The Scottish Association for Music Education will next year hold its first national event for primary teachers, on music-making in the classroom. It will include sessions on starting a choir, helping your class compose a song and using GarageBand on iPads. The conference will take place on Saturday 13 January at the University of Stirling. Details are at www.same.org.uk

Merchiston Castle, Scotland’s only all-boys boarding school, is to open a new international school in Shenzhen, China. The school said the venture, opening in September 2018 in collaboration with investor Jianjun Lyu, would help meet “a rising demand for British international schools abroad”. It will cater for 1,200 pupils aged 5-18, offering IGCSEs, A levels in the senior years and a “Sino-Scottish curriculum” in the junior years.

Young artists from across Scotland have been invited to enter the annual John Byrne National Drawing Competition. Since its launch in 2014, thousands of pupils have submitted artwork to be judged by the renowned artist and playwright. The competition, which Education Scotland helps run, is open to P4-S3 pupils. The deadline is 23 February and details are at www.education.gov.scot

Tes Scotland reporters have enjoyed success at the UK-wide CIPR Education Journalism Awards. Henry Hepburn won the Outstanding Regional Education Journalism prize, while Julia Belgutay won the Outstanding Further and Vocational Education Journalism category and was runner-up for Outstanding Use of Data. In total, Tes journalists won five top prizes and finished runner-up four times - more than half the 17 awards handed out on the night.