Category Archives: Responsibility of All

CfE, Expressive Arts, Literacy, Senior Phase, Social studies

Take One Action Film Festival

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Are you aged between 15 and 21 years? Interested in great films that make a difference in the world? Would you like to organise inspiring film screening events in your local community? If so, here is your chance to take action!

Take One Action – Scotland’s global action cinema project – is organising it’s second Young Action Heroes Project for young people and their educators/youth workers at the Macrobert Centre in Stirling in late August 2012. We are keen to hear from schools and youth groups who want to take part in the residential and then screen a film to inspire action in others!

Application information is available to download from www.takeoneaction.org.uk/youth 

THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY 25TH MAY, but if you have questions before then email youth@takeoneaction.org.uk or phone Andy at 0131 5536335.

Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Food for Thought? Food Security in the new National Qualifications

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One of the contexts for learning and teaching within the advice and guidance for the new National Qualifications is Food Security. This could provide a context for learning relevant within Biology, Environmental Science, or Science, and with approriate differentiation to meet the needs of learners, as a context for learning at National 3, National 4, National 5 and Higher.

How about using this image , published in The Independent newspaper on 17th April, to prompt discussion? Could a cupcake made of insects be part of our future to enable us to feed the world’s rising population? Researchers at the University of Wageningen in the The Netherlands believe so. More information can be found in the International Business Times article “Cupcakes made from Insects: Food for Thought?”

Additional Support for Learning, CLD, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, MCMC/16+LC, Research, Responsibility of All, RME, Social studies

Materialism

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Listen to an interesting talk by Carol Craig from the Centre for Confidence and Wellbeing on how materialism has undermined our wellbeing in scotland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQel6t784W0&list=PLD653EAC9A01E75E6&index=6&feature=plpp_video

CfE, Literacy, Literacy and English

Literacy across Learning (Un)conference

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The Literacy across Learning (Un)conference will be held at Stirling Management Centre on 25th May. This free event will build a community of educators who want to develop 21st century learning and literacy skills. Come prepared to share experiences, practice and resources and to contribute to the learning. More information and sign up details below.

Literacy Event Flyer

Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Senior Phase, Young people, children & families

Cut it Out Road Safety Project

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The “Cut It Out” programme is two school periods long, (one hour and fifty minutes in total), and covers the main contributory factors in Road Traffic Collisions such as speeding, drink/drug driving and seatbelt use. It aims to raise awareness and challenge attitudes in young people with regards to the dangers associated with our roads.

The programme has been designed in conjunction with education, road safety departments, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), Strathclyde Police, West of Scotland Road Safety Forum, NHS and Scottish Ambulance Service and in such a way as to be delivered by specially trained fire service personnel in partnership with other emergency services. It is a curricular based, interactive, multi-media programme designed for S5 and S6 pupils.

The programme, which relies heavily upon the interaction between students and facilitators, requires students to ultimately take on different roles and ‘investigate’ the cause and problems associated with a Road Traffic Collision. They are also asked to look at how the incident could have been avoided and to report their findings back to their peers.

If you want to know more about “Cut It Out” or want to book the programme then please contact your local Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Area Headquarters or Service Headquarters for details.

www.strathclydefire.org

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

Team Update

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The Early Years team are busy preparing for our Pre Birth to Three conference taking place on Thursday 29th March at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. We are looking forward to hearing about ‘Creating Nurturing Environments’ and ‘Supporting Parents’ just to name a few of the presentations that will take place.

If you would like to learn more about Pre Birth to Three visit:

www.bit.ly/PreBirthtoThree

…and on Glow…www.bit.ly/PB23Glow

In the meantime keep an eye out for:

  • news of our Saturday Conference in May “Learning about Scotland in the Early Years” which will take place at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 19 May 2012 – save the date!

 

  • Our latest issue of Early Years Matters focusing on involving parents, featuring articles on our new publication Every Day’s a Learning Day, examples of practice from nurseries on involving parents and research findings from the Early Development Instrument.
CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Literacy, Literacy and English, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Religious and Moral Education, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

School Open Day – Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk Council

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School open day – using international education to develop a whole school approach to global citizenship

Venue: Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk

9:30am – 3.00pm

Thursday 17th May 2012

Note: this event was due to place at an earlier date in the year but has now been rescheduled for the date above.

Theme:  International Education

This CPD event offers practitioners and school leaders an exciting opportunity to visit Bo’ness Academy and attend Falkirk Council’s Global Citizenship Showcase Event.

Bo’ness Academy is an inspiring example of a school that has used international education as a vehicle to engage the whole school in global citizenship activities. Through the Comenius Programme and other well established links the school has developed a rich international programme connecting it to countries across the world including: The Gambia, The Netherlands, China, France, Germany and The Czech Republic.

A focus of the event will be to identify and share the practical lessons and ideas that have helped the school move forward on its journey including: 

  • Making global citizenship a key priority in the school and a focus for the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence
  • Using international links to explore important issues in a global context and to create engaging, meaningful and challenging learning experiences
  • Developing strong international partnerships which can be sustained and which have made an impact on every learner.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the Head Teacher, International Coordinator, staff and learners and also tour the classrooms and school. Time will also be set aside for participants to reflect and share their own experiences.

Download Programme for Bo’ness Academy Open Day 17May12

How to book

To book, please contact Megan Farr, Policy Officer, Falkirk Council. Email: megan.farr@falkirk.gov.uk or Tel. 01324 506671.

Places for the open day section of the event are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a free event!

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

Shakti Roadshows 2012: ‘Honour Based Violence’

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Shakti Women’s Aid have organised a series of road shows exploring Honour-based violence and Gender-based violence with a special focus on BME Children and Young People in different cities in Scotland.

The first road show will be held at the Auchterderran Centre in Fife on 13th June 2012

 Speakers will include:

  • Pragna Patel (Southall Black Sisters), 
  • John Fotheringham, (Lindsays Family Solicitors) who will talk about the new Forced Marriage Act
  • the FGM charity DARF on Female Genital Mutilation
  • Shakti Women’s Aid

 The event is free but booking is required: for more information & booking contact Ola on 0131 475 2399 or email info@shaktiedinburgh.co.uk

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All, Young people, children & families

Drug Awareness – Do You Know the Signs?

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Substance Misuse is a problem in many schools across Scotland but do you know what the signs might be and what to look out for? Possibly not so this special CPD event is aimed at you.

Constable Dougie McClounie from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency will deliver this Glow Meet on Tuesday 27th March from 4pm looking at the key issues surrounding drug education in Scotland.

He has wide range of experience including community policing and supporting young people in further and higher education. He was the drug awareness officer for Glasgow city centre and west end where he delivered a wide range of drug related presentations including inputs to all schools in the division.

Constable McClounie is now a member of the Interventions team at the SCDEA. He has a great interest in delivering drug education and awareness to support young people in making the correct choices in life. He also works in the planning teams for both Choices for Life and Shared Responsibility.

This Glow Meet will be useful to all practitioners working with children and young people. The importance of effective partnership working in substance misuse education will be discussed and there will be an opportunity to ask ‘tricky’ questions.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV – Health and wellbeing – Substance Misuse

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Responsibility of All

Archaeology – An Introduction

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Do you have an interest in archaeology and want to learn more? Why not join us for a Glow TV session on Thursday 22nd March at 4pm which introduces participants to archaeology and takes a step by step exploration of the work of an archaeologist.

The session will demonstrate how archaeology can support teaching of the curriculum, especially with regard to multi-disciplinary study and cross-curricular themes, such as numeracy, literacy, Health and Wellbeing and Outdoor Learning. It will finish with practical examples of archaeological activities which can be used in the classroom and resources which are available, including ways in which Archaeology Scotland can provide support.

On completion of the course, participants will:

• Be aware of the resources and support available to them by Archaeology Scotland
• Have gained information and ideas on how to use archaeology across the curriculum
• Have gained information and ideas on how to use archaeology to support outdoor learning in and around school
• Have gained practical examples of archaeological activities which can be used in the classroom.

So why not sign up and join us on the day in Glow TV – Archaeology – An Introduction

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing

It’s Not Too Late to Sport Your Trainers!

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Did you Sport your Trainers and get involved in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games on 12th March? If you didn’t take part though it isn’t too late you still can by registering in the Sport Your Trainers 2012 Glow Group and letting us know how you will continue to take part.

We challenged you as a school to try and reach a partner country by Commonwealth Day on the 12th March of this year and show your support for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games by getting involved in this year’s Sport your Trainers campaign. You were free to choose what country you wished to partner from the Official List of Partners and then you needed to find out how far away they were from your school!

We now want to know what you did or are hoping to do as we will be keeping the challenge going!

You can take part by walking, jogging, rowing, cycling, and spinning or even skipping, the choice is yours and all activities count, so get creative!

Last year 820,000 people across Scotland pledged their support, and we want 2012 to be even bigger! By taking part in this fun challenge we’ll all be doing our bit to support the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Official Glasgow 2014 shoelaces are up for grabs for all schools that take part so you just need to sign up below to let us know that you are taking part!!

So what are you waiting for, get active!

Did you miss our Sport Your Trainers 2012 event in Glow TV – well Watch Again and check out the pictures on our Your Pictures and Resource page too!

Adult Learning, Assessment, CfE, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Literacy and English, National Qualifications, Research, Responsibility of All, Senior Phase

Literacy in Action

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Literacy in Action: Supporting Colleges to Influence Early Years Practice

 The Literacy in Action: Supporting Colleges to Influence Early Years Practice Conference took place at Stirling Management Centre on Saturday 25 February 2012. This event was organised by Education Scotland to give Further Education lecturers an opportunity to hear about the Scottish Government’s Literacy Action Plan.

 View video of the keynote speakers here.

Enjoy!

Expressive Arts, Literacy, Literacy and English, Sciences, Technologies

Guitar Hero

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The ICT development team from Aberdeenshire Council was one of the first to engage with the Consolarium and as a result of this a number of games-based learning projects were identified. The idea of using the context of Guitar Hero as the main driving focus in a collaborative story that would enable cross-curricular work was one of the ideas that we wanted to explore.

A Sony PS2, the game and the guitars were placed with a willing teacher in a P7 class after the Easter break. This was the last term for the class so the teacher decided to use this as the main driver for the remainder of the term. Having teenage sons who played the game the teacher quickly became familiar with how it worked and devised a series of tasks that she believed would enable ‘connected learning’ to take place.

We then left the class teacher and the class with the resource and returned in the last week of term to discover a rich seam of creativity, learning and engagement from a class who had lost themselves in the world of rock and roll …

Click here to read the case study.

CLD, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Literacy and English, Mathematics, Responsibility of All

Wise up Wednesday – see our exciting new early years resources!

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Every Day’s a Learning Day 

Two new books have been published by Education Scotland to help parents and carers of young children to make the most of the learning experiences that exist in everyday life.

 ‘Every Day’s a Learning Day (Birth to 3 years)’ and ‘Every Day’s a Learning Day (3 to 6 years)’ aim to help parents support their child’s development in the crucial areas of health and wellbeing, literacy and numeracy.

 Both books are available in English and Gaelic language versions.

 www.educationscotland.gov.uk/everydaylearning  

There will be a copy of each of the books with the next issue of Education Scotland’s Early Years Matters.

The books will be distributed in the Scottish Booktrust’s Bookbug bags. The Birth to 3 book will go to parents when they visit their health visitor for their child’s first vaccination from March onwards. The 3-6 book will be in Bookbug bags for children when they turn 3 and join nursery.

Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Literacy and English, Technologies

Learning connections with game based learning

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Nintendogs game for the Nintendo DS, has been used to create a rich, dynamic and inclusive educational context for learners as part of a game-based learning initiative run by Learning and Teaching Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council.

The initiative looks at how the challenging, demanding and appealing world of Nintendogs can help support effective teaching and learning in Curriculum for Excellence.

The initiative provided content for learning in a P2 class. The teachers involved in the initial project and subsequent teachers that have used Nintendogs, made the game the central focus for projects that created connections across learning.

Caring for and nurturing your virtual pet was central to this game. Teachers created purposeful and relevant activities that involved learning in Art & Design. The videos showcase in more detail accounts of what the teachers and the children did and how the game impacted on their learning.

To read this case study click here.

Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Modern Languages, Responsibility of All

Fabulous new Fair Trade materials – French

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Many thanks to Linda Stormonth at St Machar Academy, Aberdeen City who has very kindly been willing to share her Fair trade materials with the rest of us across the nation!  they are well worth a look as they “raise the bar” in terms of the kind of language they exploit and exemplify ways of incorporating literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing into our lessons.  A very motivating and grown up topic – these materials could easily be used as an interdisciplinary project. 

To access the materials click here ( You will need your Glow password)

Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Research, Responsibility of All, Young people, children & families

Wise Up Wednesday – did you know about…?

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 Tracy’s Early Years Lowe-down

This weekly blog is the place Early Years Training Manager at the Scottish Book Trust Tracy Lowe (hence the pun-tastic title) shares new resources, interesting information and research relating to the early years.http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/blog/tracys-early-years-lowedown

NHS Health Scotland

NHS Health Scotland’s 2011 publications catalogue

http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/15300-PublishingCatalogue2011

Maternal and Early Years

This website is for everyone working in the early years workforce in Scotland. It covers a wide breadth of information relevant to practitioners at all levels. It brings together a wealth of up-to-date information, key resources and support.

http://www.maternal-and-early-years.org.uk/

SSSC Workforce Solutions

Practice Simulation for Childhood Practice and Practitioner Research

http://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com/course/view.php?id=27

CfE, Community Capacity Building, Literacy, National Qualifications, Religious and Moral Education, Religious Education in Roman Catholic schools, RME, Senior Phase, Social studies

Resources to support the teaching of Judaism in schools

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The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities website provides a wealth of information that can be used to support the teaching of Judaism in schools. The Resources section of the website has many useful documents including “Scotland Jews”. Their quarterly magazine “Four Corners” contains many useful articles and sources from people around the country that well help bring alive the message of what it means to be Jewish in Scotland today.

Many of the articles on the consultations pages will show you how Judaism in Scotland has reacted to many current moral and ethical issues that the Scottish Parliament has been discussing.

Please visit the website and browse this useful and engaging website full or articles and resources.

www.scojec.org.

Health and wellbeing, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, Sciences

Alcohol – using percentages to calculate units

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Glow Meet with Tom Renwick – Monday 12 March at 2 pm

Education Scotland will be hosting a Glow Meet with a difference with Tom Renwick from Maths on Track. Aimed at third level and suitable for S1, S2 and S3 pupils, this live transmission from the Medical School at Glasgow University, will examine the percentage calculations required to confirm units of alcohol, given the volume and alcoholic strength of the liquid.

Please note that cans of beer, as well as bottles of wine and spirits, will be used as examples of numeracy in the context of everyday materials.

Colleagues from the Medical School will be on hand to help explain the effects of units of alcohol on the body.

The lesson will last about 45 minutes and be available shortly after on Watch Again TV. You will need a Glow login to view this event.

Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies, Young people, children & families

Wanted! Creative teachers and CLD staff

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Are you creative in the classroom? Do you empower creativity in your young people?
Education Scotland is looking for teachers and CLD staff who use creativity in their work to speak up and share their creative learning and teaching approaches with the rest of Scotland through a series of very short online film clips.

Creativity in its purest sense involves generating original ideas that have value and crosses ALL areas of the curriculum (not just the arts) and we are looking for examples from subjects as diverse as PE, Languages and Maths. It could be the young people learning creative skills or an approach to lesson planning that is particularly creative. What creativity might involve can be found here: http://glo.li/xGyO32

Here are the questions we would like to put to you:

• What is creativity (to you)?

• Why be creative in your teaching?

• What happens when the young learners are engaged in a creative activity?

• What did you and your young learners do that was creative?
You might explain an example of what creativity looks like in your classroom or group.
You might detail day-to-day creative approaches or else explain a specific project, topic or development.
How did this specifically benefit you and the young people?

You will be filmed by a professional film company (they really put you at your ease) who will come to you, fit around your timetable, and the whole process of setting up and filming will take less than half an hour. Ultimately we are capturing just 3 minutes of glorious quality footage from you that will be shared through the Creativity Portal. This is a great opportunity to showcase your creativity to a national audience.

The filming will be arranged to suit you some time in the next three weeks.

It takes moments to offer your experience or suggest a colleague who you think would fit the bill:
Go to: http://glo.li/z0Mi3s
Email: Stephen.bullock@educationscotland.gov.uk
Phone: 0141 282 5194

Health and wellbeing, Mathematics

Glow Meet with Tom Renwick – Monday 12 March at 2 pm

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Alcohol – using percentages to calculate units

Education Scotland will be hosting a Glow Meet with a difference with Tom Renwick from Maths on Track. Aimed at third level and suitable for S1, S2 and S3 pupils, this live transmission from the Medical School at Glasgow University, will examine the percentage calculations required to confirm units of alcohol, given the volume and alcoholic strength of the liquid.

Please note that cans of beer, as well as bottles of wine and spirits, will be used as examples of numeracy in the context of everyday materials.

Colleagues from the Medical School will be on hand to help explain the effects of units of alcohol on the body.

The lesson will last about 45 minutes and be available shortly after on Watch Again TV. You will need a Glow login to view this event.

Click here to sign up!

Additional Support for Learning, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Supporting Learners

Scottish Network for Able Pupils event 21 March 2012

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Literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing: making the experiences and outcomes work for able pupils

The Scottish Network for Able Pupils is running a one day session for managers and teachers interested in looking at what the experiences and outcomes in numeracy, literacy and health and wellbeing might look like in practice for highly able pupils particularly in P4-P7 years of primary school.
The day will draw on findings from a recent research project undertaken by SNAP. Participants will have the opportunity to work alongside experienced SNAP staff to develop activities linked to the experiences and outcomes. They will hear about current developments in education and what this means for children who are working ahead of their age peers. Participants will leave with ideas and activities that can be put into practice in the classroom. These ideas and activities will not only support pupils who are highly able but will support the learning of all.

Date: Wednesday 21st March 2012
Time: 9.15-3.15pm
Venue: St Andrew’s Building, University of Glasgow, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow G3 6NH
Cost: £80 for SNAP members and for schools and Nurseries from Associate Tutor Authorities. £90 for non-SNAP Members
The day includes: all materials, tea/coffee on arrival, tea/coffee mid-morning, lunch.

To book a place please contact
Education-SNAP@glasgow.ac.uk
Our address is
SNAP
School of Education
St Andrew’s Building
University of Glasgow
11 Eldon Street
Glasgow
G3 6NH

Or fax :
0141 330 3476

Literacy, Literacy and English

World Book Day – 1st March

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Talk with the author of ‘Horrid Henry’ through Glow TV and find other online resources to help celebrate World Book Day.

World Book Day is held on March 1 and was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.

Speak with Francesca Simon, the author of the phenomenally successful Horrid Henry books, on Glow TV at 11am or at 1.15pm on Thursday March 1. The event is suitable for P1-P7 learners (age 5-12) and fans of the Horrid Henry series.

The event has been organised by the Scottish Book Trust. You can watch videos of previous author events – including Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson, Charlie Higson, Michael Morpurgo and many more – in the Scottish Book Trust Glow Group (Requires Glow login).

Find more resources for World Book Day on the Education Scotland website.

Early Years, Literacy and English, National Qualifications, Responsibility of All

Wise Up Wednesday – Literacy in Action

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On Saturday the early years team at Education Scotland hosted a conference at Stirling Management Centre – 

Literacy in Action: Supporting Colleges to Support Early Years Practice.

Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Children andYoung People launched our new resource for parents every day’s a learning day. This resource highlights the learning opportunities present in every day situations from sorting the washing to preparing meals. Watch this space for more information! 

The conference was very successful with delegates sharing their enthusiasm about the workshops and the speakers which included:

Jean Carwood-Edwards, Programme Director, Education Scotland

Scotland’s Literacy Action Plan – everyone’s responsibility   

Alan Bissett, Author

Literacy in Action – promoting a reading culture in Scotland

National Updates

Education Scotland – Inspection Framework 

Louise Gaddi, Qualifications Manager Care Scotland, SQA

Catherine Agnew, Inspector Manager – Registration,Care Inspector

Nina Roberts, Education and Workforce Development Adviser, SSSC  

World Cafe Workshops

Development Officers provided an overview of how their own area of work supports the Literacy Action Plan and lead discussions on how the resources available could be used with students of early education and childcare.

Irene Russell, Development Officer, Parental Involvement

Susan Doherty, Development Officer, Work with Young People

Hilary Bombart, Team Leader (Acting), Literacy and English

Anna Cartlidge, Development Officer, Early Years/Responsibility of All

Visit Scotland’s Colleges Blog to see a video of the key messages from the day.

CfE, Literacy, Religious and Moral Education, Religious Education in Roman Catholic schools, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Technologies

Church of Scotland Leaflets on Moral and Ethical Issues

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The Church of Scotland has published a series of leaflets about current moral and ethical issues. These leaflets link to the teachings of the church and the position that the Church takes on these issues. There are also reflective questions to help in your thinking about these issues.

These leaflets would be an ideal source of information for those teaching Senior pupils and in particular for NQ courses looking at moral issues.

Climate Change leaflet (1)

Synthetic Biology leaflet

Poverty leaflet

Stem Cells leaflet

Nuclear Weapons leaflet

Mental Health leaflet

Internet leaflet

Human Cloning Ethical Issues leaflet

Fair Trade Leaflet

End of Life Issues leaflet

Cloned Embryo Research leaflet

Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Mathematics

Happy Talk

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One factor that is increasingly being cited as an important economic indicator is happiness.

After all, what good is increased production and consumption if the result isn’t increased human satisfaction? Until fairly recently, the subject of happiness was mostly avoided by economists for lack of good ways to measure it; however, in recent years, “happiness economists” have found ways to combine subjective surveys with objective data (on lifespan, income, and education) to yield data with consistent patterns, making a national happiness index a practical reality

But at this moment in history, as GDP growth becomes an unachievable goal, it is especially important that societies re-examine their aims and measures. If we aim for what is no longer possible, we will achieve only delusion and frustration. But if we aim for genuinely worthwhile goals that can be attained, then even if we have less energy at our command and fewer material goods available, we might nevertheless still increase our satisfaction in life.

To read the full article click here.

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing

Sport Your Trainers 2012

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Sport your Trainers and get involved in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games!

As a school we’d like to set you the challenge of reaching your partner country by Commonwealth Day on the 12th March of this year and show your support for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games by getting involved in this year’s Sport your Trainers campaign.

You can take part by walking, jogging, rowing, cycling, and spinning or even skipping, the choice is yours and all activities count, so get creative. You can find out more about this in the Sport Your Trainers Glow Group.

To help celebrate this we will be having a special Glow Meet as part of the national launch and we will be coming live from Maddiston Primary in Falkirk on Thursday 23rd February at 11am. The athlete who will be appearing at the school is 18-year-old Scottish Pole Vaulter Jax Thoirs. Find out more about Jax.

Join us and find out more about Sport Your Trainers 2012 and ask your questions!! Sign up and join us in Glow TV.

Adult Learning, CfE, Community Capacity Building, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All, Supporting Learners, Young people, children & families

What are friends for?

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The presence of friends mitigates negative experiences, study proves

“Stand by me” is a common refrain when it comes to friendship; however, new research from Concordia University proves that the concept goes beyond pop music: keeping friends close has real physiological and psychological benefits. 

The presence of a best friend directly affects children going through negative experiences, as reported in the recent Concordia-based study published in Developmental Psychology. The study was conducted with the collaboration of researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Feelings of self-worth and levels of cortisol, a hormone produced naturally by the adrenal gland in direct response to stress, are largely dependent on the social context of a negative experience.
 
“Having a best friend present during an unpleasant event has an immediate impact on a child’s body and mind,” says author William M. Bukowski, a psychology professor and director of the Concordia Centre for Research in Human Development. “If a child is alone when he or she gets in trouble with a teacher or has an argument with a classmate, we see a measurable increase in cortisol levels and decrease in feelings of self-worth.”
 
A total of 55 boys and 48 girls from grades 5 and 6 in local Montreal schools took part in the study. Participants kept journals on their feelings and experiences over the course of four days and submitted to regular saliva tests that monitored cortisol levels. 

Concordia psychology professor William M. Bukowski | Photo by Concordia University
 
Although previous studies have shown that friendships can protect against later adjustment difficulties, this study is the first to definitively demonstrate that the presence of a friend results in an immediate benefit for the child undergoing a negative experience.
 
These results have far-reaching implications. “Our physiological and psychological reactions to negative experiences as children impacts us later in life,” explains Bukowski. “Excessive secretion of cortisol can lead to significant physiological changes, including immune suppression and decreased bone formation. Increased stress can really slow down a child’s development.”

According to Bukowski, when it comes to feelings of self-worth, “What we learn about ourselves as children is how we form our adult identities. If we build up feelings of low self-worth during childhood, this will translate directly into how we see ourselves as adults.”

The study builds on previous research at Concordia that has shown multiple friendships inoculate against negative outcomes such as bullying, exclusion and other kinds of aggression.
 
About the study
 The paper, “The Presence of a Best Friend Buffers the Effects of Negative Experiences,” published in the journal Developmental Psychology, was authored by William M. Bukowski of Concordia University in Canada, Ryan E. Adams of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and John Bruce Santo of the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the United States.

Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Think of a Learner…and a loop the loop

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Education Scotland’s Sciences Development Offier joined up with SSERC to work with Physics teachers from South Lanarkshire during their recent in-service days.

The Think of a Learner toolkit, under development to aid practitioners in self evaluation and engaging in professional dialogue, to explore in more depth the guidance and advice on CfE from the perspective of the individual learner, was used to stimulate and structure interesting and challenging discussion. This toolkit, designed to be used for individual, department, Faculty or whole school CPD,  addresses the most common questions and queries arising around new NQs and bridging from the BGE to Senior Phase. The theme was continued with some hands-on work including the amazing invisible test tube and new ideas for physics of motion using a loop the loop track and a neat piece of free software called Tracker.Jar. Together, we explored how learning and teaching in a three year Senior Phase can offer opportunity to build on prior learning and support the learning in achievement his or her potential.  

Many thanks for the teachers who worked hard on each of the two mornings, and to South Lanarkshire and SSERC for working in partnership with Education Scotland to support teachers with CfE.

Gaelic Learners, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Health and wellbeing Glow Meet Wednesday 22 February 1615-1700

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This Glow meet will provide CPD support to deliver the aspects of HWB that are the Responsibility of All. 

You will have the opportunity to hear about the building blocks of HWB to develop a whole school approach and a shared understanding of Responsibility of all.  This shared understanding can help teachers and partners to consider assessment in HWB, in particular on those aspects that are the Responsibility of all.

There will be the opportunity to post questions throughout the meet.

To join your colleagues, please click here. (Glow log in required).

Additional Support for Learning, Adult Learning, CfE, CLD, Community Capacity Building, Early Years, MCMC/16+LC, Responsibility of All, Senior Phase, Supporting Learners, Young people, children & families

The Review of the Community Learning and Development Strategy in Scotland

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The Review of the Community Learning and Development Strategy in Scotland
The discussion on the review of the CLD Strategy has now been widened and anyone interested can view the discussion paper and engage in the discussions online by going to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7T2R5CJ. 

This is the route for formal written responses to the discussion, and is an opportunity to drive forward essential aspects of key agendas including Curriculum for Excellence, the Literacy Action Plan, 16+ Learning Choices, regeneration and community empowerment. The Scottish Government also sees the discussion as a way of developing shared thinking on key issues including post-16 education, college regionalisation and the Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill.
Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Technologies

Community Café

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On Wednesday (02/02/12) I had the opportunity to visit Kate O’Regan a Primary 7 teacher at Livingston Village Primary in West Lothian. The Primary 7 pupils were preparing for the opening of their Café the following day. They described the processes they went through to set up the Café and also explained the skills they developed.

To find out more about my visit view the video of Primary 7 on the Chalkface Blog.

To find out about  the opening of the Café visit their blog.

Literacy, Literacy and English

The Daily What Newsround

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24/02/12 – 11am
The first of a whole series of ‘Daily What Newsrounds’ which we are all very excited about…

Every two weeks, on a Friday morning, Louise and Melisaa from our schools’ news service (The Daily What News- http://www.dailywhat.org.uk/) will introduce a fun-filled twenty minutes of news-related features.

This is the launch show, which will give Glow users a chance to meet Melissa and Louise and hear details of an amazing new competition they are launching. They will also give a tour of the site and discuss some of the most interesting stories from the past few weeks.

The show will continue on a fortnightly basis after that, with quiz features, special guests and lots of truly great learning opportunities.  Teachers will be pleased to be reminded that every news story has a related blog post of teaching and earning suggestions, so there’s lots of ideas to take forward with classes.

You will grow to really like Louise and Melissa and what a great chance for Glow users to find out more about the news in general and certain stories in particular.

CfE, Early Years, Mathematics, Responsibility of All

Developing Learning in Early Number Conferences 16th & 17th March

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The Numeracy team at Education Scotland is hosting events for practitioners on Friday 16 March in the Drumossie House Hotel, Inverness and again on Saturday 17 March in the AECC, Aberdeen. The aim of the event is to support effective teaching and learning of number in early years settings and primary schools. Throughout the day there will be opportunities to participate in workshops, network with colleagues, share good practice and hear key messages in numeracy.

 http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/newsandevents/events/2012/eventgeneral_tcm4687535.asp (Inverness)

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/newsandevents/events/2012/eventgeneral_tcm4687537.asp (Aberdeen)

 The event will be of particular interest to practitioners in early years settings and in primaries 1 to 3. If you are interested in attending this free event please email either staffdevelopmentunit@highland.gov.uk (Inverness event) or cpd@aberdeencity.gov.uk (Aberdeen event).

Health and wellbeing, Sciences, Technologies

Glow Science

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Glow Science is a great free resource offering rich engaging learning material for pupils aged 8-14. Inspire your pupils to engage with Science across the curriculum.

Glow Science is a stunning video-based learning resource designed for pupils aged 8 to 14 to engage their imaginations and enhance their understanding of Science in the modern world. Over 500 three-minute films and their associated learning materials (including quizzes, lesson ideas, extension questions, diagrams, images), cover Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science.

 Topics in Chemistry and Physics include the Periodic Table and Newton’s laws of motion; Biology includes films about the brain, heart, pregnancy, senses, muscles, lungs, hormones; Earth Science covers a wide range of topics from volcanoes to renewable energy.

Glow Science can be used in many different ways to support the Sciences experiences and outcomes, as well as other areas of Curriculum for Excellence. It has been available free to all teachers in Scotland since April 2011 and is accessed using your Glow username and password.

Katy Sowden, principal teacher at Williamston Primary school in Livingston, has seen a marked improvement in levels of pupil engagement since she started using Glow Science as well as helping to deepen her own understanding of science concepts. You can read a cookbook of Katy and her pupils using the resource in class.

Glow Science answers pupils’ questions: “What makes our blood red? Why do some people see smells and hear colours? How does the largest mammal on earth hold its breath for up to two hours? It allows learners to journey from Earth’s core to land surface, examining the layers that make up our planet; they can discover how our DNA make us unique and understand the scientific evidence that supports the Big Bang theory.

New content is regularly added to Glow Science. The latest Biology module is called Healthy Living and covers Health and Disease, Substance Misuse, Fitness and Nutrition.You can download a list of over 500 films from the Glow Science website.

Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Education Scotland Awards

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Health and Wellbeing Award

This category recognises schools and pre schools that are developing a holistic approach to health and wellbeing of children and young people, involving knowledge and understanding, skills and attributes necessary for mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing.

To nominate a school:  http://www.scottisheducationawards.org.uk/index.asp

CfE, Early Years, Responsibility of All

Early Years Glow Meet – Building the Curriculum 4: skills in the early years

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Wednesday 29th February
4.00pm – 4.30pm

This Glow Meet is appropriate for all early years practitioners.
Building the Curriculum 4 supports the planning, design and delivery of the curriculum in early years establishments, schools and colleges. It sets out skills for learning, life and work demonstrating how they are embedded in the experiences and outcomes.
Can we build employability skills in the early years? Should we be thinking about these within the early level? During the session we will speak to a practitioner who, in partnership with her colleagues, helps children develop the skills they need for their life now and in the future.
A key aim of this Glow Meet will be to promote discussion and to inspire practitioners to explore different approaches to skills development in the early years. Participants will have the chance to ask the panel questions and share ideas.
Hope to see you there!
Click here to sign up and find out more!
Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Health and Wellbeing Showcase, Thursday 9th February, Aberdeen

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The Health and wellbeing team welcomed over sixty practitioners to our Showcase event. 

We had a packed day celebrating good practice across the health and wellbeing organisers. There was a marketplace where many of our partners were available to discuss how they can support schools, these included Active Schools, British Heart Foundation, The Red Cross, Organ Donation, Sustrans, Health Working Lives and Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.  

Alison Hammerton from Outdoor Learning enthused with ideas that stimulated how schools can deliver health and wellbeing by taking the curriculum outside. Click here to go the Outdoor Learning Blog for updates.

We finished the day with a keynote speech from Craig Brown, former Head Teacher and current Manager of Aberdeen Football Club.  He shared some tales of football fun whilst integrating the key messages of health and wellbeing and gave us all a laugh too.

We hope our delegates gain a lot from the day and would encourage them to sign up to our HWB Community where we will share the presentations from the day and partner contact information. Click here to sign up to the community.

Also don’t forget to join Education Scotland on Facebook and Twitter.

Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing

Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS)

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The Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) is part of an important and long established series of national surveys on smoking, drinking and drug use. Information has been collected in Scotland from 1982 on smoking, 1990 on drinking and since 1998 on drug use. The latest survey was carried out during the autumn term of 2010 with a sample of over 37,000 pupils from S2 and S4 classes from across Scotland.

The report provides information on:

Prevalence of smoking, drinking and drug use
Frequency of substance misuse
Sources of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs
Pupils’ attitudes to substance misuse

The report makes very interesting reading and is useful point of reference for practitioners working with children and young people.

A summary of the report can be found at –

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/salsus.htm

Literacy, Sciences, Technologies

The Daily What in Mind Reading shock!

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At the start of February I was blogging about the amazing breakthrough in brain computer interfacing, reported widely in the press, which links to our forthcoming Bioengineering context on STEM Central.

Turns out those clever folks at The Daily What read my mind to come up with this article and interesting lesson ideas and suggestions. The Brain Quiz (mind reading not required, just click the mouse) can be used to introduce or refresh prior learning on the brain and nervous system, with ideas for discussion topics and links to information and animations to support learning and teaching.

CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Technologies

Falkirk – global citizenship showcase and school open day

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Falkirk Council global citizenship showcase and school open day

Venue: Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk

9:30am – 3.00pm

This event will now take place on Thursday 17th May 2012

This CPD event offers practitioners and school leaders an exciting opportunity to visit Bo’ness Academy and attend Falkirk Council’s Global Citizenship Showcase Event.

Bo’ness Academy is an inspiring example of a school that has used international education as a vehicle to engage the whole school in global citizenship activities. Through the Comenius Programme and other well established links the school has developed a rich international programme connecting it to countries across the world including: The Gambia, The Netherlands, China, France, Germany and The Czech Republic.

A focus of the event will be to identify and share the practical lessons and ideas that have helped the school move forward on its journey including: 

  • Making global citizenship a key priority in the school and a focus for the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence
  • Using international links to explore important issues in a global context and to create engaging, meaningful and challenging learning experiences
  • Developing strong international partnerships which can be sustained and which have made an impact on every learner.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the Head Teacher, International Coordinator, staff and learners and also tour the classrooms and school. Time will also be set aside for participants to reflect and share their own experiences.

Following the open day event, participants will also have the opportunity to attend Falkirk Council’s Global Citizenship Showcase event which will also be taking place in Bo’ness Academy from 4pm – 6pm. This will feature exhibitions and displays from leading organisations such as Eco-Schools and British Council and will showcase innovative global citizenship practice from many Falkirk schools.

How to book

To book, please contact Megan Farr, Policy Officer, Falkirk Council. Email: megan.farr@falkirk.gov.uk or Tel. 01324 506671.

 Places for the open day section of the event are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a free event!

Download programme for Bo’ness Academy Open Day >>

Additional Support for Learning, Adult Learning, CLD, Community Capacity Building, Health and wellbeing, MCMC/16+LC, Responsibility of All, Senior Phase, Supporting Learners, Universal Support, Young people, children & families

Adolescent Health and Risk Behaviours Symposium

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Adolescent Health and Risk Behaviours Symposium
Policy, Research and Practice

 Wednesday 29th February 2012

Royal Society of Edinburgh, George Street, Edinburgh

9:30am – 3:30pm

If you would like to register for a place, please complete and return this form to Renee Ingram (renee.ingram@scphrp.ac.uk).

CfE, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

Environment Online – a global schools network for sustainability

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Environment Online – ENO is a global virtual school network for sustainable development.

Learning is student and problem-centred with both online and offline activities. At the end of each theme there is a campaign week during which the results of learning are raised in local communities and on the web. Students eventually become ambassadors for the environment of their respective local communities and regions. Regular themes and have been forests, climate change, ecological footprint and different cultural themes.

The success of the ENO Programme  lies in the fact that it is run by teachers.  Over 7000 from 105 countries are part of the ENO network. The ages of learners involved range from 12 – 18 years.

Objectives 

  • to deepen environmental themes at schools
  • to add global awareness and internationality
  • to educate for active citizenship
  • to get schools from developing countries as active participants
  • to learn basic skills in ICT
  • to make a change together

 Visit http://www.enoprogramme.org/ to find out more.

Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Technologies

Internet Safety Competition

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Following the popular competition on internet safety in 2010 the Scottish Government will this year run a similar competition to coincide with Safer Internet Day on 7 February 2012.  The competition will run till 1 March 2012.  The theme for this year is ‘Connecting generations so that we can discover the digital world together safely’. The theme aims to encourage you to think about your internet use, and how other age groups might also use the internet.  Full details of the competition brief and internet safety information can be viewed here.

To view the Scottish Government Internet Safety Leaflet, click here.

Competition Brief

Literacy, Sciences, Technologies

STEM Central and Brain Computer Interfacing

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As we approach publication of the new STEM Central context on Bioengineering which includes a learning journey on Brain Computer Interfacing, interesting scientific research featuring in the news today.

Does this raise the possibility of a prosthetic which allows communication for those with motor neurone disease, or stroke sufferers?

Mind-reading program translates brain activity into words

Science decodes ‘internal voices’

Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Wise up Wednesday…..for parents!

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Health and Wellbeing Event for Parents – Saturday 25 February 2012

 The Health and Wellbeing team at Education Scotland is hosting an event for parents on 25 February at Stirling Management Centre. The event will start at 10 am and finish at 1 pm and is free to attend. The aim of this event is to outline the health and wellbeing entitlements for Curriculum for Excellence.

 There will be lots of opportunities for discussion about the different aspects of the health and wellbeing curriculum and how parents can support their children with this. Partner agencies will also be attending to facilitate some group discussions. This event will be of interest to any parent with children in the early years, primary and secondary settings.

 If you are interested in attending this event please register with Anne-Marie Lamont.  Anne-Marie.Lamont@educationscotland.gov.uk

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Literacy and English, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, Supporting Learners

Scottish Education Awards

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The Scottish Education Awards celebrate the hard work and success which takes place in Scottish education. They recognise the achievements of people who dedicate their lives to children and young people and showcase the valuable work and innovation in Scottish classrooms. Nominations close on Friday 2 March 2012. Visit the Scottish Education Awards website for more information.

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

A Right Wee Blether

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A RIGHT wee blether, a creative conversation led by Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People ran from 12th September – 31st October 2011. 

The Commissioner, Tam Baillie, has a responsibility to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people in Scotland.  A RIGHT wee blether encouraged children to creatively express how they feel by answering five key questions:

  • How are you feeling today?
  • What makes you smile?
  • Who is special to you?
  • You are given a special star, where will you put it? 
  •  What would you like to change?

The views and experiences of children have been captured and summarised. These responses, in addition to the consultation with school age children a RIGHT blether, will inform the Commissioner’s work over the next four years.

  • To find out more about the work of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People and a RIGHT wee blether please visit http://www.sccyp.org.uk/.
  • You can also see an example of  how this was put into practice by visiting St Joseph’s Nursery website.
Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All, Young people, children & families

Health and Wellbeing Profiles 2010, Scotland Overview Report

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Click here to access the 2010 health profiles, along with complementary profiles focussing on children and young people. These profiles highlight the considerable variation in health between areas and help identify priorities for health improvement. The profiles give a snapshot overview of health for each area using spine charts (which show how the area compares to the Scottish average), and allow further understanding of the results via rank charts and trend charts.

Literacy, Literacy and English, Sciences, Technologies

Hand of the Future

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Last night I was lucky enough to win tickets to the Tells They Tell presentation at the 26 Treasures Exhibition at the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.

For this exhibition, the museum selected 26 objects from their Scotland galleries, which together trace Scotland’s history from its ancient geological roots to its technological future. Some are iconic, others less well-known, but all have a story to tell. The 26 writers from poets and novelists to screenwriters, journalists and academics. The writers were paired up with objects at random, and set the intriguing challenge of responding to their object in exactly 62 words.

Object number 26 was a Bionic Hand which relates to our up and coming STEM Context of Bioengineering. (Watch this space for more information on this context being released).

To read the poem Hand of the Future click here.

Remember to visit STEM Central in Motion to find out how practitioners are using STEM in the classroom.

CfE, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

Global citizenship online community – now LIVE

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Do you have an interest in, or remit for, global citizenship? Need some advice or want to share ideas with like-minded practitioners?

If so, then you’ll probably want to have a peek at the shiny new online community for global citizenship on CPD Central. Join now so you can brag to colleagues about how you were one of the pioneering members .

Why have we set it up? Well, there’s always a buzz of ideas and sharing at our face-to-face CPD events and we thought it’d be amazing if we could find a way of bringing people together again and again to keep the discussion and buzz going. Well we’ve found a way!  Here’s your bit:

Step 1 – Visit http://bit.ly/DGConline and add your picture (Glow log in required)

Step 2 – Share an idea or ask the audience

Welcome gift! If you join before Friday 17th February 2012 we’ll be happy to offer you a special gift to welcome you to the community – one of our highly-prized global citizenship wall calendars (these have been flying off our shelves!).

CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

Whitelees Primary School – Open Day

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School open day

Whitelees Primary School, North Lanarkshire Council

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

Theme:  Sustainable Development Education

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here to download programme for open day

How to book

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

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