Edinburgh Leisure offering free pre-school and junior dance class tasters
Edinburgh Leisure, a charity dedicated to creating opportunities for everyone to lead more active, healthy lives, is offering free pre-school and junior dance class tasters this autumn. Continue reading Get dancing at Drumbrae
Get your pencils sharpened for a new term in Penciltown! Please note the date is later than originally planned. New faces and familiar faces equally welcome!
THE MIX UP THEATRE FRINGE FESTIVAL SUMMER CAMP 2019! Ages 5-16
Monday 29th July – Friday 2nd August: 10am-4pm on The Pleasance.
Still a handful of spaces left so book in now at: www.mixuptheatre.com/fringefestival
Here’s the full programme for this year!
AGES 5-12 (Age 11+ will go to Seniors in afternoons):
MONDAY 29th July
AM – Puppetry Workshop with Ditto Theatre Company (Rocket Girl)
PM – Ceilidh Dancing with Ceilidhkids
PM – Stand-Up Comedy with Comedy Club 4 Kids
TUESDAY 30th July
AM – Bubble Making Workshop with The Highland Joker (The Bubble Show)
AM – Kafka for Kids Workshop with The Kafkateers (Beetlemania!)
PM – Mime Workshop with Bric à Brac Theatre (Mustard Doesn’t Go with Girls)
PM – Rap / Spoken Word with Mark Grist (Down with the Poetry King)
WEDNESDAY 31st July
AM – Electronic Music Movement Workshop with The New Victorians (Rave + Behave)
AM – THEATRE TRIP: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Rubbish Shakespeare Company
PM – Comedy Animal Acting Workshop with Goblin (Hey Diddle Diddle)
PM – Shakespeare Comedy Acting with the Rubbish Shakespeare Company
THURSDAY 1st August
AM – Word and Story Workshop with Dan Serridge Storyteller (Feast of Fools)
AM – THEATRE TRIP: Mustard Doesn’t Go wtih Girls by Bric a Brac Theatre
PM – Singing Workshop with Nonsenseroom Productions (Shark in the Park)
PM – Clowning Workshop with Stickyback Theatre (Sunshine)
FRIDAY 2nd August
AM – THEATRE TRIP: Games with James
PM – Storytelling Workshop with Flossy and Boo (Ned and the Whale)
PM – Circus Skills Workshop with Dummies Corp. (Splashtest Dummies)
PM – THEATRE TRIP + Meet & Greet with Cirque Berserk UK
AGES 11-16: AFTERNOONS (Seniors Class)
Monday 29th July + Tuesday 30th July
PM – Rehearsals
Wednesday 31st July
PM – Spy Comedy Acting Workshop with Paprichoo (Number, Please)
Thursday 1st August
PM – PERFORMANCE: Murder on the Dancefloor by Spies Like Us Theatre
PM – Physical Theatre Ensemble Workshop by Spies Like Us Theatre
FRIDAY 2nd August
PM – SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE – Royal Mile, Mercat Stage
The students will perform a short performance on the Mercat Stage of the Royal Mile as part of the Fringe Street Festival. This will take place at 3pm and will last approx 15-20 minutes.
Families will be invited along to meet us there (beside St Giles Cathedral).
Added to this our students will also be reviewing for Families Edinburgh Magazine as part of the Wee Reviewers team!
Don’t miss out! Book NOW!
Fifteen fantastic youth led projects are today celebrating their share of over £700,000 in dormant bank account monies from the Young Start Fund. Amongst them are a bike lending library and an off-road motorcycling project, both aiming to build the confidence and employability skills of young people. (See below for full list of awards).
Edinburgh-based Dunedin Canmore will receive £60,000 for a youth programme. This group will provide a range of services and activities for young people aged 12-18 in the Gorgie and Dalry areas. Services on offer will include Health Respect drop-ins, one-to-one support sessions and outdoor learning activities. The project will work with around 390 young people and involve 11 volunteers.
Thanks to a grant of £30,000, The Knightsridge Adventure Project, in Livingston, will be able to take ‘The Vennie Bike Lending Library’ to the next level. Young volunteers will take ownership of the project and will be trained to manage the bike lending library, maintain bikes, and lead cycle rides across the community.
Welcoming the funding is young volunteer Scott Forbes, 16, (below) who joined the project seven years ago. He said: “I started coming along to The Vennie when I moved to the area – I didn’t know anyone so it really helped me make friends and provided a place to go after school when my parents were working.
“Volunteering has boosted my confidence and taught me how to engage with, and run activities for my peers, which I think will be useful for future employment. This place is so important for many of the young kids who can’t afford a bike of their own and who need somewhere to go after school.
“With this money we’ll be able to refurbish more bikes and run more cycle led rides across the community, which is what young people have been asking for. My hope is that these cycle trips inspire them as much as it’s inspired me in terms of ideas for the future.”
Thomas Heron (above), project lead at The Vennie Bike Project, said: “We are over the moon to have received this funding. Young people have demanded and driven this project and their opinions and ideas have led to the creation of the bike lending library, so I feel this epitomises what Young Start is all about.
“Now we can employ someone to co-ordinate the cycle led routes, maintenance workshops and help the project grow. Seeing the young people, many of whom can’t afford bikes, getting out and experiencing fresh air is wonderful and we can’t wait to see where the project goes.”
Meanwhile, young people at risk of offending will get their lives back on track as Fife based KORMC receives a Young Start grant of £42,803. The funding will be used to combine off-road motorcycle coaching with teaching young people valuable life skills.
David Paton, KORMC Programme Manager, said, “Wow, we are absolutely delighted to hear about the award from the Young Start Fund. It gives us an opportunity to continue the good work we have started. Also, to start new work on a motorcycle mechanics and maintenance programme.
The feedback from parents, referrers and young people has been amazing, this is letting us know, that we are On the Right Track. With this new financial support, we will continue to develop young people in a positive way, whilst also making our communities safer.”
Announcing today’s funding totalling, £747,452, Maureen McGinn, National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Chair, said, “Young Start aims to help children and young people across Scotland realise their potential while also building invaluable skills and confidence for the future.
“These brilliant groups reflect that aim by placing young people at their heart of project design, delivery and evaluation. It’s an absolute delight to announce this funding.”
Cub Scouts in Scotland are being encouraged to go eco as part of a newly revised badge to teach children the importance of getting involved in environmental conservation in their daily lives. Continue reading New eco badge for Scotland’s Cub Scouts
What’s the weather forecast like for Penciltown this Saturday?
Come prepared for all weathers as we’re continuing our Worldbuilding theme, so what you see outside your windows may not be reflected on the page … 2 – 3.30, all 11-15 year olds welcome.
The Scottish Government is seeking views on how best to incorporate the UN’s ‘gold standard’ for children’s rights into Scots Law and improve the lives of children and young people.
Continue reading Consultation on incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The first ever national guidance for professionals giving advice and support to young people on healthy relationships and consent has been published. It means that whenever a young person seeks advice – whether from a teacher, a health professional or a youth worker – they should receive consistent, age-appropriate information. Continue reading New national resource to aid support for young people
Primary school-aged children will no longer be arrested and treated as offenders following the passing of the Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill at Holyrood yesterday. Continue reading Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill passed at Holyrood
New steps to support young people’s mental health.
Steps to improve the mental health of young people, and directly target the impact of social media and body image on mental wellbeing, are to be supported through a new package of measures.
This includes £90,000 of funding to produce advice on the healthy use of social media and screen time, which will be created in partnership with young people.
In addition, a review of evidence on the effects of screen use on sleep and the implications of this for mental health will be commissioned.
The announcement follows the publication of new research from the Scottish Government which identifies social media, sleep disruption, body image and school pressures as potential factors in the reported worsening of mental wellbeing among adolescent girls in Scotland (see report below).
Minister for Mental Health Clare Haughey returned to her former school, Trinity High School in Rutherglen, to meet with pupils and discuss the research.
Ms Haughey said: “We know that many young people in Scotland, particularly girls, are unsatisfied with their physical appearance, and that high levels of social media use may be detrimental to mental wellbeing. We also know that adolescent girls in Scotland report higher levels of social media use than boys.
“Social media does have the potential to be used in a hugely positive way, but we want to ensure young people are properly informed on how social media promotes unrealistic expectations.
“During Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week we announced that we will be producing advice, specific to Scotland, on the healthy use of social media and screen time. We are now committing £90,000 to carry out this work as part of a package of measures to give young people the support they need. We want all young people to be able to grow up in a modern Scotland with good mental wellbeing.”
Exploring the reported worsening of mental wellbeing among adolescent girls in Scotland report:
