Monthly Archives: July 2019

Assemblies

What part of the school day do children in your school enjoy the most?

Whether you’ve asked the children that question or not the chances are you can guess the most popular answers.  Play time, lunch break, games, the reading of a story, art…

But does anyone say “Assembly”?

If any children do give that as an answer they are probably going to be in a minority, and yet it ought to be possible to generate more enthusiasm for assemblies, since the assembly is an opportunity to do something utterly different from what happens in the rest of the day.

Indeed, there is no reason why the children should not look forward to each day’s assembly in order to find out what new and exciting event is going to happen next.

And there is, of course, a bonus here, because in such a scenario what we inevitably find is that one has everyone’s complete attention.

It was with this idea in mind that I began to collect ways of delivering Assemblies that did more than meet the statutory requirement. Assemblies that become as riveting as the TV programme that children ensure they get home in time to watch each day.

But, of course, assemblies need more than originality, for they also need to meet the social and emotional needs of the children who attend them and offer a focus on the values that the school wishes to present to the children.

As a result of this thinking we have produced a set of over 350 assemblies which are instantly available and fully scripted.  And we are still working on the project with new assemblies being added every month.

These assemblies are divided into 12 categories along with an index which allows you to choose your assembly by topic.  You can read a full example of one of our assemblies by following this link.

Additionally you can see the complete list of the 12 main categories and from there you can go into each category and see the details of all the assemblies on offer.

All the details are available at http://www.assemblybox.co.uk where you can also order online:

• a 12 month subscription (only £149)
• a 24 month subscription (only £142 per year)
• a 36 month subscription (only £135 per year)

If you have any questions please email enquiries@assemblybox.co.uk

Primary

Join a cluster to add at least £14,000 to your budget to support SEN pupils

A new TrailBlazer group has now been set up to develop government funded training for SENCOs, Teachers, Teaching Assistants and School Nurses to become registered Play Therapists.  90% of the total cost (estimated at £14,000 over a three year period) will be provided for training at level 7 (Post Graduate) once the proposed scheme is fully developed.

At the recent inaugural meeting nearly 100 primary schools were represented.  Clusters all over England are now being set up but there’s only capacity for another 200 schools.

The training will meet:

  • The new Ofsted inspection requirements coming into force this September;
  • registration on the Professional Standard Authority’s Accredited Register of Play and Creative Arts Therapists;
  • the principles of the new Mental Health Charter, being put forward as a blueprint for the reform of the 1983 Mental Health Act https://childmentalhealthcharter.com/

This is a marvellous opportunity to provide therapeutic support for your pupils with social, emotional, behaviour and mental health issues.  Much reduced waiting lists for CAHMS, better than just a Mental Health Lead, excellent career progression for one or two staff members.

If you have a need and a suitable member of staff for training please register now.  There’s no commitment at this stage.

Please contact: jefferyht@majemail.com  for registration and more details.

Yours sincerely

Jeff Thomas

Secretariat:  Play Therapist TrailBlazer Apprenticeship Group

Maths

“Will this calculator replace the Casio FX 83GT Plus …..?  

The Casio FX 83 GT+ was the UK’s best selling scientific calc…and deservedly so.  It’s been setting the pace in many UK schools and colleges and was the first choice for GCSE exams for many students.

But now it’s been discontinued, having been replaced by an upgraded spec’ model at a higher price. Top grade maths students are likely to benefit from this new model (FX83GTX), but what about the majority, for whom the FX83GT+ was perfectly adequate and available at a reasonable price?

Well, the news is positive. There is an alternative……

It’s the Logik LK 83XP which has almost all the features of the FX 83GT Plus but with one big advantage…… it’s dual power.  This combination of battery and solar power prolongs battery life and gives students extra reassurance, especially when used in exams.

The LK 83XP has a THREE year guarantee* and is suitable for all exams where a calculator is allowed.  Features include: 252 functions,   “natural (textbook) display,” check, correct and replay, stats calculations, prime factorisation, hard plastic keys, slide on case, etc.

It’s a calc which can see your students all the way from year 7 to GCSE and at a surprisingly modest price.  (*excludes LCD damage)

Further details on:   www.signposteducational.co.uk  or phone 020 7515 1797  or email: signpost@talk21.com

Signpost Educational Ltd., PO Box 999   London  E14 6SH

PS.  For other calculators and helpful maths products please visit the website.

Drama

“No one chooses to be Homeless”

Streets Apart by Jackie Lines

A new and ground-breaking play, Streets Apart deals with the growing crisis of 21st Century homelessness.

How can it happen in a wealthy country like ours?

This brilliant new contemporary script explores the moving struggles of homelessness and the uphill challenge of surviving another day.

What are the issues behind homelessness and how do those less fortunate end up on a downward spiral in life?

In a heartbeat everything could change and this becomes your destiny.

The visceral story follows the journey of two young vulnerable people living in a tent and lost to the world and themselves. Set on the dark and threatening streets and in the safety of a Day Centre, their stories throw light on a crisis in society that is rarely understood.

Streets Apart brings a powerful insight into homeless through innovative and immersive theatre. Blazing with tension, energy and passion, this inspirational play explores the fragility of life.   

And how lives can change when a community comes together. 

An ideal production for students looking to address contemporary issues in society. The play also highlights for students the need for a sound financial footing in life as rents increase and affordable housing becomes scarce.

https://streetsapartplay.com/schools/

MUSIC & LYRICS: “Someone to Hold”. Written by Chris Musson. Included in Script Cost. Free of PRS.

RUNNING TIME: approx. 1hr 25 mins.
CAST: Unlimited, male and female
STRONG LANGUAGE: The author is happy for this to be adapted age appropriately. 
PERFORMANCE SPACE: The play is ideally performed on the flat or a thrust stage.

COST: £50 for a single performance, £40 for each additional performance.  A full copy of the script will be emailed to you with permission for photocopying.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT: jaxlines@streetsapartplay.com

English

Six imaginative in-school productions from Fred Theatre designed to give your students the advantage of live performance

I wrote to schools recently about our plans for 2019-20, and I’m happy to report the response I had back has been just great. You seem to be as excited about our innovations as we are.

Here at Fred Theatre we’ve been taking live performance into schools for three years, and we’re very thrilled about developments for next year. Coming up are the following productions:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

JEKYLL AND HYDE

MACBETH

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

ROMEO AND JULIET

We’re extending the time we spend with you to two hours.

The longer sessions allow us to include an interactive element alongside the performance. During this time there will be a discussion of the text’s themes, characters, how we approached the production, and choices made in rehearsal. There will also be a chance for you and your students to ask questions.

Every student receives a printed programme.

Along with cast and crew details, programmes will include notes on the production and text, as well as supporting material for students to use in the interactive post-show session. Students will be able to keep these for use in class and as a valuable revision aid.

We’re introducing pre-visit information sheets.

We will provide you with copies of information sheets, for distribution to students ahead of our being with you. These will provide valuable information about the text and production and we’re sure your students will want to keep them with their class notes to use in revision. These sheets will help build a sense of anticipation ahead of the performance, encouraging students to value our visit to your school, and make the most of their opportunity to learn from it.

We stay true to the text.

Teachers tell us they really appreciate our commitment to the text and producing a faithful rendition of the original, just a little shorter! And, all we need to perform at your school is a space approximately 5m x 5m with room (of course) for the audience. We may be low on tech, but we pride ourselves on being high on quality of performance.

We employ six professional actors for each production.

Six professional actors perform our GCSE text-based productions; we feel fewer than six compromises quality. All Fred Theatre staff attending your school are DBS checked, trained in child safeguarding and experienced in the idiosyncrasies of in-school performance and workshop delivery.

To find our more.

Visit our web site: www.fred-theatre.co.uk/schools

Booking is now open.

We’re open throughout the summer, but right now is the best time to talk to us about bringing our popular productions to your school. Booking is open, and dates are being reserved for schools across the country. To ensure you have the pick of dates available, please contact us soon.

To discuss any aspect of a visit from Fred Theatre to your school, please feel free to contact me or Helen Warrilow, our tour administrator. You can call us on 01789 777612 or email:

Helen: helen@fred-theatre.co.uk

We look forward to speaking with you soon, and bringing amazing live performance to your school next year.

Robert Ball
Artistic Director
Fred Theatre

PS: We realise budgets are tight, so we work constantly to keep costs low. We reckon we’re hard to beat in terms of value for money.

English

What is the one thing that encourages students to read, more than any other?

Ghost stories, tales of the supernatural, and ultimately what we might call spooky stories, can all be exciting and interesting to many secondary school readers.

But, of course, not every young student enjoys such work – and none of us wishes to give a little bit of a fright to students who have no desire to receive even a little jolt.

Which is why no one would ever suggest that such works – even when they are classics – should be made compulsory reading for every secondary school student.

However, they are part of our heritage, and there have, over the years, been many students who have started the journey into reading fiction as a regular activity through the works of authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, HP Lovecraft or indeed Sheridan Le Fanu.

Which is why we have put together a collection of some 30 books from the English gothic tradition, all written by literary masters, from Edith Wharton to Wilkie Collins.

Our works include reprints of these classics from as little as £2.25 each, (after deducting our 25% school discount), with no delivery charge and no minimum order.

If you would like to see our full list of classic ghost stories, weird tales, and intriguing, outlandish mysteries please click here.

Some schools take these volumes and put them in the school library, while others have copies under the direct control of the English teaching staff, so that young students can be advised as to what they will be reading, before they borrow any such book.

But of one thing there can be no doubt.  Tens of thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps even more) of young people have found their way to becoming regular readers through discovering these classics.

In case you have not come across Wordsworth Editions before we are able to supply a free copy of one of our titles upon request.  Please write to us, without any obligation, at education@wordsworth-editions.com with your name and the school address, and we’ll put it in the post to you with our compliments.

Alternatively to see what’s new in our list of classic books at the lowest possible prices please click here.  If you have any enquiries, please email us at education@wordsworth-editions.com.

School News

What is the most effective and straightforward way of giving students an enhanced sense of self-esteem? 

In recent years it has become increasingly clear that self-esteem is a key issue in determining progress at school. Generally speaking, the more self-esteem a student has, the more positive the individual feels about her/his life.

And as a result of this enhanced self-esteem, the more the individual develops and enhances her/his abilities.

There are of course many ways of enhancing self-esteem, but one approach that is particularly effective, and indeed comparatively easy to establish with a very low cost base, is singing in an ensemble.

This in itself can, of course, be achieved through simply singing in a school choir.  But when the school takes part in a national exhibition of singing, and the pupils and students perform alongside 5,000 others from schools across the country, the results can be extraordinary.

For many such an experience is the start of a revolution in the way that they see the world and perceive their place within it. Increased levels of engagement with and enjoyment of school work inevitably follow.

It was to encourage this sort of experience and development that we established “Voice in a million” 10 years ago. It gives an opportunity for all participants to come together united in song to perform in front of their own family, friends, and a sizeable audience.  It has been billed as ‘The World’s most spectacular school concert’

2400 schools and in excess of 110,000 children have taken part in our previous concerts and in 2020, 350 schools and 15,000 more children will again experience Voice in a Million at Wembley on the 17th, 18th and 19th March.

The cost is only £12.50 per participant.  We supply all the rehearsal materials, plus the concert t-shirt for each individual to wear and keep as a souvenir.

What’s more, for those who join us each year Voice in a Million acts as an inspirational event that can change their perceptions both of themselves and of the world around them.

You can find out more about Voice and a Million, read our testimonials from parents and teachers,  and get all the detail, on our website.

Or for more information you can call 01932 859667 or email team@voiceinamillion.com

School News

Organise or join a cluster to add at least £12,000 to your school’s training budget

The new TrailBlazer group has now been set up to develop government funded training for SENCOs, Teachers, Teaching Assistants and School Nurses to become registered Play Therapists.  90% of the total cost (estimated at £12,000 over a two year period) will be provided for training at level 7 (Post Graduate) once the proposed scheme is fully developed.

At the recent inaugural meeting nearly 100 primary schools were represented.  There’s capacity for another 200 organised into clusters of 14 – 20 schools each.

The training will meet:

  • The new Ofsted inspection requirements coming into force this September;
  • registration on the Professional Standard Authority’s Accredited Register of Play and Creative Arts Therapists;
  • the principles of the new Mental Health Charter, being put forward as a blueprint for the reform of the 1983 Mental Health Act https://childmentalhealthcharter.com/

This is a marvellous opportunity to provide therapeutic support for your pupils with social, emotional, behaviour and mental health issues.  Much reduced waiting lists for CAHMS, better than just a Mental Health Lead, excellent career progression for one or two staff members.

Find out more: jefferyht@majemail.com

Yours sincerely

Jeff Thomas

Secretariat:  Play Therapist TrailBlazer Apprenticeship Group