Tag Archives: secondary

11-18 Secondary School Play research project (Scotland)

Grounds for Learning Logo  go2playlogo  Inspiring Scotland

Grounds for Learning (GfL) the Scottish school grounds charity has carried out research into play in secondary schools. Funded by the Scottish Government via the Go2Play fund at Inspiring Scotland, these reports lay out a clear messages about the value of play for our adolescents in secondary school.

The project set out to understand the value of play in secondary schools – how do pupils benefit from good play and relaxation at break? In the process researchers spoke to Scottish schools to understand the current provision, opportunities and challenges. Finally the researchers looked in Scotland and beyond for inspiring ideas to improve play provision in our secondary schools.

Grounds for Learning is now looking for partners who wish to take this project forward, and lead changes in a number of Scottish secondary schools. To view the research and for further information on the project and how to get involved click here.

Save The Date: Social Studies and Digital Technologies Day


Social Studies and Digital Technologies Day
organised by Education Scotland

Date: 21st March 2015

Time: 9:30 – 3:00

Venue: Stirling Management Centre, Stirling

Places: 40 – open to all primary and secondary practitioners

This is an excellent CLPL opportunity to refresh and learn new approaches to integrating ICT and Technologies through Social Studies.
There will be three exciting keynote speakers in the morning, followed by an afternoon session with a choice of three interactive workshops.
A complete programme for the day and the opportunity to book a place will be published in early February.

New WW1 Gallipoli Resources on Glow

25th April 2015 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli. Education Scotland have created new resources to support secondary teachers with this topic. The resources approach the topic from the specific Scottish context and the involvement of Scottish regiments.

The resources can be found here on Glow: http://bit.ly/WW1Gallipoli

52nd Division
Scotland’s impact on Gallipoli was enormous and in fact, Gallipoli’s impact on Scotland was even greater. A whole Scottish division, bar two battalions, served at Gallipoli. The losses of the 52nd Division were so enormous that for the Scottish Lowlands it has been dubbed a ‘second Flodden.’ On 3rd July 1915 the division numbered 10,900 men of all ranks; by the 13th it had lost over 4,800 men. The impact on Scottish towns, villages and families in the Borders was so immense that scarcely a household between the Tweed and Forth did not mourn a loss. Hawick hosts its own Gallipoli Commemoration Event every year on the 12th of July to honour and remember all of the soldiers who lost their lives at Gallipoli whilst serving with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.

Quintinshill Train Crash
Poignantly, 210 52nd Lowlanders lost their lives before they had even left the country. Tragedy struck on 22 May 1915 when a train carrying the battalion HQ and two Companies of the 1/7th Royal Scots crashed in an accident at Quintinshill near Gretna while on route to Liverpool to meet the troop boat. 3 officers and 207 men died while 5 officers and 219 troops were injured. This is thought to be the worst rail crash ever to have occurred in Britain. Not only did the death toll reach 227 after two collisions but a secondary fire left very little behind.

Japan Webpage Contest

This contest is open to any UK school that is teaching Japanese or doing any kind of project related to Japan. Your school does not need to be teaching Japanese to enter the contest.

http://bit.ly/japanwebcontest

To enter the contest, all you need to do is make a simple webpage about the work that your school is doing with Japanese or Japan. This could be a blog, a wiki, or a page that’s part of your school’s website.

Your webpage could feature:

  • A project with your Japanese partner school
  • A report on your school’s visit to Japan
  • A report on your school’s Japan Day
  • Japanese or Japan-related resources that you have made to help your students
  • Japanese language work made by students
  • Other Japan-related work by students, e.g. from geography, history, art, sports, music, intercultural understanding, cross-curricular lessons
  • Students’ experiences of learning Japanese or about Japan
  • An overview of Japanese at your school

All entries to the contest will be featured on the website. You will also have your chance to vote for your favourite shortlisted entries, in the online voting poll.

Cash prizes and other prizes will be awarded to the best entries. Click here for more information.

In 2010, the Public Vote Award was won by Bearsden Primary School for their Godzilla’s Den website.

Look at other past entries for more inspiration. http://www.japanwebpagecontest.org.uk/vote2011.php

(The contest is organised by the Japan Foundation London. The Japan Foundation is Japan’s principal organisation for promoting international cultural exchange.)

Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools

Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools
When: Saturday 15th November 2014
Where: Speyside High School, Aberlour
Time: 9:30am-4pm

In the revised GTCS Standards for Career Long Professional Learning teachers are required to “understand and develop the most appropriate contexts for learning including outdoor learning and be able to apply appropriate pedagogies for these environments”. This event aims to support this and build confidence and capacity in the delivery of outdoor learning in secondary schools.

Throughout the day participants will have the opportunity to attend a variety of practical outdoor workshops delivered by teachers and outdoor partners. These workshops will showcase outdoor learning approaches and will demonstrate how these can be incorporated into practice.

A market place and other networking opportunities will allow practitioners to meet with outdoor partners and find out more about the range of resources available to further support outdoor learning.

This is a free event open to secondary staff in Scotland – in particular those who are starting out on their outdoor learning journey and wish to develop their confidence in taking the curriculum outdoors. There is an expectation that those who attend this event will be willing to share their learning with colleagues in their establishment.

Registering for this event:
If you wish to attend this event please register online by Wednesday 29th October @ https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7P9PS8R

Early registration is advised as this event is likely to be very popular. Workshop choices will be sent out at the start of November.

If you would like further information about this event please contact:
Fiona Cruickshanks, Development Officer, Outdoor Learning Fiona.Cruickshanks@educationscotland.gov.uk

Scottish Engineering Awards- Special Leaders Award 2014/15

lf you could be an engineer in Scotland – what would you do?

The Leaders Award for STEM is a Primary Engineer programme open to students from 5 to 19 years old. It is a fantastic way to increase their awareness of the breadth of opportunities open to them within STEM subjects. Students  have the chance to speak directly to professionals from different fields in STEM. This award is a great opportunity to engage pupils with real engineers who will convey the importance of STEM in their daily working lives. Schools will be able to develop relationships with industry, both local and worldwide, giving pupils a unique perspective of professions and their significance in the wider world.

The Challenge
Pupils are asked to research engineering and interview a practicing engineer to interpret the statement “lf you could be an engineer in Scotland – what would you do?”. Primary pupils are asked to illustrate their response, accompanied by 100 words. Secondary pupils are asked to illustrate their response, accompanied by 350 words.

The website contains resources and lesson plans which can help pupils get their research underway. Just visit the ‘Downloads’ section of the website at www.leadersaward.com.

All successful participants will receive a certificate and winning entries will be exhibited to the public at the Barony Hall, University of Strathclyde (date TBC).

Closing date: 10th February 2015

How to get involved
Register your school via the website www.leadersaward.com. Once registered, you will receive an application pack and further guidance on completing the award.