Daily Archives: 21/04/2016

Special Needs

In 20 years ADHD has moved from an American myth to a recognised issue but the debate still rages as to what to do.

According to the Care Quality Commission last year, there has been a 50% rise in England in the use of drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in six years. The watchdog warned health workers to “carefully monitor” their use as they have the potential to be “abused”.

As the consultant psychiatrist Professor Tim Kendall, said, “I think it’s a real trend. I think it’s too big to be ignored.”

Tim Kendall is certainly someone whose comments are worth considering since he compiled the national guidelines on treating ADHD, and he was one of the first people who pointed out that that there are real dangers to people who take ADHD drugs over a long period.

As he said, “I think there’s also increasing evidence that it precipitates self-harming behaviour in children and in the long term we have absolutely no evidence that the use of of Ritalin reduces the long-term problems associated with ADHD.”

Helping ADHD pupils and students through school is a volume that sets out in great detail exactly how ADHD students can be helped and supported in their day to day activities within the school without the use of drugs.

A fundamental view of the book is that the best approach for any ADHD child is one in which the parents and school can work together with a common purpose to help the young person – and with this in mind there is a substantial section of material at the end of the book that can be copied and passed on to parents.

This parental section contains both explanations and practical approaches to dealing with the ADHD child at home.

Of course, we all recognise that not every ADHD child’s parents will be able to work in the organised and controlled manner that will help ADHD students, and therefore we work within the school-based sections from the basis that although parental support is ideal it doesn’t always happen.

The book looks at individual behaviour, plus issues such as rewards, punishments, handling special days when behaviour may be exacerbated, overcoming impulsiveness, homework, where ADHD people can succeed and do well, ADHD and responsibility, and sport, the arts and other activities.

Helping ADHD pupils and students through school by Tony Attwood is available as a photocopiable book or on CD Rom which can itself be copied or loaded onto the school’s learning platform or intranet.

ISBN: 978 1 86083 855 2 Order code: T1789emn – please quote with order.

Sample pages can be viewed at http://pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/attentiondeficit/T1789.pdf

  • Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the Ring Binder and the CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report…

Assemblies

An effective approach to enhancing engagement and encouraging participation in lessons and whole-school assemblies

One thing that has proven to be highly effective in enhancing engagement and encouraging participation in lessons and whole-school assemblies is professional storytelling. But there is a problem…

There are not masses of professional storytellers and they are always in high demand due to the many benefits that professional storytelling offers (improved memory, improved concentration, greater skills in communication, etc.). So they often aren’t available for visits at the time required by the school.

Which is why we now offer Storytelling at a Distance – a solution that increases the availability of professional storytellers for times when schools need them the most.

So what is Storytelling at a Distance?

Our work with the Oxford Reading Tree proved that children can engage with recorded storytelling performances. However, these online videos can only ever be one-way and, of course, are limited in their range.

Which is why Storytelling at a Distance has been designed in a slightly different way, using skype-style communication to achieve higher levels of interaction and thus enhanced engagement and participation from pupils with the story and topic area.

You are effectively inviting a professional storyteller into the classroom or assembly hall via electronic means, which also has the additional benefit of no travel costs.

Of course, for this to work the storytellers do not only have to be highly trained in a specialised form of storytelling (i.e. telling stories via camera), but they also need to be fairly technical to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Therefore, we have handpicked two storytellers who are highly competent to undertake Storytelling at a Distance – Chip and Amy!

The Oxford Reading Tree’s Chip and Amy will interact with your children and the chosen story, joining in actions, providing sound effects, and even responding to the storyteller’s questions. You’ll be your storyteller’s eyes, hands, and ears, and an easy-to-follow set of instructions will be sent to you well in advance of your storytelling session.

Storytelling at a Distance costs only £50 for up to 45 minutes with a class or year group, or £90 for a whole-school assembly, making it a highly cost-effective option.

For more information about our Storytelling at a Distance, including available dates and costs, please visit our website. Alternatively, you can call us on 020 328 6245 or email us at stories@snailtales.org.

Maths

Mathematics Summer School 2016

On this five-day Maths Summer School students will be introduced to undergraduate topics in pure and applied maths, examining challenging mathematical problems using both calculus and algebra. The course content includes material that students are unlikely to encounter in detail while at school but that is frequently covered as part of first year university programs. As well as looking at maths in theory, we will also be covering key applications of mathematical tools in computing, economics, statistics and engineering.

The 2016 course will include:

Linear Algebra * Hierachies and the Google algorithm * Differential Equations * Financial Markets and the Black-Scholes Model * Integration and 3D Spaces * Vector Calculus * Vectors & Matrices * Proofs and Algorithms * Sets and Infinities * Cryptography

Feedback from previous attendees:

“The Mathematics Summer School is a great introduction to maths at university. During the five days I was presented with a variety of new topics in mathematics which had not been covered in the A level course. I would highly recommend attending the Debate Chamber Summer School, as it gives you a great opportunity to look at other areas of maths.”

“I had a great experience on the Summer School. It took me beyond the confines of the syllabus, giving me a flavour of what undergraduate study would be like. It also led me to find out more about the concepts I’d learned in the sessions. The tutors were extremely engaging and helpful, and they made it a really fun week”

Classes are small, typically containing twelve to fifteen students, all of whom should have a passion for mathematics, a curiosity to build on their existing knowledge and be keen to embrace and exchange new ideas. An expert Tutor will lead each session in a seminar format, but learning will be largely student-led wherever practical. Classes will focus on discussion and on problem questions and exercises, creating a comfortable environment for students to share ideas amongst their peers and to progress from their existing knowledge toward more challenging material.

The Mathematics Summer School is only suitable for students who have completed AS-Level Mathematics (or the equivalent in another qualification structure) at the time of the course. We welcome any student aged between 15-18 who meets this requirement.

This Summer School is particularly appropriate for students who may be considering further study of mathematics at undergraduate level, or who are interested in related disciplines such as physics, computing or engineering.

Practical Details:

The cost of the five-day course is £465, and will be held at the University of London Union in Bloomsbury (please note that these courses are not residential, and accommodation must be arranged independently if required). The course will be held on the 11th-15th July and repeated 8th-12th August.

There will be a limited number of bursary spaces available for those who would otherwise have financial difficulty in attending – please see our website for details.

To book a place please visit http://www.debatechamber.com/summerschools/maths-summer-school/  call us on 0845 519 4827, or email info@debatechamber.com. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

School News, Workshops

Speakers to refresh and invigorate your students

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Welcome back to the summer term. For many students the focus will be on external exams. Would you like one of our speakers to motivate – and refresh – your students?

We are offering all schools our ‘Summer Time Speaker Offer’ which is a speaker session (1 hour) for an introductory price £200*.

School Speakers is the UK’s no1 speaking agency working with schools (primary and secondary), colleges and universities to provide talks, workshops and full day activities. We have over 300 speakers available across a wide range of subjects.

Find out more about School Speakers

We are providing speakers for the forthcoming events below:

  • World Fair Trade Day 14th May
  • World Environment Day 5th June
  • Music Day 21st June
  • World Social Media Day 30th June
  • Child Safety  Week 1st July

Current areas of interests are:

  • Exam preparation, motivation and study skills
  • Guest Speaker for Awards Events and Speech Days
  • Teacher CPD and INSET days, conference speakers
  • End of year activities
  • Summer camps and year 6 transition days

School Speakers can cover the following activities

  • Assembly or Year Talk across a range of different topics & general motivation, raising aspiration
  • Student Leadership day
  • Careers Sessions and ‘You’re Hired’ workshops
  • Enterprise Days
  • Anti-Bullying talks
  • Internet Safety talks
  • STEM talks and workshops

Speakers start from £250 plus travel and VAT per one hour session.

If you wish to arrange for one of our speakers to visit your school we would be delighted to assist. Please email office@schoolspeakers.co.uk or call 01924 277343. Office hours are 8am to 6pm every week day.

Many thanks,

Claire  Young

Owner and Founder www.schoolspeakers.co.uk

*speaker is selected by School Speakers and excludes travel & VAT.

PSHE, PSHE and Citizenship

We all make decisions all the time. And then, having made them, we defend them – no matter how awful they were.

No matter how bad that decision looks in retrospect, it takes a very confident and self-possessed individual to say, “yes I got that one wrong.”

Instead the blame is put elsewhere.  It was “not my fault”.  It “couldn’t be helped”.  “Events conspired against me.”  We blame the environment, the individuals around us, and society, but rarely do we blame ourselves and the decisions we took.

Yet the fact is that it is quite possible to improve our reaction to the society in which we live, and through that our decision making – if only we can practice.

Which is why the copiable volume, “Life Games” exists.

The volume contains 50 different decision-based games that can be played in the classroom with anything from eight to 40 players from Key Stage 3 to the sixth form.

Each game is presented in the form of a single page of copiable teaching notes – normally with a separate set of student notes also provided.  Each also focuses on a theme, ranging from the working of the media to lifestyle balances, from government decisions and consequences to healthy eating, from stress to addiction.

In short, there are enough activities in this volume to provide more than a year’s worth of citizenship and PSHE education, taught and explored in a way that the students will find refreshing, engaging and meaningful.

Life Games is available as a photocopiable book or on CD Rom, and individual activities can thus be readily copied and distributed to students as required. The copies can also be shared with colleagues or given to supply teachers, without any fear of the original book being misplaced.

An extract from Life Games, ISBN 978 1 86083 718 0, order code T1730EMN, is available at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/pshe/T1730.pdf

Prices

  • Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the Ring Binder and the CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report…

When ordering the book please quote the reference T1730EMN.