the smallest, which had the most horns, or longest neck, or which at the most food? How can we learn more about the dinosaurs that ruled the earth using evidence and fossils and what they can tell us about the history of the earth? What type of dinosaurs roamed the planet and where did they go?

Visit the National Museum of Scotland through Glow TV to be inspired and amazed by the fossil and bone evidence and go on a Dinosaur discovery. Explore some dino data to find out what we can tell about dinosaurs, their size, what they ate and who would be predator or prey. Meet the 12 metre long life-sixed cast of a T.rex to see the scale and power of the real thing and share your own dinosaur creations. Find out more here: http://bit.ly/18OIMsz

Play the Transformasaur game before the Glow TV event and adapt your dinosaurs characteristics and get your questions ready for the experts at the National Museum of Scotland!

This Glow TV event is part of the Learning Experiences catalogue and a series of opportunities for Scottish learner to learn, create, make, build, bake, grow, collect, code tell stories and more. Learning experiences are set within contexts and many themes are interdisciplinary and take the form of learning spaces to connect learners and allow them to share, collaborate as well as a series of live events. Find out more about the Learning Experiences Catalogue here: http://bit.ly/1bx6c5B

Curriculum links
SCN 2-01a
I can identify and classify examples of living things, past and present, to help me appreciate their diversity. I can relate physical and behavioural characteristics to their survival or extinction.
SCN 2-20a
I can report and comment on current scientific news items to develop my knowledge and understanding of topical science.
LIT 2-05a
As I listen or watch, I can make notes, organise these under suitable headings and use these to understand ideas and information and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate.

This learning experience is suitable for learners at second and third levels.

Join us on Friday 20th September at 1.30pm live in Glow TV – sign up and join us on our Dinosaur Discovery!

At the Scottish Storytelling Centre – My Story

Join us in Glow TV for the first of our Tell a Story events with the Scottish Storytelling Centre. This event lets you find out more about ‘My Story’

‘Tell a Story Day’ is celebrated across Scotland in October. In the 3 weeks leading up to this national event join Storytellers in the ‘bothy’ at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh via Glow TV.

Enjoy listening to the storytellers share tales about nations and territories within the Commonwealth, about personal challenge and achievement and memorable, adventurous and incredible journeys. ‘Journeys’ is the theme for this year’s event.

While listening, learn how to tell and perform oral stories. Then take the opportunity to ask the storytellers questions about their ideas and techniques to help you plan and hold your own ‘Tell a Story Day’ event.

On ‘Tell a Story’ day we plan to broadcast your stories across Scotland via Glow TV. Find out more here: Learning Experience Catalogue.

Glow TV is Back!

Welcome back to the new session! Everyone here at Glow TV hopes that you had a relaxing break and are ready for the challenges of the new term ahead. As ever Glow TV continues to offer a wide range of events both for use in the classroom with your pupils and also for Continued Professional Learning. We are kicking off next week with a series of events from the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Why not sign up and join us live at an event or if you are unable to join live then remember that all events are recorded and can be found in the Glow TV Watch Again section.

Monday 19th August at 12.30pm – Tom Palmer’s Football Reading Game
This event is suitable for Primary 4-7. Find out more about this event and sign up!

Tuesday 20th August at 10.30am – Superhero Siblings with Gwyneth Rees
This event is suitable for Primary 3-5. Find out more about this event and sign up!

Tuesday 20th August at 12pm – The Physics of Superheroes with James Kakalios
This event is suitable for S2- S6. Find out more about this event and sign up!

Wednesday 21st August at 10am – Titanic: Death on the Water with Tony Bradman This event is suitable for P4-7. Find out more about this event and sign up!

Wednesday 21st August at 12.30pm – Ciaran Murtagh: Jokes, Genies and Japes
This event is suitable for P3-6. Find out more about this event and sign up!

Friday 23rd August at 10am – Lunar Adventures with Simon Bartram
This event is suitable for P1-3. Find out more about this event and sign up!

Horrible Histories

Horrible Histories is coming to the Edinburgh Bookshop on Saturday 15th June to celebrate 20 years of brilliant books along the publication of Horrible Histories Cruel Crimes!

The event starts at 2:30pm and is free although they do ask that people book their tickets to ensure a place. They can do this by calling the shop on 0131 447 1917, or emailing Cat Anderson on cat@edinburghbookshop.com or by calling into the shop – they’re at 219 Bruntsfield Place. The actual event itself will be held in the Christ Church hall across the road from the shop.

It promises to be a fun-filled couple of hours with songs, storytelling and book signing and are suggesting an age of 6+ for this event, just as guidance.

Scotland’s Biggest Book Swap – Get Involved!

ScottishPower in conjunction with the Edinburgh International Book Festival is celebrating the fifth year of Swap Shop – an award winning project that encourages primary school children to read more and recycle old books.

Swap Shop is great fun and importantly really easy to run. Each pupil is encouraged to bring in a book, which they then swap with their schoolmates. This provides a perfect opportunity to get the whole school together, swapping books and sharing stories.  Many pupils might want to swap their books for ones from the class above, developing their literacy skills and enabling them to discover new stories. Five lucky schools will also get the chance to win an exclusive visit from a children’s author attending the Edinburgh International Book Festival. 

A key aspect of Swap Shop is to encourage awareness amongst school pupils about the work being done by Scottish charities. For the third year, children’s charity Aberlour has been selected as the official charity partner. Aberlour operates across Scotland, providing a range of services, support and advice for vulnerable children, young people and families. All monies raised by children taking part in the 2013 Swap Shop will go directly to the charity.

To be in with a chance of winning one of five author visits, schools are invited to complete their Swap Shop by the end of the summer term. For further information on registration which closes on Friday 24th May and taking part please contact Emma Paul at Stripe Communications on 0131 561 8628 or swapshop@stripecommunications.com.

Simple Acts for Schools is Back!

Simple Acts is back for Refugee Week Scotland 2013 – Get Your School Involved!

The Simple Acts campaign is about inspiring people to use small, everyday actions to change our perceptions of refugees.

For 2013, we have chosen four simple acts, which we think are great ways for the students in your school to get involved. They fit in perfectly with Curriculum for Excellence objectives, the theme of heritage for Refugee Week Scotland 2013, and are great fun too!

These acts will be delivered live through in Glow TV throughout May by Scottish Refugee Council’s Arts & Cultural Development Volunteer Rhea Lewis. Read more on Rhea’s Blog

Glow TV events include:
Share a Story – Wednesday 1 May, 11am
This Simple Act is most suited for P1-P5. A story from another country will be told to students during the Glow Meet, followed by discussion.

Find an object that tells a story of your heritage – Wednesday 8 May, 11am
This Glow Meet is suitable for P6 upwards.During this session the students will explore the meaning of heritage and will be shown objects that reflect as aspect of our heritage chosen by refugees.

Cook a Dish from another country – Wednesday 29 May, 11am
In this Glow Meet students will be able to cook along with the Rhea.The dish will be a simple recipe from another country.

You may also be interested in the Simple Acts 2013 Teacher Pack.

SSLN Professional Learning Resource

The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) is a sample survey which monitors national performance in literacy and numeracy, in alternate years, of school children at P4, P7 and S2. It also provides information which will inform improvements in learning, teaching and assessment at classroom level. This SSLN was the first to assess literacy, and took place in May 2012. The full report on the survey was published on the 24th of April 2013 and can be accessed via this link – Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy.

The survey is designed to assess the wide range of knowledge, skills and capabilities across learning identified in the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). The tasks were also designed to reflect some of the CfE requirements that pupils should have achieved in breadth, challenge and application of their learning.
To accompany the report, Education Scotland has produced professional learning resources to support learning and teaching – Professional Learning Resources

The full resource consists of listening and talking: group discussion, reading and writing materials.
The listening and talking: group discussion resource:
• explores and exemplifies key skills
• exemplifies discussion tasks and contexts
• describes effective learning and teaching approaches
• shows group discussions across levels
• provides links to existing high quality materials.

The reading resource:
• explores and exemplifies key skills;
• describes effective learning and teaching approaches;
• exemplifies reading activities; and
• provides links to existing high quality materials.

The writing resource:
• explores key skills;
• describes effective learning and teaching approaches;
• exemplifies tasks and contexts for writing across curriculum areas;
• gives examples of writing from across levels; and
• provides links to existing support materials.

The resource is designed to encourage professional reflection and dialogue.

Once you have used the resources, please let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Daily What Newsround Football Special

Join us on Friday 26th April at 11am for another fun mix of news, quizzes and missing words presented by Andrea and Melissa of the Daily What team.

We are delighted that our guest will be Richard McBrearty, curator of the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Stadium

Please get in touch with any questions about the history of football in Scotland, or questions about Hampden, and any other football matters you can think of!

Please send any questions to use via our contact form – Contact Form

Sign up and join us in Glow TV – Daily What Newsround 26 April 2013

Authors Live – Polly Dunbar and the Long Nosed Puppets

Polly Dunbar and Long Nose PuppetsGlow TV and Authors Live is getting ready to set sail on the high seas for a magical adventure on board Arthur’s Dream Boat, with the award-winning team of Polly Dunbar and Long Nose Puppets.

This exclusive performance will combine the magic of Polly’s latest picture book, Arthur’s Dream Boat, with the artistry and drama of puppet theatre.

Register on the Scottish Book Trust website now to book your seats on Arthur’s Dream Boat, and don’t worry, this boat is big enough for everyone! Everyone who registers to watch the event will be automatically entered into a prize draw to win a class set of Polly’s books.

This live webstream event is suitable for Nursery-P3 or ages 4-7.

After watching the live webstream in the morning why not join us for an interactive question and answer session with Polly Dunbar and her Long Nose Puppets live in the Glow TV Studio at 1.30pm. Sign up and join us in Glow TV.

You can ask her whatever you like and hopefully she’ll have enough time to answer as many of your questions as possible!

Virtual Glow Roadshow

Glow is packed full of educational resources and national communities where teaching staff can collaborate with colleagues across Scotland. To showcase some of these great resources RM is hosting a week of Glow Meets featuring a few of these. These 30 minute sessions are being run twice so sign up for the time slot that suits you best!

Twig on Glow – Over 1500 high quality films covering Maths, Science, Geography and Health – complete with support resources matched to the curriculum of excellence levels 2,3 and 4.

Join us either on Monday 22nd April at 8.15am or Thursday 25th April at 3.45pm

Just2easy is an online blogging tool. Children can create, sharing and learn in an esafe environment.
Join us either on Monday 22nd April at 3.45pm or Wednesday 24th April at 8.15am

Scran is a charity & online learning resource base with over 360,000 images & media from museums, galleries, archives and the media. These resources can be downloaded and used copyright free.

Join us either on Tuesday 23rd April at 8.15am or Wednesday 24th April at 3.45pm

The Daily What News is an online news service provided for Scottish Schools supporting the development of literacy and language across the curriculum. The site also provides a wealth of support materials.

Join us either on Tuesday 23rd April at 3.45pm or Thursday 25th April at 8.15am

Maths and English Exam Revision – Support Online

Revision support for NQ English and Mathematics

With the SQA National Qualifications examinations looming, the National Glow Team are pleased to announce the launch of exam revision support for NQ English and Mathematics. Aimed at pupils and supported by teachers, this Glow revision resource will help pupils in their preparation for national examinations by allowing them to post questions and queries into a teacher facilitated Glow Forum. The resource will be open to all pupils and teachers with the potential to become a vibrant self-supporting community.

Find out more here.

Featured community – Literacy

A year ago, in March of 2012, Claire Hancox and Hilary Bombart of Education Scotland approached me with their plans for a Literacy Unconference. Taking its lead from TeachMeet and other educator-led CPD models, there was to be minimal talking from the front, lots of impromptu 5-minute slots and ‘co-create sessions’. All participants had to commit to joining an online community and sharing online the impact of the event. And so the Literacy professional learning community on Glow was born!

It now features a grand collection of professional learning and classroom resources as well as:

  • videos of the all the 5-minute slots at all Literacy events since May 2012
  • co-created collections focusing on wider texts, critical literacy and research skills
  • contact details for over 220 literacy champions from across Scotland

The Literacy community now has offshoots such as the National Literacy NetworkLibrarians and the Moray Literacy hub (but more about these in future posts!)

Claire moves on this week to a new depute post in East Dunbartonshire but she will continue to be active in the #literacy community, and maybe all its various offshoots! I wish her all the best in her new post!

Like all of the PL communities on Glow, colleagues on this community are making their professional learning visible for the benefit of other educators. You can find the community on the drop-down on http://bit.ly/plcommunity or go straight to http://bit.ly/lithome

Scottish Children’s Book Awards Ceremony

Join us in Glow TV on Thursday 7th March at 1.30pm to celebrate World Book Day with the 1000-strong audience in the Caird Hall for the 2012 Scottish Children’s Book Awards Ceremony live.

There will be readings, music, illustration, Oscar-worthy drama performances, song, readings, interviews, all of the shortlisted authors and illustrators and of course, the announcement of the wining books as chosen by over 32,000 children across Scotland.

Like the awards, the event is suitable for children in P1-S4. This event is a live web stream from the event and the link to this and to sign up is available in Glow TV.

Promoting Diversity and Equality

Promoting Diversity and Equality: Developing Responsible Citizens for 21st Century Scotland

This publication aims to support schools and centres in promoting diversity and equality through all aspects of planned learning.

Diversity is about recognising and valuing difference, where everyone is respected for who they are. Equality is about creating a fairer society, where everyone can take part and where everyone has the opportunity to be all they can be.

Curriculum for Excellence challenges schools and communities to develop children and young people as responsible citizens who:
• show respect for others
• understand different beliefs and cultures
• are developing informed, ethical views of complex issues.

All involved in successful learning need to understand themselves what it means to live in this diverse society, and to help children and young people understand what it means for them.

Taking a closer look at the National Assessment Resource: A professional learning resource

Education Scotland have recently developed this professional learning resource.  It provides an opportunity to reflect on effective practice in learning, teaching and assessment, drawing on the work published on the National Assessment Resource (NAR).  It also provides a structured look at the NAR flow chart as a tool for planning effective learning, teaching, moderation and assessment.

The resource can be used by individual practitioners keen to reflect and improve on their assessment practice as well as pairs, groups of practitioners, associated school groups (ASGs) or clusters working collegiately to reflect on and improve practice.

It is available to download from the Education Scotland website and welcome section on NAR.  There will be a Glow meet on Wednesday the 13th of February at 8:20am and Thursday the 14th at 4:15pm to explore the resource further.

Paper Creativity Challenge Week 4

Join us for more fun and activities in our Paper Creativity Challenge when this week we will be investigating embellishing paper. Once again we have a range of exciting Glow Meets that you can become involved in – find out more….

Paper Cuts: Painting with Scissors – Monday 4th February at 11am

Paper cutting has a long history and Matisse called it “painting with scissors”

Starting with 19th century Victorian silhouette portrait cut outs and moving onto 19th century Polish Leluja cut outs with a big emphasis on symmetry you can take part and work along or watch and try it afterwards (a list of materials needed is included on the Glow TV advert)

Then the session will look at 20th century Matisse cut out, collages and stencil and end up with 21st century artists’ cut outs looking at a few examples and ideas. Join us in Glow TV – Paper Cuts: Painting with Scissors

Look after your Planet by Lauren Childs – Tuesday 5th February at 11am

Join us again for our final exciting reading with our Paper Princess Margo from West Lothian!

This time listen to ‘Look after your Planet’ by Lauren Child and find out about this week’s creativity challenge.

And in a special addition to this event we also have a reading of Lauren’s Clarice Bean picture book – ‘What Planet are You From?’ which is again about environmental themes.There are some great ideas in there of creating a beautiful tree using paper for leaves. – Look after your Planet

Storybird- Thursday 7th February at 2pm

‘Storybird is a visual storytelling community. A global hub of readers, writers, and artists of all ages.

This 45 min Glow meet will share how to explore and create digital stories using beautiful artwork. Join Anna to find out more – Storybird

Glow Exclusive

Finalist in the Scottish Children’s Book Awards, Catherine Macphail, in conversation with young readers on Friday, 1st. February 2013 at 2.30pm

Do you like reading spooky stories and thrillers?

Do you like books with characters who could be people in your school?

Want to know what it feels like to be nominated for a national award?

Want to know how it feels to see your writing turned into a film?

Want to know how authors get their ideas?

Well join us for a Glow Exclusive event for an opportunity to talk to Catherine Macphail, Finalist in the Scottish Children’s Book Awards.

Catherine MacPhail has won lots of awards for her writing and has won the Royal Mail Book Award twice. One of her most popular books, “Another Me” ,a spooky story about a girl who seems to have a doppelganger, is currently being made into a film-called “Panda Eyes” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Rhys Ifans and Sophie Turner – which will be released some time in 2013. Look out for the Librarian-she’s called Mrs. MacPhail!

The Scottish Children’s Book Awards recognise and celebrate the wonderful talents seen in Scottish writing and illustration for children and arethe largest children’s book awards that Scotland has to offer. One of Catherine MacPhail’s books Out of the Depths (Bloomsbury) has been nominated for an award in the Younger Readers (8-13) category . The winners will be announced on World Book Day(7th. March,2013).

Sign up and join us in Glow Tv
and if you are unable to join us live make sure that you catch up with the recording in Watch Again!

Paper Creativity Challenge – Building With Paper


Our successful Paper Creativity Challenge continues and this we are challenging you to build structures with paper. Once again we have a range of exciting Glow Meets that you can become involved in – find out more….

Paper Structures – Monday 28th January at 11am

Join Syrah live from the Dundee Contemporary Arts activity room where she will demonstrate three examples of origami folding.Firstly the 3D tree using a recycled magazine, secondly the flapping bird a classic origami design with great decorative possibilities, and lastly the Kusudama flower ball. Sign up in Glow TV and find out what materials you will need if you want to work along with Syrah – Paper Structures

The Great Paper Caper – Tuesday 29th January at 11am

Once again join our Paper Princess Margo from West Lothian for an exciting reading! This time listen to the mystery of the Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers and find out about this week’s creativity challenge. Sign up and join us in Glow TV – The Great Paper Caper.

Scratch – Thursday 31st January at 10am
Join Derek Robertson and pupils from Newburgh Primary School, Fife for an introduction to Scratch and to learn about the launch of a Scratch Glow TV channel.

Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art – and share your creations on the web! Sign up and join us in Glow TV – Scratch

Remember if you have missed any of the challenges then please go to the Watch Again section in Glow TV and view the recordings of all the events that have already happened in the Paper Creativity Challenge.

Julia Donaldson Event – Running on the Cracks

The Tron Theatre will stage an exciting new show Running on the Cracks , an adaptation by Andy Arnold of the Julia Donaldson book of the same name. This new show will be staged in February 2013 and is a co-production with Pilot Theatre Company, York. Running on the Cracks is a fast moving new play about runaways, identity, survival and how friendships can develop in the strangest situations.

Join Julia Donaldson, children’s laureate for a Glow Meet live on Tuesday 29th January at 1.45pm from the Tron for this exciting event. Julia will discuss her inspiration for the book and will answer your questions. Don’t miss this opportunity to speak with one of the UK’s leading children’s author.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

Scottish Chamber Orchestra – A Little Book of Monsters

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Family Concert on Saturday 9 February features a new song book for a chorus of 300 children – A Little Book of Monsters. With lyrics by Matt Harvey and music by Stephen Deazley the book is full of songs about the kind of creatures that live under your bed….

Join Stephen Deazley and Matt Harvey for an exciting Glow TV event on Tuesday 29th January live from Broomhouse Primary in Edinburgh at 9.30am where you’ll get the chance to ask questions, take part in creative interactive activities and find out what it is like to be a composer or poet!

Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

Wise Up Wednesday: National Storytelling Week

Picture of logo for National Storytelling WeekThe  Education Scotland calendar gives details about celebrations, awareness days and action weeks all covering topical issues relevant to childcare and education settings.

National Storytelling Week starts on 26 January and you can learn more about it and find relevant links on the calendar here.

We’d love to know how you use the art of story telling to make a difference to children’s learning. Why not share your practice in the comments?