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.