The most important factor in developing childhood happiness, confidence, and a positive attitude.

3

The notion that there is one simple thing that really can make a powerful difference to the way children live their future lives is a notion that sounds very attractive.

But such a notion may leave you sceptical.  Life is, after all, by its nature very complicated.

And yet there is something that really can and does make a difference to large numbers of children: it is positive play. It has the ability to make young people happier, more outgoing, more confident, and friendlier, while also transforming the way in which they live their lives from here on.

However, although the phrase “Positive Play” is widely used, my colleagues and I have felt that positive play is something that is sometimes not always fully understood.  So we’ve decided to do something about that.

We’ve launched Positive Play Week.

It takes place on 9 to 13 May, and is an opportunity for you to focus on positive play in your nursery, engaging with your colleagues and talking with the children’s parents at nursery on the subject of positive play, engagement, and the benefits of both.

With this in mind I do hope you will take a look at our Positive Play Week website. There is a link to the website here.  But you may prefer to go straight to the nursery section here.

It contains a huge amount of information about positive play, including policies and briefing documents, ideas for activities, and a detailed review of why positive play is so beneficial for children.

There are also some ideas for the sort of equipment that nurseries can use in order to help children explore and learn about positive play.

I do hope you will have a moment to look at and explore the Positive Play Week website and then, if you wish, do let us know about the activities you and your nursery are engaging in to support positive play.

If you want to send us photographs of your positive play activities that would be wonderful. And if you have any questions or thoughts you can get in touch with us:

Finally I must thank our sponsor, Edventure, without whom Positive Play Week would never have come to be. You can find more details of the equipment they supply which supports positive play on their website.

Jenny Burrows

Positive Play Week Co-ordinator

Do you have something to say to teachers in the UK?

In addition to publishing stories from the BBC, various newspapers, specialist magazines and the government education departments, we like to publish other stories too.

Stories from schools, colleges and universities, and information from suppliers about products and services in the UK that will be of interest to teachers.

If you have a positive and interesting story about your school, that you feel might interest some of the teachers who read our site each week, (we’re currently getting over 300,000 visits a month) we’d love you to send it in.

Likewise if you have a product or service that could be of interest to teachers, please send information about that in too.

We do ask for a small (and it is small) contribution to our running costs from companies that are selling education products but information from educational institutions and information about free products and services is normally published without charge.

To submit a piece for inclusion on UK Education News just email Chris@hamilton-house.com and attach the story as a word file.  Please write, at the top of the file, the headline that you want to appear on the site.  Unfortunately we can’t include any pictures on this service, but you can include a link to your website in your text, and of course that can lead to a website containing as many illustrations as you like.

If we feel that a fee would be appropriate, we’ll email you back with details – we won’t publish it without your agreement.

If you would like to talk to us about any aspect of UK Education News please call 01536 399 000 and ask of the UK Education News team.

Tony Attwood

Exceptional Languages Teaching Resources

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Deutscher Wiederholungskurs – provides material for revision for the GCSE speaking and writing tests and helps to bridge the gap between GCSE and ‘A’ level. The course presumes the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary that a proprietary course will have covered.

How to get A* in French? – analyses the writing and the speaking criteria of various exam boards and presents a simple and clear summary of these criteria written in a student friendly language.

How to get A* in Spanish? – analyses the writing and the speaking criteria of various exam boards and presents a simple and clear summary of these criteria written in a student friendly language.

How to get top marks in your French speaking & listening exams –  deals with knowledge, confidence and the application of knowledge in relation to Foundation and Higher Tiers GCSE and Core and Extended IGCSE French.

Learning Spanish – a 143 page, copiable manual for secondary school students of Spanish at beginner to intermediate level.

Perfect the Past Tense for GCSE French – a resource which will give your students structured practice in a complex grammatical area which is vital to their success at GCSE.

The EAL Coordinator’s Manual – provides a guide to the admission, orientation, induction and integration of EAL pupils and, as such, is a very useful resource for teachers new to EAL intent on making inclusion a reality for international new arrivals in their school.

Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk
Telephone: 01536 399007
Postal address: Hamilton House Mailings Ltd, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH

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Carel Press

Succeed in English: EAL Posters – a vital visual support for English as an Additional Language to help students remember.

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Signpost Educational Ltd

Student Packs for Lessons and Exams

Telephone: 020-7515-1797
Postal address: SIGNPOST EDUCATIONAL LTD, PO Box 999, London, E14 6SH, UK

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SSS

Interactive MFL Software – request your 14-day free trial of MFL Educational Software Solution.

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UniTasterDays

Search Taster Day Events – helps Languages teachers to discover an array of events to book students on to, such as university and college taster days, workshops, residentials, open days, outreach events and widening participation opportunities.

Email: info@unitasterdays.com
Telephone: +44(0)208 798 0982

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ZigZag Education

Languages Teaching Resources – publishers of teaching resources for schools.

Email: sales@ZigZagEducation.com
Telephone: 0117 950 3199
Postal address: ZigZag Education, Unit 3, Greenway Business Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol, BS10 5PY

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You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk

A proven resource to easily create reading for pleasure with your pupils –

Save time as a teacher and know exactly which stories relate to which area of the curriculum (think lesson plans done for you!!)

A low reading ability affects not just English but all subjects and adversely affects the social wellbeing of the pupil.

We have discovered what is probably the easiest and most enjoyable way for both teachers AND pupils to engage in this vitally important area of learning.

Perfect for use with all pupils and it is particularly useful with reluctant readers, special needs children and pupils who have English as their second language.

Making it SUPER EASY for teachers in 2016, Ziptales link all of their stories to the curriculum in a manner that is easy to use, with practical ways to help with each strand listed line by line!

Try Ziptales for 30 days, with your entire school!

No commitments, no obligations. Just see if we may be a good fit for your school.

Ziptales – new to the UK, are a proven resource for over 10 years in Australia for literacy e-learning in primary schools (with over 20% of all primary schools using Ziptales).The UK site offers British voiceovers and all stories link directly to both the National Curriculum and Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence.

Over 500 fun interactive levelled readers, puzzles, games, poems, videos and lessons, with comprehension quizzes, voiceovers, animations and worksheets.

Call Ziptales on 02030 953 262 for a free demonstration at your school, or go to www.ziptales.co.uk/tryfree.php to find out more right now.

What is one of the best ways of making history come alive without leaving school?

One of the most exciting, stimulating and effective ways of bringing a period of history to life is through getting the pupils to dress in the way that ordinary people (or the elite) dressed during the relevant era.

The problem is that this often involves parents in helping to prepare costumes – and not all of them welcome an extra round of work at home.

The children do love becoming Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings… because all children love dressing up, but the issue is entirely one of making all the parents feel ok about the project.

It is to solve this problem that we have produced a new and extended edition of “Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Viking Children’s Costumes.”  This is a copiable book so that you can take the relevant section and either put it on the school website or learning platform or print out sections and give them to parents.

In each section of the book there are details of what people wore at that time, full page line drawings of the costumes with close ups of specific parts of the costume, plus separate sections for male and female, adults and children, peasants and the upper class.

Then there are sections on hairstyle, caps and hats, jewellery, leggings and shoes, belts, cloaks, pouches, dresses, tunics, and (for the sake of completeness) undergarments.

For each item mentioned there are patterns, sizing information, materials and so forth – and all of this data is repeated for the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.

In over 150 pages of A4 there is everything anyone would ever want, giving you and the parents who make the costumes a massive choice so that it is possible (should you wish it) to have every child in the class come in showing off a different type of costume.

Everything is here, you need no other volume.

There are sample pages from the photocopiable book at  http://pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/primary/T1763samplepages.pdf

Publisher’s reference: T1763EMN ISBN: 978 1 86083 784 5

Prices

  • Photocopiable book: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the book and the CD: £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery

Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report… please quote the order ref: T1763EMN

You can now follow us on Twitter and Facebook

All About Anxiety Discussion Cards

All About Anxiety Discussion Cards

We live in a fast-moving world and anxiety levels are high, particularly in our young people.

These cards give the users an opportunity to consider what they believe to be some of the causes of anxiety, to think about possible sources of help and to learn that worry can sometimes be positive.

▪ Discuss possible causes of anxiety
▪ Understand that different things worry different people
▪ Identify who can help when we feel anxious
▪ Maintain a healthy mental attitude
▪ Discover the effects of anxiety on eating patterns, socialising and personality

The cards introduce a more in-depth discussion and allow users to explore their feelings in a structured way.

They can be used with individual students as a diagnostic tool, or they can be used in small groups to promote discussion and enable the participants to challenge their own beliefs or they can be used with class groups to start discussions.

Includes 36 cards. Ages 8+

ALL ABOUT ANXIETY DISCUSSION CARDS Ref: 621HH £24.00 +VAT

TO ORDER:

Post: Small World, 9 Burnham Place, Syresham, Northants, NN13 5HT

Tel: 01280 850 305
Fax: 01280 830022

Email: orders@smlworld.co.uk

Website: http://www.smlworld.co.uk/store/p184/All_About_Anxiety_Discussion_Cards_%28All_ages%29_.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.

 

Putting LOtC to the test to obtain tangible evidence of its benefits.

There is no doubt that Learning Outside the Classroom is beneficial to pupils’ emotional, social, (sometimes physical), and academic development; yet there is little tangible evidence to prove this – and tangible evidence is something that Ofsted is rather keen on.

However. an article in TES has reported that two schools have signed up to be part of a King’s College project in which they will relocate their lessons from the typical classroom setting to a museum.

The King’s College project aims to test the theory that LOtC is beneficial to pupils’ development and also to find out exactly what the long-term benefits of LOtC are, as well as the extent to which LOtC is beneficial to pupils’ development.

Director of the Cultural Institute at King’s College London, Katherine Bond, commented: “It seems such an obvious thing to do.

“There is a long tradition of school trips to museums, but we’ve never come across anyone taking the entire curriculum and moving it all into a museum.”

Nonetheless, until the results of this study materialise, theory and human observation is all we have to go on, which is better than nothing at all.

And, of course, if you are planning to take your pupils to the museum, or anywhere else, and need a cost-effective transport solution, Benchmark Leasing can certainly help.

Benchmark Leasing specialises in leasing minibuses to schools and, as part of the leasing arrangement, we will also take care of the maintenance of the vehicle and thus assume responsibility for keeping it fully operational at all times.

A minibus which is leased is simply paid for on a monthly basis through a small monthly deduction from the school’s income. Thus schools are finding that it is possible to fund a minibus without taking anything from the school’s capital account.

In cases where trips are paid for by contributions from parents, it is possible to allocate a part of those payments towards the cost of the minibus.

And in other cases, the PTA has agreed to make a monthly contribution, particularly if it means that pupils will have more opportunities to undertake Learning Outside the Classroom and will enhance the breadth and scope of the school’s vision.

If you are interested in leasing a school minibus with us, please do call us on 01753 859944 or click here to see what we can offer.

If you are looking for LOtC ideas, please take a look at our Facebook & Twitter pages.

Debate Chamber Summer Schools 2016

The Debate Chamber Summer Schools offer students 11-18 the opportunity to find out more about some fascinating subjects, prepare for university applications, meet like-minded peers and get to grips with some tough intellectual challenges.

The material will be challenging (for our older age-group, about the level of difficulty one might expect in the first year at university), but a relaxed atmosphere, with plenty of discussion, debate, and opportunities for students to shape the direction of classes creates the perfect environment for getting to grips with new ideas. Working in small groups (usually around 14 students per group) over several days means a real chance to get to know tutors and fellow students and to explore the topics or questions that particularly interest each individual.

Highlights of Summer 2016 for students interested in current affairs:

The Economics Summer School for students aged 15-18. Focusing on political economy and macro-economics, the five-day Economics Summer School will include seminars on a diverse range of topics, from financial and currency markets to an analysis of economic inequality and its potential remedies. We will also be looking in some detail at the causes and prognosis of the Eurozone crisis, and evaluating more generally the success of ‘austerity’ policies both in the UK and in the wider global context. The focus throughout will be on debate and discussion, and on encouraging and supporting students to engage critically and actively with the material.

The Politics Summer School for students aged 15-18. This five-day course will include seminars on key questions within political theory and philosophy, workshops on important policy areas, and analysis of changing voter behaviour (with a focus on the 2015 general election). The Summer School will conclude with a full day Mock Parliament, with participants taking the role of MPs, forming parties, making policy and debating legislation.

The Philosophy Summer School for students aged 15-18 offers two weeks of challenging material, covering a range of philosophical topics including meta and applied ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics and logic. A great introduction to philosophy as a subject, as well as an opportunity to develop an all round academic skillset which will benefit students in any discipline.

Practical Details:

All the Summer School events will be held at University of London venues in Bloomsbury, Central London, and will take place in July and August 2016. Please note that these courses are not residential, and accommodation must be arranged independently if required.

You can find full details of schedules, dates, costs, student reviews and tutors at http://www.debatechamber.com/summerschools/. There is a limited amount of bursary funding available for students who would otherwise have financial difficulty in attending – please see our website for details.

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

 

How can you prevent your pupils from developing illegible handwriting in the first place?

It’s not a question of “what can you do to support pupils in improving their handwriting?”, but rather it is a question of “how can you prevent pupils from developing illegible handwriting in the first place?”

For it is typically the case that pupils whose handwriting is illegible have picked up one or more bad habits which are solely responsible for their handwriting difficulties, such as gripping their pen or pencil too tightly, slouching, or failing to write on the guidelines.

Fortunately, most (bad) handwriting habits can be prevented in the first place. Or indeed, overcome, if your pupils are unfortunate enough to have already picked some up.

With this in mind we have devised the Handwriting Rescue Scheme – to ensure that pupils never make the same mistakes twice whilst learning how to handwrite and that they don’t pick up any bad habits which are known for making handwriting illegible.

The Handwriting Rescue Scheme is a complete programme for fully cursive handwriting containing over 300 structured exercises. It has been designed to establish the correct cursive letter formation and encourage an automatic response to frequently used spelling choices.

The programme is ideal for introducing cursive handwriting, particularly for pupils whose handwriting isn’t up to the expected standard for their age.

You can order the Handwriting Rescue Scheme in a variety of 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

New Anti-extremism and Human Rights Classroom Software

Free Full Version 14-day trial

Schools and academies are now required to ensure pupils are aware of the risks associated with radicalisation and extremism.

Our new Anti-extremism and human rights classroom software delivers the topic sensitively using stunning 3D animation, professional voice-over and subject specific interactive exercises, quizzes and games. 

All delivered in a controlled environment, avoiding potentially unsafe web searches!

If (and only if!) after your 14 day trial you would like to keep the software, it’s just £199 (rrp £250) for a whole school/academy site licence over a network or on unlimited PCs/Whiteboards. Technical support, should you need, it is free.

The software arrives on DVD. Just follow the simple installer wizard and you will be ready to use the software in your classroom within minutes

To request a free 14 day trial please CLICK HERE

Exceptional Geography Teaching Resources

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GCSE Revision Guide for AQA Unit 1: Physical Geography – 56 pages of notes come with dramatic and beautifully prepared colour illustrations that bring the “physical geography” to life at each stage of the student’s revision.

GCSE Revision Guide for AQA Unit 2: Human Geography – 39 pages of notes come with colour illustrations that bring the “human geography” to life at each stage of the student’s revision.

Geography Starter Activities – a set of starter activities – crosswords, puzzles, wordsearches, etc – designed for pupils at KS3. It is provided in a photocopiable format so that sheets can be copied and given out to pupils as required – and obviously re-used as much as you wish.

Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 399007
Postal address:
Hamilton House Mailings Ltd, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH

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Signpost Educational Ltd

Student Packs for Lessons and Exams

Telephone: 020-7515-1797
Postal address:
SIGNPOST EDUCATIONAL LTD, PO Box 999, London, E14 6SH, UK

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SSS

Interactive Geography Software – request your 14-day free trial of Geography Educational Software Solution.

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UniTasterDays

Search Taster Day Events – helps Geography teachers to discover an array of events to book students on to, such as university and college taster days, workshops, residentials, open days, outreach events and widening participation opportunities.

Email: info@unitasterdays.com
Telephone:
+44(0)208 798 0982

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ZigZag Education

Geography Teaching Resources – publishers of teaching resources for schools.

Email: sales@ZigZagEducation.com
Telephone:
0117 950 3199
Postal address:
ZigZag Education, Unit 3, Greenway Business Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol, BS10 5PY

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You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

 

Please can we do more Music Theory?

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The Mighty Maestro
Interactive Music Theory
Free 3 Month Trial of our Colourful Interactive Activities
Without a solid understanding of basic theory, students often struggle to perform together both in the classroom and on a wider scale. It’s usually far more difficult to learn how to play pieces of music, and sharing compositions can be haphazard at best. By helping them over the initial hurdles, The Mighty Maestro opens up a world of possibility for all your pupils. Those confusing symbols start to make sense, the music played as a group can become tight and dynamic, and the mass of resources online and in the real world made accessible.

The Mighty Maestro uses a variety of enjoyable lessons, games and races to guide students through the basics of music theory, without the jumps in logic that see many learners fall by the wayside. Having fun as a class, you may use the program to build up an understanding together. Working individually, students are guided step-by-step through the concepts (and you can even follow their progress via our Group Admin pages).

Like to have a go? Please email us today for a FREE 3 month trial. You may test all the activities yourself, let students try a few themselves, or even set up a group and track the progress of all your students through the first 8 activities, at no cost whatsoever.

Please email dan@TheMightyMaestro.com for your free Shared Login and further details.

Many thanks
Dan Collingbourne

The Mighty Maestro

Visit www.TheMightyMaestro.com

ORB Education
EMAIL:  enq@orbeducation.co.uk
FAX: (0161) 667 0540
POST:Suite 7485, PO Box 4336, Manchester M61 0BW

Solar on schools Yes or X? Join us

It’s never too late to see if your school could get solar panels for free. We manage over 50 systems in schools throughout the UK giving them renewable energy at no extra cost to the school.

Join us and register your interest (no commitment). See if you qualify for free panels.

http://www.solarforschools.co.uk/track/hamilton/submit

Our aim is to help you

1. secure a renewable green energy,

2. deliver practical real-time data that can be analysed by your pupils as part of their learning experience and,

3. reduce the amount you pay for the electricity in the medium to long term.

Despite cutbacks in government’s support for solar panels, you can still make solar power work for you. We may also be able to offer you a free solar power system. But you need to act quickly before all government support disappears.

Please register so we can discover what’s possible for your school.

http://www.solarforschools.co.uk/track/hamilton/submit

Best wishes

Helen and Ann

The Solar for Schools team

It’s not too late to have a free solar panel system

Join our schools and together we can make sure you get solar power in your energy mix in 2016.

We have over 50 systems in schools nationwide.

“We are lucky to have the support of governors with the vision and confidence in the management team that allows us to embrace new initiatives, which are for the long-term good of the school,” Linda Davies, Parkside Academy 150kWp

Register with us. Discover how you can get solar panels even if you have no capital.  There is no commitment to registering.

Act before all subsidies disappear. Find out if you can:

  • Get a free solar panel system and renewable power for at least 20 years
  • Cut your energy bills in the medium to long term
  • Cut your carbon emissions
  • Have a teaching resource that demonstrates your commitment to being more sustainable as a school.

Our commitment to you is that despite huge government cutbacks in supporting solar for 2016, we will find a solar panel solution for you, ideally at no cost to yourself.  Make sure you are all signed up before the summer so you can enjoy solar power.

Do the right thing to reduce your impact on the environment. Put renewable power into your energy mix and show your students that the school is acting in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

Kind regards,

Helen and Ann
Solar for Schools Team

Government warning: Government has once again cut its support of solar power in 2016 by over half. If your school is serious about getting renewable power into your energy mix, you need to act now before the support disappears completely.