How can your school adopt a positive health and safety culture when there is a lack of time and resources to do so?

In accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999, all schools must recognise their responsibility for providing and maintaining safe and healthy conditions for pupils, personnel, and visitors – and so they do.

But this doesn’t mean that all schools have adopted a positive health and safety culture (which is fundamental to effective health and safety management).

Why? Because a positive health and safety culture requires constant attention, which also requires time that you and your colleagues are unlikely to have to spare. Which is why we’ve developed School Health and Safety (www.schoolhealthandsafety.co.uk).

School Health and Safety is a website providing practical, time-saving guidance and support materials covering: risk assessments, job descriptions, questionnaires, maintenance records, report forms and health and safety legislation, training, audits, inspections, checklists, action plans and development plans.

If you would like to see some of our guidance and support materials, just click here and you’ll be able to download a total of eight documents completely free of charge.

To subscribe to School Health and Safety, please do visit our sign up page: School Health and Safety Subscription

What’s more, if you sign up for a year’s subscription to School Health and Safety by the 31st May 2016 and enter the code healthsafety0516 at sign up, you will qualify for a massive discount of £45 on your yearly subscription fee.

For more information about School Health and Safety, you can either visit our website, call us on 01600 891506, or send an email to sales@schoolhealthandsafety.co.uk

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

As with the French version of this book 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

Are you paying too much for your Postura Plus chairs …… ?

I recently saw an “e flyer” from a large and well established company who were advertising Postura Plus chairs in a summer term promotion …. (we’ll call them company A)

I noticed that far from seeming to be “promotional prices” they were higher than the normal prices charged by another, well-established company but one which probably doesn’t have such a high profile. (we’ll call them company B)

Yes, that’s right.  Same manufacturer, same chairs, same sizes, same colours, same quantities…… but significant differences in price.

Let me give you a couple of examples……(quantity of 30 chairs in both cases)

The 430mm and 460mm seat height Postura Plus chairs were listed in the “summer term promotion” from company A at £19.99 and £21.49 respectively (ex vat).

Exactly the same chairs were available for just £16.59 and £17.41 (ex vat) from company B.

Yes ……. same manufacturer, same chairs, same sizes, same colours, same quantities but a price difference of more than £3 and £4 per chair  (ex vat).

Let’s suppose that your school or college is planning a refit or refurbishment and has decided to replace its old classroom chairs.  Even if you need only 700 new Postura Plus chairs at 430mm seat height you could be paying £2,380 (ex vat) extra for the very same chairs.

Now I appreciate that both firms probably offer quantity discounts but it seems reasonable to assume that there will still be big savings to be made by ordering from the company in the example above, which offers the same chairs but at much lower prices.

If you’d like more information about Postura Plus chairs from company B then take a look at their website:
www.centraleducational.co.uk/classroom-postura%20plus.html

Central Educational Supplies Ltd can be contacted on: tel: 020 7515 1797 or email: info@centraleducational.co.uk  or fax:  020 7515 4420

PS.   If you need additional information or would like to discuss a possible order please ask for Martin Evans who will be pleased to assist.

One of my best friends is a teacher………….

I’ve known Ed since about 1976. Over the years, and in several inner city locations, he’s been a head of dep’t, head of year and head of sixth form.  Vastly experienced and with a bit of a reputation as a “hard man” when it comes to classroom discipline.

Every now and then he moans about the number of students who turn up for his lessons without a pen, pencil, ruler, rubber etc. He reckons it can waste up to ten minutes of teaching time while they try to borrow what they need for the lesson.

So what can be done to reduce the  wasted time and disruption caused by pupils who turn up to lessons without the proper equipment?

One helpful product which can make life easier for students and teachers alike is the “Student Essentials set.”

Consisting of three quality black ink pens, two full length HB pencils, a metal sharpener, eraser and a 15 cm ruler, all packed in a clear plastic “exam friendly” zip-up wallet, from just 75p ex vat.  They are ideal to give or maybe sell to students at the start of a school day or at the start of lessons.

The “Student Essentials set” can be a means of ensuring that lessons will be less of a hassle and more productive in the future than they may have been in the past.

The “Student Essentials set” can be obtained from Signpost Educational Ltd., (signpost@talk21.com) PO Box 999, London, E14 6SH or visit their website (www.signposteducational.co.uk)

PS. If you’d like more information please call 020 7515 1797 and ask to speak to Martin Evans who will be pleased to help.

PPS. If you need the “Student Essentials set” in a hurry, just specify 24 or 48 hour delivery.