The Scottish European Educational Trust (SEET)’s ‘Our World’ is a free film making project.
Designed to encourage global citizenship, language learning and uptake among pupils, the project is open to any team of four from S3 – S6, with no previous film making knowledge or experience required.
According to SEET, over 70% of participant pupils involved in last year’s project said they were more likely to take languages into their next year as a result of taking part.
All teams have to do to enter is come up with a creative idea for a film, based on this year’s theme. Then, with the help of staff from SEET, teams will put that idea into storyboard form and send it to SEET with an audio or video clip explaining it. The deadline for storyboard submissions is 3rd December 2019.
Working as part of a team of four, pupils participating in the project come up with a creative idea for a short film about being a citizen of the world. Their team should consider one of the following themes to get started:
Sustainable Tourism (going on holiday, exploring other countries and cultures and making a positive impact on the environment)
Migration and welcome (refugees, moving abroad, how people are treated)
Trade (how businesses work in different countries, importing and exporting)
The film produced must include the use of at least one language other than English, but how or when you use it is up to the team.
After all the entries are submitted, 18 teams from across Scotland will be invited to one of three regional film making workshop days (roughly 6 teams per workshop) where they will get the opportunity to make their film a reality, with pupils given technology and professional training on the day to help them.
Finally, to celebrate the completed films, teams will be invited to a premiere and awards ceremony, where they can showcase their work for the first time to friends and family.
Throughout the project SEET staff are happy to make trips to schools and answer any questions people might have.
If you’d like to register or sign up a team just click this link.
The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) has updated the various briefings and learning resources available on their website.
Briefings produced by the SCCJR, based at the University of Glasgow, provide a comprehensive overview of ‘Crime and the Law in Scotland’.
Among the resources available are briefings about the Scottish criminal justice system, violence against women and girls, youth justice, the Scottish prison system, non-custodial sentences, and the impacts of crime on groups in society.
Further briefings are being prepared for topics such as women in prison, crime and the media, and the successfulness of policies and measures aimed at tackling re-offending in Scotland.
The resources are available on the SCCJR website, or by clicking here.
Anyone who has questions or feedback on the resources is encouraged to contact the SCCJR by e-mailing enquiries@sccjr.ac.uk.
The SQA has updated Understanding Standards materials for National 5 and Advanced Higher Modern Studies, while a new Subject Update document provides this session’s uplift dates
According to the Subject Update, the SQA will uplift materials for external assessment between mid-March and late April 2020.
Uplift of the National 5 assignment will take place on 18 March 2020, with Higher Modern Studies assignments and Advanced Higher dissertations to be collected on 23 April 2020.
At National 5 level, the Subject Update confirms that the SQA has updated the Assignment Report booklet, with the flyleaf being removed – everything else remains the same. The flyleaf will be issued to schools in line with the arrangements for other subjects.
When it comes to the Advanced Higher project-dissertation, the Subject Update confirms that a new approved list of Advanced Higher dissertations has been written up for session 2019–20. The updated list can be found on the Advanced Higher Modern Studies subject page of the SQA website, under the ‘Coursework’ tab.
Turning to the Understanding Standards website, the SQA has published example candidate evidence for the National 5 question paper and assignment. Candidate evidence for the Advanced Higher question paper and project-dissertation has also been updated.
Course Reports contained reflection on the most recent SQA assessment period have been available for each level of Modern Studies, on their respective pages on the SQA website, since September.
Written by Douglas Skelton, ‘You the Jury’ is a one-hour long film produced by the Edinburgh Film Company in partnership with the Modern Studies Association (MSA). With support from the Faculty of Advocates, the Judicial Office for Scotland, the James Hutton Institute, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, Bloody Scotland and the Clark Foundation, the film is a reconstruction of a real Scottish criminal case. Conducted and filmed in a real Scottish court room, based on an actual case, with real-life lawyers, evidence, court staff and scientists playing their own parts, the case is followed from start to finish.
To access the 5-minute trailer and download the full version of the film, login with your Modern Studies Association (MSA) membership account below, or click the ‘Join Us’ link – joining the MSA is free and open to all Modern Studies Teachers across Scotland.
Global Acts of Unity is a campaign promoting unity, tolerance and understanding in schools. Its founder is Mike Haines.
In 2014, Mike’s brother, David, was murdered by the terrorist group ISIS. Following such a tragic event and harrowing loss, Mike founded Global Acts of Unity so that something positive could come out of such a senseless and barbaric act.
Writing of his decision to found the campaign, Mike says, “If I live with anger and hate, the terrorists have won. Through creating fear and distrust, they want to turn us against each other. They want to turn community against community. So, I want to talk of unity, tolerance and understanding.”
Taking his campaign one step further, Mike has began to offer schools across the country the opportunity to get in touch with him, with some colleagues having already invited Mike to their schools to provide powerful and thought-provoking presentations.
As Mike writes on his website, “If I hate the people who killed my brother, they win. I will not let hatred enter into my life. I will fight to my dying breath against the fear and discord they seek to instill in us. This is now my path in life. This is why I created global acts of unity.”
Anyone wishing to find out more or to access classroom resources can do so by visiting the Global Acts of Unity website – just click here.
Each year, at the Modern Studies Association (MSA) Annual Conference, the highest achieving candidates in Modern Studies have their academic achievement and hard work celebrated.
This year, with Annual Conference held in the magnificent surroundings of the Scottish Parliament debating chamber, four candidates – all of whom achieved full marks in the most recent SQA assessment period – were commended.
Gordon Black, a Trustee of the Modern Studies Educational Trust (MSET) spoke from the lectern on the floor of the chamber to introduce the candidates.
In turn, each candidate was applauded loudly by the 150 attendees, before being handed their trophy by – and having their photograph taken with – the Rt. Hon. Christine Grahame, MSP, Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.
For Advanced Higher, Mike Cash collected the award on behalf of his daughter, Olivia Cash. Olivia was a candidate from George Watson’s College.
Three candidates all scored full marks at Higher level and were duly awarded. Elizabeth Farr was from St Andrew’s and St Bride’s High School; Sompure Banerjee was from Hutcheson’s Grammar School; and, Rachel Fairley was from George Heriot’s School, in Edinburgh.
Well done, and congratulations once again to all four of these marvellous young people, whose hard work more than paid off.
The photographs shared below are the copyright of the Scottish Parliament.
Hodder Education has announced that they are planning to host several Continuing Lifelong Professional Learning (CLPL) opportunities for Modern Studies Teachers over the coming months.
In addition to traditional face-to-face professional development and update opportunities, Hodder Education is also planning on running Webinar sessions, allowing Teachers who might otherwise struggle to attend face-to-face CLPL, the chance to engage in the training on offer.
The upcoming events are entitled ‘Delivering SQA National 5 Modern Studies with confidence’ and ‘Maximising exam and assignment success in SQA Higher Modern Studies’. A face-to-face version and a Webinar version of each opportunity is available.
Those interested in the Webinar versions can book their places for £85 + VAT, while the face-to-face CLPL events will cost £215 + VAT.
Both the Webinars and face-to-face events are scheduled for late January and mid-February 2020, with anyone interested in booking able to do so online by clicking this link.
The Modern Studies Association (MSA) does not earn money from these events, nor this post, but we are happy to share details of opportunities such as these to support colleagues in their professional update and development.