Citizenship Bulletin - March 2008

Curriculum for Excellence
Dates for your calendar
CPD
Events
Opportunities
Resources
Competitions
Subscription information

Curriculum for Excellence

Release of draft experiences and outcomes for Literacy and English and Literacy and Gàidhlig

The draft experiences and outcomes for Literacy and English and Literacy and Gàidhlig have now been released. They are available to download from the Curriculum for Excellence website.

These documents have been designed to provide information for all staff in all education establishments on the context and scope of the draft outcomes; they also explain what schools and centres should do with the draft outcomes.

Provide your views via questionnaire

Feedback on the experiences and outcomes is now being collected via questionnaires located on the Curriculum for Excellence website. This is your opportunity to contribute to the process of finalising the Curriculum for Excellence draft experiences and outcomes. Draft experiences and outcomes will be made available throughout 2008 but don’t delay! We want to hear your views now.

Dates for your calendar

International Education Masterclass Recall Day - 13 March

The International Education Masterclass recall day is being held on 13 March. This is an opportunity for masterclassers to get together with International Education Coordinators to review work over the past year.

CPD

Participation Network - Learning and Teaching Scotland

Four regional events are taking place during February and March. The events run by the Education for Citizenship Development Officers at Learning and Teaching Scotland are the start of a 'community of practice in participation in Scottish schools and education settings.' Although a wide range of research and readings will be used to focus activities, there will also be an emphasis on how the recent publication 'Particpation and Learning' is being used by practitioners. The resource, which was published in partnership with Save the Children, is available online on the Participation and Learning website. Evaluations of the events and next steps will feature on this website in the summer.

Events

Model United Nations Conference 2008
Last year 170 young people from schools in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland came together in Edinburgh for the 2007 Model United Nations (MUN) Conference. Held at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, the conference followed the protocol of debating in the United Nations. Delegates undertook the roles of member states of the UN on various committees, debating relevant topics and world issues from their countries' viewpoint.

This year George Watson's is holding its second annual conference in Edinburgh on 14, 15 and 16 March and although now fully booked with 340 delegates, the organiser, Rob Crawford, has extended an invitation to Scottish teachers if they wish to attend. The MUN gives young people an authentic experience of a wide range of actitivities, including first line research, summation of argument, resolution writing, face to face negotiation as well as debating real world issues, all in a safe and supportive environment. If you want to see how the conference works and share the enthusiasm and excitement of the delegates with a view to taking part next year, get in touch with Rob Crawford at mun@gwc.org.uk. This year's participating schools from Scotland are Balerno Community High School, Cleveden Secondary School, Currie High School, Firrhill High School, George Watson's College, James Gillespie's High School, Merchiston Castle School, Perth Academy, Robert Gordon's College, Stewarts/Melville College and St George's School for Girls.

Opportunities

Help needed with piloting Save the Children's Eye to Eye resources

Save the Children's Eye to Eye with Child Labour project seeks to bring to life issues around children and work, through stimulating teaching resources based around the photos and stories of working children themselves. The project is looking for secondary teachers who are interested in piloting its materials from now up until May. The resources also look at related issues of development, global justice and children's rights. Save the Children have worked with teachers to develop some pilot activities around these photos and stories from children and want teachers to try them out. You will have the chance to make helpful suggestions for improvement of the activities and also the opportunity to suggest new ones. For further information visit the Eye to Eye website.

Contact them whatever your teaching subject or location - so far most of the resources are for English, Geography, Citizenship, R.E., History, PSHE, Drama and MFLE.

Resources

Opportunities and Resources for Young People in the EU

The European Parliament has just produced a new brochure giving details of: Erasmus, Comenius, Leonardo, Grundtvig, EU Youth in Action programmes, A Career with EU institutions, Internships, Educational Resources and Euroscola. Copies can be obtained from the European Parliament office in Edinburgh by emailing epedinburgh@europarl.europa.eu or bulk copies are available from the UK Office of the European Parliament website.

Competitions

J8 Summit Competition

The Junior 8 (J8) Summit is an opportunity for young people to deepen their understanding of world issues, share their views on issues affecting children and represent the UK on the world stage. Teams will compete nationally for the opportunity to represent the UK at the Junior 8 Summit in Japan in July 2008.

• Groups of four, aged 13-17, can enter as a 'team'.
• Teams put together an 'entry' (further details and specifications available shortly) covering topics such as health, poverty, development and climate change.
• The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2008.
• The winning team of four will join teams from each of the G8 countries and young people representing each region of the world for the J8 World Summit in Japan from 2-9 July 2008.

Go to the Youth Voice section of the Unicef website or contact Lura Hughes at lurah@unicef.org.uk to find out more about the competition and how you can be involved.

Student Eco-Innovation Awards launched

A brand new nationwide student award in environmentally friendly design has been launched by the leading environmental student campaign organisation People & Planet. The Student Eco-Innovation Award aims to highlight and support new talent in the field of eco-innovation and works to develop students' enthusiasm for greener living and to raise awareness of the importance of environmental issues. Entries will be judged by an expert panel that includes Charlie Browne, Sustainability Coordinator from IKEA, Martin Carter from the Centre for Sustainable Design and Rob Hodway, CEO of Giraffe Innovations and advisor to Channel 4's 'Dumped'.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £750 and two runners-up will be awarded a cash prize of £500 and £250 respectively. The deadlline is 15 April and the competition is targeted at S5 and S6 students.

Languages and Film Talent Awards

CILT, the National Centre for Languages, is currently running the Languages and Film Talent Awards (LAFTAs), a short film competition for young people aged 13-21. The LAFTAs is a UK-wide competition which invites you to develop a two-minute film which conveys the importance of learning a language. Visit the LAFTAs page on the Languages Work website for more information. (There is a funny little film to watch on their site for inspiration). Or you could have a look at their YouTube page.

The winning clips will be chosen by a celebrity judging panel including journalist Sir Trevor McDonald, comedian Eddie Izzard, and Sky Sport's Guillem Balague. Prizes include iPod Classics, a state of the art camcorder and fantastic trips to Spain, France and Germany, as well as the chance to see the winning clips displayed at famous venues around Europe.

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