CfE, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Choices for Life Online -Primary 7 Event

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Choices for Life provides credible information to our young people on a range of important issues facing them in 21st Century Scotland in an inclusive, engaging and thought-provoking manner, to help them make positive lifestyle decisions and maximise their future potential.

‘Choices for Life Online’ is pleased to announce its new 2012 live event on Wednesday 7th November.

Hopefully it will be possible for you to join us live so pupils are able to be involved in this unique live event which was first delivered in 2011 .

Join us to see drama, video clips, music and have the opportunity to join a Glow Chat where pupils can comment on what they have seen in relation to key themes (drugs, alcohol and tobacco).

You will watch a drama ‘Liam’s Story’ which explores the issues around negative peer pressure and smoking. After the drama there will be a chance for you to ask questions to a panel of studio guests examining the range of issues,including family,negative peer pressure, substance misuse, aspirations and regret.

One of our live studio guests with be chart topping Scottish music artist Sandi Thom. She will be discussing her music career as well as her views on tobacco and alcohol. You can also watch Boogie and Dingo from Forth One Radio discussing experiences from their teenage years.

The event will be live and presented by Mark Martin and Laura Marks from our very own Choices for Life TV studio and will also include some other inspirational video clips from other inspirational role models such as The Wanted, District 3 and Emeli Sandi.

The event will be delivered twice on the same day, to maximise and facilitate as many pupils as possible to view. Sign up and join us in Glow TV the first showing is at 10.30am and the second is at 1.30pm.

CfE, Technologies

What does remembrance mean? – Winners of Moving Stories 2011

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This year Poppyscotland have teamed up with Glow TV to bring you a series of events about remembrance. This is the first of this thought provoking series.

Last year, Poppyscotland launched a new film making competition with schools called ‘Moving Stories’. The competition invited primary and secondary schools to create a script, storyboard or completed short film that represented their thoughts on the theme ‘90 years of the Poppy – then and now, 1921 – 2011’. Four schools were shortlisted and given the opportunity to work with a professional filmmaker for a day in order to remake their film. The final films were posted on the Poppy Scotland website to be put to the public vote to decide the overall winner.

The winner was St Brigid’s Primary School with their short film ‘James Stokes – A Gorbals Hero’.

During this Glow Meet you will get the chance to hear from and chat with St Brigid’s Primary school as they talk about their experience of entering and winning Moving Stories 2011 – and how you can enter the competition this year!!

Sign up and join us live on Glow TV on Friday 2nd November at 10am and remember that you can Watch Again if you can’t attend live.

Additional Support for Learning, CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing

ASN – Support through Educationally Based Theatre

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UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES OUTWITH OUR CONTROL THIS EVENT HAS HAD TO BE POSTPONED WE APOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

Meet Engross Theatre who are a registered charity that brings the principles of the Curriculum for Excellence to children with additional support needs, through educationally based theatre.

To do this effectively they meet with teachers of children with additional support needs to discuss the children’s learning requirements. Subsequently a play is written on the topic requested by the teachers. The play’s content, language level and presentation style is tailored to the abilities and needs of the target audience. Audience participation is an important ingredient in all their commissioned plays and to maintain high standards, they employ professional writers and actors.

All their educational outcomes adhere to the principles of the curriculum for excellence. Learning outcomes are measured by question and answer sessions immediately after performances, or through questions incorporated into the plays, and from feedback forms issued to staff after performances.

And as they seek funding there is no charge to the school!!

Why not join us on Thursday 1st November at 3.45pm and find out more about this exciting theatre company along with Teri (Theresa) McIntosh, Development Officer for Expressive Arts and hear from a teacher who has worked with Engross, Ellen Muir – Headteacher of Pilrig Park, School in Edinburgh.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV and if you can’t take part live make sure you watch the recording in Watch Again!

Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing

Inclusive practice in PE workshop 27th Oct 10-4pm

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Colleagues,

The University of Edinburgh, in cooperation with the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Survey Center, is conducting a survey to be completed by teachers in primary and secondary schools. The survey seeks to obtain a picture of how teachers support learners on the autistic spectrum in Physical Education. The results will enable a workshop event developed by Andrew Horrell from the University of Edinburgh and Michelle Grenier from UNH to be focused on instructional strategies that support the learning needs of the pupils. It will also provide a comparative perspective on the use of technology that supports learning. 

If you wish to attend this free workshop on the 27th October 10-4pm. 

Then please sign up here. 

http://tinyurl.com/inclusive-PE-workshop 

The workshop will take place at The University of Edinburgh, St Leonard?s land. More information about the venue and a programme for the day will be sent out via email to those who sign up. Places are limited. 

This survey will only be successful with your help. We know that you are extremely busy, but please take a few minutes to complete this confidential online survey. Your responses will not be connected to you in any way and will be compiled by the UNH Survey Center and reported to Andrew and Michelle in aggregate only. Please complete the survey by October 25th, 2012 for your responses to be included in the report. Simply click the following link to find out more and begin the survey. 

http://www.unh.edu/survey-center/asd12.html 

Thank you very much once again for your participation. If you have questions about this survey please contact Tracy Keirns at Tracy.Keirns@unh.edu. If you have questions about the workshop then please contact Andrew Horrell andrew.horrell@ed.ac.uk

Literacy

Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy resource

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This professional learning resource provides both an overview and further detail on children and young people’s strengths and areas for improvement in numeracy within measurement, and fractions, decimal fractions and percentages (including ratio and proportion).

It also provides guidance and advice to help inform leaning and teaching practice in line with the SSLN survey’s main objectives.

You can download the PDF entitled SSLN 2011 for all the following information from the Education Scotland website – Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy resource

The findings set out within this resource are based on an in-depth analysis of children and young people’s responses to tasks in the SSLN survey Section 1.

For each area of numeracy covered, survey-type questions are provided for illustrative purposes. This analysis provides all practitioners with an opportunity to reflect on, and explore planning for effective learning and teaching as set out in Section 2.

Explore aspects of performance at the following levels:

First level P4 – Measurement – Fractions, decimal fractions and percentages

Second level P7 – Measurement – Fractions, decimal fractions and percentages

Third level S2 – Measurement – Fractions, decimal fractions and percentages

Section 3 includes guidance and advice to support the delivery of ideas of chance and uncertainty.

Links to sections in the resource

Overview of strengths and areas for improvement in:

* Measurement and
* Fractions, decimal fractions and percentages (including ratio and proportion).

Online learning and teaching resources

Additional resources are available for fractions, decimal fractions and percentages, measurement, and ideas of chance and uncertainty are available at:

* First Level P4
* Second Level P7
* Third Level S2

You can find out more about SSLN on the Education Scotland website.

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Ready for Winter?

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With the first autumn storms sweeping across the country, widespread flooding and gale force winds already affecting communities up and down the country this is your chance to reflect on what you can do to prepare for the winter ahead.

We will mark this year’s ‘Ready for Winter?’ campaign (starting on 22 October) with a Glow Meet where top tips on how to prepare for severe weather will be explored by the Red Cross and others involved in preparing Scotland for emergencies.

Along with the opportunity to interact and ask questions, you can find out about the winning entries of the 2012/13 ‘Ready for the Year Ahead’ calendar competition. The event will also feature pupils and staff from Crookfur Primary School who will share their experiences and work on resilience education and emergency planning.

Sign up and join us on Thursday 25th October at 11am!

CfE, Expressive Arts, Literacy and Gàidhlig

Scotland Sings

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Learning about Scotland in partnership with Live Music Now Scotland are teaming up with Hands Up for Trad’s new Scotland Sings project to encourage everybody in Scotland to sing.

In this Glow TV Event on Wednesday 24th October at 2pm you will hear two of Scotland’s top musicians Ewan Robertson and Megan Henderson singing a short song in Scots and another in Gaelic. You will then get the chance to sing along during the event and on the 30th November during the ‘Scotland Sings’ event itself!

There will also be a competition for schools to write a short song and chorus with prizes for the winning entrants and the chance to performance the song LIVE on Glow.

We look forward to singing with you! Sign up and join us in Glow Tv!

Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Religious and Moral Education, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies

BBC Class Clips

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A group of Development Officers from Education Scotland worked with the BBC yesterday exploring BBC Scotland’s Learning Scotland website and the BBC Class Clips resource. It’s possible to embed BBC Class Clips in blogs and share links through social media. One handy feature for practitioners who are subject specialists is the ability to search for the clips used in BBC Bitesize. To find the clips, include Bitesize as a keyword along with your subject specialism.

Early Years

Wise Up Wednesday – SSSC On The Road!

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Are an employer, owner or manager, human resources adviser or training manager?

Yes? Then events are for you. They are also free!

Thanks to you, last year’s Scottish Social Services Council public forums were a big success. So they’re going back out on the road and visiting even more places. The SSSC will be in Glasgow for a half day event on Friday 26 October and in Edinburgh on Thursday 1 November, and you’re invited to come along and be part of two workshops.

The workshops will be run by staff from the Fitness to Practice and Sector Development departments. They’ll show you the benefits and purpose of workforce development and planning, registration, developing your skills as a worker or employer and much more.

Going along will give you the opportunity to:

  • speak directly to Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive of the SSSC
  • meet SSSC staff who will be on hand to answer your questions on a range of topics from applying to Register, help with your post registration training and learning, funding queries and qualifications to training
  • bring along new staff and staff who will need to register in the future to meet us and for them to understand what it means to be registered with us
  • tell us your thoughts and ideas – your experiences and concerns for the future of the workforce will inform the work that we do.

Due to the venue size places are limited so it will be first come first served.

Friday 26 October 2012 at the Scottish Youth Theatre, The Old Sheriff Court, 105 Brunswick Street, Glasgow, G1 1TF. Sign up here.

Thursday 1 November 2012 at The Merchants Hall, 24 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2EP. Sign up here.

More information is available here.

CfE, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Literacy and English, Responsibility of All

Did you miss Slowly Wins the Day?

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Are you working with an Early Years class and did you miss author Helen Hendry reading her new book ‘Slowly Wins the Day’? Well don’t worry you can still see it in Glow TV’s Watch Again section.

Slowly Wins the Day is a modern day version of the Tortoise and the Hare filled with passion and determination that also promotes exercise. This especially timely story tells of a little girl who loves to participate in sports but always comes last.

Even though she is saddled with the name “Slowly”, she still enjoys the thrill of competing and has never learnt to quit. A new fitness teacher joins the school and gives the children inspiration; encouraging them by telling them the story of Robert The Bruce. The teacher discovers Slowly has a special talent and a sport which she can excel.

The story shows that if you try hard enough you can succeed and that everyone has a talent and delivers a clear message about exercise and sport, that it should not be seen as a punishment but enjoyed by everyone.

It is a picture book and is approx. 1000 words, suitable for ages five to eight.

There is also a wealth of other recorded events that you might be interested in in Watch Again.

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Did You Miss The Choices for Life Online Website Launch?

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The brand new Choices for Life Online website was launched a few weeks ago at the Glasgow Science Centre with a personal appearance from Scottish singing sensation Amy MacDonald. If you missed joining in live you can still watch it in Glow TV’s Watch Again section – Choices for Life Online – The Live Launch!

The event itself was presented by Forth One’s Mark Martin and gave viewers the opportunity to hear how the website was built with messages from young people themselves. Choices for Life Online is a new exciting hub to get credible and reliable information on a variety of topics including alcohol, drugs and tobacco with extra information and links on internet safety.

Teaching materials ware also highlighted on the site and there is an opportunity practitioners an opportunity to share good practice. Visit the new Choices for Life Online website!

Also make sure that you sign up for the Choices for Life Online-Primary 7 Event being held on 7th November!

Early Years, Literacy, Sciences, Technologies

Sound context on STEM Central

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This week we’ve launched our  Sound context which includes learning journeys from early to fourth level. The context builds the storyline through our ability to make sound, sound as a tool of communication, for example through talk or by using music to convey a message. It progresses on to sound as a tool of communication at a distance and our ability to manipulate sound.

The progression begins with What’s that sound? for early level, an exploration of sound sciences and technologies through constructive play. Make the Sound provides further opportunity for enquiry-based learning, and hands-on sciences and technologies in  the context of sound.

How animals use sound, sound applications and communicating through sound are three learning journeys for second level, to illustrate breadth and application, and the basis for progression to Engineering Sound at fourth level, developed in conjunction with SSERC.

CfE, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies

21st Century Zoo – The Role of the Modern Zoo

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Why not find out more about the modern zoo and join the free one day Global Classroom Conference at Edinburgh Zoo on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th November 2012?

Find out if zoos really make a difference to the many species on the IUCN Red List under categories such as ‘Critically Endangered’

Join us, as students take part in free workshops to help answer these questions and more:
· Is there a place for zoos in the 21st Century?
· Should we have captive breeding programmes?
· What role does a zoo play in conservation?

The conference runs 9:30am – 3:00pm and is suitable for S3 – S6 students.

To book and further information please email: education@rzss.org.uk or phone: 0131 314 0335. Maximum of 15 pupils per school limited spaces available so book early.

Booking deadline: Friday 12th of October

Literacy, Modern Languages, Sciences

Space Junk

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This Space Junk clip from the BBC could be used to support and enrich learning ideas found in, Passeport pour la Francophonie ,a new website from Education Scotland. This website was developed to support the teaching and learning of French at 2nd Level. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14762620

CfE, Literacy and English

Raising Attainment in Literacy: Latin and the Romans

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Join us in Glow TV on Wednesday 3rd October at 4pm where we will be joined by Kate Coutts, Headteacher at Nesting Primary School, Shetland. Kate will be discussing how she has introduced Latin in the upper primary as part of an interdisciplinary Romans topic.

Drawing on extensive research, Kate will show how this approach can help engage boys in particular while raising attainment in literacy across learning. The target audience for this event is primary teachers.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV and also access relevant resources provided by Kate. If you are unable to join us live on the day please have a look at Glow TV’s Watch Again section where you can view the recorded version.

CfE, Literacy and English

The Daily What Newsround

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Tune in to the Daily What Newsround on Glow TV at 11am on Friday 28 September for a round up of some of the latest news stories, missing headlines game, and interactive quiz. We will also have exciting news about our big competition for this term. See you then!

Melissa and Louise, Daily What News team

Sign up and join in on Glow TV!

CfE, Health and wellbeing

Micro-Tyco School Enterprise Challenge

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Micro-tyco is a way of inspiring children and young people to think and be creative in an enterprising way while also becoming aware of business ethics.

Some Local Authorities were involved in this challenge last year and more are already signed up to participate in 2012.  The programme is supported by the business community including Sir Tom Hunter and Deloitte.

This initiative is endorsed by Mike Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and lifelong learning.

https://vimeo.com/49015338

The one month challenge kicks off at the start of November where learners work in team to transform £1 into as much money as possible. Micro-Tyco inspires an entrepreneurial environment that unleashes participant’s latent talents and develop new skills.

The funds generated go into support micro-finance in the developing countries around the world.

If you would like to view some videos from past participants please visit

http://www.wildheartsinaction.org/microtyco

If you are interested in registering teams now you can do so online:

http://www.micro-tyco-registration.com/

Prizes last year included a special private dinner with Sir Tom Hunter at his house for the top teams, a celebratory lunch and networking event at Deloitte’s offices for the top schools and t-shirts and badges for runners-up.

 For further information visit the website:

http://www.wildheartsinaction.org/microtyco

http://local.stv.tv/east-kilbride/news/188967-sir-tom-hunter-this-challenge-enables-young-people-to-be-all-they-can-be/

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

Testimony (RME)

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Testimony is Education Scotland’s new high quality resource to support learning and teaching in religious and moral education. It has been designed for use by both staff and senior phase pupils.

 

Testimony illustrates how faith, belief and values can influence how a person acts. It includes examples of religious and non-religious standpoints to show how people from around the world and in Scotland have been influenced by faith. The material includes the personal testimonies of some well-known individuals alongside the stories of ordinary members of faith communities.

 

It can be used to support learning within the new SQA award in Religion, Belief and Values and also supports the development of skills for learning, life and work.

 

Scott Duncan, Education Scotland’s RME Development Officer, was interviewed at this year’s Scottish Learning Festival about the Testimony resource – listen to a recording of the interview.

 

Find out more by visiting the Testimony web resource.
CLD, Community Capacity Building, Literacy, National Qualifications, Religious and Moral Education, Religious Education in Roman Catholic schools, RME, Senior Phase, Social studies

I Speak for Myself

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At Amina MWRC we are passionate about empowering and inspiring women, spreading knowledge of women’s rights and promoting positive images of Muslim women.  Last year 19 secondary schools across Scotland were visited to allow young people the opportunity to discuss Islam and Muslims.  Staggeringly over 70% of secondary school young people associated words such as “Terrorist”, “Foreign”, “Oppressed” and “Uneducated” to Muslim women. 

Responding to this, ‘I Speak for Myself’ was born.
 
From November 2011 until February 2012 we have engaged with over 300 Muslim women from Dumfries and Galloway to Elgin and all the major cities and towns in between.  For more information about our Roadshow click here.
 
September 2012  will see the launch of our national campaign ‘I Speak for Myself’ at the Scottish Parliament.  The campaign will exhibit over a hundred of the messages captured during our roadshow and aims to tackle misconceptions and common stereotypes about Muslim women, thus reducing inequality and sexual discrimination not only within the Muslim community but also in the wider society.

http://www.ispeakformyself.co.uk/

Expressive Arts

The Revised GTCS Professional Standards

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The current revision of the GTCS Professional Standards aims to provide a coherent framework of standards to support teachers at all stages in their careers. Previous Glow sessions have looked at the content of each individual standard and their value to Scottish teachers.

This final session will be led by the Education Team at GTC Scotland and will look at the common elements across the standards – the core values, leadership and sustainability and ask if the revised standards succeed in providing a helpful, career-long standards framework for the teaching profession in Scotland.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV on Thursday 27th September at 4pm.

If you have missed any of the other three sessions; Standards for Registration, The Standard for Career Long Professional Learning and Standards for Leadership and Management then you can view the recordings of these events in Glow TV’s Watch Again section.

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

Join Author Helen Hendry

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Slowly Wins the Day: A modern day version of the Tortoise and the Hare is a book filled with passion and determination that also promotes exercise. This especially timely story tells of a little girl who loves to participate in sports but always comes last.

Even though she is saddled with the name “Slowly”, she still enjoys the thrill of competing and has never learnt to quit. A new fitness teacher joins the school and gives the children inspiration; encouraging them by telling them the story of Robert The Bruce. The teacher discovers Slowly has a special talent and a sport which she can excel.

The story shows that if you try hard enough you can succeed and that everyone has a talent and delivers a clear message about exercise and sport, that it should not be seen as a punishment but enjoyed by everyone.

It is a picture book and is approx. 1000 words, suitable for ages five to eight.

Join Helen live from Corstorphine Primary School in Edinburgh on Thursday 27th September at 10.45am as she reads her book and then you will have the opportunity to ask her questions!

Sign up in Glow TV or if you miss the live reading remember to Watch Again!

Assessment, CfE, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Research, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Senior Phase

The Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Area Impact Project Report Launches at SLF 2012

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 Yesterday saw the launch of the Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Area Impact Project report in a lively and challenging session at SLF 2012. We were delighted to welcome to the session practitioners, partners, young people and parents as we shared the key messages from the report, and our strategies for taking this forward. Delegates were enthusiastic in joining the debate around the key strengths and aspects for development, talking together and reflecting on these, and on their role in taking forward the sciences 3-18 in Scotland.

 If you haven’t yet seen the report, you can find it on the Education Scotland website and join the debate on our Sciences Curriculum Area Impact Project blog. We have posted the shared outcomes of the discussions at SLF2012, which we hope will inspire you to blog and comment too!

CfE, Senior Phase, Social studies, Technologies

Free CPD from Ellen MacArthur Foundation

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Come along to these free CPD sessions by Colin Webster to learn more about the circular economy: a long-term, regenerative industrial system. The idea is taking off in boardrooms and in governments the world over. The only way to tackle the depletion of raw materials with their associated rise in prices and environmental after-effects, is to take a systems approach and design for disassembly.

Secondary school teachers of Design Technology, Business Management, the Sciences, Geography and other subjects will find the circular economy of great value to the curriculum. These interactive CPD sessions include a look at the free teaching and learning resources of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

 Find out more about the Ellen MacArthur Foundation at www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org.

In each case, teachers from the local authority should sign up for the CPD via the usual channels. Teachers from outwith the authority should contact colin@ellenmacarthurfoundation.org for more information.

Technologies

Get Game Design Software here…

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Education Scotland has a strong record in working to develop, grow and share innovative practice in learning and teaching with digital technologies. Recent work and support materials available in Glow enabled our emerging technologies team to help spread the practice of computer game design and much of this work has gained a strong reputation for being of real worth and value to educators and learners.

We are looking to continue our work in this area so that new ideas and contexts for learning can be offered to our various client groups. As part of our efforts in this area we have arranged a partnership with YoYo Games – a Scottish based computer games design company – who make a game design application called Gamemaker.

YoYo Games have donated a number of full licences for Gamemaker 8.1 to Education Scotland so that we can make those available to educators who wish to make use of them.

Our aim is to make these available to educators but to encourage them to join a collaborative and collegiate community within Glow so that we can continue to grow a culture for teachers and learners of creation and not just consumption of digital assets.

If you feel that Gamemaker 8.1 is something that you would like to use in your educational setting then can you submit a bid for up to a maximum of 30 licences detailing:

  • The context of your educational setting
  • How many licences you would need
  • How you plan to use Gamemaker 8.1  with learners
  • How you would commit to playing a constructive role in our Glow community

The closing dates for bids is Friday 5 October 2012 and the successful schools will be announced on this blog on Friday 12 October 2012.

Bids should be submitted to derek.robertson(at)educationscotland.gov.uk

Assessment, CfE, Early Years, Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Research, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Senior Phase

Launch of The Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Impact Project report

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Education Scotland today launches The Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Impact Project report. The sciences and social studies reports are the first two reports in a Curriculum Impact series designed to present a subject-by-subject picture of how children and young people are experiencing learning in different areas of the 3-18 curriculum across the country.

Providing subject-specific analysis and evaluation of current practice, based on a range of independent inspection activities, the report identifies emerging innovative and thought-provoking practice, while highlighting important areas for development. Published on the web, the report will be refreshed from time to time with links to newly-identified, practice and evidence, a dynamic approach that will keep the reviews contemporary on an on-going basis, and relevant to developing needs.

A summary for children and young people has also been published, along with a summary of key strengths and aspects for development.

The publication is intended to provide a focus engagement by children and young people, parents, practitioners and the wider sciences community in Scotland.

Through our Sciences 3-18 Impact Project blog, we want to engage all those involved in the sciences 3-18 to talk together  about how we can work together to take forward the key messages of the report.

This outward facing, public blog is a mechanism to allow engagement by all.

 

 

 

 

Talk with us on bit.ly/sciences3-18.

The STEM Professional Learning Community will also act as a focus for professional dialogue and learning around the Sciences 3-18 Impact Project. Join us, using your Glow login in, on bit.ly/stemhome.

Early Years, Technologies

Wise Up Wednesday: New Parent Resource

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The Scottish Government’s play, talk, read campaign encourages parents and carers to incorporate playing, talking and reading within their daily routines. By playing, talking and reading with their children more often, parents and carers can lay firm foundations for children’s long-term learning, behaviour and life chances.

The play, talk, read website offers a fun, one-stop resource that is easy for parents to use, with lots of handy tips and advice. Digital books, an online community, interactive videos, games and promotions are available for use on the site. Parents can also watch TV advertisements from the campaign and gain top tips and advice from other parents.

Registering with the site allows parents to access a new interactive mobile phone app for parents and children to play together wherever they are. During the game parents are given prompts such as to take turns, and count the bubbles with their child. Having played the game parents are then invited to visit the play, talk, read website for more play ideas.

The app is available for both android and iphones.

Expressive Arts

Games Legacy: Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games – Mascot Glow Meet

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Join us live from the Scottish Learning Festival this year and be one of the first people in Scotland to welcome the Glasgow 2014 Mascot, fresh from his launch that morning! Not only will you have the opportunity to meet the Glasgow 2014 Mascot but he will be joined by Michael Jamieson, silver medal winner in 200m breaststroke. You will have a unique opportunity to meet the Mascot, see the Schools Premiere of his animated short film and engage with his prominent friends including David Grevemberg CEO Glasgow 2014 in a Q&A session.

Thursday 20th September 2012 @ 13:45

Duration: 30 minutes

Find out more and sign up or if you miss the live event please view the recording in Watch Again.

Health and wellbeing, Technologies

Science on the Menu

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Do you have an appetite to run a Science Club?  Hungry for new ideas?  Then our mouth-watering menu of food and drink investigations is for you!  Science on the Menu not only dishes up a tasty feast of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) experiments for upper primary, but also a goody box stuffed with science equipment and teachers’ notes.  S1/S2 can also get a slice of the action by requesting a DVD with a full menu of experiments and teachers’ notes (resource kits are limited to primaries only).  

Pick ‘n’ mix from our range of Light Bites experiments or get your teeth into our four multi-week “mains” projects.

Light Bites:

Tongue Twisters – tasting with your nose

Our Daily Bread – “Rise to the Challenge” by investigating yeast

Tootie Frootie – fruit experiments

ThirstQuenchers – purifying water – “The Deserted Island Challenge”

Takeaway – experiments to do at home

 

Mains:

A Lot on Your Plate – investigating starch, sugar, protein etc

Sow ‘n’ Grow – looking at properties of soil

The Chocolate Box – investigating issues at a struggling chocolate factory

The Great Scottish Dessert Challenge – an enterprising project to invent a new frozen dessert – thanks to the wonders of science, no freezer is required!

What’s in the kit?

 

Test tubes and tongs, pipettes, gloves, pH indicator strips, aprons, gloves, beakers, neodymium magnets, funnels, eyeshields, mortar and pestles, scales, digital thermometer, blotting paper, filter papers, chemicals with safety notes, food colouring, bimetallic strips, batteries and battery holders, marbles, croc clip leads, motors, pulleys, buzzers, switches, Teachers’ Notes and pupil report sheets.
 

Whetted your appetite?  Then apply for a free kit by 30 September.  A limited number of free investigation kits (valued at £200 per kit) are available for registered primary Young Engineers and Science Clubs – you can register online at www.yecscotland.co.uk   You will be notified by mid October if your application has been successful.  Secondaries are welcome to apply for the DVD.

Health and wellbeing, Technologies

Whose Going to be Gone?

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Gone is an inter-active, cross-curricular alcohol education programme developed for use with S2 pupils by NHS Forth Valley.  The programme examines 4 characters as they transition from primary school to secondary school.  The themes addressed in the programme include growing up, the changing nature of friendships, pressures and choices, alochol use , s*xting and resilience.

Sign up for the workshop at the Scottish Learning Festival on Wednesday 19th at 3pm.

Research

Research Round-up – tell us what you need!

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Education Scotland are currently reviewing Research Round-Up, our bi-monthly educational research scanning service and are keen to hear the views of the education community.

Research Round-Up presents the latest educational research and statistical reports from a range of government departments, educational agencies, research organisations and other sources.  The latest version from August 2012 can be viewed via this link.

Research Round-Up has been produced in its current format since 2009 and we are keen to ensure that it remains relevant and useful, while taking account of the developing landscape around professional learning and the current needs of the Scottish education system.

Your input is vital and it would be appreciated if you could complete this  short survey telling us what they think about Research Round-Up, and how we can make improvements that will help you in your work.

Please feel free to contact us at research@educationscotland.gov.uk if you have any questions.

CfE, Health and wellbeing

STOP PRESS- Daily What Scoop!

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Glow TV in partnership with the Daily What is delighted to announce that our special Olympic Celebration event which is taking place on Friday 14th September at 11am will now feature gold medal winning canoeist Tim Baillie and double silver medal winning canoeist David Florence!!

Tim Baillie is a Scottish slalom canoer who represented Team GB in the recent Olympic Games in London. From Westhill in Aberdeenshire, he and his canoe partner Etienne Stott won a gold medal for Great Britain and also had a post box in Westhill painted gold to honour Tim’s victory in the Olympics. They even had a special stamp issued to mark their achievement!

The team will also be joined by double silver medal winning canoeist David Florence. David won silver in the 2008 Beijing and again in London 2012. When David was younger he lived on the same street as Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy!

So sign up and join us in Glow TV to ask your questions and be part of this exciting event. If you can’t be part of it live be sure to Watch Again!.

Assessment, BtC5, Moderation

Moderation Innovation Summit 31.8.12

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As part of Education Scotland’s on-going commitment to moderation, practitioners from across the country gathered in Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline for an Innovation Summit. The focus was on celebrating and sharing the good practice of the participants, all of whom had developed moderation projects of differing sizes which have now been successfully exemplified on the National Assessment Resource.

A highlight of the day was the presentation by Douglas Brown and Chris Morris from Glasgow who gave an excellent insight into how they worked with five other Glasgow secondary schools to develop a moderation CPD resource for use in departments. It was clear that their bright spot of good practice was extending across the city. There was high demand for the ‘little white book’ of moderation they had produced.

Sheila Quigley PTC at West Calder High School, who is recently seconded from her role to join the assessment team shared how her cluster took one Health and Well-being E&O and moderated the evidence of learning, looking closely at progression. The richness of the evidence gathered was inspiring.

Another highlight of the day was the Marketplace where the moderation projects were on display, facilitating a buzz of professional dialogue. George Sinclair, previously Head of Service in Moray and now Senior Education Officer and National Coordinator for Assessment, QA, and Moderation rounded the event up in the Marketplace. Having given a very clear and concise presentation on moderation earlier in the day, George left the participants inspired to build on the projects and embed the moderation good practice between classrooms, schools, clusters, local authorities and beyond.

All presentations from the day have been uploaded onto the Glow assessment section in the ‘events’ tab, where there are many good presentations and resources at your disposal.

CfE, Early Years, Literacy, Literacy and English

Wise Up Wednesday – National Poetry Day

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This year National Poetry day is on Thursday 4 October 2012. During National Poetry Day, people all over the UK take part in a celebration of great poetry. 

Poetry helps us to remember stories, from Jack and Jill all the way to the Odyssey. Children love rhymes and rhythms, but poetry also helps to improve literacy skills.

You can download poetry posters and practitioners’ notes from the Scottish Poetry Library website. This year’s theme is Stars and the resources include “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in both English and Scots.

To keep up to date with what’s happening at the Scottish Poetry Library and find out about their resources, training and freebies, you can sign up to their monthly e-newsletter here. As well as support for practitioners, their website also has a useful section for families.

Further resources to support National Poetry day are also available in the resources section of the Education Scotland website.

Please come back and tell us in the comments what you have planned to celebrate National Poetry day in your establishment!

CfE, Early Years, Research, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Technologies

SLF 2012: Forensic Rookies, Transition and the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust: Scottish Islands and Mainland ICT and Science project

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With a week to go until SLF 2012 kicks off, there are only a few spaces remaining in session N1A “Forensic Rookies”, presented by Professor Susan Rodrigues and Neil Taylor. The workshop will share the findings of a recent project involving 3 pairs of primary & secondary schools from several different local authorities, and the sustained impact in those local authorities where this project is being rolled out further. Learners and practitioners views and feedback will be shared, and delegates can get hands on with forensic investigation activities. This project was supported by funding from AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust and led by Professor Susan Rodrigues and Neil Taylor as part of the suite of ‘Partnerships in Primary Science’ (PIPS) CPD projects.

There have been a series of videos made using learners and practitioners which will be used within the session, and these will are also available via the ScienceEdResearch channel YouTube.

The individual vodcasts for each school:

Brae High; Blairgowrie; Coupar Angus; Inveralmond Community High; Urafirth; Westfield

Visitor registration for SLF 2012 is now open!

CfE, Health and wellbeing

Asthma across the Curriculum

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‘Two in Every Classroom’ is a new interdisciplinary resource for secondary schools. It is an online resource produced by Asthma UK Scotland for secondary school teachers in Scotland. The resource aims to help schools use new and creative ways to embed asthma within Curriculum for Excellence while raising the profile of the most common long-term condition in schools.

Join us on Monday 17th September at 4pm in Glow TV to find out more about this resource.

In this Glow Meet Emma Graham from Asthma UK will discuss the benefits of using the new resource across the curriculum. Emma will be joined by Nicola Masterton, PT Pupil Support from Grangemouth High School who will give a practitioners perspective on how to use ‘Two in Every Classroom’ to enhance learning as part of the Health and wellbeing curriculum.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV and if you miss the live event make sure you catch the recording in Watch Again!

CfE, Research

Standards for Leadership and Management

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GTC Scotland have been working on a revision of the Professional Standards, and have published drafts of each of the revised standards for consultation, with a view to publishing the Standards at the start of 2013.

Join us in Glow TV on Thursday 13th September at 4pm to find out more about The Standard for Leadership and Management. The draft revised standard for Leadership and Management has been extended from the previous Standard for Headship to include a standard for middle leadership as well as the Standard for Headship, in order to meet the needs of all teachers in, or aspiring to formal leadership roles in our schools.

This session will be led by Gillian Hamilton, Head of Education Services at GTC Scotland and will explore the thinking behind the revision of this planned standard, as well as some of the planned content.

Sign up and join us live in Glow TV or view the recording via Watch Again.

Health and wellbeing

ScotRail Safety Campaign

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ScotRail have produced a resource pack teaching primary school pupils aged four to 11, Scratch and the Train Gang which features cartoon characters who provide easily accessible safety messaging for children.  It is designed to provide teachers with ready-made resources; including poster competitions, stickers, sing-along YouTube videos, and sheet music and colouring-in books.  These aim to enable children to recognise and avoid unsafe situations by engaging with cartoon characters Freddie, Sally, Callum, Norah and their loveable dog Scratch.  Winners of the poster competitions can have their work displayed at ScotRail stations.

 Resources for secondary school pupils aged 11 to 18; include a YouTube video called ‘Teens Talk Safety’, which looks at the most typical types of unsafe behaviour from teenagers in stations and the potential consequences. It confronts these issues in a serious, but sensitive way, and could be a useful tool for safety discussions in the classroom.

To view the video clips click here.

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Literacy and English

Daily What Newsround Olympic Celebration Special

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Join the Daily What News team live on Glow TV at 11am on Friday 14 September, the day when Scotland’s Olympic and Paralympic heroes will parade through Glasgow.

The team will be joined by a very special Olympic guest – tune in to find out who and to send in your questions!
We will also have our usual news roundup, quizzes and fun.
Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

If you are unable to attend this event when it is being transmitted live then you will be able to watch a recording of it in Glow TVs Watch Again facility.

Assessment, CfE, CLD, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, National Qualifications, Research, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Supporting Learners, Technologies

Glow TV – Watch Again!

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Have you read about an event in Glow TV and wanted to join in live but were unable to because of other classroom commitments or timetabling? Do you want the ability to view exciting or interesting pupil focused Glow Meets at a time that is convenient to you? Do you want to enhance your Professional Learning at a time that suits you? Well you can in Glow TV’s Watch Again facility!

All Glow TV events are recorded so if the time of the live event isn’t suitable for you and/or your class to join in you can still have the opportunity to watch the recorded version at a time that suits your timetable or other classroom/personal commitments.

Watch Again is available in Glow TV and you can filter all the recordings that have taken place over the past 17 months either by name or by the programme category eg Literacy and English, CPD etc or by the programme tags.Once you have found what you want to watch simply click the Watch Again link which will take you to your chosen programme (and all the others in that channel category too!) and you can then view the recording at your leisure. You can also have the opportunity in our Watch Again Feedback Forum to let us know how useful you found the recording and if/how it enhanced your or your classes learning.

So why not take part in Glow TV when it suits you? You may not be able to ask questions in a live environment but you will still be able to see and listen to experts in their field and have fun in our numerous interactive Glow TV events.

Early Years, Expressive Arts

Wise Up Wednesday – Early Years Creative Network

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What creative activity for early years happens in your community? 

Would you like more access to the arts and creativity for early years? 

Would an Early Years Creative Network help? 

Starcatchers is carrying out some research into the potential of an Early Years Creative Network for Scotland.

They would like to hear the views of people across Scotland as part of this process – from parents, childcare professionals, artists, arts organisations, local authorities, and other local and national organisations working across different sectors within Early Years in Scotland.

They are holding a series of events where you can share your views, at the following locations:

• Tuesday 25th September at Eden Court, Inverness from 2pm – 4pm

• Wednesday 26th September at Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling from 3.30pm – 5.30pm

• Tuesday 2nd October at Rothes Halls, Glenrothes, Fife from 2pm – 4pm

• Wednesday 3rd October at Tron Theatre, Glasgow from 4pm – 6pm

• Monday 8th October at The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen from 10.30am – 12.30pm

• Tuesday 9th October at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh from 4pm – 6pm

Places at these events are free but must be reserved by emailing info@starcatchers.org.uk

Visit Starcatchers for more information.

CfE, Mathematics

Support for Mathematics – Twig on Glow Resource

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Mathematics CPD on Glow TV – 10th September at 4pm

Join us for the next Glow TV event to explore new materials supporting learning and teaching in Mathematics.

Twig World Ltd, the company behind the popular Glow Science, has released an additional two subjects – maths and geography – to their online resource. The addition of over 200 films brings the total online content to over 1000 high quality short films with related learning materials.

Twig on Glow can be accessed from www.twigonglow.com as well as from within Glow.

The new maths materials include a range of topics from space, measurement, shape, number, algebra, accuracy and proof, statistics and probability and a history of maths.

Twig films are high quality, inspiring videos to support the curriculum and engage learners using real world images rarely seen in the maths classroom. The everyday application of mathematical concepts provides answers to those pupils who struggle to see ‘why maths matters.’ The support materials complement the videos to explore topics from ‘The Heartbeat formula’ in Algebra to ‘Why do we count in tens’ in Number.

“The resource fits nicely into CfE. The films instigate discussion and that’s a really important thing… it’s about getting the kids to understand and think for themselves.” Maths Teacher, West Lothian

Mathematics CPD – 10th September at 4pm

Join us to find out what’s new, get a tour of the website from Twig staff and speak to teachers who have been using the materials.

To find out more and sign up click here.

CfE, Literacy, Literacy and English

Edinburgh International Book Festival – Watch Again!

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Did you miss the Glow TV coverage live from the Edinburgh International Book Festival? Well don’t worry you haven’t missed out as all the events were recorded and are available in our Watch Again section in Glow TV.

During the festival Glow TV was filming at the following:

Twists, Turns and Thrillers with Ally Kennen an event suitable for S1-3. Find out more and Watch Again.

Steve Barlow & Steve Skidmore present Action Dogs! an event suitable for P4 – 7. Find out more and Watch Again.

International Rescue with Sally Grindley an event suitable for P4 – 7. Find out more and Watch Again.

Rhyme, Rhythm and Rap with Brian Moses an event suitable for P3-P6. Find out more and Watch Again.

Ghosts and Ghouls with Andrew Hammond an event suitable for P7- S3. Find out more and Watch Again.

Drawing Inspiration with Tony Ross an vent suitable for P1- P4. Find out more and Watch Again.

Each event was accompanied with for Curriculum for Excellence teaching ideas on the Edinburgh International Book Festival website Education section.

Don’t miss out make sure you check out Glow TV’s Watch Again section for this and many more exciting events.

CfE, Expressive Arts

Rehearse with Random Accomplice

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Join Tron Participation on Wednesday 12th September at 2pm live from the Tron Theatre as we take a sneak peek into the rehearsal room with Random Accomplice as they prepare for their upcoming show ‘The Incredible Adventures of See Thru Sam’.

Our Glow Meet will allow you to see the company, meet the cast, watch some rehearsal exercises and ask questions to the creative team.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see one of Scotland’s most versatile and energetic companies at work.

Sign up and join us!

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing

Choices for Life Online – The Live Launch!

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Join us live from the Glasgow Science Centre on Wednesday 12th September at 11am for the launch of the brand new Choices for Life Online website.

Presented by Forth One’s Mark Martin you will have the opportunity to hear how the website was built with messages from young people themselves including how important it will be to have a new exciting hub to get credible and reliable information on a variety of topics including alcohol, drugs and tobacco with extra information and links on internet safety.

Teaching materials will also be highlighted on the site and give practitioners an opportunity to share good practice. We can’t confirm who will press the button to launch Choices for Life, but stay tuned and we will announce it as soon as we can…….!

Sign up and join us in Glow TV for this exciting event!

See a preview of the new Choices for Life Online website before the live launch.

Expressive Arts

The Standard for Career Long Professional Learning

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GTC Scotland have been working on a revision of the Professional Standards, and will publish drafts of each of the revised standards in August for consultation, with a view to publishing the Standards at the start of 2013.

Join us in Glow TV on Wednesday 5th September at 4pm to find out more about The Standard for Career Long Professional Learning.This draft standard aims to support teachers to continually develop and advance their thinking, learning, practice and expertise. The actions, knowledge, skills and abilities identified in the SfR will continue to be the foundation of practice with teachers who are working with this standard evolving and developing their practice and expertise further and beyond the registered level. The Standard recognises that during their careers teachers may undertake a variety of roles within and beyond the classroom. It also recognises the potential leadership roles that all teachers have.

This session will be led by Tom Hamilton, Director of Professional Learning at GTC Scotland, and will explore the thinking behind the development of this standard, as well as some of the planned content. Sign up and join us in Glow TV for this event.

If you missed the first Standards for Registration Glow TV event on 30th August you can view it in Glow TV’s Watch Again section.

Other forthcoming events include Standards for Leadership and Management on 13th September with a final session on all three standards The Revised GTCS Professional Standards on 27th September.

CfE, Expressive Arts

Spotlight on Theatre

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Festival Theatre Edinburgh, The Lyceum Theatre and The Traverse Theatre are holding a unique interactive careers event on Tuesday 11th September. Places to attend have already been booked up, but if you are interested in finding out more, and watching the sessions you can now join in on Glow TV.

The event is aimed at 5th and 6th year pupils interested in pursuing a career in the theatre, and will also act as a CPD session for Drama, Guidance/Support Teachers and Career’s Advisors. In addition pupils in upper primary and lower primary may be interested in many aspects of the day.

It is a busy day with lots to join in with:

Directing and Writing for Theatre live from The Traverse Theatre – 10 – 11.30am
As Scotland’s New Writing Theatre the Traverse prides itself on the close relationships they have with our writers. Join our Associate Director for a practical workshop that explores the relationship and journey of a playwright and director. Sign up and join us for this event in Glow TV.

Acting live from The Lyceum Theatre – 12 – 1.30pm
Take part in an acting skills workshop with our Drama Artist and learn all about careers in Acting and the routes and courses which can lead to them. There will also be a Q and A session with a professional actor – so have your questions ready! Sign up and join us for this event in Glow TV.

Marketing, Press, PR and Programming live from the Festival Theatre Edinburgh – 2.30 – 4pm
An introduction to careers in arts administration, focusing on marketing, press, PR and programming. Our experienced staff share their tips for the top in promoting and selling theatre to diverse audiences across the central belt of Scotland, but beware – it’s not all paparazzi and showbiz glamour! Sign up and join us for this event in Glow TV.

CfE, Young people, children & families

Be at the heart of your child’s learning

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Today sees the launch of a national campaign which aims to help parents and carers develop a better understanding of Curriculum for Excellence and how they can become more involved in their child’s learning.

Children do better when families support their learning. From reading together; spending time talking and listening through to finding out about their day and helping them prepare for exams – involvement makes a world of difference.

Curriculum for Excellence is raising standards of learning and teaching across Scotland. It is preparing children and young people with the skills and qualifications they need for a fast changing world. 

Parentzone is a website dedicated to providing parents and carers with the most up to date information about their child’s education. It provides practical advice and ideas of how parents and carers can be involved in their child’s learning as well as essential information on features of Curriculum for Excellence.

Get involved today by visiting www.educationscotland.gov.uk/parentzone.

 

CfE, Literacy and English

Daily What Newsround – It’s Back!

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The Daily What News eds return after the summer break with an action-packed round-up of the site’s latest stories.

With fun games such as the latest stories in numbers and discussion topics that would engage even the most reluctant participant, Louise and Melissa return on Friday 31st August at 11am LIVE from Glow TV’s Glasgow studio.

We think these news girls are just fab and their approach to the show is likely to be light-hearted and fun, whilst introducing some inspiring opportunities for classroom discussion and ideas about how to use the news site’s stories in school.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

Expressive Arts

Standards for Registration

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GTC Scotland have been working on a revision of the Professional Standards, and will publish drafts of each of the revised standards this month for consultation, with a view to publishing the Standards at the start of 2013. As part of this consultation you are invited to find out more and air your views on the three new sets of Professional Standards through Glow TV events. The first of which is the Standards of Education which will take place on Thursday 30th August at 4pm.

The draft revised Standards for Registration incorporates the Standard for Provisional Registration and the Standard for Full Registration. The Standard for Provisional Registration outlines what is expected of a teacher at the end of their Initial Teacher Education and the Standard for Full Registration outlines what is expected of of a teacher at the end of their probationer year, as well as what all teachers are expected to maintain and enhance over the course of their career. By including these two standards in one document, we have attempted to demonstrate the expected progression at the start of a teacher’s professional learning journey.

This session will be led by Mairi McAra, Education Adviser at GTC Scotland, and will explore the thinking behind the revision of this standard, as well as some of the planned content.

Other events include The Standard for Career Long Professional Learning on 5th September and Standards for Leadership and Management on 13th September with a final session on all three standards The Revised GTCS Professional Standards on 27th September.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV for an opportunity for you to have your say on Standards for Registration.

Health and wellbeing

Join us on the Cooking Bus

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On Friday 31st August at 9.15am Glow TV will be coming live from Glasgow Caledonian University with the Focus on Food Cooking Bus.

Throughout the year Focus on Food Cooking Buses are at work across the UK visiting schools and communities. Sessions cover key aspects of food education from food preparation skills to nutrition, food safety and hygiene. All ingredients and equipment are provided, a session at the on the bus leaves behind expertise, enthusiasm and skills. The Cooking Bus supports the continued implementation of the experiences and outcomes within the health and wellbeing framework of Curriculum for Excellence.

Tune in to meet the team who tour Scottish schools on the Focus on Food Cooking Bus.

· Find out what happens when the bus visits your school.

· Find out how the bus can build confidence around practical cooking in the classroom.

· Find out how to request a visit from the bus for your school or cluster.

Sign up and join us in Glow TV or request further information from Kerry Crichton – kerry.crichton@educationscotland.gov.uk

Health and wellbeing, Young people, children & families

Teachers Urged to Report Missing Pupils

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Teachers across Scotland are being asked to be look out for any pupils who don’t return to school after the summer break for fear of being at risk of a forced marriage.

A new booklet with advice and practitioner guidelines are available to all teachers to provide them with practical help on how to deal with a pupil that may be under threat of forced marriage or at risk of physical or mental abuse associated with this.

With experts at the UK Forced Marriage Unit predicting over 350 young people across Britain will be forced into marriage when they go abroad over the summer, the Scottish Government has teamed up with support agencies in Scotland to develop the booklet which includes information on forced marriage and how to get help locally.

Of the estimated figures collated through support agencies in Scotland, it is believed that almost 20 per cent of the 59 people who contacted support agencies were under 18 and concern both boys and girls.

Teachers are key to the campaign to raise awareness of forced marriage and the protection offered by the legislation, so they can help those under threat of a forced marriage. School or college may often be the only place where the potential victim can speak freely.

To help teachers recognise potential forced marriage victims, the Scottish Government has identified a number of important warning signs to look out for. These include:

• a student being anxious about talking about school holidays
• surveillance of a student by cousins or siblings at school or being met by family at the end of the day
• a student is prevented from going on to further or higher education.

Other equally important signs to consider include: persistent absence; requests for extended leave; decline in behaviour, performance or punctuality; not being allowed to attend extra-curricular activities or sudden announcement of engagement to a stranger.

If you are concerned about forced marriage yourself or worried about someone in your care, help is available. For advice, support and protection, call 0800 027 1234 in complete confidence or visit yourrightscotland.org.

Practitioner guidelines are available to view or download on the Scottish Government’s Forced Marriage web pages which can be viewed on the Scottish Government website.

Assessment, BtC5, CfE, CLD, MCMC/16+LC, Senior Phase, Young people, children & families

Get to Know the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Scotland Seminar

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Wednesday 14 November 2012

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is holding a seminar on Wednesday 14 November from 5pm to 7pm at their offices at Rosebery House in Edinburgh. The aim of this seminar is to:

  • Provide an overview of the charities structure and work;
  • List current partner organisations that are delivering DofE;
  • Provide an overview of the DofE programme and it’s uses in different settings;
  • Look at how the DofE is delivering on local and national outcomes;
  • Look at opportunities to deliver the DofE as a licensed organisation.

This FREE event is aimed at anyone with an interest in delivering the DofE whether that be a practitioner, manager or volunteer.

Contact: Sarah Hayden at The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, phone: 0131 343 0920  e-mail

Mathematics, Sciences, Technologies

If you could be an engineer…what would you do?

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Engineers touch every aspect of our lives but frequently we do not recognise who they are or what they do. To inspire young people to become engineers we must first help them to understand what it is that engineers do, what inspires them and what it takes to become one. Engineering as a rich, stimulating and challenging context for learning in sciences, technologies and maths is the basis of Education Scotland’s STEM Central resource.

Today saw the launch of a challenge for learners in primary schools in Scotland. Scottish Engineering and The Leaders Award for STEM are challenging learners to become Leaders for STEM in their schools by considering what they would do if they were an engineer.

Engineers will visit schools and answer questions from learners, hoping to inspire a generation with their experiences.

Learners are challenged to draw or write ‘What I would do if I was an engineer in Scotland.’ Competition closing date is 30th November 2012 with winners announced on the 7th December 2012 and all shortlisted entries displayed in The Barony Hall at the University of Strathclyde  Glasgow on 15th and 16th December.

For more information how to enter visit: www.leadersaward.com.

Leaders Award co-ordinator: Susan Loxley susan.loxley@leadersaward.com

CfE, Health and wellbeing

Outdoor learning at the Scottish Learning Festival

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We are taking learning outside at this year’s Scottish Learning Festival and are delighted to be able to announce that some of our creative partners in outdoor learning will be offering free events and workshops across the Clyde on the Glasgow Science Centre site.  Please visit the Getting Outside Blog to find out more about the programme, which includes free workshops from Grounds for Learning, Creative Star Learning, Fruitful Schools, Forestry Commission Scotland and Cairngorms National Park Authority/Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

Our grateful thanks to the Glasgow Science Centre who have given us their grounds and their café space for our various activities. Registration for these free events and workshops is not available through the main SLF site, so please register early with the individual organisations offering them, using the links provided on the blog. Places are offered on a first come, first served basis. For more information, please contact julie.wilson@educationscotland.gov.uk.

Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Mathematics, Social studies

Dennis the Menace becomes a global citizen

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Who’d have thought it? Dennis the Menace becoming a global citizen and the Bash Street Kids growing their own vegetables and getting their 5-a-day!

In the forthcoming special edition of the Beano, primary school pupils will get to see a very different side of their favourite characters. Scottish Business in the Community, a charity that actively encourages businesses from all sectors to improve their impacts on the economy, environment and society, has teamed up with one of its members, DC Thomson, to support the creation of a special edition Beano designed to engage young people in environmental and societal issues in a positive and fun way.

Sent to every primary school pupil in Scotland, the free special edition Beano will incorporate the key themes core to SBC and central to creating a sustainable future for Scotland including: 

  • Environment / visioning the future
  • Health & wellbeing / growing your own veg
  • Employability and soft skills
  • Responsible citizenship and community

 This special edition Beano is supported by a teachers information pack linking to Curriculum for Excellence.

 Dr Alasdair Allan, Minister for Leaning, Science and Scotland’s Languages, is very supportive of the initiative saying, ‘I welcome the opportunity afforded to schools to use resources such as this to engage the children in positive and more importantly, fun learning experiences.’

 Comics will start arriving in schools towards the end of August.

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