Primary Times - the definitive what’s on and where to go family guide of activities and events for children of primary school age. Things to do with your kids during the school holidays including arts and craft activities, music and theatre for children, parties, competitions, days out, and family attractions along with term time drama schools, dance classes, after school clubs and sports activities. Things to do at a place near you!
News in Edinburgh and the Lothians
Vote for your favourite picture book!
So will it be a unicorn expert, a ninja frog (and pals) or a station mouse who wins? The Scottish Book Trust’s 2020 Bookbug Picture Book Prize Shortlist has been announced and fans are invited to vote for their favourite by 5pm on Friday December 6.
The shortlisted books are: Sophie Johnson:Unicorn Expert written by Morag Hood and illustrated by Ella Okstad; The Prince and The Witch and The Thief and The Bears, written by Alastair Chisholm and illustrated by Jez Tuya; and The Station Mouse by Meg McLaren.
The books will be gifted to P1 pupils next year. Visit scottishbooktrust.com and follow the links to watch the authors read from their books.
Learning in the great outdoors
More than 2,000 school pupils transformed Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park into the country’s largest outdoor classroom for two days this month.
For the second year, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Outdoor Learning Challenge event took over the park with 2,421 pupils and 48 primary plus two special schools taking part.
A new element this year was a special twilight event with more than 200 teachers from across Scotland attending to try for themselves the activities and see how outdoor learning can be used to benefit their own schools.
Pupils took part in three 40-minute activities which included: outdoor drama, mountain bike skills courses, orienteering, renewable energy, adaptive bikes, wood working, archaeological excavations, historical walks, cross-country skiing, sensory trail, surveying biodiversity and even sheep bingo!
Youngsters invited to give up their bed for a night to help homeless
Young people are being encouraged to give up their beds this December as part of the movement against homelessness.
The Wee Sleep Out has been launched by social enterprise Social Bite, which has run Sleep In The Park events for adults in Scotland over the last few years raising more than £10 million to try end homelessness. The Wee Sleep Out will allow under-18s to get involved with their own sleep outs on the weekend of December 6-7, the same weekend as Social Bite’s World’s Big Sleep Out.
It’s free to sign up and participants will receive a workshop, alongside lots of useful resources. Workshops, delivered by a small team, headed up by Social Bite co-founder Alice Thompson, cover homelessness, social enterprise and how under 18s can organise and host their Wee Sleep Out alongside a supporting adult.
Wee Sleep Out ran a pilot last year, with 5000 participants and over £110,000 raised by young people all over Scotland. To register and for more information visit www.weesleepout.co.uk
Junior brass band looking for new players!
Newland Junior Brass Band is looking for new players. The band is looking for anyone aged 8 and above to join their team. The band rehearses in Bathgate Partnership Centre on Monday evenings during term time. For more information, please PM the Newland Concert Brass Facebook page.
The Listies scoop Primary Times award!
The winners of the seventh Primary Times Edinburgh Fringe Children’s Choice Award are Australian madcap duo The Listies!
The Listies - Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly – clinched the award for their show Ickypedia after being awarded five stars by this magazine’s adult and children reviewers. Our young reviewer said: “So funny, I want to come back every day.”
Richard and Matt said: “We are honoured by this award, and are thankful to Primary Times for taking our silliness so seriously. It is important that work for children is recognised as a legitimate sector of the festival, there are so many great family and children shows at the Fringe.”
The pair headed back to Australia after their Fringe run ended to appear at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and to work on their new YouTube series The Listies Work for Peanuts! Find out more at thelisties.com.
Runner-up was Islander: A New Musical, for 8+. Set on a small Scottish island on the brink of a big decision, with a contemporary Scottish folk-inspired score, the story follows a young girl, Eilidh, and what happens when the tide washes in a mysterious stranger. Our young reviewer called it “incredible.”
After sell-out Fringe performances, the show is due to open at Southwark Playhouse in London on October 2 for a three and a half week run, and organisers hope to tour both nationally and internationally.
A SERIOUS TOPIC, A BRILLIANT BAND AND A GREAT CAST
Our review of Eye of the Storm at the King’s Theatre
Many years ago, when I was a newspaper reporter, I interviewed some young carers for a feature, including one boy who looked after his mum and his brother. At the end of the interview, his mum gave him a hug and said: “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” It was meant with love and gratitude but I remember wondering then if that 17-year-old, on the brink of adulthood, found that hug as stifling as he did loving.
Eye of the Storm, on at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh until Saturday, brought that memory back, as the same phrase is used by mentally ill Angela to her schoolgirl daughter and carer, Emmie. The award-winning musical was developed from a theatre workshop for young carers back in 2004, which accounts, perhaps, for the ring of authenticity to Emmie’s situation.
The story follows the talented 15-year-old and her dream to study extreme weather in the US, which is being thwarted by her deadend physics teacher who never questions why a student who is brilliant in class doesn’t turn up on time or with homework done. There’s also the difficulty of how the fiercely protective Emmie would ever leave her haphazard mum.
The production features eight performers who play as a live band on stage, alternating between acting the roles and picking up the instruments. Their silhouetted presence on one side of the stage makes this an unusual and original musical, with catchy folky songs, written by Ed Sheeran’s co-writer Amy Wadge.
It’s recommended for 8-12+ and I would say that’s about right – my nine-year-old son said he loved it, particularly the light projections, though he was a bit wriggly at times – but would hit the mark perfectly for P6 and P7, and above. Both my children said they had heard of young carers - thanks to Newsround – but storyline was both an eye-opener and an opener for a discussion – there’s actually a Q and A after this (Friday) evening’s performance.
My son said: “The band was brilliant and it was great how it was actually on the stage instead of music being blasted out of speakers. The musical was great too, it was a good storyline and the themes were great.”
My daughter’s comment, on Emmie hauling her backpack to school and back, was: “I wish my bag was that light.”
This is a Welsh production from Theatr na nOg - a Celtic connection that the Scots in the audience definitely appreciated when the US TV presenter described Emmie as from “Wales, England.”
*Eye of the Storm, King’s Theatre, 2 Leven St, Edinburgh EH3 9LQ until Sat. Recommended ages 8-12+. Box Office 0131 529 6000
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