Following on from our engagement work discovering Jolomo, there was whole-school learning through the visual arts in both Dunbarney & Abernethy Primary Schools – it could be said there was a hive of artistic activity. So, let’s have a look at some distinctly Scottish outcomes.
P1/2 – got to grips with all aspects of tartan, weaving & some Katie Morag for good measure
P4 – carefully considered and constructed a targe each to carry into battle
P5 – created treasures inspired by Mary Queen of Scots through jewellery design & feltmaking
All of this fantastic artwork was celebrated in an exhibition Inspired by Scotland, visited by family & friends over the course of several days. Pupils also performed song, dance & poetry in an expressive arts event, drawing the whole project to it’s conclusion. Finally Scran would like to congratulate the staff & pupils on a job well done!
Here’s the final update on the partnership work with Mrs. Dalgleish’s wonderful Primary 5 class, at Law Primary School in East Lothian. After bated breath, the wind got up enough strength allowing us to complete our exploration of aerial photography. The sun shone, we went outdoors & finally flew the kite aerial photography kit. See how we fared by browsing through the gallery below.
Yes, we did it:)
Law Primary School
Preparing for lift off
Looking across to the Bass Rock
Primary 5
Look!
Up, up & away!
The school before extension 2015
Aerial photography in action
Exploring local aerial photography on Scran
Online Research
My house, in 1974
Mapping Archives to Aerials
Sharing our findings
The Exhibition
Looking for visual clues
Creative Writing
“Shoarmonger”
Biopoems
During an InSET session yesterday Law Primary School staff had a presentation detailing the full project. It was agreed that the class had achieved their learning intentions & much more besides.
I will be able to use Scran confidently to research a topic
I will have a better understanding of aerial photography
There was a frantic afternoon of printmaking with P6 yesterday, who worked really hard. Today we are going to consider the detail & visual clues within the work of Scottish artist, Willie Rodger. In particular this example, “Day Out, Ferrara”, from 1998. The class have a selection of questions to investigate and will use Scran to become art detectives, using their visual literacy skills to discover what’s going on in the picture.
Our printed figures & silhouettedpeople, the Bearsden commuters, have been drying on the rack overnight. Next, we will incorporate them into our collaged frieze alongside local landmarks & architecture. We are looking forward to seeing the outcome.
Scran is spending the next two days working with P6 in Killermont Primary School. Word on the street is, they’re a creative bunch – so we’ve devised a printing project. We’ll start by looking closely at the work of local Dunbartonshire, artist Willie Rodger.
As well as finding out about print-making, P6 will think about their local landscape too and the Victorian commuters who shaped the streets of Bearsden. The collections from East Dunbartonshire Leisure & Culture Trust on Scran will add that extra layer of context for our learning. We’re going to get our hands dirty & by the end, have made a really cool collage.
So far this week Law Primary School have thrown themselves into their research & investigation using Scran.
Yesterday, P5 used their digital detective skills to look at local heroes. The class then applied impressive, creative writing skills to produce some brilliant biopoems – all about local father & son, John & Freddy Marr. Here’s a sample of their hard work…
John or Daddy
Friendly, Brave, Jolly, Caring
Father of Alfred, Grandad of Chris
Who loved gannets, coastal nature and communicating with local people
Who felt happy, free and calm
Who feared damage of nature, hate and sharks
Who wanted to see dolphins jumping and red sunsets
Scran will be working closely with the P5 class at Law Primary Schoolin North Berwickthroughout next week. Together we will be examining lots of local content and weaving what we find into our learning journeys.
As well as being digital, weather permitting, we’ll be taking to the skies with our camera & K.A.P. kit. So please, fingers crossed for fair weather over East Lothian.
Many of the resources we will use in class come from East Lothian Museums Service who are contributors to the collections on Scran. For example, this rather quaint souvenir is leather bound and originally contained 15 black & white photographs with tinted skies. It was published by Valentine of Dundee around 1895, so it gives us a clue as to how long people have been visiting the beautiful seaside at North Berwick.
What more will our Primary 5 digital detectives be able to discover about where they live? We’ll be looking at lots of aerial imagery, considering how the town has changed and expanded over time. We’ll think about traits & trades which may have remained the same and finally, when we reach the end of our collaborative investigations, we will share our findings – so tenterhooks until then.
Whether you simply enjoy looking at art, perusing design classics, studying the visual arts at school or university – or you just need a picture of an elephant for a project – Scran can be of assistance. Intended to whet your appetite, the above gallery post is a just a tiny sample of the fabulous Art & Design content we have available.
For any Blogging Bootcamp schools out there working on a Glow Blog, which is public, it is best to follow the example set in this post. When using Scran content in this manner, it is permitted to insert the thumbnail sized images, then hyper link them back to Scran & of course, attribute the copyright holder – see below. Meanwhile happy blogging!
It’s all happening in Highland this week at Culloden Academy. Scran has been invited to work with senior pupils studying the SQA Higher History syllabus. The focus will be on accessing resources and records related to the three main topics for the year;
Besides learning how to use Scran as a research tool, the Culloden students will also be thinking about digital assets, copyright how to attribute their sources appropriately.
This “Good Luck” image is a firm favourite in the Scran office and you can find it amongst our records on emigration. It shows five well-dressed ladies posing with the Captain on board ‘SS Marloch’, before setting sail for Canada in 1924.
After school, the Social Subjects & RMPS staff will have to knuckle down too. The twilight session is part of our ongoing schools CPD and CLPL offer.
Are you planning to visit a local historic property? If so, you may be interested to know that we have a whole host of new Pathfinders on Scran, investigating Historic Scotland properties. They are bursting with fabulous maps, photographs, film footage, reconstruction drawings, aerial views as well as information for teachers, attached in PDF format.
From Arbroath to Urquhart, many of these informative guides are also available in Gaelic, for use in the classroom or on site during a school visit.
So, if you are studying a particular castle, abbey or historic site in Scotland, these resources are a must.
Recently we’ve been getting to grips with the kite aerial photography kits provided by Dr. John Wells of the Scottish National Aerial Photography Scheme (SNAPS). As you can see we visited Tantallon Castlefor a practice flight. We were quite pleased with our results & the potential for learning.
We are planning on piloting this activity with schools over 2015/16, so if you are interested please contact us& lets’s go fly a kite!
We believe exploring the aerial photography collections on Scran, in combination with the active learning involved in kite aerial photography, could lead to all sorts of creative learning.
For example, studying aerial photography can support the following Curriculum for Excellence experiences & outcomes within Social Studies.
describe the major characteristic features of Scotland’s landscape and explain how these were formed (SOC 2-07a)
discuss the environmental impact of human activity (SOC 2-08a)
explain how the physical environment influences the ways in which people use land by comparing the local area with a contrasting area (SOC 2-13a)
use knowledge of a historical period to interpret the evidence and present an informed view (SOC 3-01a)
compare settlement and economic activity in two contrasting landscapes (SOC 3-13a)
explain the impact of processes which form and shape landscapes on selected landscapes in Scotland, Europe and beyond (SOC 3-07a)
evaluate the changes which have taken place in an industry and debate their impact (SOC 4-05b)
discuss the sustainability of key natural resources (SOC 4-08a)
Salisbury Crags Holyrood Park
assess the impact of developments in transport infrastructure in a selected area (SOC 4-09b)
describe and assess the impact of human activity on an area (SOC 4-10a)
explain the development of the main features of an urban area and evaluate the implications for the society involved (SOC 4-10b)
