The Glow Sciences Community is a place for:
This presentation shows the basics of accessing and using the Glow Sciences Community.
Any questions? Please get in touch.
I came across this interesting video from a 1947 classroom which gives teacher tips on managing pupil behaviour. Have a wee look:
Some questions to reflect on:
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days, where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included:
“In the primary sector and at the early stages of secondary school, there is generally less emphasis in the key area of Topical Science than on the other four organisers……. In these cases, children and young people do not have enough opportunity to discuss and debate a range of ethical issues.”
To address this aspect the Sciences team hosted a “Topical Science and Partnerships” Glow Meet .
To Watch Again : https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/p5rd5cx8od8/
Each glow meet is complimented by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.
Please register through: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TwilightSessions2015
Breakout sessions will be provided by Dynamic Earth, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Glasgow City of Science, Stem Ambassadors and The English Speaking Union.
Education Scotland will also be delivering sessions on Citizen Science, Community Resilience, Food and Science and Social Studies and Science.
The previous Commander of the International Space Station delighted, entertained and inspired us with his videos detailing life in space. He showed us how to make a sandwich in space, how he brushed his teeth, and even recorded his own version of a famous David Bowie song, Space Oddity.
On Tuesday March 24th at 2.30pm, Commander Hadfield will be on Glow TV answering pupils’ questions about science, space and the Universe.
What was his most terrifying moment in space? What does flying a rocket feel like? How has he adjusted to life back on Earth?
We will be selecting the best questions and these pupils will have the opportunity to ask questions live directly to Commander Hadfield on the day!
Submit your questions to glow.connect@glowscotland.onmicrosoft.com before 20th March with the title “Ask an astronaut”. Don’t forget to include your pupils’ names, ages and school. To register for the event, click here (Glow log-in required).
Overheard conversation between two young learners in a Scottish primary school this week – Learner 1: “I want to go to the rainforest and tell them to stop cutting it down.” Learner 2: “Don’t go yet. You’re too wee. Wait till we’re bigger and we’ll both go.” The potential of where this conversation and these aspirations will lead to is intriguing. Many learners are making connections between rich curricular contexts for learning and their own capacity to engage with the ever changing world around them.
To engage our learners in learning for sustainability requires teachers who can confidently weave a number of aspects, including global citizenship, sustainable development education, outdoor learning and children’s rights into their practice.
Global Learning Programme Scotland (GLP-S) supports the development of global citizenship through the curriculum and offers free professional learning for teachers. Click here to find out about the range of CLPL on offer from the six Scottish regional Development Education Centres.
You can also sign up for their online global citizenship magazine Stride at www.stridemagazine.org.uk
For more information contact Rachel Hamada at ideasforuminfo@gmail.com
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days, where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included:
“In the primary sector and at the early stages of secondary school, there is generally less emphasis in the key area of Topical Science than on the other four organisers……. In these cases, children and young people do not have enough opportunity to discuss and debate a range of ethical issues.”
To address this aspect the Sciences team hosted a “Topical Science and Partnerships” Glow Meet on Wednesday 4th March
To watch the meet again : https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/p5rd5cx8od8/
The glow meet will be once again be complimented by a series of professional learning twilight events.
To register :https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TwilightSessions2015
Breakout sessions will be provided by Dynamic Earth, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Glasgow City of Science and Stem Ambassadors.
Education Scotland will also be delivering sessions on Citizen Science, Community Resilience, Food and Science and Social Studies and Science.
To address the aspect of Topical Science the Education Scotland Sciences team are hosting a Glow TV event on Wednesday 4th March at 3.45pm entitled “Topical Science and Partnerships”
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days, where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified. Key aspects for development emerged, which included: “In the primary sector and at the early stages of secondary school, there is generally less emphasis in the key area of Topical Science than on the other four organisers……. In these cases, children and young people do not have enough opportunity to discuss and debate a range of ethical issues.” Young people are increasingly surrounded by scientific issues in the media and their everyday lives. By considering current issues through topical science, learners increasingly develop their understanding of scientific concepts and their capacity to form informed social, moral and ethical views. They reflect upon and critically evaluate media portrayal of scientific findings. To address this aspect the Sciences team are hosting a Glow Meet entitled “Topical Science and Partnerships” which will be complimented again by a series of professional learning twilight sessions. Contexts for delivering topical science and methods for planning topical science will be addressed.
Register now in Glow TV – Topical Science and Partnerships.
You are invited to join us on Monday 2nd March at 3.45pm for a discussion about the strategies that have been adopted by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to promote Gaelic Medium Education.
The Director of Education and Children’s Services, along with two senior managers from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar will outline what changes they have made and the policies they have implemented which have resulted in a steady increase in the uptake of Gaelic Medium Education across island schools, both at primary and secondary level. The session will include a brief introduction, outlining current developments and the context for Gaelic Medium Education in Eilean Siar. The plans for further development of the recently announced Gaelic schools and the teaching school programme will be shared with those who join the meeting.
Topics to be covered include:
1. CNES support for the development of GME
2. The Vision for Gaelic/GME/GLE in the Western Isles.
3. Promotion of GME to parents.
4. Increasing the capacity for leadership in Gaelic Medium schools.
5. Planning for 1+2 Approach to Languages, using this policy to increase the delivery of Gaelic
6. Gaelic Medium/Gaelic Status schools.
Register to join us live in Glow TV – Developing the Vision for Gaelic Medium Education
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days, where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included:
“In the primary sector and at the early stages of secondary school, there is generally less emphasis in the key area of Topical Science than on the other four organisers……. In these cases, children and young people do not have enough opportunity to discuss and debate a range of ethical issues.”
Young people are increasingly surrounded by scientific issues in the media and their everyday lives. By considering current issues through topical science, learners increasingly develop their understanding of scientific concepts and their capacity to form informed social, moral and ethical views. They reflect upon and critically evaluate media portrayal of scientific findings.
To address this aspect the Sciences team is hosting a “Topical Science and Partnerships” Glow Meet which will be complimented again by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.
Join us on Wednesday 4th March at 3.45 – 4.45 pm in Glow TV to find out more.
Register https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/topicalscience/event/event_info.html
Register for the twilight session
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TwilightSessions2015
Sessions will include input from STEM Ambassadors, Royal Society of Chemistry, Citizen Science , Community Resilience, Creative Thinking and the Sciences and Glasgow City of Science
Thursday 5th March from 3.30 to 4.30
Mrs McGregor-Sloman (Head Teacher) and Mr McLean (PT Computing Science) would like to invite you to attend a ‘TeachMeet’ In Marr College. The theme is the use of technology to enhance the learning of our pupils.
Any educator can come along can share their ideas and practice around the use of technologies to help young people learn and develop their skills and knowledge.
To register just email marr.mail@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Education Scotland is building an online professional learning community for early learning and childcare practitioners.This will be the place where these practitioners and other Scottish educators can come together and converse, share resources, add, and take part in, professional learning opportunities and, of course, share the impact on learners.
The community (which is on the new Glow platform) goes officially live next week at a professional learning Masterclass in Dundee City Council. In the meantime, you are all very welcome to come in and say “hello”.
The community is at http://bit.ly/earlylearn and, if you are new to professional learning communities on Glow, look for the Support menu option.
If you are in the early learning and childcare sector in Scotland and need a Glow username and password, see How do I get a login?
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included primary and early years practitioners requiring guidance and exemplifications for assessment in the sciences.
To address this aspect the sciences team hosted a Glow Meet, Assessment in the Sciences, which was complimented by a series of professional learning twilight sessions across Scotland.
Practitioners have asked that the Meet be run again, therefore join us on Tuesday 10th March 3.35-4.45 pm in Glow TV.
Participants should be familiar with the Assessing Progress and Achievement Overarching Paper.
We will also be using a highlighted Assessing Progress and Achievement in the Sciences curriculum paper, Sciences Progression Framework and an Annotated Exemplification which can be downloaded through the blog link upon registration for the Glow Meet.
To register https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/assessscience2/event/event_info.html
This second Glow TV event in the series hosted by the modern languages team at Education Scotland will focus on developing listening and talking in young learners in a 1+2 context.
There will also be information on the latest developments and support available from Education Scotland.
This session is aimed at development officers and practitioners and will take place on Wednesday 25th February at 4pm. – Register now in Glow TV to join in on the day.
Calling all educators!
Welcome to Build-a-space live from Lockerbie!
You too can have the online learning space of your dreams! Maybe it’s a space for your class, your CfE projects, your parents? Whatever it is, we will do our very best to make it happen.
We have assembled a ‘crack team’ of experts from the Digital Learning & Teaching Team (Pam Currie, John Sexton, Ian Stuart, oh and me, Con Morris!)
The team will be assembling (some online and some in person on Lockerbie campus) on Thursday, 5th March to support you and build your spaces until all our pointers are exhausted.
How to take part
You 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:
One – Post messages for the Brydekirk young learners using the tag #learnmeet on the Glow Learners’ community at http://bit.ly/learnershome
Two – Take part in the event live via Glow TV – Register now in Glow TV to take part.
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days, where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included:
“In the primary sector and at the early stages of secondary school, there is generally less emphasis in the key area of Topical Science than on the other four organisers……. In these cases, children and young people do not have enough opportunity to discuss and debate a range of ethical issues.”
Young people are increasingly surrounded by scientific issues in the media and their everyday lives. By considering current issues through topical science, learners increasingly develop their understanding of scientific concepts and their capacity to form informed social, moral and ethical views. They reflect upon and critically evaluate media portrayal of scientific findings.
To address this aspect the Sciences team are hosting a Glow Meet entitled “Topical Science and Partnerships” which will be complimented again by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.
Contexts for delivering topical science and methods for planning topical science will be addressed.
Join us on Tuesday 4th March at 3.45 – 4.45 pm in Glow TV to find out more.
Register now to take part.
https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/topicalscience/event/event_info.html
Education Scotland will publish the report of the Technologies Impact Review, “Building Society: young people’s experiences in the technologies”, on 9th March 2015. This report continues the series in which Education Scotland evaluates the quality of young people’s learning and achievements, in this case in the technologies. The report contributes to the overall picture of what it is like to be a learner in a Scottish early years centre or school in this second decade of the 21st Century.
Education Scotland have organized a launch event for this report and the college aspect report Computing and Digital Media.
Making tomorrow happen: technology education in Scotland
will be held in Celtic Park, Glasgow on 9 March 2015.
The event has been organized to raise awareness of the reports and to discuss the implications for future developments in the Technologies area of the curriculum.
It would greatly assist the organisation of the conference if you could send your nominees to Kenneth Rae – Kenneth.Rae@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk by 27th February 2015, stating their name, role and email address.
Making your space work harder:
Using your school grounds as an outdoor learning resource
Free twilight professional review and development opportunity facilitated by Architecture + Design Scotland.
Venue: Delivered in your school.
Audience: Secondary teaching staff teams from all curriculum areas or cluster teaching staff.
Cost: Free
Date: Dates are available in March 2015
Are you using your school grounds effectively? Have you considered the outdoor learning opportunities on your doorstep? This session will provide you and your team with a space to develop creative ideas for outdoor learning using your current immediate outdoor environment.
Designed to address the GTCS Standards for Career Long Professional Learning the workshop will support participants to develop confidence and capacity in the delivery of outdoor learning.
Workshops will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
To book a workshop or for more information please contact Samantha.macdonald@ads.org.uk .
We’ve received a fantastic number of entries for the Scottish Education Awards but times running out now. The awards showcase and celebrate the hard work and dedication across Scottish education.
To be in with a chance of winning make sure you’re entries are in before midday on 16 February.
A full list of categories and details on how to enter are on the Scottish Education Awards website. Get you’re entry in now and good luck.
The Scottish Learning Festival (SLF) 2015 will address the theme of raising attainment and achievement for all, with a focus on maximising educational outcomes through:
* local partnerships and collaboration – to share approaches that lead to better outcomes
* self-evaluation – to ensure creative and innovative approaches to sustained improvement
* work-related learning – to improve transitions into sustainable, productive employment.
Is your establishment delivering Learning for Sustainability (LfS) that you would like to showcase? Are you able to share your approaches to promoting local partnerships and collaboration? Would you be willing to help others make the connections between the different aspects of LfS; including global citizenship, sustainable development education, outdoor learning, international education, children’s rights and play?
If the answer to any (or all) of these questions is “Yes”, we would love to hear from you. Please consider submitting your seminar proposal by Friday 27th February 2015.
The Scottish Learning Festival is Scotland’s largest annual professional learning event, offering education practitioners a great opportunity to increase their knowledge, discover new work, and improve their practice. Delegates can take part in a range of Conference sessions (Keynotes, seminars, discussions and more) and meet Exhibitors from organisations with products and services which benefit learners.
Scottish Learning Festival 2015 will take place at the SECC in Glasgow on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th September 2015.
The theme of this year’s event is “Raising attainment and achievement for all”, with a focus on maximising educational outcomes through local partnerships and collaboration; self-evaluation; and work-related learning.
Education Scotland is inviting organisations to submit proposals for seminars that will become part of this year’s programme. Full details of the themes and the online submission form are available on the SLF website. The closing date for submitting proposals is Friday 27th February 2015.
In the Social Studies team we are keen that the final programme includes great examples of effective and stimulating practice from schools, including creative projects and fresh approaches to learning. We are interested in all the subject areas within Social Studies, and in any sector. If you would like to showcase some of the work that your school or class is undertaking, or an activity that supports the professional development of teachers, please do consider submitting a seminar proposal.
Education Scotland are excited to be holding a Glow TV event to celebrate LBGT History month. We will be joined in the studio by Graeme Ross, Education Capacity Building Officer for LGBT Youth Scotland. Graeme will be sharing opportunities for learners and practitioners to engage in LGBT education specifically for the month of February, such as Purple Friday as well as approaches to promoting positive relationships throughout the year such as gay straight alliance groups and the LGBT Charter Mark. Graeme is keen to answer any questions as well as hear of your own practice.
Join Glow TV on Thursday 5th February at 4pm. Register now to take part – Celebrating LGBT History Month
Join us live in Glow TV on Monday 2nd February at 4pm for this hour long session which will explore themes highlighted in Theresa Breslin’s novel Divided City.
The Citizens Theatre has developed a Resource Pack which will allow teachers to lead fun and interactive activities with their pupils, exploring sectarianism, discrimination and intolerance; focusing on the characters and plot from Divided City. Join us for a live Professional Learning tutorial and then have a go yourself in class. Suitable for upper primary teachers.
You can download the free Divided City Resource Pack here: Divided City Resource Pack
Register to take part in the live event – Using Divided City to Explore Sectarianism
SLF 2015 takes place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September in Glasgow.
SLF provides high quality continuing professional learning and is a rendezvous for educational professionals both nationally and internationally, providing a unique platform to engage with a diverse range of experts, colleagues and suppliers.
We are now accepting seminar proposals for the 2015 conference programme which will feature around 100 seminars over the 2 days.
Is there a project you have been working on that could be showcased? Or perhaps you are aware of establishments that demonstrate good practice? We would encourage you to share this information with your colleagues and networks and submit relevant proposals for consideration.
The theme for SLF 2015: Raising attainment and achievement for all, with a focus on maximising educational outcomes through:
• local partnerships and collaboration – to share approaches that lead to better outcomes
• self-evaluation – to ensure creative and innovative approaches to sustained improvement
• work-related learning – to improve transitions into sustainable, productive employment.
Full details of the theme are available on the SLF website.
If you would like to submit a proposal for consideration please do so before Friday 27 February. Proposals received after this date will not be considered for inclusion in the conference programme. All proposals must be submitted online.
There is a robust review, evaluation and scoring system in place to help ensure that all submissions are treated equally therefore it is essential that all requests to participate go through the submission process and adhere to the timescales.
Last year we received in excess of 300 proposals which allowed Education Scotland to deliver a relevant and balanced conference programme covering all key areas of education. The 2015 conference programme and registration will be launched in May and will feature the sessions that have been submitted and selected for inclusion.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and hope you will contribute to SLF 2015 to help continue to deliver Scotland’s largest annual national education event. If you would like any further information about SLF 2015 please contact the SLF team.
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.
Do you want to become a teacher or know anyone that’s interested in a career in teaching? Then visit the Teach in Scotland website.
The website is a great resource for anyone wanting to teach in Scotland, with information about applying for Initial Teacher Education, advice on teaching specialisms and guidance for teachers qualified outside of Scotland. There are also case studies from probationer and newly qualified teachers working in Scotland today – you can find out why they chose teaching, what they did to quality and how they are enjoying their new careers.
There are also contact details for organisations offering information on teaching in Scotland, universities where you can study to be a teacher, local authority websites for local job vacancies and events where you can find out more about becoming a teacher.
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) is the Government department for economic growth.
It works with further and higher education providers to give students the skills they need to compete in a global employment market and supports the UK’s science and research industry, which is important to economic growth.
The organisation has produced Project STEM, Book of Insights 2014 which details young people’s attitudes, beliefs, motivations and behaviours that affect their decisions on subject choice and career paths to add depth to the current understanding of how they perceive STEM careers.
The book brings together four phases of research activity with young people; qualitative, social listening, co-creation and quantitative research activities that ran between February and March 2014.
To complement the qualitative research, the researchers listened to young people’s social media conversations to understand their sentiment towards STEM careers and subjects.
To access the research document Project STEM, Book of Insights 2014
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included primary and early years practitioners requiring guidance on and exemplifications for assessment in the sciences.
To address this aspect the sciences team will be hosting the second of three Glow Meets, complimented again by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.
The Education Scotland assessment support documentation will be explored, using exemplifications from the NAR, addressing particular science Significant Aspects of Learning.
The second Glow meet Assessment in the Sciences will take place on Tuesday 13th January 3.45-4.30pm
To register: https://meet.glowscotland.org.uk/e7wzsiv2uvs/event/event_info.html
Dates, times and venues for the complimentary twilight sessions to date are:
Dundee, Education Scotland Endeavour House, Monday 26th January 4-6pm
Dumfries, Lochside Education Centre, 27th January 4-6pm
Inverness, Mercure Hotel, Wednesday 28th January 4-6pm
Aberdeen, Satrosphere Science Centre, Thursday 29th January 4-6pm
Edinburgh, Dynamic Earth, Monday 2nd February 4-6pm
Glasgow , St Andrew’s Secondary, Thursday 5th February 4-6pm
Please sign up through https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/twilightsessions
Revisit the first Glow meet Supporting Primary & Early Years Science
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included primary and early years practitioners requiring guidance on and exemplifications for assessment in the sciences.
To address this aspect the sciences team will be hosting the second of three Glow Meets, complimented again by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.
The Education Scotland assessment support documentation will be explored, using exemplifications from the NAR.
The second Glow meet Assessment in the Sciences will take place on Tuesday 13th January 3.45-4.30pm
To register
Dates, times and venues for the complimentary twilight sessions to date are:
Dundee, Education Scotland Endeavour House, Monday 26th January 4-6pm
Dumfries, Lochside Education Centre, Tuesday 27th January 4-6pm
Inverness, Mercure Hotel, Wednesday 28th January 4-6pm
Aberdeen, Satrosphere Science Centre, Thursday 29th January 4-6pm
Edinburgh, Dynamic Earth, Monday 2nd February 4-6pm
Glasgow, St Andrews Secondary, Thursday 5th February 4-6pm
Please register through survey monkey
Revisit the first Glow Meet
We’re delighted to announce that SLF 2015 will take place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September in the SECC, Glasgow. SLF is the largest education event in Scotland and will focus on raising achievement and attainment. Those interested in presenting a seminar at the festival can submit a proposal in January, when further information will be available on the SLF website.
Registration for the SLF will open in May, look out for more information over the coming months and save the dates in your diary now.
We are also working with a range of partners to host a series of SLF Extra events in 2015. On 17 February, Aberdeen City Council in partnership with Education Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council will host the Aberdeen Learning Festival in the AECC. The festival will include keynotes, workshop and an exhibition. More information about the event and how to register will be available in January.
On 27 February Children in Scotland, in partnership with Education Scotland, are hosting the first in a series of six free events for all those involved in education. The morning session will focus on pupil engagement and participation and the afternoon session will look at parental engagement. This first event takes place in Melrose and more information is available on the Children in Scotland website.
More SLF Extra events will be taking place in 2015, visit the SLF website for details.
Over the past year at West Barns we have been developing a clearer rationale for our curriculum. From the outset it was evident that in order to move this forward we needed to work closely with our pupils and their families, staff and the wider community to define what kind of school we wanted at West Barns.
We felt it was important that the vision, value and aims reflected the views of our staff, pupils and families and defined the unique features of our school and its environment. We also wanted the whole school community to have a shared understanding of what we are trying to achieve.
Why ‘Team’ West Barns?
Over the past year we have been working closely with the whole school community to help us improve our school and provide a high quality education for all our learners. Developing a team spirit with pupils, staff, families and the local community has been an important underlying theme, and through this we have been able to move forward the learning and teaching as well as the life and ethos of the school.
This has included:
• Introducing cooperative learning to help pupils develop their group working and independent learning skills.
• Using school and house challenges and team sports to help build the school community.
• Providing all pupils and staff with more meaningful opportunities to develop the life and work of the school through School Committees.
• Working with outside organisations to ensure that our pupils have all the support that they need to do their best in school.
• Using Learning Journeys to help our pupils reflect on their learning and share their achievements with their families.
• Including parents and families in the work and life of the school through Parent Council, West Barns Helping Hands and other volunteering opportunities.
• Working closely with parents and families to keep them informed and find out their views on how we can develop our school.
• Finding more opportunities for the school to work with the local community.
• Working with local organisations to learn about and protect our local environment.
• Providing staff with opportunities to work together to help share good practice in learning and teaching.
• Developing closer working relationships with other schools through sharing good practice, joint professional learning opportunities, moderation and self-evaluation visits.
• Working collaboratively with other Head Teachers on curriculum development, professional learning and self-evaluation.
Using this as a starting point we began to develop a new vision, values and aims for West Barns that would support every child towards reaching their full potential and help them to develop the skills and confidence to face the challenges of the 21st Century.
From this starting point we have begun to evaluate our curriculum rationale, reflecting on our strengths and identifying those areas we now need to develop.
Coming soon – Developing a rationale for the West Barns Curriculum 2 – Pulling the pieces together.
By Dr Simon Hall, a Scots Language Coordinator at Education Scotland.
I sometime use the phrase ‘national treasure’ when I’m out and about talking to people about Scots language. There are a few reasons why I like this phrase. Firstly, Scots is indeed a ‘national’ language. It is spoken in all its rich varieties from Stranraer to Shetland, and pretty much everywhere in between. Folk in the Borders use it, and it’s used in our Scottish cities and across the Central Belt. It thrives in Angus, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Caithness and Orkney.
Scots is the ancient language of Lowland Scotland and the Northern Isles, once used in parliament, formerly spoken by kings, poets, courtiers and commoners. Along with English and Gaelic, it is one of the three indigenous languages of modern Scotland, and you’ll hear it today on our streets, and in our offices, factories, construction sites, shops, schools and hospitals.
Of course, Scots has a vast and rich vocabulary. Some of the academic Scots dictionaries have as many as 60,000 entries. Many of the most colourful, stand-out words are what linguists call ‘lexical items’, nouns or verbs like clanjamfry, glaur, bogle, bubblyjock, threip, gilravage, dordie-lochran, mirk or moose. But there is also a range of more common verbs and everyday prepositions – mak, tak, ken, doon, owre, ahint, afore – which are also unique to our part of the world.
Scots is so much more than just our favourite Scots word; it is the sum of the parts of the lexical items, the prepositions, and the accent. In common with Norwegian and other related Scandinavian languages, Scots uses the older ‘oo’ vowel sound in words like hoose, moose or ku where English adopted ‘ou’ or ‘ow’.
Is this stuff really treasure, though? I would have to say I think it is. Scots is a unique cultural phenomenon. Along with things like traditional dance or Scottish song, it belongs in the category of ‘intangible cultural heritage’, and, as such, it is fragile, and in some danger of being forgotten in our multi-media global village. If Scots were a wild plant or a wild creature, we would be doing everything we could to preserve it. Towns and communities using guid Scots would be designated as Sites of Special Linguistic Interest.
Scots is becoming increasingly present in social media. Shetlanders use it on Facebook every day. It is popular in text. Scots Language Dictionaries has just launched a superb new Scots dictionary app. BBC Radio Orkney broadcasts in excellent Scots every morning. Translation of classic bairns’ books into Scots is at an all-time high level.
So it’s with these and other positives in mind that the team of Scots Language coordinators at Education Scotland are working to celebrate and promote excellent Scots Language education in our schools.
Many primary schools across a range of Local Authorities are looking at developing their ability to teach Scots within the areas of Literacy and English, while a number of forward-thinking secondary schools are pioneering the new Scottish Qualifications Authority Award in Scots Language. Another exciting development is Education Scotland’s ‘Scots Language Ambassadors’ initiative, where a team of Scots speakers from all walks of life are pairing up with schools to celebrate and promote Scots. Chefs, shopkeepers, authors, musicians, broadcasters, teachers and senior educationalists have all signed up to form friendly partnerships with schools: their ultimate aim is to promote this national treasure among the next generation of learners.
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.
Hopefully you will have had the chance to see some of the outstanding sessions available as part of the online Disruptive Innovation Festival which has been running from 20th October to 14th November 2014. For those of you that have not managed to catch any of the sessions or missed some due to other commitments we are delighted to announce that many of the events have been recorded and will be available to view for another 30 days.
Visit the DIF website archive at DIF Archive to access the sessions that are still available until 14th December 2014.
Here is a small sample of some of the events that will be available to view until 14th December:
• 3D Printed materials and the Circular Economy
• Internet of Things
• Circular Economy Classroom Activity
• Biomimicry Classroom
• William McDonough (Cradle to cradle): Redesigning the Future
• Jeremy Rifkin: The Next Industrial Revolution
• Mark Miodownik: Made to be Made Again
• TU Delft: Pioneers of Design -Longer Lasting Products
• Sir Ken Robinson: Inspiring a Generation
Please share this information with colleagues who might be interested: STEM subjects, Geography, Business Education, Economics, Modern Studies and anyone interested in inter-disciplinary learning.
If you are inspired to introduce your pupils to the circular economy but would welcome some help in getting started please do not hesitate to contact me by email at jen.barrett@ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
It’s week 3 of the Disruptive Innovation Festival: an online festival exploring emerging ideas and technologies that have the potential to reshape our economy. The Festival is curated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
So far you will have had the opportunity to drop in on events covering ideas such as self-driving cars, powering cities with coffee bean waste, cradle-to-cradle design, restructuring the financial system, biomimicry design and the sharing economy.
This week – the penultimate week – has a strong focus on education. This includes a Headline Act by Sir Ken Robinson on Thursday where you will have the opportunity to put questions to him and hear of his thoughts for a transformed educational system. Sign up for free here: http://thinkdif.co/headliners/sir-ken-robinson
Transforming D&T Education
04 Nov 16:00 GMT – 04 Nov 17:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/transforming-d-t-education
Steve Parkinson of Teach Design will host this session where he will take a look at the changing face of D&T education, and what he and his students have learned from studying the circular economy and Cradle-to-Cradle design.
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Product Teardown
05 Nov 17:00 GMT – 05 Nov 18:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/product-teardown
Kyle Wiens will walk us through product teardown, showing us the process the iFixit team go through when rating products for their repairability. Kyle will take your questions on how designers could re-educate themselves to design for disassembly and repairability.
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Transforming Learning: Beyond the $1,000 Pencil
06 Nov 13:00 GMT – 06 Nov 14:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/transforming-learning-beyond-the-1-000-pencil
Join the renowned Alan November to hear how we can equip our students to take responsibility to manage a large proportion of their learning, and to help others to learn.
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The Circular Economy Workshop
06 Nov 17:00 GMT – 06 Nov 18:00 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/the-circular-economy-workshop
Watch this video to learn how the circular economy can be introduced to a large group of students by taking a group work approach. Download the presentation and lesson plan so you can replicate the session in your setting
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Education: What are the new stories?
06 Nov 17:30 GMT – 06 Nov 18:30 GMT
http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/education-what-are-the-new-stories
Is the traditional narrative of school, qualifications and a ‘good job’ still relevant? Oliver Quinlan doesn’t think so, but he wants to hear from YOU in this session as he asks for the new stories around education
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Watch this quick video summary of what else is in store for educators this week at the DIF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NXYY9mkGN8&utm_source=DIF&utm_campaign=9bd7318ffa-DIF_Mon_3_Nov11_3_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_45b4eeb0e0-9bd7318ffa-87295145
Glasgow City Council would like to invite you to our first Restorative Approaches National Conference. This conference is for everyone working with children, young people and/or families. It will be of interest to those who are involved in relationship-based interventions, working with young people and adults to help resolve conflict, repair emotional harm and utilise reflective practice within schools and communities.
We are delighted to bring Marg Thorsborne, a leading expert from Australia in the area of Restorative Approaches, to Glasgow. Marg will deliver keynote speeches over the course of three days. These will incorporate an overview and implementation of Restorative Approaches. She will also facilitate, through a series of workshops, how this practice can help promote and maintain positive relationships in our daily interactions with adults, children and young people.
We are delighted that Marg is spending most of her time in Scotland at this conference, in addition to her further training events with Education Scotland and other local authorities.
The Education Scotland Sciences 3-18 impact report stated as an ‘aspect for development’ in Scottish Sciences was that ‘staff in secondary schools need to recognise and act on gender imbalance in physics and the biology where it exists’
To support Science departments action this as part of their development needs The Institute of Physics (IOP) has produced a support pack that supports teachers in planning to encourage increased participation of girls studying Physics.
https://www.iop.org/education/teacher/support/girls_physics/action_pack/page_41739.html
The misconceptions amongst some teachers regarding the implementations of addressing such imbalance is –
– that this would be at the detriment of boys into Physics, which is not the case as these programmes are looking at an increase in girls on top of existing numbers, not as a balance of existing class numbers
– Focussing on Girls is in itself gender biased. These programmes are about how teaching pedagogy can improve perceptions of the subject amongst girls without affecting the perceptions of boys. In short, teaching pedagogy in Physics education has in past been biased towards the interests and needs of boys without intending to do so.
Some stats –
5% of young people who took up modern apprenticeships in STEM careers last year via Skills Development Scotland were girls. (Scottish Resource Centre for Women in SET (2010))
73% of female STEM graduates do not continue in STEM careers in comparison to 48% of male STEM graduates. (http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/advice-papers/inquiry/women_in_stem/tapping_talents.pdf)
If gender equality in Sciences is part of your local, school or Science departmental improvement plans and you would like advice and support to use the resources then please contact Alison McLure of the IOP, Alison.McLure@iop.org.
Education Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Food and Drink Federation and Dundee Science Centre have create a series of Career Long Professional Learning events about Food Science. These events would be particularly relevant for those teaching N5 and Higher Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Science as well as those teaching Higher Health and Food Technology and Hospitality.
1. Cooking Bus Career Long Professional Learning at Dundee Science Centre 10th – 14th November 2014
Free 3 hour CLPL sessions available during 10th – 14th November 2014 – open to teachers and support staff. For more information and how to sign up for a workshop.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CookingBusatDundeeScienceCentre2014
Please note the date and time you sign up for – your place will be confirmed in October.
2. Home Economics & Science staff Teach Meet Dundee Science Centre Tuesday 11th November
Teach Meet for Home Economics and Science staff offering support around Broad General Education, National Qualifications, positive destinations, progression with assessment. Presenters include Education Scotland, Scottish Food & Drink Federation, Food Standards Scotland, SQA, University of Abertay, SSERC & Dundee science Centre to name but a few.
Also included in the session will be a ‘Science of Gin’ presentation, discussing the use of botanicals to produce different styles.
TUESDAY 11th NOVEMBER 4.30pm – 7.30pm Dundee Science Centre.
Sign up here – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/teachmeetDundeeScienceScentre
Get with the Programme
An evening of resources, ideas and discussion for computing classes and STEM clubs in primary and secondary schools.
With sessions and discussions from:
Skills Development Scotland
Code Club
Abertay university
Apps for good
FREE Professional Learning session for education practitioners
Thursday 30th October 2014, 1615-1830 at Dundee Science Centre
Delivered by
Sponsored by
Bookings can be made by contacting learning@dundeesciencecentre.org.uk, or calling 01382 868609/10.
Scottish Government are offering funded training opportunities for professionals working with disabled children and their families to learn about and then become ambassadors for GIRFEC.
The purpose of the workshops is to enable a broad range of practitioners from the third sector to deliver information workshops for children and young people or parents and carers to inform them about GIRFEC and what it means for them; to bring GIRFEC to life, to make it real for them. The workshop will cover everything from organising an information session to the contents and materials (which are provided for you) to the continued support and guidance after the ‘training for trainers’ workshop concludes. We hope we can work together to deliver the information sessions.
Twig refresh now live!
Education Scotland and Twig World are delighted to announce the launch of the newly updated and refreshed Twig On Glow website, which coincides with the switch over to the new Glow platform. Twig continues to bring you stunning film footage and learning materials for sciences, maths and geography all linked to Curriculum for Excellence. Twig has already started the process of mapping the content to the national qualifications and there are quick links now available in the top menu bar. More links will be added as further content is mapped, for instance to the newly included Science Experiments films.
Faster loading
As well as the refreshed design interface, users will find that the new Twig On Glow site loads faster, the mind map responds more quickly and the films cache more effectively which will improve streaming.
New content on Tigtag
People and Places is the new Tigtag module for geography. Matched to Curriculum for Excellence, the module includes 223 films covering six topics:
Imperial College London and Tigtag launch free online resource to help Scotland’s primary school teachers with science
Primary school teachers can sign up now at www.reachoutcpd.com
Thinking like a scientist is a valuable skill. Analysing information, asking good questions and recognising how evidence wins arguments; all these things help people make better decisions. The time to nurture this skill is when children are naturally most curious about the world around them – when they are of primary school age.
According to a 2013 National Science Learning Centre report, only 5% of primary school teachers have a science degree, and teachers themselves say that their confidence to give inspiring science lessons rises when they have access to appropriate training, guidance and resources, to help them plug the gaps.
That’s why Imperial College London (www.imperial.ac.uk) and education technology provider Tigtag (www.tigtagworld.co.uk) have come together to support every teacher to deliver the science curriculum.
Through Reach Out CPD (Continuing Professional Development) teachers can learn directly from Imperial experts about the science they need to cover in the classroom. Offering concise topic knowledge, short films, experiment ideas and more, this new resource aims to equip all primary teachers with the skills to excite children about science. All training is delivered online in handy 20-minute units, so busy teachers can top up their knowledge anytime, anywhere on a computer, tablet or smartphone.
At the end of a course, teachers can download an official Reach Out CPD certificate endorsed by Imperial College London – one of the world’s leading science universities.
Reach Out CPD is free to Scottish teachers and will remain so!
Sign up now at www.reachoutcpd.com
More awards for TWIG
Twig World has been nominated as one of the Top 25 Most Innovative Companies within Digital Education in a new report by Total Education, the global educational technology event company. The report was compiled by interviewing experts in the major education markets around the world including teachers, industry professionals and keynote speakers. Twig World is one of only four content providers in the report. This latest acknowledgement adds to a growing list of accolades for the company. Twig World has won many international education awards including the prestigious Bett Award for the past three years running. Anthony Bouchier, CEO of Twig World says: “To be selected with the likes of Google and Microsoft just three years after launching our first product is a huge achievement and testament to the talent of our teams in Glasgow and London. We are still at the start of our mission to empower teachers and learners as digital resources reach the classroom – there’s a much more to come from us in the years ahead!”
The report is available at http://blogs.terrapinn.com/total-education/2014/09/03/top-25-innovative-companies-digital-education
The new Primary Science Glow 365 site is currently under development but at the moment we have a Primary /Early Years blog page which is easily accessible and provides up to date relevant information for practitioners in each sector.
Our latest blogs include how to access the new FREE primary Reach Out CPD programme and you can download the recent Supporting Primary and Early Years science Glow Meet.
To access the site http://bit.ly/glowsciences and remember your glow password
The site is work in progress and further developments will be introduced as the Glow 365 platform takes shape
The online Disruptive Innovation Festival (DIF) is working with organisations, universities and individuals from all over the world to spotlight and explore the disruptive innovations that are shaking up industry and creating new opportunities in the economy. Many of the sessions during the festival have been crowd-sourced from global contributors and emphasises the opportunity for interaction and engagement with these ideas. Throughout the four weeks, the DIF provides thought-leadership, advice, short courses, design challenges, resources and networks for new or budding entrepreneurs, designers, makers and doers. The DIF will also welcome participation from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s network including business, policy makers, academics and designers who are contributing to and participating in the DIF 2014.
Of particular relevance from a STEM perspective are the following sessions:
[27 Oct] Eben Bayer – An Entrepreneur’s Story
– http://thinkdif.co/headliners/eben-bayer
[29 Oct] The Circular Economy: an educator’s guide
– http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/the-circular-economy-an-educators-guide
[30 Oct] Systems thinking and restorative agriculture-at scale
– http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/systems-thinking-and-restorative-agriculture-at-scale
[30 Oct] Assembly Line or Mind Gym? Where is education going?
– http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/where-is-education-going
[3 Nov] Mark Miodownik – Made to be Made Again
– http://thinkdif.co/headliners/mark-miodownik
[6 Nov] Sir Ken Robinson – Inspiring a Generation
– http://thinkdif.co/headliners/sir-ken-robinson
[6 Nov] Education: What are the new stories?
– http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/education-what-are-the-new-stories
[12 Nov] Janine Benyus & Michael Pawlyn – Biomimicry
– http://thinkdif.co/headliners/janine-benyus
[Throughout] Experts on Demand
– http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/experts-on-demand
[Throughout] Design Challenges
– http://thinkdif.co/pages/challenges
People sign up to receive news about the DIF at www.thinkdif.co
All of the sessions are free to attend, and most will be made available for a short period of time after the event.
Education Scotland’s Teacher Education Team have been busy working with a range of partners.
The Teacher Education Team were recently involved in organising a Scottish Learning Festival (SLF) satellite event at Moray Council. John Carnochan, one of the Keynote speakers from the SLF, travelled to Elgin to speak to Headteachers and Local Authority staff on the topic of Leadership – ‘Leadership, it’s a personal thing’. Many members of staff spoke highly of John’s contribution and considerable dialogue took place after the presentation on the development of leadership capacity within the context of Moray Council’s schools. Following this presentation, colleagues from Moray will contribute to the Learning Festival which will be taking place in Aberdeen in February 2015, based on some of John’s ideas.
Work with Local Authorities and schools
Keen to develop our links with Local Authority and school personnel, members of the team have continued to offer support to various establishments around the themes of Professional Review and Development and Professional update, and Career-long Professional Learning. Recent input has been given to the staff of Paisley Grammar School on ‘A Coaching Approach’ to Professional Review and Development.
Storlann Conference
Continuing the theme of working closely with practitioners, the team was represented recently at an annual conference organised by Storlann – the organisation which has been charged with coordinating the production and distribution of Gaelic educational resources throughout Scotland. The conference in Aviemore, which was attended by a large number of Gaelic educationalists, offered a range of presentations and workshops for attendees. The Teacher Education Team – along with Beverly Leslie, a Head Teacher from Perth and Kinross Council – presented two workshops on Professional Learning to primary and secondary teachers.
Life, the world around us and the search for extra-terrestrials will be explored though a range of hands-on activities at Big Biology Scotland on Sunday 12th October 2014.
This free event for all ages, at Mugdock Country Park from 10:00-15:00, will include outdoor activities such as a Bug Hunt, Sun spotting, Rocket making and Bird ringing.
Inside the visitor centre, budding biologists can get busy making Crafty Critters and DNA bracelets. Older visitors can learn more about health with ‘Bacteria Combat’ and ‘Meet a GP’.
The theatre will host films and talks from ‘Meet the Scientist’ and the Cosmic Way Roadshow where you can explore the origins of life in the stars.
To celebrate National Fungus Day (also on Sunday 12 October) Mugdock park rangers will run a Fungi Foray from 13:00-14-30 and Jaw Brew and Battlefield Bakery will be on hand all day to show how the yeast fungus is vital to brewing beer and baking bread.
Big Biology Day Scotland is one of six science festivals taking place all over the country as part of Biology Week 11-18th October 2014, organised by the Society of Biology.
Dr Mark Downs, Chief Executive of the Society of Biology, says: “Biology affects us all: biological research has helped provide food, medicines, vaccinations, and much more. We have organised Biology Week to share our fascination with the world around us.”
For more information visit: https://www.societyofbiology.org/events?event_id=581
Following the publication of its 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report for Sciences in September 2012, Education Scotland organised a series of conversation days where priorities for action to secure improvements in science education nationally were identified.
Key aspects for development emerged, which included primary and early years practitioners requiring:
• support with the initial planning for learning and teaching in the sciences
• guidance and exemplifications for assessment in the sciences
• support in delivery of topical science
• planning and delivering Citizen Science
To address each aspect the sciences team will be hosting four Glow Meets, complimented by a series of professional learning twilight sessions.
The first Glow meet Supporting the Sciences: planning the primary & early years science curriculum took place on Wednesday 17th September 3.45 – 4.30pm.
Revisit the Glow Meet through http://bit.ly/1DltfRy or download the presentation through our new Glow 365 primary science site http://bit.ly/glowsciences
Dates, times and venues for the complimentary twilight sessions are:
Glasgow, Education Scotland Offices, Optima Building, 30th October 4-6pm
Dundee, Dundee Science Centre, 4th November 4.30-6.30pm
Aberdeen, Mile End Primary School,10th November 4-6pm
Dumfries, Lochend Education Centre, 13th November 4-6pm
Edinburgh St Augustine’s High School, 20th November 4-6pm
Community Resilience Education – Free Conversation Day and Networking Event
09:30 (for 10:00 start) – 15:00, Tuesday 7th October 2014
Venue: Thistle Hotel, Millburn Road, Inverness, IV2 3TR
Education Scotland is excited to be hosting a second community resilience conversation and networking event with a view to developing a shared, partnership approach to provide 3-18 resilience education opportunities.
The day aims to bring together members of the Scottish Government, emergency planning and civil contingencies teams from local councils, representatives from local education authorities, and members of other key organisations to consider the potential of community resilience as a rich and exciting context for teaching and learning. Key contexts for focus include flooding, severe weather and pandemic flu and the impact they can have on communities and how we can take steps to mitigate against their impact through educating learners.
We would also like to extend this event invite to school representatives (members of management teams, or teachers who have been, or are interested in engaging in community resilience education) to explore how we can take forward resilience education. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Conversation activities will provide delegates with opportunities to network and engage in professional dialogue in relation to developing more resilient individuals, families and communities. Selected examples of good practice will be shared through engaging presentations delivered by Education Scotland, Scottish Government, local councils and schools.
All interested delegates should register online at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N2F3TWC to confirm attendance and inform us of any special dietary or access requirements you may have.
If you have any further questions or your school is/has been involved in community resilience projects or initiatives and you would be interested in presenting at the event to share your practice with others, please contact Jennifer Moore at: Jennifer.Moore@educationscotland.gov.uk
Behaviour management strategies for the Science classroom
Managing classroom or laboratory behaviour can be one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. Join the National Science Learning Centre this autumn for a free, high quality, five week online continuing professional development course to help you improve students’ behaviour.
Watch the video and register
Good Brain, Bad Brain: Parkinson’s Disease
Learn the fundamentals of Parkinson’s disease; what causes it and what we can do to ameliorate the symptoms.
This free online course is aimed at anyone with an interest in finding out the fundamentals of Parkinson’s disease; how it affects people, what causes it, what we can do to try and ameliorate the symptoms and what we don’t yet know about it.
As one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases, most people at least know of one person who has Parkinson’s disease.
As the population ages, so the number of people with it will increase. Many people will be able to give a vague description of how that person is affected but may not know why. In this course we will consider how the normal principles of how neurones work and communicate are altered in the parkinsonian brain and why this leads to the symptoms that we see. We can then apply this knowledge to thinking about how current therapies work.
Finally we can think about where the holes in our knowledge are and the importance of this for improving our ability to alleviate the symptoms of the disease.
Glow TV is delighted to work with the Winning Scotland Foundation to present Professor Carol Dweck’s acclaimed Mindset Research.
Professor Dweck’s research identifies that individuals can approach their own abilities and talents with either a fixed or growth mindset. With a fixed mindset being people believe their basic qualities, like intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time validating their intelligence or talent instead of developing it.
A growth mindset however is people believing their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. People with a growth mindset strive to achieve their full potential through continually developing themselves.
This event is aimed at all teachers – early years/primary/secondary and is part of a live event taking place in Edinburgh on Tuesday 9th September at 5pm. Sign up and join us live or Watch Again!
Sign-up now for TeachMeet @ Scottish Learning Festival 2014.
Learn something new, be amazed, amused and enthused. This is an informal gathering of those curious about teaching and learning. Anyone can share great ideas they’ve trialled in their classrooms, ask important questions or simply sign up to take part in learning conversations. Education professionals from all sectors are welcome to take part.
The Scottish Learning Festival TeachMeet is always something special. It is usually the biggest TeachMeet in Scotland and often attracts some of the biggest names in education. It is also great fun!
With SLF 2014 now only 4 weeks away we hear for one of this year’s keynote speakers, John Carnochan about his keynote and thoughts on Scottish education.
Responding Differently
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” Herman Melville
Teachers, parents and families have a collective responsibility to ensure our children receive a rounded education that helps prepare them for life. Sadly, in the process, we too often forget or ignore the fundamental importance of human connection and relationships in our lives.
We seem to think now that as professionals we just need to do more of the same and everything will be ok, more policy, more training, more process and everything will be fine. This slavish adherence to professional process is, at times, naively arrogant and often ineffective. Not only does it ignore the value of human attributes, it often deliberately de-values them as being somehow unprofessional.
Professionals do not have all the answers and neither can we continue to assume that professional skills are the only “skills” appropriate or adequate responses to persistent problems. The strategies, systems and structures that exist today often can only manage the problems we face, new thinking is required if we are to make these problems better. We must begin to Respond Differently.
Professional and technical skills are important but they are not more important than the human attributes that demand we care for our fellow humans that help us establish relationships and that keep us connected. By combining the professional technical skills with our human attributes we will produce far more effective services and also help us do the right things for the right reasons.
Teachers are on the front line of Responding Differently, helping prepare our children for life. It’s certainly true that our children will need many of the technical skills delivered so effectively everyday in classrooms across Scotland. But these technical skills alone will not be enough if our children are to lead successful and productive lives. There is every possibility that many will be working in roles and doing jobs that have not yet been invented; they may be working in industries that haven’t been created yet. The skills that will be of most use to them in everything they do will be human “skills’. Our children will need to be resilient, adaptable, courageous, thoughtful, collaborative; they will need to communicate, problem solve, negotiate, compromise. Most importantly they will need to connect with others, they will need to be human; create better relationships and in schools it will create better learning and better behaviour.
In Scotland we have started to Respond Differently, particularly in Education. We have defined What our ambition is for our children, we want to make Scotland the Best Place to Grow Up. We have also defined How we are going to do it with the introduction of national policies such as GIRFEC and CfE. The inclusion of “wellbeing”, in CfE, with its aims to help children become Successful Learners, Confident Individuals, Effective Contributors and Responsible Citizens is hugely important.
This is an exciting time for Scotland and I sense that we have started to Respond Differently to children how we educate them and how we include them.
We know What we want to do and we know How we’re going to do it that’s a great start. Change is always difficult but if we remember also Why we are doing it the angst borne of the change will lessen as our aspirations increase. We are after all humans first and change is what we humans do, its what we have always done. Leadership has a role to play but we are all leaders and we can all Respond Differently.
If you want to hear John’s keynote then register for SLF 2014.
With SLF 2014 now only 4 weeks away we hear for one of this year’s keynote speakers, Prof Alma Harris about her keynote and her thoughts on Scottish education.
I am looking forward to being part of the ‘Scottish Learning Festival’ 2014 and engaging with this vibrant educational community. I will be bringing a group of Malaysian educators with me and I have promised them a warm welcome but not warm weather! In my previous visits to Scotland I have found that teachers and principals appreciate honesty and integrity so my aim is demonstrate both.
In my session I will argue that we need to go ‘beyond PISA’ to find the touchstone of real educational success and that there are important lessons that systems, like Scotland, can give to the global educational community. Despite the fact that education systems in Asia currently dominate the top of the PISA tables, there is much that the East can learn from the West in terms of educational change and improvement. Some of these messages will be shared with you all.
The aim of the session is not to devalue or dismiss PISA but rather to underline that high performance in education is defined by much more than rankings. The session will argue that we need to put the ‘learner’ at the forefront of our educational reform processes and avoid being seduced by superficial explanations of ‘high performance’ that tend to objectify learners and place performance above learning.
I will also focus upon leadership and will aim to answer the question, ‘what type of leadership is required to ensure success for every student in every setting?’ To answer this question, I will share the findings from two recent comparative studies. The first set of findings comes from a ‘7 System Leadership Study’ that is exploring the relationship between leadership development and leadership practice in differentially performing systems (Australia, England, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia Singapore and Russia). Initial findings highlight that there are more similarities than differences in the approaches these systems are using to secure and sustain improvement. The findings also challenge some of the cultural assumptions and popular assertions about ‘high performing systems’.
The second study looks at leadership within high performing organisations across different sectors (education, sport and business). The full range of empirical findings can be found in a new book with Andy Hargreaves and Alan Boyle called ‘’Uplifting Leadership’. Among, a range of conclusions, the findings from this study show that the type of leadership needed to secure and sustain exceptional performance is that which builds professional and social capital.
Overall, my message is that we need to look ‘beyond PISA’ and to move past the current preoccupation with international rankings, if authentic school and system improvement is to be achieved. I will propose that the real power and potential for system transformation in Scotland resides in the professionalism of its teachers and its school leaders, combined with an unshakable belief that every child deserves the best education possible.
It is with a huge degree of humility that I take part in this ‘Scottish Learning Festival’ 2014 involving educators from many countries. It is also with a great sense of pride that I am speaking at a conference that is about learning first and foremost. Putting the learner at the heart of the reform process, deeply, authentically and genuinely gets us much closer to the outcomes that we want for all young people.
If you want to hear Alma’s keynote then register for SLF 2014.
1 day – Thursday 25th September 2014 from 09.30-16.00
The Lighthouse, Glasgow
Delivered by Made-by (www.made-by.org) on behalf of Zero Waste Scotland
This event is suitable for individuals and companies involved in the design and manufacturing of apparel as well as academic and education professionals interested in the wider issues of clothing and environmental sustainability.
Event detail
The days training will provide you with an overview of:
Alongside the global case studies you will also hear from our speakers working within Scotland
For further information and to book onto this event please visit here.
Pilot project for schools, using museum collections datasets as part of the Computing Science curriculum:
Museums have an untapped resource of rich data, relating to their collections, which can be explored and re-used in new and exciting ways.
Museums in Scotland have identified digital engagement as a priority (see page 17 of One Year On: Turning Actions into Advocacy), with a focus on how to reuse assets such as digital collections records (which can be similar to library catalogue records, containing data about individual or groups of museum objects) and images.
Education Scotland and MGS (Museums Galleries Scotland the national development body for the museum sector in Scotland) would be keen to establish up to a number of pilot projects to run over the autumn to spring terms, through which schools would make use of museum collections data, as part of the Computing Science curriculum.
Museums would provide access to museum collections data, to support coding or other exploratory work. The time available by the museums involved in these pilot projects will vary, but there would be the opportunity to discuss with the museum what the collections data represents, and how it is currently organised, and for the museum-school partners to explore their shared interest in data reuse. There may also be the opportunity to work with the museum to create a resource which has a life beyond the project, to present new stories about the collections in new ways to the museum and its visitors.
Education Scotland and MGS would aim to work with the school-museum partnerships to develop case studies and a report on what has been learned from the pilot projects, to share with the wider museum and education sector.
If you are interested or would like to find out more about this opportunity please contact Kirsty McFaul Senior Education Officer Technologies, Education Scotland, Kirsty.mcfaul@educationscotland.gov.uk
