What is the best way to take students from a predicted lower grade up to the achievement of an A* at GCSE?

When we brought out How to get A* in French we were asked if it was also available for Spanish – so now here it is.

As with the French version the author has analysed the writing and the speaking criteria of various exam boards and has come up with a simple and clear summary of these criteria written in a student friendly language. These criteria have been divided into four sections; each section corresponding to a GCSE level while at the end of the booklet students can find a very useful list of recommended idioms and high level expressions.

Additionally the booklet includes the conjugation of the 50 most used Spanish verbs, including the modal verbs, into different tenses.

This is followed by different language structures which the students can use to develop their writing.

The use of this booklet is proven to improve students’ levels not only in writing and speaking, but also in listening and reading.

How to get A* in Spanish? is published as a download so that you can receive immediately a copy onto your computer which you can print out for colleagues and your students as often as you want.

There are sample pages from the book at http://pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/authordownloadsamples/T1834samples.pdf and you can order it at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=814

The price is £10 plus VAT (the VAT can be reclaimed in most cases by the school).

How to get A* in Spanish? is published by First and Best in Education, part of the Hamilton House group. If you have any enquiries you can call 01536 399 011, or email sales@firstandbest.co.uk or write to us at First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants NN17 4HH.

The full range of First and Best books can be seen at www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk
First and Best in Education
Earlstrees Road
Corby
UK
NN17 4HH

Website: www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk
Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk

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What is the most effective and time efficient way of meeting Ofsted’s requirements regarding the Common Inspection Framework?

Self-evaluation has always been a problematic affair, ensuring that one’s own valuations can be fully justified as and when Ofsted requires. But with the new Ofsted CIF it doesn’t need to be time-consuming. Even Ofsted has asked heads to provide only “routine” information.

Now there is a simple and sophisticated solution – you can use iAbacus to update or indeed re-create your school self-evaluation and development plan in line with these latest Ofsted requirements.

For we have built a self-evaluation system which is quick, which makes collaboration easy, without leading to long discussions, and which results in statements that can be presented to inspectors with a certainty that they are completely accurate.

And the system is built so that you can start using iAbacus within five minutes of turning it on – which means no manual, no complex logging-in procedure, etc. Just instant access and instant use.

This means you can immediately start to provide your self-evaluation for such topics as the overall effectiveness of the school, the effectiveness of leadership and management, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare, the outcomes and the effectiveness of the school.

Then you can consider your initial judgements and see them in terms of Ofsted’s very latest criteria. You can check that you could defend your judgements to Ofsted in their own terms, and you can ensure that you haven’t overplayed or underplayed your hand.

In no time you have a school improvement plan which takes account of where you are now and how you are going to move forward.

This type of self-evaluation can have a huge impact on your school – especially if several people get involved in the process. For it forces everyone to analyse what is going on and to justify their statements – and that is the most valuable step of all.

It is a process that incorporates evidence from various sources, including other systems and procedures, and allows the compilation of reports for governors/stakeholders and briefings for internal monitoring or evaluation.

iAbacus also includes FREE templates for performance management, school governance, literacy, numeracy, and SMSC.

iAbacus costs just £100 for a one year, one-person licence. Our suggestion is that you try it out yourself and then show it to a couple of colleagues. If they like it too, just call us back for another licence.

You can find out more at https://www.iabacus.co.uk/leadership/

For a free trial please visit www.iabacus.co.uk/trial
Or if you want to know more call us on 0115 929 3419 or email us at info@iabacus.co.uk
Daniel O’Brien