Events
Apardion Camouflage Art at Duthie Park
3 December, 2012
Young artists joined Kirsty Aitken at the David Welch Winter Gardens on Saturday 1st December as part of Book Week Scotland Celebrations. View their fantastic Apardion Camouflage gallery here.
Apardion Magical Bus Tour
29 October, 2012
Plans are in progress for our culminate celebration on St Andrew's Day. Our Magical Apardion Bus Tour will take invited VIPs on a very special journey. Follow this link to find our more.
Filming at Gilcomstoun
25 September, 2012
A short film is being made for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce to feature the nomination with AVC Media Studies for the Northern Star Business Awards. Pupils from the school created the fantastic Mither Kirk film.
Duthie Park Film
21 August, 2012
Harlaw Academy pupils are now ready to premiere their fantastic film about Duthie Park. Find the film under Movies at Duthie Park or click here.
Scottish Parliament
21 June, 2012
Kevin Stewart, MSP is hosting a showcase event at the Scottish Parliament to share our Apardion story! On Wednesday 27th June a team of over 20 pupils, staff and partners will travel to the Holyrood to tell MSPs and invited guests about their fantastic work to create the hub of resources for this website and the Apardion iPhone app.
Visit to AVC Media Enterprises
24 May, 2012
First Year pupils at Harlaw Academy are creating a film about Duthie Park. Today a group of them are having an action packed afternoon at AVC Media Enterprises. AVC staff will give them a guided tour, help with valuable advice about promoting their film as well as helping them record their voices in their fantastic sound booth.
Gilcomstoun School visit the Mither Kirk
21 May, 2012
Primary 6 at Gilcomstoun School are creating a film about St Nicholas Kirk. The class are visiting the Kirk on Wednesday and will be building their storyboard with Sheena and having sketching workshops with Kirsty.
Presentation at SATH
19 May, 2012
The Reading Bus is delighted to share a key note presentation about Apardionat the annual conference of the Scottish Association of Teachers of History on Saturday 19th May.
Apardion has engaged over 3,500 pupils from Aberdeen Schools in creating their own texts about the rich history and culture of their city. Their research has been translated into the many podcasts, films and literature that populate this website and the Apardion i-phone app.
We always enjoy sharing our story.
Harlaw Academy
13 May, 2012
Pupils and staff at Harlaw Academy will be working on their animated film focusing on Duthie Park over the next two weeks. A team of pupils will work with Music, Art and English teachers and Kirsty from the Reading Bus team to create the art work, the music, the animations for their film as well as editing and recording the voices, creating a sound foley and creating their own PR plan. They're going to be very busy!
Film Animation at Ashley Road
7 May, 2012
Ashley Road will be working with animator Kirsty Aitken and musician Robert Aitken this week on their film based on the Art Gallery.
Podcasts and films
28 March, 2012
As the term draws to an end the landmarks has been populated with 57 uploads by the young people of Aberdeen. Each one is unique to the class of pupils who researched the heritage and history of their landmark and created their texts into literature, podcasts and films. Look out for more uploads after the Easter break.
Next Journeys
28 March, 2012
The Reading Bus team and partners are busy preparing for next term. Schools will be researching the Barracks, Duthie Park, Torry Battery, the Art Gallery and St Nicholas Kirk. We look forward to another very busy and exciting term.
Filming at The Green
19 March, 2012
First year pupils at Northfield Academy will begin filming at Quarryhill School and Muirfield School this week. The first years are creating a collaborative film about The Green with the feeder primary schools in Northfield. Each primary school is researching a different era of The Green and tomorrow the journey begins with Primary 7 at Quarryhill School will perform their own rap about The Tivoli. We look forward to seeing the film very soon!
Torry Battery Animation
15 March, 2012
Primary 7 at Milltimber School continue work on their film about the Torry Battery with a full day animation workshop at their school with Kirsty Aitken on Friday 16th Match.
Bramblebrae School will be exploring The Green through an interactive tour with Allan Paterson and Grace Banks.
Interview with Robbie Shepherd
12 March, 2012
Primary 7 at Quarryhill School interviewed Robbie Shepherd today to help them with their research about the Tivoli Theatre, one of the famous landmarks in The Green.
Robbie shared stories about his time as a performer at the Tivoli in the 1960s and shared press clippings and memorabilia. The pupils will now create their own podcast from this fantastic session as well as creating their own rap and a fact file about the Tivoli. Watch out for their podcasts being uploaded to The Green.
Tolbooth
6 March, 2012
Dyce Primary School are exploring crime and punishment through the ages at the Tolbooth Museum. The Primary 6 and 7 classes have been enjoying tours of the museum with Historian Chris Croly and storytelling sessions with Grace Banks. Their work will be uploaded as podcasts and literature in the next few weeks.
War Time at Torry Battery
28 February, 2012
Primary 7 at Milltimber school begin their journey with The Reading Bus on Wednesday 29th February. The class are exploring the Torry Battery and finding out about its use during World War II. They will be visiting the Torry Battery on Friday as part of their research. Their findings will be translated into an animated film.
Archeologist Expertise
21 February, 2012
Northfield Schools are exploring the history of The Green. Classes at Holy Family RC School and Muirfield School had fascinating talks from Ali Cameron, an archeologist was involved in the excavations at The Green. In 1976 remains of a Mesolithic flint-knapping area were discovered. Later excavation revealed features and artefacts pointing towards a later flint industry. In the 1980s and 1990s, digs revealed portions of the friary church foundations. Ali was able to share first hand her part in these exciting finds.
Pre-historic Green
16 February, 2012
Primary 6 and 7 at Muirfield School were onboard The Reading Bus today for their springboard session as they begin exploring The Green. Muirfield are researching the pre-historic Green. Onboard the bus, Grace Banks shared stories and tales about this time in the long history of The Green. The classes will find out more information next week during a visit from Ali Cameron, an archeologist involved in the dig that discovered evidence of the remains of a Mesolithic flint-knapping area during excavations in 1976.
Harbour Tales
6 February, 2012
The Reading Bus was at Tullos School for an action packed day. In the morning early stages classes enjoyed a Doric session with Sheena full of songs, poems and stories. Primary 6 and 7 had their springboard session for their work with Apardion. Tullos are looking at The Harbour and will be writing a book with Walker Road as well as producing a podcast.
Quarrying at Kirkhill School
31 January, 2012
Pupils at Kirkhill School explored quarrying and granite as part of their research about the Maritime Museum. Their research will continue next week when they visit the museum for a workshop and museum tour. Their work will be translated in a variety of forms including podcasts, literature and a song.
Abbotswell
30 January, 2012
Primary 6 and 7 will join Sheena onboard The reading Bus for a springboard session to explore the fascinating history of Whaling. This first session will be followed by a visit to the Maritime Museum to discover more.
The Green
29 January, 2012
Quarryhill School and Heathryburn School have both begun their journey with The Reading Bus to explore the rich history and heritage of The Green. Quarryhill School are researching the colourful history of The Tivoli while Heathryburn are finding out about the famous Hadden Mill. Both schools began with a springboard session onboard The Reading Bus with storyteller Grace Banks. They will now continue their research before taking part in a study visit to The Green.
Lodgers at Provost Skene's House
24 January, 2012
Primary 6 at Kingswells School were all given new identities today onboard The Reading Bus. The class are researching Provost Skene House and are looking at the time when it was used as a Lodging House for homeless people. After a storytelling and information session from Sheena, each pupil was given details of a lodger from the 1881 census. Their challenge is now to begin their own research and to arrive at Provost Skene House dressed in character to continue their detective work.
Their work will be shared through a book of illustrated writing.
All onboard at Walker Road
23 January, 2012
Primary 6 pupils will be onboard The Reading Bus for a storytelling session with Sheena Blackhall. Sheena, our author in residence, will read from her book Apardion, A Leopard's Quest and then share with the two Primary 6 classes stories and legends from the Harbour. The pupils are going to write their own book about the Harbour. Following this introductory session they will have a tour of the Harbour with Allan Paterson to collect their own notes, photographs and research about this fascinating landmark.
The Harbour
22 January, 2012
First Year pupils at Torry Academy began their journey to create an animated film about The Harbour. They began their journey with a storytelling session with Grace Banks who shared a legend about mermaids. The youngsters then worked with Grace to create their own storyboard for the film. Next week the class will begin creating the art work for their film. Great start!
Author and Artist Workshops
30 November, 2011
Pupils at Cornhill School and St Peter's RC School enjoyed a double celebration with a workshop from both the author and aritst of Apardion, A Leopard's Quest. Sheena Blackhall read from the book and Julie shared her art work before the pupils began creating their own art work.
Scottish Accordion Club
18 November, 2011
The Reading Bus team were delighted to meet representatives from the Scottish Accordion Club at Riverbank School on Tuesday 15th November. Many thanks to the club for the generous cheque that was handed over to help fund sound tracks for the films being developed for Apardion, A Leopard's Quest.
