Bothwell Castle and Dechmont Hill

Took plenty of photos at Bothwell Castle at the weekend, and despite the overcast, a quick look suggests that they’ve turned out quite well. In particular, there’s a nice green tinge from the moss that didn’t show up in bright sunshine. On the other hand, it may look terrible on the computer screen. I’ve noticed [...]

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Sensory development

I love seeing a project develop and grow tendrils and blossom in all sorts of directions.
Teacher1 asked Teacher2 if she could create some A5 poetry cards for our sensory garden. T2 said there was no time. T1 asked me. I spoke to T3 about using LRC time. T3 amenable.
Simple enough. But then the project started one [...]

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Day 6 – Type and colour

Learned tonight (from Nicholas Crane’s Britannia) that the terms upper case and lower case come from the top and bottom cases that the type was stored in.
This nugget of printing trivia leads me to today’s photo.
Daughter asked me to open this pack of crayons,which were cunningly sealed to prevent entry. As the lid came away, I [...]

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Could you hand me a brick wall, please?

Last week I spoke to the students about how to get the best out of their school library – how to help the Librarian, what to expect in return, not forgetting “we are all individuals“. I thought my mindmap of notes just required printing, but instead it was nowhere to be seen. And I knew [...]

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Working together

Do you know what the problem is with  the Curriculum for Excellence?  .. it’s not difficult. You think it will be difficult, awkward, clunky etc Surely it should be. But actually, it’s so straightforward. ? And yet you find yourself looking past the simplicity of it to see what you’re missing. (NB this is purely a personal [...]

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Ambition and determination

Three times last week, I was reminded of an ambition I had from when I was wee. First Berlie Doherty asks a group of pupils if any of them want to be a writer (she’s asking them, so I keep arms by my side). Same day is my 40th birthday and I’m hit with that [...]

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I Sea … except I can’t

itting having a cup of tea, my eyes were continually drawn to a collection of what appeared to be model boats on one of the stands. On investigating I discovered that this was the outcome of “I Sea”, an interdisciplinary project between the Scottish Maritime Museum and S2 at Irvine Royal Academy, involving English, Art [...]

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It all starts with a railing

Started off with a fabulous presentation by the Heritage Education Forum along with a fabulous inspirer of young minds, Mairi MacIver, and some of the minds in question (I am always in awe of kids speaking at the Festival.)
Taking a simple concept and developing it into a cross-curricular extravaganza is my bread and butter – except [...]

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Scottish Learning Festival 2008

SLF time again – YES!
I love this Festival. It comes along at exactly the right time. You’ve just realised that the HUGE pile of work accomplished in the holidays is miniscule in relation to what has stil to be done; the budget needs spent soon; the LRC timetable is becoming existential (or possibly nihilist); and the gravity [...]

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The power of touch and where to find it

I was helping my son with his homework last night. He had to add up the value of the coins pictured and he was having a bit of trouble. On a whim, I got out some change and let him add the coins instead, and was stunned by the difference. He was instantly able to add the sums in his [...]

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