Jimmy Cauty’s new installation, ESTATE, has been transported to Muirhouse for a month long residency from the end of May and throughout June 2021.
ESTATE is a dystopian model village experience featuring four abandoned concrete tower blocks at 1:24 scale (approx 2 metres high) housed in a 40-foot shipping container.
The tower blocks each serve a different function in the ESTATE and contain amusing scenes of mass social, economic and environmental devastation.
Produced by L-13 Light Industrial Workshop, ESTATE is hosted in Edinburgh by new producing collective, the Society of Spectacles.
This follows the 2016 residency of Cauty’s previous work, The Aftermath Dislocation Principle, at the Grassmarket in Edinburgh.
ESTATE Edinburgh moves out of the city centre to form part of L-13’s UK-wide MdZ ESTATE Tour, which has already been seen in Hull and Stoke-on-Trent.
ESTATE will be presented in the car park off Pennywell Road, next to North Edinburgh Arts.
ESTATE is viewed either individually or in social bubbles in pre-booked 10-minute slots scheduled every 15-minutes. Viewers then walk through a 40-foot shipping container to explore the tower blocks.
WARNING: The experience includes smoke, strobe lighting, wind, loud noise, tiny TV broadcasts, and is suitable for adults and children ages 5+.
ESTATE has been designed so it can be toured and viewed in compliance with Covid-19 hygiene and social distancing measures, and is wheelchair accessible.
As lockdown eases for the time being and the full long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic begin to dawn, ESTATE is a glimpse into an uncertain future that looks increasingly familiar.
Advance bookings for free entry to view ESTATE are essential.
10-minute viewing slots available to book on Thursdays to Saturdays, May 28th-June 26th (Thursday & Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10am – 1pm).
ESTATE will be presented off-site in the nearby car park, near North Edinburgh Arts. To learn more and book your free place, click here.
Two boys aged 14 and 15 have been charged after a stone was thrown at a bus in Pennywell Gardens, smashing a window. The incident occurred around 7.10pm on Wednesday 5 May.
Inspector Johnny Elliott of Drylaw Police Station said: “This kind of behaviour is dangerous and the consequences could have been far more serious.
“As part of Operation Proust, officers have been visiting schools in the area and speaking to youths about the dangers of throwing stones at public transport vehicles. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated and we will make every effort to identify those responsible.
“Information from members of the public is vital in helping us quickly identify those involved in this type of criminality and we would encourage anyone who witnesses an incident to contact Police Scotland through 101.
“Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
A school feels ‘under attack’ when put at the bottom of a narrow-focused league table, says Craigroyston headteacher Shelley McLaren
Each year the release of newspaper school league tables for Scotland is a day I dread, and the publication of the 2021 results yesterday was no different. The language of the headlines – “Which school is the best in Scotland?” and “Scotland’s schools ranked best to worst” – is both incredibly damaging and demoralising for staff, pupils, parents and school communities across the country, not to mention the reputational harm it can cause for years to come (writes SHELLEY McLAREN).
The stories will continue today in the local news, where it feels like we need to put on our armour and prepare for attack. No matter how much we’ve done in all other parts of school life throughout the year, the focus to determine our worth and whether we are a “good” school seems to rest singlehandedly on the one measure of how many young people achieve five Highers in one sitting.
As a school, we pick up the pieces from this for months to come – only for it to come around again next year. It is not, of course, that we do not focus on trying to improve by the measure of five Highers, but, because of context and, indeed, probably our own vision and values, we will always be near the “bottom”.
I congratulate those top-performing schools where up to 86 per cent of young people have achieved the “gold standard” of five Highers. It is an incredible achievement and should be celebrated – but everything is about context, and schools should and need to be measured on so much more.
I am not shirking accountability or responsibility as a headteacher – the measure of five Highers is important – but if closing the attainment gap simply meant improving this one measure, and that determined whether we were a “good” or “bad” school, we would have used our Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) and Scottish Attainment Challenge funding very differently – and probably not made that many gains.
I could concentrate on the fact that 70 per cent of our young people live in SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) 1 and 2 or that 20 per cent of each cohort arrive at us with a reading age of 8 or below, or that nearly 40 per cent of our students are on free school meals. This would make it easy to excuse why we are one of the “worst” schools in the league table – but I won’t, because that is not what we base our views of children on.
What I will focus on is that, in 2020, nearly 95 per cent of our young people left school to go into a positive destination – above the national average of 93.3 per cent – and that last session 100 per cent of our young people in S4 achieved five or more national qualifications (nobody was “left behind”, regardless of any barrier) and that this year 23 of our young people (almost a third of the cohort) are heading off to universities across the country – the same group of young people who didn’t achieve five Highers in one sitting.
I implore you, please don’t judge our incredible young people or our amazing school, filled with dedicated, passionate staff, on this one measure of five Highers – know that we are doing everything possible to ensure that our students are given a gold-star service to prepare them to have the best life possible after school, with or without the achievement of the “gold standard”.
Are we one of the “worst” schools in the country? Of course we’re not – and I would vehemently challenge anyone who considers this to be the case.
Shelley McLaren is headteacher at Craigroyston Community High School
Around 7.10pm last night (Wednesday 5 May), police received a report of a bus window being smashed in Pennywell Gardens, after a stone was thrown by a group of youths.
Enquiries are continuing and officers are following a positive line of enquiry.
Fresh Start, with the Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership, are running online events on 12th & 13th May to allow residents to discuss how our services can adapt to fit what matters to you, the people that live and work in the area!
Join the conversation on Wednesday 12th May, 1-2.30pm by registering here:
We have received funding from the management committee of Royston Wardieburn community centre to offer some one to one activities to local folk in North West Edinburgh, who might be struggling a bit as we ease out of lockdown.
The aim is to support people engage/re-engage with the many social and learning opportunities on offer in North Edinburgh.
As you know, it’s not going to be easy for many people to take the first step – it never is. However, the impact of lockdown is likely to have magnified people’s concerns and anxieties about getting involved in something new.
Many people may be feeling a bit anxious about what life is going to look like in the coming months and the challenges that lie ahead. Some people may struggle physically due to the loss of mobility during last year and might need a bit of support to get out and about safely again.
One to One Activities
We’ve put together a programme of one to one activities which we hope will address these issues and we will adapt the programme to reflect people’s interests. The programme includes supported local walks, visits to places of interests such as community gardens and galleries and museums.
We are also planning to offer individuals the opportunity to work on their digital, literacy or language skills in a local café once the restrictions are lifted. For some people just meeting up with someone in a public space for a coffee and a chat will be sufficient.
Working together
We would be really grateful for your help and support with this project.
1. Can you send us information about any activities you are planning?
2. Can you could let us know if you have a space that we might be able to use for meet ups (inside and outside)?
We would also be grateful if you could help to promote the project by displaying our leaflets (which will be dropped off next week) in a public space and if you could pass on the information to anyone you know who you think might benefit from the project.
We are aiming to work with people who have been particularly badly affected by lockdown, particularly those who might have been shielding due to health conditions but also people from the BAME community and people who might be struggling with their mental health or finding it difficult to get out due to mobility issues.
If you know someone who might be interested, please let us know how best to get in touch with them.
Please get in touch if you want to know more about the Time for Change Project or if you would like to become involved in some way.
Just to update you on the CEC Adult Education programme – we are about to launch our first face to face courses in over a year and are very excited to offer up our outdoor courses, starting from 10th May.
The courses will be limited to a maximum of 8 people to make sure the tutor and learners are kept safe and so early booking is recommended. The tutors are friendly, welcoming and will ensure the courses boost skills for lifelong enjoyment, as well as being safe and fun.
There is an added bonus of being outdoors because growing research is showing a real benefit of being out in nature, for mental and physical wellbeing.
In addition, birdsong is now considered to be one of the biggest factors in focusing the mind and stopping stressful anxiety. There is a link to hearing birdsong and feeling connected to nature as well as a sense of safety because the birds are all around (and would fly off in times of danger).
Our fees are available at standard rate, concession for students and senior citizens and reduced for people receiving benefits.
Just book online. If you’d like more information, feel free to email:
Congratulations to North Edinburgh’s very own COVID-19 Response and Recovery Group who won the Inspiring Partnerships Award at last night’s Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.
