In this edition, the National CPD Team looks back at the highlights of a summer of CPD and looks forward to a new session.

  CPD communities on Glow 

Educators from all parts of Scotland are sharing; interesting practice, ideas, intentions, issues and insights. They are taking part in free, online CPD in the CPDMeet programme. They are enjoying a direct line to colleagues who can answer their CPD questions.

To join a CPD community, all you have to do is add a photograph of yourself and agree to take an active part in the community.

CPDCentral is the main CPD community for all educators on Glow but there are also specialised communities for CPD leaders, supply teachers and those interested in Learning Rounds.

  Leadership snippets 

» The Flexible Route to Headship programme continues apace and Jim Keegans of the CPD Team has recently published some design principles. More information on team blog

» The 4^th Leadership Summer School took place in early August. Well over a 100 colleagues took part and are continuing the sharing on Glow. See Summer School now on Glow post.

» Independent leadership organisation, SELMAS have appointed Margaret Alcorn as convenor. Margaret chaired the 4^th September event in Edinburgh. Watch the CPD Team blog for posts over the coming week

» The CPD Team recently surveyed members of the CPD Network and have published an interesting overview of practice. See Leadership Survey post

» The recently established leadership group are now in the process of reviewing the 2003 paper – CPD for Educational Leaders

  Professional Review and Development 

New members of the team, Bob Cook and Catriona Oates, are leading on an initiative to enhance the PRD experience for school staff. The aim is to build upon the findings and case studies contained in the CPD Team’s Draft Paper of 2008 on Professional Review and Development – PRD Study 2008. Catriona and Bob have so far met with 15 of the 18 councils who have come ‘on board’ with this initiative.  An online survey will shortly be available to assess people’s experiences of PRD, both as reviewee and reviewer. Find out more in the PRD blog post

  Learning Rounds   

Learning Rounds has been getting a lot of attention recently including this article in TESS. The pilots are coming to a close and the full report will be available in October. In addition, Margaret Orr of the CPD Team will be launching an online community on Glow group to support the recently developed Learning Rounds toolkit.

  What’s new on Glow? 

» CPDMeet12 Interdisciplinary work for Primary for CfE – Alison Drever on CPDCentral,
» Students learn better online. Research from USA – Con Morris on CPDCentral,�
» Who owns the CPD in your school? – Catriona Oates on CPDLead

  Bits and bobs 

In these exacting times for CPD budgets, you might want to pay a visit to CPDFind which includes free online CPD from HMIE, SQA, LTScotland, SCRAN and many more.

Like many others, the CPD Team were happy to contribute to the Donaldson Review of Teacher Education and we look forward to the preliminary findings to be revealed at the Scottish Learning Festival

The Engage for Education website is an online hub for direct conversations between Scottish Government ministers and all interested in Scottish education

Last but not least, come and see the CPD Team-related items in action at the Scottish Learning Festival. Find out more on the SLF2010 blog post.

Thank you

Margaret Alcorn

National CPD Coordinator

If you are attending, then you might want to keep an eye out for:

CPD for Curriculum for Excellence: Teachers make the Difference

Leading the Way: Ensuring Effective Leadership for Improved Standards

Learning Rounds: One School’s Story

Emerging Strengths and Challenges from the Review of Teacher Education in Scotland

And don’t forget that as part of its commitment to innovative CPD, the Team is proud to be one of the sponsors of TeachMeet SLF10

The aim is to build upon the findings and case studies contained in the CPD Team’s Draft Paper of 2008 on Professional Review and Development – PRD Study 2008

Catriona and Bob have so far met with 15 of the 18 councils who have come ‘on board’ with this initiative.  An online survey will shortly be available to assess people’s experiences of PRD, both as reviewee and reviewer. 

The next phase will be to support developments at authority level which will feed into a two day seminar in early 2011, by which time we hope to be clear about how we can make a real difference to the professional learning of school staff and the classroom experience for young people.

The different schemes usually require volunteers to be over 18. If you fit this category by January 2012 or 2014, or know of young people who do, then these opportunities may excite your interest.

‘London 2012 Games Maker’ is the official London 2012 volunteering programme. There will also be a Young Games Maker programme to be launched in summer 2011 for under eighteen year olds. 

And the ‘Wave of Friendship’ is another volunteer programme, and promotes and supports the exchange of volunteers between Scotland and London by providing bursaries to cover travel, accommodation and other expenses. Volunteers can choose any opportunity that takes place between now and September 2012 that demonstrate the values of the Olympics movement: Friendship, Respect, Excellence, Courage, Determination, Equality and Inspiration. Suitable opportunities are likely to be for a set time period, rather than an ongoing commitment, and could include supporting an event, carrying out an assignment, etc.

At a European level, 2011 has been designated the European Year of Volunteering, and many more openings for volunteers and stories about their experiences will be highlighted during the year.

This exciting Glow Meet will feature contributions from three people involved in working in the emergency services; Acting Police Sergeant Kevin Murphy, Paramedic Bryan Finlay and Station Commander Moira Richardson from the Fire and Rescue Service.

The event is coming live from Lasswade High School Centre in Midlothian. Using Glow school students from across Scotland will be able to hear about the wide range of career opportunities that are on offer in the emergency services.

Not only can you learn about what it is like being involved in the front in during emergency services but also in all the many behind the scenes roles that are vital to the work of the emergency services. There will also be a chance to ask any of the speakers questions about their job, the skills they require and about how they got a job in the emergency services.

Join us on Wednesday 15th September from 2-3pm in the World of Work Wednesdays Glow Group. You can also sign up to take part in the event now!

West Lothian schools followed their progress via Glow.  An Auld Alliance Glow Group was set up to by Laura Compton and her colleagues from West Lothian and the National Glow Team, to allow teachers and pupils to collborate together and share their learning.

The Glow Group had four main areas:

Follow the Journey

This area was at the centre of all the excitment and gave pupils and teacher the opportunity to follow the cyclists. In this section a Twitter feed allowed Alex and his team to keep the pupils up to date with what was happening on their journey. There was a tracker so the pupils could see where abouts they where on their journey and video diaries from the cyclists. One school even completed a cycling challenge in their classroom where the pupills had to cycle the same distance as Alex and his team, this was streamed live into Glow, so that everyone could see what was happening. Well done P6/7 at St. Nicholas Primary! This section also included a sharing area, where schools could share the Glow Groups they had been working on in their classroooms in relation to the project.

What’s it all about?

This section included a brief overview of the project and links to websites that teachers and pupils might find useful. It also included a sign up sheet for the project so schools could see which other schools were involved, so they could begin to make links with them.

Teacher Resources

This area allowed teachers to collaborate together for lesson ideas. Teachers could upload lesson ideas and plans that they had completed with their classes. They uploaded their resource to a Custom List and tagged their resources, which meant teachers could easily search for resources.

What’s Happening in Your Classroom

This area was at the hub of the project. In this area pupils and teachers could share what they had been learning in their classrooms in a Glow Blog. On the Noticeboard teachers found instructions as to how to create a post on the Glow blog and add a photo. Then teachers and pupils could go in and create a post for the blog and there was also a section to view the blog. Pupils took part in numerous class activites including; Glow meets between classes to share the learning, learning about different parts of a bike, using Purple Mash to create cyclist profiles, Early Years Glow Meet, making monuments from Paris using Knex and Lego, running and cycling activities, and lots more. The Glow Blog was made public so that parents and carers could view it. To view the Glow Blog click here.

In 2011 there is an opportunity for teachers and other adults to take part in a bike ride in Malawi itself. Link Community Development, which supports educational development in several African nations, has organised a ten day sponsored ride to raise funds for local school improvement.

The Weather and Climate Change website is now live at http://www.LTScotland.org.uk/weatherandclimatechange/

 This new online resource complements our existing website for learners in secondary schools which has recently been updated as part of the wider restructuring of LTS online. The Exploring Climate Change website can be viewed at http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/exploringclimatechange/

The popular Schools Global Footprint resource on LTS online has also be revamped and can be viewed at http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/schoolsglobalfootprint/

The launch of the new website kicks off a series of events that will support learning and teaching on climate change in the run up to the next United Nations Conference on Climate Change which this year will take place in Cancun, Mexico, in December.

 These forthcoming events include:

 CPD Glow meet – Weather as an interdisciplinary context for learning

3:45pm – 5:45pm, Tuesday 7^th September 2010

Target audience: Practitioners in primary and secondary schools

 This CPD glow meet for practitioners will led by meteorologist and former BBC weather presenter Heather Reid OBE. Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about this important and popular topic and pose questions to Heather. It will also highlight how the theme of weather relates to the experiences and outcomes and can be used to support interdisciplinary learning within Curriculum for Excellence. Opportunities will also be provided for participants to share interesting practice and ideas. To register and take part in this glow meet visit the national sustainable development education glow group or email: I.Menzies@LTScotland.org.uk

 Glow meet – International Year of Biodiversity

Oceans, climate change and biodiversity

11 am – 12pm, Monday 13^th September

Target audience: Learners in secondary schools

This Glow meet will be led by meteorologist and former BBC weather presenter Heather Reid OBE and Anuschka Miller from the Scottish Association of Marine Science. It will explore the often forgotten importance of oceans in climate science and explore issues relating to ocean currents, temperatures and impact on weather events. In this, the International Year of Biodiversity, participants will also have the opportunity to learn about the impact of climate change on biodiversity in and around oceans. To register and take part in this glow meet visit the national sustainable development education glow group or email: I.Menzies@LTScotland.org.uk

 Scottish Learning Festival – Climate change as a context for learning

9:30am – 10:15am, Thursday 23^rd September

This spotlight session will explore some of the high-quality weather and climate change resources that have been developed by LTS and will also exemplify good practice taking place in schools across Scotland with regards to partnerships and interdisciplinary learning relating to climate change. The seminar will also highlight some of the benefits of Glow and outdoor learning. This session is just one of many global citizenship seminars and activities taking place at the Festival this year. A full copy of the global citizenship programme is available from Glow or via email: I.Menzies@LTScotland.org.uk

 Regional events – Developing global citizens through sciences, social studies and technologies

Focus – climate change as an interdisciplinary context for learning within Curriculum for Excellence

Hilton Grosvenor Hotel, Edinburgh – 2^nd November

Drumossie Hotel, Inverness – 12^th November

Hilton Hotel, Glasgow – 19^th November

 These three regional events for practitioners in primary and secondary schools will showcase innovative school practice with regards to climate change within Curriculum for Excellence. Participants will have the opportunity to attend workshops and visit exhibitions from a wide variety of schools and support organisations and will also have the chance to explore how this important global issue can be embedded across curriculum areas – particularly within sciences, social studies and technologies. More details to follow in due course.

Image from SuperStock

Scottish Government Summer School on School Leadership ran from 4^th- 6^th August and was attended by teams of officers and school-based colleagues from 26 authorities. Several universities and other partners of the CPD Team were also represented. The school addressed issues of system-wide change in the context of CfE, and will be followed up by a series of recall days in November.

It was an intense and invigorating experience, and I believe we achieved our aim of offering new insights and significant challenge to current practice. Well it worked for me! 

Part of our commitment is to continue the conversation online and on Glow in the Summer School on Glow community. Membership is open to all who have attended Summer Schools in the past and their invited guests. If you want to know more, please drop Susan a line (s.lafferty@ltscotland.org.uk)

The European Extremely Large Telescope will, if built, be the world’s largest optical telescope. Its giant 42m diameter mirror will be made from nearly 1,000 hexagonal segments. If the telescope was at Lands End it would be able to spot a bumble bee in John O’Groats!

Join Heather Reid and Professor Colin Cunningham – Director of the UK ELT programme and Dr Chris Evans – ELT Instrument Scientist on Thursday 9th September at 11am. Sign up now!

Find out what you would like to know – post questions in the Glow group prior to the event and get the chance to quiz the engineers in Glow Meet. Also find out more about Big Telescopes, Big Questions in the Glow Group.

This Glow Meet is aimed at upper primary and secondary pupils and is also accessible as part of the Glowing Thursday schedule.

We realise that not everyone can escape from school to get to the festival itself, so we will make it our SLF mission to make sure you don’t miss out on the shenanigans in Glasgow. We may, ourselves, be worn-out at the end of the two days, but we will do our level best to wear out the carpets of the SECC as well.  With sensible shoes on and cameras in hand, we will work tirelessy in bringing you as much of the action as we can and SLF Extra is where you go to find it.

If you are lucky enough to be visiting the event itself, this year, SLF Extra also has links to seminar bookings and the festival programme as well as details of the Keynote speakers and the conference theme. Want to know what’s selling-out quickly so you don’t miss out? Yes, SLF Extra can tell you that too.

We realise that not everyone can escape from school to get to the festival itself, so we will make it our SLF mission to make sure you don’t miss out on the shenanigans in Glasgow. We may, ourselves, be worn-out at the end of the two days, but we will do our level best to wear out the carpets of the SECC as well.  With sensible shoes on and cameras in hand, we will work tirelessy in bringing you as much of the action as we can and SLF Extra is where you go to find it.

If you are lucky enough to be visiting the event itself, this year, SLF Extra also has links to seminar bookings and the festival programme as well as details of the Keynote speakers and the conference theme. Want to know what’s selling-out quickly so you don’t miss out? Yes, SLF Extra can tell you that too.

It’s now less than three weeks until the Scottish Learning Festival returns for 2010 offering a unique opportunity to discover what is happening in education across the country. As Curriculum for Excellence reaches full adoption across Scotland, SLF 2010 aims to provide the chance to find out about successful, innovative approaches to learning and teaching.

This year’s conference programme includes inspirational keynote addresses from Michael Russell MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Eric Booth, leading Arts and Creative Learning Consultant, Richard Gerver, inspirational leader and educator and Professor Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology from Newcastle University.

Spotlight sessions are available throughout the event as well 160 seminars over the two days. Host of SLF for several years, Heather Reid, OBE, will for the first time be delivering a spotlight session. Don’t miss your opportunity to come along and hear Heather talking about Climate Change as a Context for Learning. In addition to the conference programme, the exhibition will provide access to 200 exhibitors of educational resources and a whole host of features including the Scottish Education Village, the Health and Wellbeing Zone, the Education Showcase and much more.

As well as the usual two day festival new for 2010 SLF is introducing Twilight sessions; a full conference programme running until 18.30 on the Wednesday evening including a keynote address from Eric Booth, a number of seminars and the chance to explore the exhibition.

Watch out for the launch of the national SLF Extra Glow Group next week! SLF Extra extends the life and reach of the Scottish Learning Festival with live videos and highlights of many of the events within the festival.

To book your place at Scotland’s key educational event and find out more about what is on offer visit the SLF website and register online.

The pack of lesson plans and activities, and a document suggesting links to Curriculum for Excellence, are both available to download from Amnesty’s Education webpages.

Target audience: Learners in secondary schools

This glow meet will be led by meteorologist and former BBC weather presenter Heather Reid OBE and Anuschka Miller of the Scottish Association of Marine Science. It will explore the often forgotten importance of oceans in climate science and cover issues relating to ocean currents, temperatures and impact on weather events. In this the International Year of Biodiversity, participants will also have the opportunity to learn about the impact of climate change on biodiversity in and around oceans.

To register and participate in this glow meet visit the national sustainable development education glow group or email: I.Menzies@LTScotland.org.uk

Target audience: Practitioners in primary and secondary schools

This CPD glow meet for practitioners will led by meteorologist and former BBC weather presenter Heather Reid OBE. Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about this important and popular topic and pose questions to Heather. It will also highlight how the theme of weather relates to the experiences and outcomes and can be used to support interdisciplinary learning within Curriculum for Excellence. Opportunities will also be provided for participants to share interesting practice and ideas.

To register and take part in this glow meet visit the national sustainable development education glow group or email: I.Menzies@LTScotland.org.uk

This year’s conference programme includes inspirational keynote addresses from Michael Russell MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Eric Booth, leading Arts and Creative Learning Consultant, Richard Gerver, inspirational leader and educator and Professor Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology from Newcastle University.

Spotlight sessions are available throughout the event as well 160 seminars over the two days. Host of SLF for several years, Heather Reid, OBE, will for the first time be delivering a spotlight session. Don’t miss your opportunity to come along and hear Heather talking about Climate Change as a Context for Learning. In addition to the conference programme, the exhibition will provide access to 200 exhibitors of educational resources and a whole host of features including the Scottish Education Village, the Health and Wellbeing Zone, the Education Showcase and much more.

As well as the usual two day festival new for 2010 SLF is introducing Twilight sessions; a full conference programme running until 18.30 on the Wednesday evening including a keynote address from Eric Booth, a number of seminars and the chance to explore the exhibition.

To book your place at Scotland’s key educational event and find out more about what is on offer visit the SLF website and register online.