I’ve had such a good time with JoJo Gnome this year. There have been great collaborations, interesting opportunities and the joy of working with talented people. Here are 5 of my highlights.

Creative Scotland STEM Project

I was lucky enough to get funding from Creative Scotland this year to create JoJo Gnome’s Maths Challenge. https://www.jojognome.com/jojo-gnome-enjoys-maths-numbers/

This project involved working with 11 schools across Scotland facilitating workshops and making lots of counting story videos with Primary 1’s. The project has lots of legacy resources for schools and families to enjoy. The film that Goldenhill Primary made has had 54k views. https://youtu.be/HyFVe13txNs

Who knew that maths could be such fun!

BSL JoJo Gnome

As part of the STEM project I produced a British Sign Language version of JoJo Gnome’s Maths Challenge.  I was a delight to work with Petre Dobre, Karen Forbes and the staff of Hamilton School for the Deaf.  Petre who did the signing really brought our new deaf character Ella the Elf (created by the children from Hamilton school for the deaf) to life.

Boswell Book Festival 2022

I was delighted to be part of the Boswell Book Festival this year both with in person and virtual sessions online. It is a great festival and lovely to see youngsters and their parents back enjoying stories. The sessions were all about making memories … it worked for me!

Maths Week Scotland

I was delighted to take part in several workshops for Maths Week Scotland this year, it really inspired me sharing maths through stories.  The children I worked with made lovely stories all about shapes. Enjoy Annette Street Primary’s square film.

Small Print Festival

As the writer of JoJo Gnome I create new characters all the time and was asked by Stirling libraries to host a session for older children (8-10) to have them create their own characters. My ideas hat was a great hit and some lovely new character emerged…. they have hopefully made it into some of the children’s stories.

And there’s more…..

Just wanted to tag on another few ‘non Gnome’ collaborations that I’ve enjoyed this year.  I worked with BBC Scotland’s LAB to produce 7 great wee films with schools with the ‘Then & Now’ series. Loved working with a great team and very talented pupils too. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bzws5x

I also joined the BBC SSO education team and worked with some Glasgow schools as part of their orchestra residency in Holyrood Secondary. A really fun creative project.

As part of another project with Maths Week Scotland I also worked on a really interesting project “Maths Makes Art” with Anne McNaught making lots of crafty ‘how to’ films. Great fun!

Thanks 2022 …looking forward to 2023!