Glow Scotland

January 21st, 2011

Don’t Start Me! – Meeting the Cast and PC Geoff Smith

Julia Fenby

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Glasgow City, Glow Groups, Glow Meet, Health and Wellbeing, Literacy, Religious and Moral Education, Social Studies, Technologies

January 20th, 2011

Have your say on Co-Create…

Gail Cairns

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Co-Create, Creativity Portal, Curriculum for Excellence, Expressive Arts

Co-Create is supporting artists, performers, writers and Scotland’s schools to work and learn together in new ways, using Glow, developing practice and demonstrating the key role the arts and creativity play in supporting Curriculum for Excellence.

Learning and Teaching Scotland would like to invite primary and secondary school pupils, teachers and school management and staff from arts organisations, who have been involved in one of the ten Co-Create projects to have your say on the impact of the Co-Create project on learning and teaching practice.

Take advantage of the opportunity to provide feedback on:

• The impact of the Co-Create project on young people’s learning experiences
• The extent to which the Co-Create project supported implementation of Curriculum for Excellence and use of Glow
• The extent to which the Co-Create project has enabled new teaching and learning methodologies
• The effectiveness of the partnership models adopted to manage and deliver the Co-Create project.

The survey should take pupils no more than five minutes to complete, and all responses will remain anonymous.

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

January 17th, 2011

YDance – Supporting Higher Dance through Glow

Julia Fenby

Comments: 1 Comment Tags:  : Categories 16+ Learning Choices, Career Opportunities and Pathways, Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, Expressive Arts, Glow Meet, Inverclyde

YDance (Scottish Youth Dance) is the National Dance Agency for children and young people in Scotland. It is a leading provider of quality dance experiences and education, encouraging young people to get creative and active through dance.

Through the Co-Create project, YDance is providing continuing support to teachers of Higher Dance at Greenock Academy, Lenzie Academy and Dumfries High School including live CPD and choreography sessions through Glow Meet and pupil and teacher zones with lots of useful resources and helpful hints.

As well as practical workshops delivered by YDance in the schools, participating PE teachers have been meeting YDance tutors every week through Glow Meet for guidance on all aspects of the course, including the four set dances they have to teach. This approach has given teachers the opportunity to discuss choreography, share ideas and see examples of pupil work.

The YDance Glow Group is under development and is due to go live later this month. As well as providing an overview of the Co-Create project and the Higher Dance curriculum, it will include lots of useful guidance and support materials for anyone thinking of teaching or studying Higher Dance. A Pupil Zone will include hints and tips on the course, with practical advice on what to wear and healthy living, plus videos of pupils talking why Higher Dance has been a positive experience for them. A Teachers Zone will include sample videos of technique exercises and set dances, examples of written work and choreography lesson plans, together with support materials on career paths and opportunities for pupils.

For more information on YDance and the support and resources  on offer for schools visit their website at www.ydance.org

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

January 13th, 2011

Don’t Start Me! – exploring where violence begins

Julia Fenby

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Glasgow City, Glow, Glow Groups, Glow Meet, Health and Wellbeing, Religious and Moral Education, Social Studies

This term, TAG, the learning department of Citizens Theatre, is working in partnership with Strathclyde Police and 20 Glasgow primary schools on ‘Don’t Start Me!’, a project which explores where crime and violence begins.

P3 and P4 children from the participating schools will see a play in which a 9 year old boy, Craig gets involved with his older cousin Johnny’s gang, resulting in serious consequences for Craig and his classmates.

Prior to seeing the play in their schools later this month, pupils and teachers are becoming familiar with the play and its characters through the Don’t Start Me! Glow group, which contains a growing body of resources for pre and post performance activities.

Pupils are invited to find out about Craig, his mum Sandra, his sister Jamie Lee and cousin Craig by reading character cards for each of them. They will then create their own character card and share it via Glow. In another activity, pupils will create a comic strip depicting a scenario from Craig’s story.

Through Glow Meet, participants will be able to watch a rehearsal and meet the actors and an officer from Strathclyde Police anti violence unit, who will talk about the issues raised by the play.

Don’t Start me is one of ten Co-Create demonstration projects, where arts organisations are working with schools and other partners in order to explore the possibilities of using Glow to develop new resources and new approaches to learning and teaching.

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

December 10th, 2010

Figurenotes Conference

Julia Fenby

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Supported Learning, Technologies

Last week, Glasgow City Hall’s Old Fruitmarket venue was packed with teachers, educators, musicians and policy makers wanting to find out more about Figurenotes, a simple music notation system that uses colours and symbols instead of notes.

The Figurenotes conference was organized by Drake Music Scotland, the Scottish partner in an international network of music educators using Figurenotes to make music making accessible to a range of user groups including SEN music, Early Years and those with Autistic Spectrum disorder.

‘Making music should be a basic human right – Figurenotes is helping to place the joy and delight of making music in reach of all.’

Markku Kaikkonen and Kaarlo Uusitalo, Figurenotes creators

Presentations from inspiring teachers like Annona Thornton from Lilybank school, made evident the powerful impact the system has for children and young people – they find it easy to use and can quickly achieve and make progress, which in turn helps build confidence, motivation and communication skills. Figurenotes not only supports one to one teaching, it also allows differentiation within shared group activity.

Drake has been trialling Figurenotes Software with 40 people, and is using their feedback to develop the software before rolling it out nationally to Scotland’s music educators in 2011. Information on the software and a Figurenotes Resource pack will be available early next term.

In the iCompose session, Conference delegates had an opportunity to try out Figurenotes, creating short compositions which were played back to them by professional musicians from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Drake Music Scotland is working in partnership with Scottish Chamber Orchestra on the iCompose competition, which this year includes a Special Needs Category. For more information on the competition and how to enter visit www.icompose.org

Drake Music Scotland is one of ten Scottish arts organisations awarded funding to deliver a Co-Create project for Glow.

December 10th, 2010

SHINE – A creative music Co-Create project

Julia Fenby

Comments: 2 Comments » Tags:  : Categories Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, Expressive Arts, Glow, Health and Wellbeing, Literacy, Mathematics, Supported Learning, Technologies, West Dunbartonshire

Through Co-Create, Drake Music Scotland is working in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council and Kilpatrick Secondary School on SHINE, a project which is shedding light on the artistic process, unpacking resources and sharing experiences and performances via Glow.

Using new Soundbeam 5 technology and the Figurenotes notation system, pupils are taking part in creative music making sessions which are designed to be fully accessible for Kilpatrick School’s pupils with Additional Support Needs.

Drake Associate Musician Matilda Brown is visiting the school every Wednesday to make music more accessible across the school. Pupils are learning new skills and creating their own compositions and teachers are being trained in using the music technology. Throughout this academic year, pupils and staff will be sharing their learning through Glow.

During the project, the Glow Group will be developed by project participants, and it will then be opened up nationally so that teachers across Scotland can see what can be achieved with resources such as Soundbeam 5 and Figurenotes. Drake will highlight best practice in the creative use of this valuable technology and enable discussions to take place to develop this on a national level.

The SHINE project supports the Experiences and Outcomes for the Expressive Arts, (Music) Literacy and Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing across the curriculum. It also upholds the progression principles of the Curriculum for Excellence, in particular, challenge and enjoyment, relevance and coherence.

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

Image credit: Colin Dickson

December 6th, 2010

Traditional and Gaelic arts and language with Féis Rois

Julia Fenby

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Aberdeenshire, Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, Expressive Arts, Glow, Health and Wellbeing, Highland, Literacy, Supported Learning, Technologies

Féis Rois is an arts organisation based in Dingwall which enables people of all ages to access, participate in and enjoy the traditional and Gaelic arts and language through a diverse programme of shared activities in Ross and Cromarty, across Scotland and beyond.

For their Co-Create project, Fèis Rois is bringing together P5-6 pupils from two Aberdeenshire primary schools and two Highland special education units for pupils with complex additional support needs. Pupils will participate in the traditional arts (storytelling, music, song and dance) and new media and technology, sharing their learning through Glow.

The project started this term with workshops taking place in each of the schools. P5/6 Pupils in Aberdeenshire have been working with a traditional storyteller, Ruth Kirkpatrick, to learn about the art of telling stories and the history behind traditional tales.  The classes have been working on the stories Ruth has taught them outwith the scheduled time to make story plates and sticks. Musicians Findlay Napier and Angus Lyon will be working with the class to create their own compositions and songs around the stories they have been working on. The pupils in Highland are working with Fèis Rois to learn about traditional music and the art of song writing. Applegrove school have been using their class topics as stimulus for creating songs and the pupils have been introduced to and taught about a different instrument each week.  Both schools have been working with musician and song writer, Jim Hunter and Rachael Duff from Fèis Rois and will be joined by musician Colin Mclean next week.

The two groups, including pupils, teachers and support staff, will keep video diaries and interact with each other throughout the project using Glow tools. As the project develops, videos of pupils’ work, together with images and creative writing compositions will be put up onto the project Glow group which can be found within the Co-Create group. The Fèis Rois Group is currently under development, and will be made available nationally when the project is complete in early 2011.

Throughout the project, pupils will be exposed to traditional Scottish culture, they will have the opportunity to enjoy performances by professional artists and performers, and they will develop new skills, creating and performing their own work for others. The project supports implementation of Curriculum for Excellence – it has a particular focus on the Expressive Arts, with Health and Wellbeing and Literacy experiences and outcomes.

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

November 19th, 2010

STATE OF EMERGENCY – Day Five

Julia Fenby

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Argyll and Bute, Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, East Ayrshire, Expressive Arts, Glasgow City, Glow, Glow Meet, Health and Wellbeing, Inverclyde, Literacy, Mathematics, Moving Image Education, National Groups, North Lanarkshire, Outdoor Learning, Religious and Moral Education, Sciences, Social Studies, South Lanarkshire, Technologies, West Lothian, modern languages

On the final day of State of Emergency, S2 year groups from all seven schools came together via Glow Meet to share their learning experiences from this intensive week of activity.

Tarbert Academy journalists gave a live report on the conflict as news broke in the west of Scotland. Their broadcast was interrupted when freedom fighters broke into the newsroom in protest against the government regime.

A Bathgate Academy human rights campaigner gave a powerful speech about the importance of integrity and trust.

During the week, Lochend Secondary pupils had explored war poetry in English and code breaking in Maths. In Drama they’d made a film about a boy who wanted to join the army and in PE they’d learned what it might feel like to be in the army as they were made to run outside in the cold!

Clyde Valley High had a visit from the Red Cross and found out about refugee camps; they created Facebook pages and video messages for viral communications; they made images of war by acting out and photographing scenes involving rebels, civilians and government soldiers.

The Army marched into Cumnock Academy hall and set up an assault course – the highlight of the week for the reporters:

“It was amazing, great fun – I didn’t come first but I did enjoy it!”

“It helped build my confidence”.

They also had visits from the Red Cross and a Human Rights lawyer and learned that everyone has rights to equality and protection. Pupils had purified water in Science, and designed and built devices to transport black market goods through underground tunnels in Technology and Art.

At Greenock Academy aid workers had training in basic first aid and learned to cook nutritious meals with limited supplies. The army launched a search for a missing soldier and through constructing a refugee camp, they learned team work, how to filter water, make up ration packs and distribute food to refugees.

Holy Cross High reported that propaganda was rife, with posters put up around the school by both factions; normal lines of communications had been destroyed. The Department of PE had transformed soldiers into ‘lean, mean fighting machines’ in Sniper Alley; the Department of Technology investigated ways of disposing of human waste; the Department of Social Studies researched the causes of conflict, whilst the Department of Drama explored the motivations of those involved.

State of Emergency has clearly been an amazing experience for both pupils and staff. I would encourage you to visit the Glow Group to read pupil diaries about their learning, look at more photographs of cross-curricular activities and see the rich variety of resources shared by participating teachers. This really has been Curriculum for Excellence in action.

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

Image credit: Kath Morley, Greenock Academy

November 18th, 2010

STATE OF EMERGENCY – Day Four

Julia Fenby

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Argyll and Bute, Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, East Ayrshire, Expressive Arts, Glasgow City, Glow, Glow Meet, Health and Wellbeing, Homecoming, Inverclyde, Literacy, Mathematics, Moving Image Education, North Lanarkshire, Outdoor Learning, Religious and Moral Education, Sciences, Social Studies, South Lanarkshire, Technologies, West Lothian, modern languages

This project is so rich that it is impossible to fully reflect the depth and breadth of the activities and learning taking place in seven secondary schools across Scotland.

Today I went out to visit Cumnock Academy in East Ayrshire where staff have embraced the project and as well as designing an exciting timetable of activities for S2, have created opportunities for other pupils, such as the higher media studies students who are recording and reporting on the week’s activities, and the S6 pupils who are helping S2 build emergency shelters.

I arrived in time to join pupils in the hall to watch the fourth and final webisode. They were totally engaged and focused as the drama reached its sad and shocking conclusion. The atmosphere was palpable as pupils silently started to take in and make sense of what they’d seen.

The online dramas have provided the stimulus for the week’s activities and have generated deep discussion and raised big questions. Some of the pupils later engaged in a conversation with a group at Tarbert Academy via Glow Meet and had a serious debate about the motives behind different characters’ actions. Would they have stolen food if they were freedom fighters? Did they think being an insurgent would put their family in danger?

Yesterday, a Human Rights Lawyer visited the school as an expert witness. He was surprised by the pupils’ depth of knowledge, their insight into conflict situations and the challenging nature of their questions.

Participants have explored the physical, ethical and political issues and challenges thrown up by conflict and they have seen the relevance and connectivity of learning across the curriculum. The project has provided a stimulus for learning and a platform for creative response.  The impact of State of Emergency looks set to be long lasting.

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

Image credit: Eoghann MacColl, Cumnock Academy

November 17th, 2010

STATE OF EMERGENCY – Day Three

Julia Fenby

Comments: Comments Off Tags:  : Categories Argyll and Bute, Co-Create, Curriculum for Excellence, East Ayrshire, Expressive Arts, Glasgow City, Glow, Glow Groups, Health and Wellbeing, Inverclyde, Mathematics, Moving Image Education, North Lanarkshire, Outdoor Learning, Religious and Moral Education, Sciences, Social Studies, South Lanarkshire, Technologies, West Lothian, modern languages

“This is an act of peace not war”, the politician announces in a TV news broadcast as government troops are mobilised for Operation Democracy – “the aim, to disable the unelected regime and restore democracy”. The reality for State of Emergency narrator Chloe is chilling – she is able to watch military strikes online whilst her own building shakes.

So began day three of State of Emergency, an intensive week for S2 pupils in seven schools, exploring the dilemmas and complexities of war, supported by Visible Fictions Theatre Company, and using a project Glow Group to share information, ideas and resources.

At Greenock Academy, staff and pupils have been living out a conflict, using role play to explore issues faced by refugees, soldiers, journalists and politicians.

“We don’t belong anywhere and we can’t trust anyone. We don’t want to fight, we just want to go home.” S2 ‘Refugee’ Pupil to Journalists, Greenock Academy

Clyde Valley High mathematics pupils were faced with the challenge of constructing new bridges to transport supplies over the Clyde after a bombing raid had destroyed the existing ones. They also learned how to make and break codes.

With the threat of shortages caused by the conflict, home economics pupils investigated what food supplies would be needed and where to locate them. At Bathgate Academy, the dining staff are involved too  – their State of Emergency lunch time menu includes a ‘No deliveries’ day, with store cupboard ingredients only, and ‘No power or cooking facilities’ day when only cold food will be available.

“Its exciting, really different from normal school” S2 Pupil, Clyde Valley High

“We could have done a whole month on this”. Teacher, Lochend Secondary

Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Creative Scotland National Lottery Fund.

Image credit: Julie Austin, Lochend Secondary