inspiring!
DAY 1 – 3rd November 2009
Workshop Descriptions
1. The Dance School of Scotland
Dance, Movement and Learning
This practical workshop will introduce delegates to the potential of dance and movement for developing
confidence, for high quality learning, for working together and for taking responsibility. It is aimed
primarily at non-specialists who wish to develop their own confidence in this area and to identify and
build on the wider learning that takes place. The workshop will allow delegates to experience a simple
lesson structure exploring a theme. There will be time built in for reflection on the learning process and
a more general discussion about starting points, themes and constructive working with young people of
all ages.
2. National Youth Choir of Scotland
The impact of singing games on children’s learning
This will be a practical, “hands-on” workshop introducing singing and games appropriate to all stages in
the primary setting. Through participating in the various activities, delegates will discover a logical,
sequential and child friendly approach to the development of musical skills whilst realising the impact
that these activities have on the child’s holistic development.
3. Children’s Art at the National Virtual Arena of Scotland (CANVAS)
This workshop will provide a practical introduction to CANVAS. A summary of the project's background
will set the scene for a brief presentation linking CANVAS to AiFL, experiences, outcomes and
principles of CfE.
There will be an online demonstration during which delegates, either individually or collaboratively, will
have the opportunity to undertake activities relating to Art and Design experiences and outcomes and
provide formative feedback on a selected piece of work displayed in CANVAS. Delegates will be given
information about how to access CANVAS from their own establishments.
4. Netherlee PS, East Renfrewshire Council
Communicating Through the Arts Nursery to P7 (and beyond)
This workshop will provide an overview of the huge variety of expressive arts experiences children have
at the school, explaining the skills programmes which enable children to have an enhanced experience
of using the expressive arts throughout the curriculum. You will see examples of cluster development
programmes in Art which have been running for several years and the effect this has had on the skills
and confidence of both the children and the staff; our CfE drama programme and our new joint cluster
project P7-S1; how music skills are taught and developed through our authority’s programme and its
impact on cross-curricular work; our radio station; PowerPoint records of achievement; confidence
building through watching and taking part in live performances… and lots more.…
5. Dunnikier PS and Nursery, Fife Council
Enhancing learning through live performance
Dunnikier Primary has a long-standing reputation for delivering a large scale fully staged musical
performance, having developed a unique partnership with the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy.
Children are given the chance to gain an insight into the world of professional theatre, by working
alongside theatre staff and performing their production in a real-life setting. There will be the opportunity
to hear about the ways in which Dunnikier has used live performance to enhance children’s learning
and promote the development of the four capacities. The use of enterprise is a major focus of the way
in which the school uses live performance. The school’s work was recognised as good practice
following an HMIE inspection in May 2009. The presenters will also lead a general discussion session
on musicals/plays which schools have used successfully. It is also hoped that delegates will also be
able to share their own experiences.
6. University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council
The ATLAC Experience
Who are involved? Student teachers, artists, cultural co-ordinators, university tutors.
What is it? It is a way of using the Expressive Arts to teach non-arts subjects through carefully
planned partnerships between artists and School of Education tutors.
Why is it being done? It is to enable student teachers to experience and reflect upon the impact of
using the arts to explore cross-curricular and interdisciplinary aspects of the Curriculum for Excellence.
Where is this happening? School of Education, University of Aberdeen.
When? This takes place for all BEd students in Year 3 of their programme and as an elective in Year 4.
7. Shawlands Secondary School, Glasgow City Council
Inclusion and diversity through the expressive arts
Inclusion and Diversity in Education (INDIE) is a British Council led project aimed at promoting social
cohesion and raising educational standards in culturally inclusive schools.
As part of this initiative, Shawlands Academy have been involved in performance arts workshops to
devise a creative piece to express their ideas about inclusion and diversity. The pupils have worked
together in partnership with dance tutors, the creative and aesthetic arts faculty and the school's
international education coordinator. The workshop will include presentations on how the expressive arts
have been used within the context of international education to develop the young people's
understanding of the two core concepts - inclusion and diversity. It will also include their performance
of' 'Welcome To Our Land' and 'Together'.
8. Station House Media Unit
Cutting edge learning experiences through engagement in Community Media activities
Station House Media Unit, serving the regeneration areas of Aberdeen, is one of the leading
Community Media organisations operating in the UK (www.shmu.org.uk).
This workshop will focus on a new area of development for the organisation, funded for 10 years by
Inspiring Scotland entitled shmuTRAIN. The initiative aims to deliver a vibrant, contemporary and
visionary training/skills development programme, using community and digital media as a meaningful
and stimulating medium to increase the chances of young people (14:19) of moving into employment,
education or training.
The workshop will provide an overview of the organisation, the initiative, and how the activities including
filmmaking, design, music technology, social networking, and a youth radio project have engaged
learners and helped them develop not just technical but also personal skills.
The presenters will demonstrate examples of creative work and provide testimonials from young people
describing their learning experiences. There will also be an opportunity to discuss the project with the
presenters and find out more how Community Media & Arts can support learning in both the formal and
informal education sectors.
9. Scottish Screen
Moving image education, CfE and Expressive arts
What is moving image education? How can it help develop CFE’s four capacities among children and
young people (and teachers)? Is the moving image an ‘expressive art’? Is it a ‘literacy’? What does the
moving image offer to the ‘content’ in the curriculum – to science or modern languages or geography?
How do you develop moving image education in the classroom, the school, the local authority? What
resources are already available? If we can answer half of these questions inside an hour we’ll go home
happy.
10. Alva Academy, Clackmannanshire Council
Music in your classroom – How technology can make the world of difference
There’s an incredible amount of user-friendly technology out there to help you make better music in
your classroom. And the vast majority is free!
Perhaps you feel like you don’t have the musical skills to make much music in class? Maybe you’re
doing the same music year after year? Perhaps you just want to spice-up what you’re doing? It doesn’t
matter what age of pupils you teach, you’ll find something to take away from this session – it’s
guaranteed to make you want to rush home to try new things out!
It’ll show you how where to find backing tracks for almost any song, where to find a free virtual karaoke
machine, how to record your pupils & make a CD and how to make use of a video camera to help your
teaching.
You don’t have to be musical to make music in your classroom – this session will show you how!
11. MacRobert Art Centre
Inspiring Futures
Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling offers a range of creative development opportunities for teachers and
young people in and out with school. This workshop will consider what arts centres like MacRobert can
offer to support the successful delivery of Curriculum for Excellence. The young presenters will
describe a major project taking place over the next twelve months called mPOWER to be developed
and managed by young people aged 12-17 years. Stepping beyond art FOR, BY or WITH young
people, it provides opportunities to engage and inspire young people engendering creative confidence
and skills by giving them access as audience members and participants to a range of inspiring
exceptional quality national and international artists, film makers, technicians and others who work in
the creative industries. An inspiring programme of learning, internship and mentoring – Arts Academy
will empower young people to plan, programme and run their own festival mFEST
12. Dundee College
The power of live theatre within Curriculum for Excellence.
In this workshop lecturers from Dundee College, School of Theatre along with former students
describe the development of their schools tour programmes carried out in partnership with NHS
Scotland. The production explores health and wellbeing issues with young people from 12 to 15. The
workshop will include extracts of live theatre performance which college students devised around a
range of important and challenging themes. It will also explain how the students use performance within
schools to stimulate discussion and debate with young people and help them explore creatively their
own responses to issues. There will be opportunities for delegates to experience this interactive
process and find out more about practical aspects of this successful initiative.
13. Nigel Osbourne
The Creative Arts – Machines Made by Human Beings to Make Human beings
The creative arts are machines made by human beings to make human beings. For children with
additional support needs, engagement in creative activity is one of the most direct routes to increase
self-confidence, self-respect and self-awareness, as well the capacity for self-advocacy. The creative
arts are also machines for motivation and for the appetite to learn and explore, machines to process
emotion, to generate understanding, independence of mind, and respect for others through rich
experiences of collaborative work.
14. GLOW
The Co-create project and how GLOW can support learning in the expressive arts
Glow provides the perfect medium for innovative, collaborative learning through the arts, and is an
exciting opportunity to demonstrate the important role the arts play in supporting Curriculum for
Excellence. Workshop attendees will see examples of arts projects already underway on Glow and will
hear about Co-Create, a pioneering new initiative to bring arts education resources online for schools
across Scotland. The project supports new partnerships between arts organisations and the schools
sector to create inspiring content for Glow.
Co-Create is funded through a partnership between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Scottish
Arts Council National Lottery Fund
15. Sheila Page HMIE
Learning by Design
HMIE recently published a very positive report on creative digital industries programmes in Scotland’s
colleges. This workshop will describe how colleges introduce young learners to the design process
through projects in graphic design, illustration, photography and animation. The importance of drawing,
research, technical skills and project management will be discussed and demonstrated through
examples of learner work. Employer in the creative digital industries demand high level personal
attributes which are very closely linked to the four outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence. The
workshop will also talk about the wider learning that takes place as learners undertake these
programmes in preparation for employment in a competitive and challenging environment.
16. Exhibition Area
Delegates will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition area and have a more in depth talk with
organisation representatives.