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September 29, 2005
Two Gateshead Council events
Gateshead Family Sculpture Day
Sunday 2nd October
11.am - 4.pm
The Grove, Saltwell Park ,Gateshead
Sculpture Day is a huge fun packed family event set in the beautiful Saltwell Park. Join the hundreds of people having a good time and make your own wooden sculpture.
This year's theme is Noah's Ark. We provide tonnes of wood, tools and all the nails you'll need. Professional artists will be on hand to help you. The event also features the exciting art of Raku Pottery, you can paint your ceramic tile watch it being fired then take it home. Adding further to the atmosphere will be live music from the Cajun Aces, .
We'll be there whatever the weather. Entry is free. Please bring your own hammer and lots of ideas.
The Grove is situated at the south end of Saltwell Park.
Flotilla!
Flotilla! is an exciting exhibition of 24 handmade boats made by artists with a connection to Gateshead. The boats made from glass, ceramics, wood, paper and stone are suspended in Gateshead Visitor Centre at St Mary's Church. The exhibition closes on Sunday 9 October so if you haven't seen this exhibition yet why not drop in for a visit?
For further information on both events call The Arts Team on 0191 477 5380
Posted by at 3:49 PM
September 28, 2005
North of England Education Conference in Gateshead now booking
Gateshead is hosting the conference this year; the theme is creativity and the workshops for teachers fulfill the five outcomes of 'Every Child Matters'.
You can now book via their site...
www.neec2006.org.uk
Posted by at 10:10 AM
September 21, 2005
Gateshead Headteacher at No. 10
Following Carr Hill Primary's success in this year's OfSTED (in top 15% of Primaries nationwide), Headteacher Callum Kidd attended a reception at No. 10 Downing Street last week.
We've managed to acquire this photo of Callum on the doorstep, about to tell the PM how he did it...
Well done to everyone at the school.
Posted by at 6:24 PM
Arts Centre Competition for Primary and Secondary pupils
One of our Partners, Newcastle Arts Centre is having a competition open to northern schools to commemorate the first use of the phrase 'Iron Horse', apparently by John Steele of Pontop to describe what was arguably the world's first railway locomotive that ran in Gateshead during the summer of 1805.
Prizes include vouchers for arts materials in the Details Art Shop and display of work (drawing, painting or illiustration) within the Arts Centre's Christmas Exhibition.
Open this document for the 'how to'...
Download file
Posted by at 2:19 PM
September 15, 2005
Northern Children's Book Festival 2005 in Gateshead
The Gala day is on Saturday 19th of November, at Gateshead Civic Centre, from 9.45am-4.30pm.
PDF attached here...
Download file
www.ncbf.org.uk
Posted by at 5:22 PM
September 14, 2005
Durham County Cricket Club
What better time to announce that Durham CCC are about to formalise their coaching programme, I thought!
Look out for details on your Ambassadors e-bulletins soon.
http://www.durhamccc.co.uk/
Posted by at 1:19 PM
Looking for an International Link for your school?
CTC Theatre's 'Take Off' theatre festival 2006 will be held in Gateshead!
In preparation, the CTC will be in Montreal to look at the work of theatre companies, incluing those from Korea and Japan. Does your school have any existing links with other countries, or would your school like to make links with a particular country? Let CTC know - they can approach companies from specific areas.
You can also register an interest in hosting or attending performances, conference, workshops and CPD.
To register your expression of interest by 12 noon, Monday 19th December, contact:
Mr Steve Aal, CTC General Manager, on 01325 352 004 or email: steve@ctctheatre.org.uk.
or: Mari Macdonald, Gateshead Arts Team
Tel: (0191) 4775380 / E-mail: marimacdonald@gateshead.gov.uk / Fax: (0191) 4901394
Gateshead Visitor Centre, St. Mary’s Church, Oakwellgate, Gateshead, NE8 2AU.
Ambassador schools will have received this information last Thursday via e-bulletins, but we have added it below in full. Read on!
www.ctctheatre.org.uk
TAKE OFF FESTIVAL
Advance notice for Gateshead schools and appeal for expressions of interest.
Background
The Take Off Festival is an annual celebration of children’s theatre of the UK and abroad and held in a different part of our region each year. Managed by CTC Theatre Company, who are based in Darlington, the aim is to show examples of best practice in touring theatre for all ages of young people, designed for school and community settings.
The festival aims to provide a snapshot of the current scene, a platform for mutual support and a critical dialogue on the work.
Take Off 2006 in Gateshead
Gateshead would like to host the 4-day festival next year, with an international conference and symposium for theatre professionals designing and developing theatre for young audiences.
Theatre companies from around the world will perform to a wide audience of teachers, arts officers, theatre professionals, promoters, drama workers and anyone with an interest in theatre and young people.
The theme of the conference will be about the role of drama and theatre in meeting the ‘cultural entitlement’ for young people and children and how touring theatre companies will be able to deliver to that national agenda; theatre in education and drama as a pedagogical tool for learning.
It is hoped that the festival will take place in mid October 2006 if funding is secured.
As well as a showcase of performances; workshops, talks and continual professional development will be key elements of the festival. Performances in schools, a theatre club for young people and public tickets will enable the residents of Gateshead to experience superior theatre in their own neighbourhood.
With the theme of Culture10 and the World Cultural Summit in 2006, this festival will bring world cultures to Gateshead and showcase world class culture from the North East. It will raise the profile of drama and young people in the borough and bring together a network of local theatre companies, schools, local authorities and other agencies.
It is also hoped that there will also be an exciting ‘fringe festival’ including street theatre, the work of local young people and the programmes of local venues and promoters.
How can you be involved?
Please cut and paste the reply slip below on a return e-mail, or fax it to Mari Macdonald on the e-mail / fax number at the bottom of the slip:
TAKE OFF 2006 Reply Slip
CTC Theatre is attending an international gathering on 20 September in Montreal and will be looking at various theatre companies from around the world, including those from Korea and Japan. Do you have any existing links with other countries, or would your school like to make links with a particular country? Let us know and they can approach companies from specific areas.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Would you like your school to host a performance by a touring theatre company? If so, let us know now as limited spaces will be available.
Yes [ ]
· Would your school like to visit a performance elsewhere?
Yes [ ]
· Would your staff be interested in attending the conference, workshops and CPD opportunities?
Yes [ ]
Name of school ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Contact at school ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Best way of communication Telephone ………………………………………………………….
Best time for ringing ………………………………………………
E-mail ……………………………………………………………….
Fax ………………………………………………………………….
Post …………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………….
Please return this slip by 12 noon on Monday 19th of September 2005.
The Festival will happen in Gateshead next year if our funding application is successful, so at present this is an expression of interest from your school.
Contact: Steve Aal, CTC General Manager, on 01325 352 004 or email: steve@ctctheatre.org.uk.
or: Mari Macdonald, Gateshead Arts Team
Tel: (0191) 4775380 / E-mail: marimacdonald@gateshead.gov.uk / Fax: (0191) 4901394
Gateshead Visitor Centre, St. Mary’s Church, Oakwellgate, Gateshead, NE8 2AU.
Posted by at 10:26 AM
September 8, 2005
Short Stories: readings in Gateshead
Stories by the following writers (very likely suitable for your secondary students!):
Chris Bostock
Ellen Phethean
June Portlock
Tuesday 20th September 2005
at 7.00pm
Caedmon Hall
Central Library
Gateshead
FREE
Tickets available from the Box Office on 0191 433 8420.
This event is part of the Council's Leviathan programme, to celebrate the International Rivers and Sea Festivals.
Posted by at 2:02 PM
September 7, 2005
Frequently-asked questions
The Cultural & Creativity Ambassadors Network in Gateshead Schools
Frequently-asked questions
September 2005
Q1) Who are the Cultural & Creativity Ambassadors?
In a nutshell, they are all schoolteachers or Early Years staff working in Gateshead borough.
In June 2003 we asked all 92 schools in Gateshead borough to nominate a teacher to be responsible for receiving and disseminating free information on the wider opportunities for schools. They in turn were eligible for training in cultural and creative subjects and thus became the ‘cultural voice’ in their school. The scheme was so successful that we extended it to all Early Years settings in Gateshead in April 2005, with a very swift take-up. To date we have 86 schools, 28 Early Years settings, we cover all the childminders, the looked-after children and Gateshead College.
Q2) Why set up this network?
In essence, there are four reasons: Council policy, requests made by schools, requests made by cultural organisations and a programme of work aimed to involve learning settings in the cultural regeneration of Gateshead, placing them at the heart of new projects (e.g. the Public Art Programme, BALTIC, The Sage Gateshead Music Centre etc).
On Council policy, the literature reads thus:
The communities that make up Gateshead, led by its council, aim by 2010 to make Gateshead the most creative place in the country. Young people and their education are crucial to achieving this aim and in 2002 the Gateshead Educational Development Plan adopted Priority G, the commitment to deliver ‘Education with Character’. This accepted that culture and creativity are essential to providing the right climate for the development of our young people. This recognises the way in which cultural involvement and experiences enrich and add value to learning and contribute to raising standards and whole school improvement.
One of the ways in which we can help embed creativity into the curriculum is to assist teachers with a comprehensive information service and encourage each school to take part by appointing a special teacher to be the conduit for this information (their Cultural Ambassador).
Requests and comments by schools:
School staff had commented for some time on the following:
That they were not aware of services aimed at them (either resources, internal or external visits), that they were informed of services at too late a date to work into next term’s plans because information had been sent to no one person in particular in school and had taken too long in ‘doing the rounds’, no point of contact for lists of organisations, no-one to help with general or specific advice, or the thought that any extra activities would be prohibitively expensive and of uncertain quality.
Requests and comments made by cultural organisations:
Organisations were largely keen to visit, be visited, or provide resources to schools, but were frustrated by the lack of an established conduit for information. Frequent past complaints included having to cancel education events through a lack of interest, or interest from schools after an event was cancelled, as the information had taken so long to arrive in the relevant teacher’s hands, and a lack of information about which schools were where in the north east, which belonged to which borough, schools breakdowns and the names of key personnel within.
The work of Gateshead’s Arts Development Team in keeping education at the heart of the regeneration of Gateshead:
The post of Community Arts & Education Officer was set up in 2001 to develop existing work in Gateshead schools working with cultural organisations and freelance artists.
Arts in Education is now a priority of Gateshead’s Arts Development Programme. Projects include children from Early Years through to post 16 years. Workshops and residencies encourage participation in the arts from drama to dance, visual arts to architecture and music to literature. In 2003-2004 the Arts Team worked with 17 nurseries, 65 schools, ran 330 workshops with 7,844 young people.
Q3) How did you go about solving some of those past requests mentioned above and how does the scheme work on a day to day basis?
We listened!
We were to be the conduit for information passing to and from the schools. We canvassed a network of local, regional and national cultural organisations (Cultural Partners), told them of our plans, and signed them up. At the same time, using the Council’s existing schools list, we canvassed headteachers at a special launch event supported by Council members, Heads of Service and the National Campaign for the Arts.
The heads replied with the name of their school’s new Cultural & Creativity Ambassador (CCA or Ambassador for short) and an email address at which they could be contacted.
The webmaster at the Gateshead Grid for Learning very kindly set up an excellent website on the weblog principle. (www.cultureandcreativitygateshead.org) on which we have permission to reproduce relevant educational and news items from the DfES, the DCMS and the Guardian newspaper.
So with Ambassadors’ email addresses, a website, and the postal addresses, we were ready. Cultural Partners were then asked to send information to us in both print and electronic format.
Teachers wanted clear, relevant, accessible information in good time, so we decided to send a fortnightly e-bulletin with very time-sensitive, exclusive information and also posted articles, news and activities onto the website which were too ‘big’ to email or less exclusive in nature. Aware of the large amount of post that schools receive, we decided to ask Cultural Partners to send us print material (for mailouts) only three times per year, but early enough to arrive before the beginning of the relevant term to allow for planning in school.
We continue to use this format to this day, although the lists are now longer as more schools sign up and the e-bulletins and website also contain information for the Early Years settings, who were invited to join us from April 2005.
Cultural Partners number 82 and consist of local, regional and national
organisations, Council services, freelance artists, the private, voluntary and
charity sectors.
Q4) What feedback have you had?
Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Ambassadors have told us of useful events, resources and visits that they have found out about as a result of the information and Cultural Partners have increased the number of Gateshead schools using their facilities.
Q5) Did you mention teacher training?
Yes. As part of the scheme, Ambassadors (or a stand-in colleague) can attend our programmed CPD (continuing professional development) sessions. Aware of financial constraints, we arrange these sessions after school hours, so no classroom cover is required. The Cultural Partners are obviously a good resource for providing these sessions and the majority are so supportive of the scheme that they give their time free of charge. Either way, charges to schools are either minimal or non-existent. The sessions are either relevant to the curriculum or to teachers’ own development, or both. We aim for an informal atmosphere with small groups as teachers can then relax, learn and ask questions. A short evaluation is carried out at each session, so teachers get the chance to give continual feedback.
The time spent at our CPDs carries extra currency as it counts toward awards such as the Arts Council’s Artsmark.
Q5) Any interest from elsewhere?
Yes. Oxford LEA, Nottingham LEA, Kent LEA and Darlington LEA have all expressed an interest in the scheme and are canvassing for funding to do likewise. Meanwhile, Leicester has a Museums Service within its Council, which has already found funding and are hoping to set up their network this year.
Q6) What’s in store for the scheme?
We are working towards extending the scheme with our colleagues at Newcastle City Council in the near future.
If you have a question about the scheme, please send it to:
barbaraannbrown@gateshead.gov.uk
Posted by at 4:58 PM
September 5, 2005
The guide to sending us information for schools
Quick tips on how to send information to reach Gateshead schools and Early Years settings via our Cultural & Creativity Ambassadors network. The guide can be used by cultural partner organisations and learning settings alike and our contact details are included for sending information or further queries; so drop us a line!
Download file
Posted by at 1:45 PM
September 4, 2005
A welcome back to Gateshead teachers
A special welcome to teachers new to working in Gateshead and to those who have taken on the mantle of Cultural & Creativity Ambassador in their school this year. We have just added the Culture Showcase Directory (2004) to the site and we hope to expand the list of links later this month.
Look out for our new 'Frequently-asked questions' page this week.
If you are a Cultural Ambassador, you should have a 'Council Partners' pack of print waiting for you and we'll be sending an e-bulletin this Thursday, the 8th of September.
As ever, the Arts Development Team can be contacted on 0191 477 5380.
Posted by at 5:56 PM
September 2, 2005
Culture in Education Showcase Directory - 2004 edition
A useful resource for finding Cultural Partners with educational experience who took part in the Showcase in June 2004. Please note that the next Showcase will be in Autumn 2006: notices will be posted on this site, in Ambassadors e-bulletins, in the post and via the LEA.
Open link below (MS Word, 376KB)...
Download file
Posted by at 10:15 AM
September 1, 2005
CPD sessions for Gateshead Ambassadors
The Arts Team have been busy over the summer arranging Continuing Professional Development sessions for our special teachers. Please look out for notices of the following in your fortnightly e-bulletins:
Dance for Secondary Ambassadors on 6th October
Wildlife Gardening in Schools for all levels on 13th October
Local History 'CPD PLUS' for all on Hallowe'en (31st Oct)
Others to be confirmed:
Animation for Secondary Ambassadors
ICT basics for all
Music for Secondary Ambassadors
Posted by at 1:14 PM
NAME national conference at The Sage Gateshead
The National Association of Music Educators conference takes place at the Sage Gateshead from 30th September - 2nd October 2005.
For the full programme, open link below.
http://www.name2.org.uk/conf/conf05.php
Posted by at 1:04 PM
NDTA education conference 2005
National Dance Teachers Association's annual dance education conference is on Saturday 19th November 2005 at Laban, London.
For more details, see document below:
Download file
Posted by at 12:31 PM
Music resource for Early Years settings
Gateshead Schools Music Service is the contact for the following:
"Music in the Foundation Stage: a scheme of work" by Anne Porter. This comprehensive file is designed to support non-specialist and specialist musicians alike. In addition to much valuable material, there's a supporting CD recorded by Anne Porter, and a CD-Rom with a great deal of downloadable material.
£35.00 each. Contact Barbara Murray, Gateshead Music Service.
Tel: 0191 433 8685. Email: barbaramurray@gateshead.gov.uk
Posted by at 12:00 PM
A Thank-You from a Cultural Partner
Thank-you to the Ambassador network and staff at Dryden Centre who responded to Peter Hepplewhite's archive resources survey for NEMLAC. Peter got a good response from Gateshead and the wider region, which will inform provision in the future.
http://www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk/
http://www.nemlac.co.uk/
Posted by at 11:22 AM