Daily Archives: 04/02/2016

School News

What more can be done to inspire a love for reading and storybooks among your struggling readers on World Book Day and for evermore?

Supporting the development of reading skills among older pupils can be somewhat of a challenge, not least because fiction books that are of interest to them do not typically cater for their current reading abilities.

So inspiring a love for reading among these pupils can also be something of a challenge.

Fortunately, World Book Day (3rd March 2016) presents a great opportunity for you to introduce your struggling readers to the ‘Go! Pack’ series, which will inspire a love for reading and thus support the development of their reading skills.

The ‘Go! Pack’ is a set of 8 fantastic titles for pupils aged 11 and over with a reading age of six, and were designed by an experienced practitioner desperate for suitable reading material for her pupils.

Each book has high quality illustrations to support the story and help the reader achieve success and enjoyment in reading.

Titles in the ‘Go! Pack’ include: “Bad luck”, “Ghost in the House”, “Lights in the Mirror”, “Lion on the Loose”, “Missing”, “Not a Good Look”, “Shut Down” and “The Wrong Wheels”.

You can order Go! Books in any of these ways:

  • On our website
  • By phone on 01536 399017
  • By fax to 01536 399012
  • By email to msl@schools.co.uk     
  • By post to Multi-Sensory Learning, Earlstrees Court, Earlstrees Road, Corby, NN17 4HH

School News

Easy to use communication platform

SchoolCal is an easy to use communication platform that enables schools to connect with parents, governors, teachers and support staff.

With unlimited contacts, messages and reminders we think you’ll love SchoolCal almost as much as your governors, parents and staff will.

We are so confident you can try SchoolCal for free for 30 days, no opt outs, obligations or catches just a chance to see if it’s for you plus be in with a chance to win an annual subscription and tablet.

Set up your trial account www.school-cal.co.uk/schoolcal30

3 ways SchoolCal is redefining engagement across the whole school

1. Supporting two-way engagement across the whole sector by providing a safe, accessible and personalised experience for everyone.

2. Reducing the cost of communications, allowing more conversations to take place with the right people and focus more resources into the classroom.

3. Providing a platform that people can enjoy using, seen as the go to place for school conversations and to be a product organisations can be proud to share with all their stakeholders.

Involved in more than one school? You will love our Multi-School feature, if you are a MAT or a Headteacher in one school with a child in another all of your schools are brought together into one newsfeed that can be viewed separately or as one.

SchoolCal has been designed from the ground up with the specific goal of being a platform that you will be proud to share with anyone connected to your school that represents your vision, ethos and goals.

Set up your trial account www.school-cal.co.uk/schoolcal30

School News

I wondered lonely as a cloud….

“I think what you actually mean in that subject line is ‘wandered’ not ‘wondered’.   It’s ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’…”

“No, I’m contemplating isolated cognitive water vapour.”

It is the miracle of language that we can use it to go anywhere.  We can not only wonder at the miracle of life, but wander about in our own minds, finding the most extraordinary and outrageous ideas.

Exactly as Cædmon supposedly did in the 7th century in the first ever English poem, and millions have been doing ever since.  To play with words is very much to be human.

And indeed today the game goes on.  I can write a paragraph beginning with a joining word, and find that you haven’t (as yet at least) deleted this email in disgust.

Or I can use a more formal type of prose, attempting (as best I can) to obey the rules of English grammar.  That is our inheritance: the athleticism of our brains, the infinite potential of our language.

In a sense this is why the Christopher Tower Poetry Competition has run so successfully every year since 2001, and perhaps also why this year the judges decided that the theme should be “Wonder”.

The competition, organised as always by Christ Church, University of Oxford, offers the UK’s most valuable prize for poets aged 16 to 18.

The judges this year are Alan Gillis, Katherine Rundell and Peter McDonald.  The cash prizes are, as always, more than significant, and the closing date is 19 February.

Details are on the Tower Poetry website and entries can be emailed directly to us, so there is no need to gather your students’ work together and post it in.

You can also download an entry form from the website.  If you want to know more or discuss any point of detail, please do email me at info@towerpoetry.org.uk or call me on 01865 286 591.

Kathryn Grant

Tower Poetry Administrator

English

To Kill a Mockingbird – An Abridged Text

To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee and is a famous American novel about a girl called Scout Finch. The novel is set in the 1930s in the U.S.A. One of the most important themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism.

In the novel an Afro-American is accused of raping a white lady. It is clear that he is innocent but because he is black he is found guilty. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a town called Maycomb in the southern states of the U.S.A.

During the 1930s racial discrimination was a big problem in the U.S.A. Black people were poor and they were not treated fairly by most white people. Scout and her family are different. They treat black people with respect. In the 1930s the law did not help Afro-Americans. Many had to go to prison for crimes they did not commit. In to Kill a Mockingbird an innocent black man has to go to prison.

Quite often the content of the National Curriculum can be intractable for pupils who speak English as a second language.  The teaching of English can now be made wholly accessible using these resources.  Set texts have been effectively differentiated so that they can be understood by pupils who may find the original versions difficult.

The texts chosen have been widely used in English and Special Needs classrooms and promote the development of reading, writing and listening skills.

They have proven to be very popular because of the accessibility. At the end of each section there is a series of stimulating exercises, which are designed to enhance language acquisition.  The texts available are studied for the Certificate of Achievement, in years 9-11.  As teachers, we know that understanding the text not only activates interest but, ultimately, that all pupils can obtain encouraging grades in their Certificates of Achievement.

44 Photocopiable masters £29.99 + VAT

Once purchased, the CD can be freely copied and networked throughout the school!

To see sample pages please email info@classroom-resources.co.uk quoting the order code H5257.

You can order the To Kill a Mockingbird – An Abridged Text CD-ROM in any of these ways:

  • On our website
  • By phone on 0117 940 6409
  • By fax on 0117 940 6408
  • By email (quoting a school order number) to info@classroom-resources.co.uk
  • By post to: Classroom Resources, 9 Logan Road, Bristol, BS7 8DU

Classroom Resources Ltd
9 Logan Road,
Bristol,
BS7 8DU

www.classroom-resources.co.uk
info@classroom-resources.co.uk
Tel: 0117 940 6409

Behaviour / Motivation, Early Years, Primary

The Little Box of BIG Questions

Philosophical and meaningful conversations with children and young people

Professor Irvine Gersch & Dr Anna Lipscomb

Children/young people need time, space and kindness to speak openly about the things most important to them and listening can help facilitators understand better the root of children’s thinking and behaviour, and can give an insight into how to better support them to reach their potential. Use these cards to provide prompts for a meaningful, stimulating and positive conversation about the ‘bigger picture’ in life. They will help children and young people understand their views about life, school and people important to them, which is enlightening for the facilitators too.

There are four areas for discussion:

•Identity – allows the child to consider what is special about them as individuals & includes: How would you describe the person you are?

•Important people – children are encouraged to consider who is important to them through questions such as: Who is special to you?

•Meaning & Purpose – questions covering our mission and purpose in life, for example: Do you think that people’s lives are set out for them?

•Thinking & Planning – the final set of questions allows individuals to think about how they reflect and make big decisions, for instance: How do you calm your mind, relax and think best? Have you ever experienced a big change in your life?

Contents: 17 A5-size cards, includes instruction booklet with ideas for use

LITTLE BOX OF BIG QUESTIONS ref. 400H £24.99

TO ORDER:
Post: Small World, 9 Burnham Place, Syresham, Northants, NN13 5HT
Tel: 01280 850 305
Fax: 01280 830022

Email: orders@smlworld.co.uk
http://www.smlworld.co.uk/little-box-of-big-questions-order-form-hh.html

To obtain a 5% discount on your order, please quote HH14 on your purchase order form or add the discount code whilst purchasing online.

 

Science

How to host your own Science Week workshops during Science Week 2016.

Hosting your own Science Week workshops can very often work out to be a more cost-effective option than hiring external presenters every day of Science Week (11-20 March) and can be a great opportunity for you to try out new approaches.

Of course, in order to inspire a love for science among your students it’s vital to differentiate your workshops from the typical science lessons that your students attend on a daily-weekly basis.

This can be readily achieved by, for example, inviting other teachers and classes to join your workshops and jettisoning the usual lesson format/routine and curriculum for a short period of time.

Furthermore, organising exciting new experiments, perhaps with equipment that your students haven’t used before, can be highly effective in encouraging your students to explore new concepts and will provoke discussions and generate excitement.

And this is where we can help, as Thinkers in Education (who regularly host STEM workshops in schools) have selected a range of fantastic cost-effective resources and activities that you can use for your own science workshops, not only during Science Week but throughout the year.

The STEM Box 1 Collection contains all the resources you need to host three entirely different hour-long through to day-long workshops, including the apparatus, worksheets, presentations, lesson guides, quizzes… and so on.

Workshop titles include: “The Amazing Mirascope Experiments”, “Water Rockets Away” and “Caving Conundrum Investigations”.

You can find more information about our STEM workshop kits and order The STEM Box 1 Collection from our Resource Shop at www.thinkersineducation.co.uk/superb-science-week-activity/. Or, if you’d prefer, you can order the workshop resources and activities separately.

If you would like to know more about our STEM resources, or indeed, if you would like to host any of the STEM workshops that we run, please call us on 01603 520866 or email events@thinkersineducation.co.uk

Financial management, PE, Procurement

How to avoid time-consuming administration, bureaucracy, and cash flow problems when procuring a brand new school sports facility.

It would be an understatement to say that having a brand new sports facility installed in your school is costly. And, in addition to the expense, such a project typically comes with a significant amount of time-consuming administration, bureaucracy, and cash flow implications.

So how can you get a brand new cricket facility (for example) installed in your school without encountering any such problems?

The answer: Notts Sport and the Fast Track Funding Scheme.

Notts Sport will design a bespoke cricket facility (or refurbishment) that’s perfect for your needs. Then, using Fast Track Funding, we will provide you with a flexible funding solution with monthly, quarterly, or annual repayments to suit you.

This means that no (or very little) payment is required until the facility is complete, and we won’t expect you to pay it all back at once, which will help to minimise the impact on your cash flow.

If you have any questions about the Fast Track Funding Scheme, please don’t hesitate to contact us, either by calling us on 01455 883 730 or emailing us at info@nottssport.com.

There is further information about Fast Track Funding on our website.

What’s more, you can find out more about the various pitch surfacing systems designed and developed by Notts Sport, by visiting http://nottssport.co.uk/.