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Wester Hailes Education Centre gets British Council award – Performers needed for Edinburgh’s Christmas – Darts at the Royal Highland Centre – Mansfield Park at the King’s – Dewar House experimental

Wester Hailes Education Centre in Edinburgh has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.

The International School Award is a badge of honour for schools that do outstanding work in international education, such as through links with partner schools overseas. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need to live and work as global citizens.

Wester Hailes Education Centre’s international work includes and wide range of cross curricular projects. Many of these are in conjunction with their partner school Barkly West high school, South Africa. S2 students are currently studying renewable energy is Scotland and South Africa, comparing wind and solar power. Project findings are shared amongst students at both schools enabling the young people to appreciate the interdependence of people and the environment.

The British Council’s website for schools – British Council Schools Online – is a supportive ‘one stop shop’ to help schools find international opportunities and teaching resources, including details about the International School Award. Any school can find out how to apply by visiting the British Council website.

On hearing the news that Wester Hailes Education Centre had received the Award, Headteacher, Shelia Paton said: “I am delighted that the school has been recognized by the British Council for our international education over a wide range of curricular areas. We are committed to enriching our students education and to developing their skills, knowledge and values to flourish as responsible global citizen

In 2012 more than 800 schools receive International School Award accreditation. This includes a wide range of schools from a variety of different backgrounds and areas across the UK.   The British Council hopes to build on this success throughout 2013.

The Award is now available worldwide in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus and Pakistan as part of the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme. Around 4000 International School Awards have been presented to successful schools in the UK since the scheme began in 1999.

The ISA encourages and supports schools to develop:

  • An international ethos embedded throughout the school
  • A majority of pupils within the school impacted by and involved in international work
  • Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
  • Curriculum-based work across a range of subjects
  • Year-round international activity
  • Involvement of the wider community

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Attention all Edinburgh-based perfomers or community groups. The lovely people at Edinburgh’s Christmas are looking for performers to take part in the opening ceremony of this year’s festivities… if you have the talent for it, drop them an email and let them know how you can help.

Would you like to take part in the opening ceremony of Edinburgh’s Christmas?We’re looking for Edinburgh-based community and interest groups – whether you are a singing group, circus troupe, dance crew, music band or drama club – we want to hear from you!For more info on how your group can perform in the heart of Edinburgh and help us kick off the festive season, please email stef@underbelly.co.uk

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The world’s best darts players are to return to Edinburgh later this year for a new three-day tournament, The Masters which will be held at the Royal Highland Centre from November 1-3 2013.

The ITV4-televised event will see the top 16 players from the PDC’s world rankings – led by World Champion Phil Taylor, Premier League Darts champion Michael van Gerwen, European Champion Adrian Lewis and Scotland’s former UK Open champion Robert Thornton – face off across three nights in a knockout format.

Play will commence on Friday November 1 with the eight First Round matches, with the four Quarter-Finals taking place on Saturday November 2. The Semi-Finals and Final will then be held on Sunday November 3 in one session as the destiny of the title is decided.

The Masters will see darts return to the Royal Highland Centre for the first time since the Ingliston venue staged the popular Premier League Darts event in 2009. Erin Adam, Event Planning Manager for the RHC said, “Seeing the return of darts to the centre is something we’re all very excited about – this a huge event with a great following in Scotland and we’re sure it will prove hugely popular.”

PDC Chairman Barry Hearn added, “We’re delighted to be bringing darts back to the Royal Highland Centre with The Masters. This is a new concept for us with only the world’s top 16 players qualifying, but the format will ensure high quality matches throughout three days and exciting matches between the biggest names in darts. Scotland has got a great darting history as well as a superb current crop of players, with Robert Thornton a firm fixture inside the top 16 and Gary Anderson fighting to get back into that elite. Staging The Masters in Edinburgh will again give Scottish fans the chance to enjoy top-class darts in the flesh this November.”

Tickets can be purchased through SeeTickets at http://pdc.seetickets.com from Wednesday August 21 (10am) or by calling See Tickets on 0844 871 8807.

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Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds acclaimed production of Mansfield Park will be at the King’s Theatre Edinburgh, Tuesday 5 to Sat 9 November.

Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park – brought to vivid life in recent adaptations starring Billie Piper, Frances O’Conner and Johnny Lee Miller – finds a new incarnation in this acclaimed production from the very last Regency-era theatre in the country – The Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.

 

Directed by Colin Blumenau, Tim Luscombe’s sharply drawn adaptation of one of Austen’s most challenging novels premiered to critical and popular acclaim last year, and the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds is delighted to be able to bring this spell-binding production to audiences around the country for the second year running, celebrating 200 years since the novel was completed in 1813.

Unceremoniously uprooted from her humble family home, intelligent young Fanny Price is dropped into the bustling, aristocratic household of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, where she finds herself buffeted from one crisis to the next in the company of her cousins and their well-to-do friends. Yet throughout this turmoil one thing remains a constant – her love for the generous, worthy and steadfast Edmund Bertram.

But will this love be her salvation? Or will she be forced to marry the charismatic Henry Crawford for connections and wealth alone? Can Fanny triumph over her adoptive family

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The Queens Hall is staging a ‘Dewar House Experimental Batch Series’ event comprising of James Yorkston, Jon Thorne and Suhail Yusuf Khan on 1 November 2013 at 8pm.

In 2012, Dewar’s hosted an experiment. Musicians from India and the UK were placed in a makeshift recording studio in Edinburgh for a week and asked to come up with an album of original songs. King Creosote, Suhail Yusuf Khan, The Pictish Trail, Jon Thorne,  Slow Club, Found, James Yorkston, Raghu Dixit and others came and went, collaborating and creating with those they met. The results could be rather special.

In the spirit of that album, three of those acts are on tour together for the first time, playing together as a trio and performing a semi-improvised mix of traditional music from India and the UK/Ireland alongside their own compositions.

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.