“We run our schools differently. Students want to attend them, teachers want to work in them and other schools want to learn from them.”

This year we are running our School Improvement Conferences on February 1 2017 and April 26 2017.  We have already had an extremely successful event on November 30 2016, feedback from delegates who attended includes:

“Absolutely outstanding – most useful experience of my career to date”

“Excellent day with lots of discussion, good honesty”

“A thoroughly engaging, thought provoking day.  All presenters and presentations were excellent and at times inspiring”

We would like to share with you the strategies we have developed that have helped our students across the Trust deliver Progress 8 scores up to 0.56. These strategies also formed the bedrock that transformed failing schools into good schools in a short period of time.

For more information, please take a look at our brochure and booking form by following the links below. We look forward to working with you.

School Improvement Conference Brochure

School Improvement Conference Booking Form

Good schools tend to leave the advertising of their school to word-of-mouth, but this method isn’t very effective when it comes to attracting parents of prospective students who are new to the area or when there is more than one good school in the same catchment area.

Which is what makes it so important that schools should be proactive in trumpeting their achievements and not just rely on word-of-mouth recommendations.

Of course, there are several obvious ways in which you can broadcast the achievements of your school, but mounting an honours board onto a wall of the school for all visitors to see, including parents of prospective students, is one method which often gets overlooked.

This method is particularly effective for not only does it help to persuade parents of prospective students to choose your school but it is something that will impress the likes of Ofsted.

To see our full range of honours boards, please do visit our website. Alternatively, you can call us on 01280 701093 and we’ll be pleased to discuss our boards, send you a brochure, and give any advice and guidance that you may require.

Middle East Education (London Ltd)
www.middleeastedu.co.uk

meedu@talktalk.net

Charity Number 1165495

Upheaval in the Middle East

Balanced talks given jointly by a Muslim and a Jew

To book or for further information: meedu@talktalk.net

The Middle East is in upheaval, with wars, terrorism, uprisings, violence, external countries jockeying for power and influence in the region, as well as the over-100-year old Arab-Israeli conflict.

Our experienced knowledgeable speakers give talks which address these events, and they would be happy to give a talk at your school on any aspect you choose or, for example:

• What could stop the war in Syria?
• Why are so many of the regional countries concerned about the rising power of Iran?
• What effect do the events in the Middle East have on the UK?
• Why are the Palestinians planning to sue the UK for the Balfour Declaration which was issued 100 years ago, in November 1917?
• Why is the international community trying to undo the 50-year-old re-unification of Jerusalem?
• ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas. What are their goals?
• Christians and other minorities in the Middle East.
• The Arab-Israeli conflict: religious, historical and legal claims of both sides. Can they be reconciled?
• What is the way forward?

For more topics, see our web site: www.middleeastedu.co.uk

Talks can be tailored to your requirements as to length, content, age of audience, date, time.

Cost. Travel costs plus a voluntary contribution to other expenses

We still have some dates left in the Spring and Summer terms, and look forward to hearing from you.

IS THE SCHOOL INVENTORY ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE JOBS YOU KEEP AVOIDING?

Just like defrosting the freezer, the school inventory is time consuming, messy and one of those jobs everybody hates.

But not if you’re an SG World customer because we make it easy.

AudIT takes the pain out of asset management so you don’t have to worry about finding the time and resource to stay on top of your inventory. Whether it’s security tagging your assets, keeping tabs on equipment maintenance schedules or simply getting up to date information you can trust, AudIT does the hard work for you. Have all your asset data at your fingertips so you can make informed investment decisions and deploy school funding more effectively.

AudIT is the UK’s leading school asset management software solution. It tracks over 3 million assets; that’s over £250 million worth of educational resources.

Find out why schools choose AudIT

SG World
Arnold Haase House
Duchy Rd
Crewe
CW1 6ND

Company number 3451910

www.sgworld.com

enquiries@sgworld.com

A Virtual Classroom to Enhance Learning for All

EDLounge Ltd launched EDVirtual (Our Virtual Classroom) in 2016 so that your teachers, mentors and qualified support staff can work remotely with your students in a safe and controlled environment.

Our virtual classroom helps excluded students and those students who require a short term alternative provision. Your staff have the capability to educate your students on specific timetabled pathways via live video stream. Your students will benefit from being taught through a unique pathway tailored to their personal needs and capabilities.

By using our virtual classroom your school can save time and money, benefit from seamless teacher and student lesson transition, and easily interact and support a group or individual while they are unable to attend school.

Our unique safeguarding tools have been designed to give educators the best opportunity to deliver lessons to off-site students whilst monitoring their attendance, behaviour and safety. All virtual lessons are recorded and automatically backed up and saved to ensure safeguarding all round.

This provision is a robust and comprehensive tool that not only allows your organisation to offer teaching and support, but also offers tutoring, assessment, pre-assessment, verification, and expertise in any subject for any age group for those doing core or academic courses.

The Virtual Classroom will allow you to:

• view students’ learning live via a secure server stream

• mentor students through a written chat, verbal chat or face to face video link

• set structured and personalised pathways for individual students using school content or by using 7,500+ ready-made lessons provided

• communicate face to face with students who are learning off-site

• dramatically improve your students’ attendance and achievement

More about the EDLounge platform

Originally, created to educate students who were in inclusion or excluded from school entirely in maths, English and science, EDLounge has developed significantly since then, and now has four main aspects: EDLounge, EDClass, EDVirtual and EDSimple. All resources are safeguarded and supervised, and enable teachers to monitor and track students’ progress.

EDLounge offers students in all educational establishments a personalised learning pathway, in order to help improve their learning outcomes.

EDClass is a facility that enhances remote learning and includes live tutorial support and teaching.

EDVirtual is a virtual classroom that helps disengaged students attend lessons, gain qualifications and achieve academically.

EDSimple is an inclusive school management platform and learning environment that streamlines whole school practices.

All resources are safeguarded and supervised, and enable teachers to monitor and track students’ progress.

For more information about EDVirtual, a two week free trial or a live online demo of the functionality of the online learning platform, contact us on 01909 568 338 or by email with the subject ‘Classroom16’ at mail@edlounge.com.

The power of school fundraising

80% of disabled people worldwide live in developing countries. Faced with exclusion in many countries, the world’s one billion people with disabilities have been described as the ‘world’s biggest minority’. School fundraising enables our teams to provide life-changing support for some of the most vulnerable people on earth.

From fundraising sports days and summer fetes to tutor group challenges; we have been humbled by support from pupils and teachers in 2016. We would be honoured to have your school’s support next year.

Please order your fundraising pack

As well as a fundraising pack, we can provide a speaker to talk about our work with communities affected by conflict.

Whether it’s giving an amputee the chance to walk again or helping to make a community safe from the threat of landmines, the money you raise could really change lives.

Please order our fundraising pack or contact schools@hi-uk.org for more information.

Thank you for your support,

John

P.S. Our YouTube Playlist for schools contains 13 short videos about our work with communities affected by war.

John McGeachy
Handicap International

Handicap International UK
9 Rushworth Street,
London SE1 0RB
Email: john.mcgeachy@hi-uk.org
Tel: 0870 774 3737
Text Relay: 18001 0870 774 3737
www.handicap-international.org.uk/schools#

>Regular attendance and participation in schooling is an important factor in educational success. Students who are regular non-attenders are at risk of alienation from education that can lead to decreased options for future learning.

With the statutory requirement to report attendance figures comes the additional need to look at why pupils aren’t attending. It’s important to get to the centre of why a child refuses to attend, and to put support in place through educational strategies.

EDLounge is an innovative online learning resource that can help your academy achieve its target attendance.

Our system is designed to motivate students who are persistently absent, off-site and in alternative provision, allowing these pupils to raise their A-C attainment and gain vital qualifications.

We currently work in partnership with academies all across the UK, helping them to:

• Reduce exclusions and persistent absences

• Use EDVirtual’s mentor support system engage school phobic students to work from home

• Track and monitor pupils’ attendance and progress to produce printable reports – perfect for Ofsted inspections!

• Motivate disengaged pupils by promoting learning

‘The implementation of EDLounge to support students who are excluded from school has had a significant impact on an identified cohort of students. It provides them with a programme of study and behaviour repair work that is monitored daily by school staff and parents, ensuring that students are engaged in meaningful work throughout their exclusion.

This has meant that exclusions have become more of a deterrent and are now seen as more meaningful and robust by parents/carers. This has meant a reduction in the number of repeat exclusions which is, in turn, seeing a marked improvement in attendance…’

Read the full Case Study from The Rodillian Academy: www.edlounge.info/EDLounge-Case-Study.pdf

EDLounge and EDClass become your alternative provision, allowing your pupils to learn, progress and attain in an environment that is suited to their specific needs.

We work in partnership with academies to ensure comprehensive levels of safeguarding, well-being, supervision for your pupils on or off-site.

Our unique approach makes EDLounge the perfect resource for students who are in inclusion or exclusion, alongside vocational and foundation learners, target groups, and students who are vulnerable, at risk, not attending classes, persistently absent, not doing homework, disengaged or demotivated.

For more information about EDLounge, a two week free trial or a live online demo of the functionality of the online learning platform, contact us on 01909 568 338 or by email with the subject ’Attend16’ at mail@edlounge.com.

This time why not contact us now and this year be one step ahead?

We will do so much to to take the hassle out of organising your Leavers Hoodies

• SEE! We have the very best testimonials, from real people that started as customers and are now our very loyal customers
• It can be a tiresome task organising your Leavers hoodies. But not anymore we are experts in taking the pressure off your shoulders.
• No unpleasant surprises from leaversgear, our prices have no hidden extras.
• Please take advantage of our totally FREE sample service.
• We have no complaints on quality, simply because we only supply you with the very best
• Easy to use website with interactive design pages and easy contact Form.

At Leaversgear our number one priority is customer satisfaction, we’ll send you as many drafts as needed until you are totally happy with your design. All part of the service which is second to none.

We look forward to hearing from you.  Click here.  Email or phone.  It’s FREE to ask for a quote or even just have a chat about what you want..

Kind Regards
The LeaversGear Design Team

Read123 are providing our groundbreaking iPad based app for screening, diagnosing and managing Meares-Irlen Syndrome / Visual Stress (worth an annual £500 subscription) completely free of charge for a FULL year.

1 in 3 pupils suffer from this condition and therefore screening of all pupils is absolutely vital. Now you can screen ALL your pupils in a fraction of the time. No training needed!

Limited time offer.

Unique features include:

Reading speed improvement calculator

Speech recognition feature to detect reading mistakes

Customised tint calculator for glasses (customised tint glasses prices from just £54.99)

Data charts for the school

Unlimited access

Sort results by class and academic year

Sync feature to share results amongst tablets in the school.

The Read123 Meares-Irlen Syndrome app has been designed and developed by specialist Opticians who have been working with pupils for over 10 years. We are members of The Association of Optometrists and are keen participants of their Schools Vision initiative.

You can take the free trial here. Simply contact us on 0800 6890292 or support@read123.co.uk after you have used up the 2 free attempts and we will provide you with a login code for your school. This will let you use the app free for a whole year.

More information on our website at www.read123.co.uk

“We run our schools differently. Students want to attend them, teachers want to work in them and other schools want to learn from them.”

This year we are running our School Improvement Conferences on February 1 2017 and April 26 2017.  We have already had an extremely successful event on November 30 2016, feedback from delegates who attended includes:

“Absolutely outstanding – most useful experience of my career to date”

“Excellent day with lots of discussion, good honesty”

“A thoroughly engaging, thought provoking day.  All presenters and presentations were excellent and at times inspiring”

We would like to share with you the strategies we have developed that have helped our students across the Trust deliver Progress 8 scores up to 0.56. These strategies also formed the bedrock that transformed failing schools into good schools in a short period of time.

For more information, please take a look at our brochure and booking form by following the links below. We look forward to working with you.

School Improvement Conference Brochure

School Improvement Conference Booking Form

It doesn’t need to be a huge HASSLE let our team guide you to a hassle free experience in ordering leavers hoodies.

We can tell you why to choose LeaversGear?

Better still let our regular customers tell you Click here  to see.

Our aim is to offer complete customer satisfaction, we do everything we can to make ordering as simple as possible, why not give us a try.

We look forward to hearing from you.  Click here.  Email or phone – It’s FREE to ask for a quote or even just have a chat about what you want..

Kind Regards
The LeaversGear Design Team

www.leaversgear.com
E-mail: enquiries@leaversgear.com
Freephone: 0800 9545662
Phone: +44 (0) 28 9185 3974

Dear Colleague,

EDLounge Ltd launched EDVirtual (Our Virtual Classroom) in 2016 so that your teachers, mentors and qualified support staff can work remotely with your students in a safe and controlled environment.

Our virtual classroom helps excluded students and those students who require a short term alternative provision. Your staff have the capability to educate your students on specific timetabled pathways via live video stream. Your students will benefit from being taught through a unique pathway tailored to their personal needs and capabilities.

By using our virtual classroom your school can save time and money, benefit from seamless teacher and student lesson transition, and easily interact and support a group or individual while they are unable to attend school.

Our unique safeguarding tools have been designed to give educators the best opportunity to deliver lessons to off-site students whilst monitoring their attendance, behaviour and safety. All virtual lessons are recorded and automatically backed up and saved to ensure safeguarding all round.

This provision is a robust and comprehensive tool that not only allows your organisation to offer teaching and support, but also offers tutoring, assessment, pre-assessment, verification, and expertise in any subject for any age group for those doing core or academic courses.

The Virtual Classroom will allow you to:

• view students’ learning live via a secure server stream

• mentor students through a written chat, verbal chat or face to face video link

• set structured and personalised pathways for individual students using school content or by using 7,000+ ready-made lessons provided

• communicate face to face with students who are learning off-site

• dramatically improve your students’ attendance and achievement.

For more information about EDVirtual, a two week free trial or a live online demo of the functionality of the online learning platform, contact us on 01909 568 338 or by email with the subject ‘VirtualClassroom16’ at mail@edlounge.com

With many young people their behaviour tells us much of what we need to know about their lives.  Indeed it is their behaviour that makes us aware of any problems that they might be suffering.

But there is no doubt that observation alone won’t always alert us to the fact that some students may be lacking in their understanding of certain key issues of their personal lives and their social situations.

Do they really understand the dangers of sexting? Do they actually know the damage that can be caused by tobacco and alcohol? Is anyone engaging in self-abuse who has slipped beneath the radar? Are there neighbourhood issues that the school is not fully aware of?

A knowledge of these and related issues can make the work of the school much more effective, as you and your colleagues can learn more about the students’ lives and about the dynamics existing in each class.

We can, for example, begin to see if those attending the school are getting suitable breakfasts. We can see if all the students feel safe on their way to and from school. We can discover if there is an otherwise hidden sub-culture of extremism, racism, or intolerance evolving.

Of course, if your colleagues try to ask such questions in class, it can be hard to get answers from the very people whose answers might be the ones they most need to hear.  Which is why many schools are turning to an alternative way to get this information.

This alternative approach involves using questionnaires covering the well-being and health of pupils and students.  Such a questionnaire can identify the reasons for behaviours and provide a rich source of information that can be used to explore underlying influences.

In short, the professionally structured questionnaire allows us to learn far more about the behaviour and emotions of those we teach, than is possible in any other way.

Youcansay has worked with hundreds of schools across the UK in providing and analysing questionnaires which help Heads of PSHE and senior management in schools learn far more about those they teach than can otherwise be achieved.

To see more information on our Well-being and Health Questionnaire which could be run in your school please click here

If you would like to talk about the questionnaires, their benefits and how they work please do call us on 0118 978 1078. You can also contact us by email service@youcansay.co.uk 

Would you host more Specialist STEM Workshops if you knew parents would pay?

Research suggests that 75% of the fastest growing occupations require a skillset best developed in STEM subjects.  As a result, there has been a worldwide drive to include specialist STEM education in addition to the standard science curriculum.  The UK has been one of the leading nations in doing so in the past but we are starting to fall behind countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong as funding is becoming harder to find.

So, imagine being able to host leading enrichment and extension programmes without affecting the timetable or adding to teacher workloads.  More importantly, imagine hosting such workshops on a non-school day – knowing in advance that there was strong support from parents who would pay toward the costs in order to give their child that extra advantage for the future.

Now imagine being able to choose schemes with the added security that they have been proven to work and recommended by every host school for over a decade.

Thinkers in Education can offer you a way to do all of this with ease – in three simple steps:

1. You request any of the available event dates in the year and we hold it for you on a provisional basis whilst we send you marketing materials to distribute. (Requesting a Saturday means the timetable is unaffected but term dates and holiday schools are also available)
2. Your school distributes the materials to students/parents as you would details about a school trip.  You can choose from CSI Thrillers or Space Adventures.  This approach raises the profile of your STEM provision and makes it possible to gauge interest levels for your event.  We hold your date(s) for free for 21 days from the date you receive the materials.
3. If student/parental interest proves to be high enough – your event costs will be covered and you confirm your date.  If not, we can cancel the event request or talk about alternatives.  Easy.  No Cost.  No Commitment.

Most schools are surprised by the number of parents eager for their son/daughter to be included in these extra-curricular programmes and minimum numbers are easily reached. Of course, Pupil Premium funding can be used too.

Every participant receives a certificate of achievement listing the STEM skills developed (a valuable addition to their portfolio when making applications for university and employment) whilst the school receives a performance report for every participant.

It is this level of detail combined with our ‘gamified’ learning style that helps to make our workshops an exceptional experience.  To find how to minimise the costs of your event please visit our website.

Alternatively, you can email info@thinkersineducation.co.uk or call us on 01603 520866

Matt Hackett

Thinkers in Education 

The school minibus poses something of a problem: for your Finance Manager in respect of cashflow forecasting and bureaucracy and for the person in charge of keeping it operational in respect of organising its MOTs, services and repairs.

Fortunately, we have a solution to cut the problems associated with the school’s minibus by half. The answer is to share the minibus with another school in the same cluster, trust or council as you are – resulting in half the costs, half the work, and half the problems.

Better still, if you lease a minibus with Benchmark Leasing, there is the added benefit of improved cashflow (as you pay a set fee each month – no more, no less) and it often works out to be much cheaper than buying a minibus outright (especially if one considers the re-sale value), or indeed hiring a coach each time.

Furthermore, a full maintenance programme is included, so no matter the outcome of the vehicle’s services and MOTs, the cost of repairs won’t affect the lease price.

If you haven’t leased a minibus or thought about sharing one, please do give me a call on 01753 859944 and I can talk you through how it all works.

And if you want to take a look at who we are and what we do before you call, you’ll find more information about leasing at  www.minibusleasing.co.uk

Customer quote, “What an inspiration, to make a playhouse with a roof like a hard back book! And all the stools made as a pile of books! Now that should inspire them to read more.”

If the project is 400k or 4k, Enchanted will always come up with a fantastic design for any size of project.

Themed School Classrooms

With the next school classroom project nearing completion this week and the  significant requirement for more space in schools Enchanted is launching it’s bespoke classroom solution package during November.

‘Enchanted Learning’  is already gaining it’s great reputation in themed classrooms   with Harry Potter/ Hagrid’s Lodge and Tom Sawyer styles, adding that extra dimension to education. Typically, Enchanteds design team will design any possibility and style, manufacture &  install under one umbrella.

Brad Smith at the Kimble office (brad@enchantedcreations.co.uk) is heading up the classroom design and manufacturing team.

http://www.enchantedcreations.co.uk/school-buildings

The London Science Museum opens Wonderlab

The Statoil Gallery on the third floor of the iconic museum has just opened which adds a fantastic new dimension to the collection. Enchanteds involvement in the friction slide area, particularly the bowling alley slide designed and made by Enchanted was a complete triumph; we’re told over one million users will experience it every year! A curved solid Maple wood side with the Walnut markers was a technically challenging design, beautiful Goddard Nov16

No school improves by itself.  Schools get better because someone – or better still a group of people – put energy into improving the school.

Linked to this there is a second, equally simple and equally valid observation.  Even the most excellent school will slip back over time, unless something is done, to keep it improving.

So what is it that some school managers are doing which helps improve a school in terms of its Ofsted rating, parental satisfaction and its exam results not just this year but also next year and the year after?

The answer it turns out is rather simple.  They have set up a continuing development and improvement programme.

Not, I hasten to add, a programme that turns the school upside down every term, but a programme that gently tweaks and improves different aspects of school life step by step, and does it in such a gentle way that most of the time, most colleagues don’t notice it happening.

Such an approach works in the background of everyday school life without putting any strain on the school or its members of staff.  Yet the results can be extraordinary.

The entire process is described in The Ever Improving School, a report commissioned and produced by the School of Educational Administration and Management – a body set up with government funding and the support of the government’s Department of Trade and Industry and the University of Northampton Department of Education.

The Ever Improving School is available as a Kindle book for £9.99 and as a download which can be printed out, copied and given to colleagues within the school for £14.95, including VAT.

ISBN: 978 1 86083 852 1   Order code: T1843 – please quote with order.

You can purchase the download copy of the volume

• On the phone with a school order number at 01604 880 927
• By email to sales@schools.co.uk with a school order number
• On line with a credit card via PayPal at https://www.dyscalculia.me.uk/online-shop/category/4-educational-books.html

You can purchase the kindle book from Amazon

Do you have an effective Alternative Curriculum at your school?

Are your suspended or excluded, vulnerable, persistently absent or disengaged students achieving their full potential?

How would you like access to a system that will help these students re-engage with their education, facilitating every chance for every child?

Or would you prefer a system that will monitor progress, achievement, attendance and work rate to produce comprehensive reports with no more than a couple of mouse clicks?

How about a cost-effective online learning platform that does all of this and more?

EDLounge is an inclusive online resource able to greatly enhance the educational offerings for students undertaking alternative and flexible learning pathways with support through our remote learning and virtual classroom (EDVirtual).

Students follow extensive learning pathways and programmes within EDLounge which, due to the ease of its set up, can work very easily alongside other provisions that are in place.

Students can also work independently through a bank of learning content which can replace or support in-school learning thus providing a unique package regardless of environment, facilities or budget.

FIND OUT HOW WE INCREASE ATTENDANCE BY 2.9% AND REDUCED EXCLUSIONS BY 170 DAYS IN ONE ACADEMIC TERM

We strive to think outside of the box to achieve success for your target group of students.

Contact us today!

For more information about EDLounge, a two week free trial and/or a live online demo of the functionality of the online learning platform, contact us on 01909 568 338 or email mail@edlounge.com quoting reference code ‘Impact 16’

Kind regards,

Sam Warnes
Creator of EDLounge

T: 01909 568 338

F: 01909 568 350

E: mail@edlounge.com

EDLounge is an innovative online learning resource that can help your school achieve its target attendance especially with those students working within your alternative and flexible learning provisions.

Our system is designed to motivate students who are persistently absent, off-site, in alternative provision, or those suffering with Mental Health issues allowing these pupils to raise their attainment and gain vital qualifications.

The implementation of EDLounge to support students who are away from school has had a significant impact on an identified cohort of students. It provides them with a programme of study and behaviour repair work that is monitored daily by school staff and parents, ensuring that students are engaged in meaningful work.

EDLounge is an inclusive online resource able to greatly enhance the educational offerings for students undertaking alternative and flexible learning pathways with online support through our remote learning and virtual classroom (EDVirtual).   Through our live classroom we currently work in partnership with academies all across the UK, helping them to:

• Offer access, support and tutoring to enable your establishment to  claim attendance grades via our virtual classroom
• Motivate disengaged and off site pupils
• Reintegrate students back into mainstream education
• Reduce exclusions, isolation issues
• Create bespoke learning pathways for individual students
• Access over 7000 knowledge and understanding lessons, puzzles and quizzes
• Provide a safe, secure, well-rounded, and structured approach
• Track and monitor pupils’ attendance and progress to produce printable reports – perfect for Ofsted inspections!

EDLounge becomes your alternative provision, allowing your pupils to learn, progress and attain in an environment that is suited to their specific needs.

We work in partnership with academies to ensure comprehensive levels of safeguarding, well-being, supervision for your pupils on or off-site.

Our unique approach makes EDLounge the perfect resource for students who are in inclusion or exclusion, alongside vocational and foundation learners, target groups, and students who are vulnerable, at risk, not attending classes, persistently absent, not doing homework, disengaged or demotivated.

Contact us today to discuss the impact EDLounge can have on your academy’s attendance levels.

Call us on 01909 568 338 or by email at mail@edlounge.com and quote reference code ‘Improve16’ to request a free demonstration and trial of the EDLounge resource.

Kind regards,

Sam Warnes
Creator of EDLounge

T: 01909 568 338

F: 01909 568 350

E: mail@edlounge.com

Students who regularly test their literacy and numeracy skills with web-based games progress fastest overall across the subjects

According to recent research, carried out by Andrew Gallacher (an education coordinator at the University of Glasgow), students who regularly test their numeracy and literacy skills with web-based games progress fastest overall across the subjects.

Which is exactly why Education Quizzes exists – and why we are offering free sign up for schools to Education Quizzes for a whole year.

Our library of KS3 English Education Quizzes covers an extensive range of topic areas, making them ideal for revising the knowledge that your students have learned in their English lessons, past and present.

Education Quizzes are also ideal to set as homework tasks as they involve little to no PPA time – giving you more time to focus on planning and preparing future lessons and assessing the work of your students from lessons which have gone before.

To see the KS3 English Education Quizzes that we have produced thus far, toggle through the topic area links below. Alternatively, you can email admin@educationquizzes.com to request more information.

And if you would like to sign up free to Education Quizzes for a year, simply visit our schools’ registration page – www.educationquizzes.com/schools-uk-registrations/.

TOPIC AREA

Letter Writing

Onomatopoeia 

Sentences (Complex) 

Spelling (Common Mistakes) 

Vocabulary Building  

Assonance 

Idioms 

Mnemonics 

See more

The use of ability-grouping in primary schools is increasing. Policy plays a role in this increase, placing teachers in the difficult position of balancing policy directives with the needs of their class.

Teachers struggle to manage a wide attainment range and also to demonstrate differentiation, and many deal with this through ability-grouping.

But grouping by ability requires teachers to have a clear understanding of what ability is. While they may not all use the same definition, it is likely the words bright or less able child would re-occur if they were asked.

This may be due to the ideology of ability deeply embedded in the English education system which perpetuates a belief that children come ‘hard-wired’ with a certain level of ability that can be measured and accorded appropriate educational provision.

This ideology of ability is reinforced on a daily basis through the media and popular culture with the language of talent, ability and intelligence commonplace in everyday talk, and so such ideas become normalised. How often do we hear someone assert, without shame, that they are rubbish at maths?

So, when and where do children begin to engage with such beliefs? Is ability-grouping in primary schools resulting in children growing into adults who hold firm can/cannot do beliefs?

Rachel Marks tackles this problem head on in Ability-grouping in Primary Schools: Case Studies and Critical Debates which uses a case-study approach to investigate the critical debates around ability-grouping in primary schools.

It explores common practice in primary schools and considers whether we can reliably identify bright children and less able children. What do these terms mean and how do children feel about such practices? This book gives teachers a clear understanding of the implications for teaching and learning, and provides headteachers with an evidence base for deciding the role that ability-grouping should play in their school.

You can learn more about Rachel’s book on our website – just click here http://www.criticalpublishing.com/ability-grouping-in-primary-schools

And if you have any questions or queries about the book please do call 01727 851 462 or email di@criticalpublishing.com

Di Page
Critical Publishing

Teachers can be under-confident when teaching foreign languages in the classroom because they do not have the language skills. What’s the most effective way of supporting your staff in the teaching of French, Spanish or German?

Avoiding the trap …
Have you been in the scenario where the teachers have been informed that they have to teach a language and seen the panic on their faces? Suddenly they have to read, write, speak and teach it to the children. Most teachers race on line to hunt through the mixed bag of resources.  Imagine their surprise if they could be provided with a proven resource that enables them to teach a language, they do not know, effectively.

Finding the resource …
What is the right resource? A resource which gives instant lessons, lesson plans and games, with sound, which are effective and fun. A resource which promotes linguistic confidence.

EDpaX offers …
Lessons that develop the teaching of French, Spanish or German in the Primary classroom.

There are 28 topics specially developed for teachers required to teach a foreign language using the interactive whiteboard. No preparation is needed! There are 500+ teaching pages, with sound, including games and activities. Each language introduces and reinforces initial language, spelling, vital verbs, simple sentence structure and small paragraphs. Colourful and effective interactive whiteboard language lessons and games at your fingertips! These instant lessons bring fun to language learning for both the teachers and the children. Ideal for all Primary school teachers.

Photocopy Workbooks each containing 56 differentiated photocopy pages which reinforce and consolidate every topic are included as a SPECIAL OFFER. Planning grids detailing the language used in each topic are there too.

Check out the product at  http://www.edpax.com/languages-mfl/

Want to try before you buy? Please download a full FREE interactive whiteboard teaching topic from Free Resources at http://www.edpax.com/free-resources/languages/

Do you need more information? Please email info@edpax.com or call 0845 4752289

One language product contains 2 disks plus the photocopy workbook for only £350

(excl. VAT and p&p). One-off purchase with full site licence.

www.edpax.com

Teaching resource suppliers Picture News are helping Primary schools across the country to teach pupils about life, current affairs, values and social awareness in the world around them. The company produces weekly posters featuring a different news story and engaging image – designed in part with weekly assemblies on current affairs in mind. Each tube contains an A2-sized poster with a thought-provoking question, KS1/KS2 ideas, British values cards and web links for further learning on the story.

Designed for Primary schools with a different news story and engaging image each week, Picture News sends resources for KS1 and KS2 to schools each Thursday. Schools interested can order free samples via the company’s website.

“One of the most common observations made by teachers who have tried to improve pupils’ spiritual, moral social and cultural development is that there are too few resources and material available to help make an impact,” said Picture News’ Rob Harrison.

“Unfortunately, it can be hard for staff to find content, ideas or even know exactly how and what to teach from the quite frankly, overwhelming and shocking stories that are found in our news bulletins. Children love to learn about the world around them and about news stories unfolding right now in our changing world.”

Sarah Kay-Wood, headteacher at Market Weighton Infant School, said: “It went down really well in assembly. I especially like the link to British values and the fact the poster and British Value caption will make an instant display after assembly. I like the way you differentiate between the key stages.”

Until December 31^st receive £500 cashback for each 6065i screen purchased, along with other selected models.

<mime-attachment.png> Benefit from the high clarity of the SMART 6065i, owing to its 4K graphics and LED screen, making it visible to all, even when it is being used in a bright classroom.

<mime-attachment.png>  New software features including LAB (Lesson Activity Builder) which will inspire your fellow teachers to try out new ideas and approaches.

<mime-attachment.png> The 6065i has received glowing feedback from primary schools. Scroll down to see extracts of testimonials from Stockcross CE (Aided) Primary School and Chieveley Primary School.

Visit our website to discover more about our interactive displays for primary schools.

Alternatively, for more information or to book an onsite consultation you can:

• call us on 0118 366 0010
• email us at enquiries@smarterinteractive.co.uk
• or use our online enquiry form at http://www.smarterinteractive.co.uk/contact/
  

“We have been extremely well supported by Smarter Interactive throughout. From the initial demonstration stage and information gathering, to extremely fast installation and best possible value for money we could not have been better informed. Smarter Interactive installed all seven boards within two weeks of the order, and training began the following week.” Florence Rostron, Executive Headteacher, Stockcross CE (Aided) Primary School

“We looked at a range of panels but were impressed by the new SMART 6065i. It was different to many other panels and, as well as looking familiar as existing SMART Board users, it also looked striking in terms of new technology.

“The 6065i had the advantage of 4K graphics, meaning that, as far as is ever possible, we were future proofing our investment.” Linda Wood, Headteacher, Chieveley Primary School

How the WhatsYapp dog bark translation unit led to the discovery of an infallible parking space finding device.

I am told by two of my customers who kindly share information with me on what they store in the Admiral Storage Facility, that included among their papers is a copy of their memoirs, and the diaries they used to create them.

This seems to me rather fine; a way of preserving one’s own life story for future generations, and I must say I wish one of my ancestors had done that for me so that I could have read their thoughts, their events, their lives, in their own words.   From which point I began to wonder if I ought to be preserving such detail from my life for other members of my own family.

And it was while I was in such contemplative mode that I stumbled across a piece in my local newspaper that said that a pet store in our area had recently started selling dog collars that incorporated “WhatsYapp” a device that translates your dog’s barks and associated noises into English.

What’s more it then delivers the translation to whatever device you nominate as a text message.   Thus the dog barks, your phone buzzes (or whatever it does) and you get a message from your dog.

This in turn led me on to the notion that perhaps, if I had a dog (which I don’t) and if I attached the WhatsYapp collar, I could then copy each of the comments my dog made and turn it into a dog diary.

Indeed such a publication could become a best seller, and although I have now been told that this has been done before I think my version could outdo them all since it would be based on the actual real live sayings of my dog; if I had one.

Of course, there Is the alternative of putting the collar on a teenager, and getting the resultant grunts translated, but I rather think the dog would have more to say.

It was while I was contemplating just how much your average dog might bark in the way of interesting conversation (and thinking also that it would have to be interesting if I was going to head for the best sellers’ market with this project), that I began to think about what other new strange developments I might also offer.

Top of the list (since I was driving into the city and looking for a place to park, was a device which for the moment I decided to call ParkBark in which an application on my phone would locate any parking space near me that was available, and then send me a live voice message to tell me where to go.

Now I wouldn’t be getting a bark, I appreciate, for with the difficulties of driving around large car parks looking for a space I would need clear instructions in your conventional English if I was to find my destination,  but it would still need a name that would grab everyone’s attention. It was the mere fact that I couldn’t find such a name while driving round in circles looking for the parking space (which the car park I had entered had assured me were indeed free at that moment) that led my drifting mind to ParkBark. I feEL sure something better will turn up later.

Anyway, on this occasion I was unable to find any of the supposed 42 free spaces that the electronic board proclaimed, as I drove round and round, but my mind did turn to the brother of a friend of mine who one evening over a meal had told me that he could always find a parking space by visualising it ahead of his arrival.

He would think of his chosen parking area, think of the space, fix it in his mind, and then it would be there. What’s more, he said that by using this technique he would always turn up at the space just before other motorists spotted it, thus not only finding somewhere to park but also having the enjoyment of the one upmanship that motorists so often find a central and indeed essential part of their daily lives behind the wheel.

This led me (as I travelled the outer reaches of the car park one more time) to the notion of calling the program the Space Race – an original title I thought.  (Parking space – the race to get there – I am sure you follow my thinking.)

Clearing my mind I tried to imagine what the outer rim of the far side of the car park looked like, but found to my annoyance that the image would not come, probably because I had never really noticed it before (which explains why it often takes me an hour or two to locate my car when I return to wherever I left it.)

Completely stumped by the experience, and without the solace of having a dog to bark at me and having my phone interpret the woofs, I instead thought to myself “there will be a free space next time around.”

I kept repeating that mantra, toured the concrete hell one more time, and came back – to find lo and behold a parking space!

Immediately phrases flooded into my head. “The thinking man’s car park” sounded good. “Think Park” was a good shorter version. So was “The Park Lark”.  None of these quite sounded right, but I determined to think them through while walking from the car park to the Admiral Storage Facility.

It was only when I relayed my experiences and conclusion to my colleague (who I must admit had looked increasingly worried during my exposition) that I discovered the flaw in my new found business operation.

“That’s all very well,” he said, “but how are you going to make money out of a thought process?”

“We could maybe put the idea in a book,” I said after pondering the problem, “and sell that.”

“It will be a rather slim book,” he replied. And I have to admit that is true. But us entrepreneurs are never put off by mere details, and I am sure I will find a solution which will allow me to take the business plan to the bank for funding.

Meanwhile, perhaps I may assure you, Admiral has plenty of car parking space close by.  And if we don’t, just phone ahead and I’ll think a space up for you.

Admiral Self Storage Ltd
Bloxwich Lane
Walsall
WS2 8TF
Tel: 0800 810 1125

Email: info@admiralstorage.co.uk 

https://admiralstorage.co.uk

During the last 10 years the new Integrative Holistic model of using play and creative arts therapies has been developed, tested and used in wide scale practice.  It’s being used in over 1500+ primary schools.

The model recognises that each child is different and that most children cannot or do not want to talk about their problems.  It integrates non-directive and directive working.  The child chooses from a wide range of therapeutic creative arts media such as drawing, music, sand tray worlds, clay, puppets, movement, creative visualisation and therapeutic story telling.  The therapist then communicates using the media that the child has chosen.

Involvement of parents is very important since they should be the major agent of change. The Integrative Model also includes coaching of parents where this is needed.

The latest research using the Goodman Strengths and Difficulties (SDQ) measure shows:

• A 77% positive change based on 11,099 cases observed by referrers, normally a SENCO or Teacher
• Also a 77% positive change based on 10130 cases observed by parents or carers,.

More information:

How we can help your school, email: mokijep@aol.com

The register: www.playtherapyregister.org.uk

Training:  http://www.playtherapy.org.uk/TrainingCourses/TrainResourcesAccCourses1.htm

Yours sincerely,

Monika Jephcott
Chief Executive Play Therapy UK

There are two strategies which, when combined, will ensure that your pupils become experts at working as a team.

Firstly, for pupils to truly embrace teamworking they must first understand why working as a team is so important. This can easily be achieved by showing your pupils that some things can only be accomplished with the help of others such as playing football or moving a heavy object.

Next, it is important that your colleagues plan lessons or activities that focus on developing teamworking skills. Working as a team is an essential life skill that needs to be explicitly taught – being in a team doesn’t mean the members will instinctively work as a team. Once this skill is learned, however, pupils will benefit from using it across the curriculum and indeed throughout their lives.

Fortunately, both strategies can be achieved in combination with 43 Team-building Activities for Key Stage 1 and 43 Team-building Activities for Key Stage 2 – teaching resources which have been specifically designed to help you and your colleagues develop teamworking skills among pupils.

The books contain clearly written lesson plans which will ensure that your pupils develop a range of social and physical skills (including essential movement skills: agility, balance and co-ordination) as well as stimulating their imaginations through a series of exciting problems and scenarios.

Each lesson plan begins with a story. From the mountains of the Himalayas to the stormy seas of the Pacific, the children are placed in problematic situations in which they will need to work together to find a solution.

Furthermore, the activities will develop pupils’ self-esteem and confidence whilst enabling you to address the requirement in the PE curriculum for challenging adventurous activities.

You can find more information about either of the books at these links:

43 Team-building Activities for Key Stage 1

43 Team-building Activities for Key Stage 2

And you can order from Brilliant Publications in a variety of ways, including:

• on our website

• by phone on 01449 766629

• by fax on 01449 768047

• by email to orders@tradecounter.co.uk

• or by post to Brilliant Publications, Mendlesham Industrial Estate, Norwich Road, Mendlesham, Suffolk, IP14 5ND.
Brilliant Publications,
Mendlesham Industrial Estate,
Norwich Road,
Mendlesham,
Suffolk,
IP14 5ND.website: www.brilliantpublications.co.uk
email: orders@tradecounter.co.uk

phone: 01449 766629
fax: 01449 768047

We work hard to ensure that you only receive emails that are relevant to you delivered to your email address.  If you would prefer to receive emails at a different or additional address or if you have any other comments please let us know by replying to this email.  If you do not wish to receive further emails from us please click on this link  If you choose not to do this we will take it that you are willing to receive emails from us until such time as you indicate that your preferences have changed.

The Debate Chamber Summer Schools offer students age 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 the older age-group, about the level of difficulty one might expect in the first year at university), but the atmosphere will be relaxed, with plenty of discussion, debate, and opportunities for students to shape the direction of classes. It is an environment conducive to getting to grips with new ideas.

Working in small groups (usually around 14 students per group) over several days offers participants a real chance to get to know tutors and fellow students and to explore the topics or questions that particularly interest them.

Highlights of Summer 2017:

The Medicine Summer School for students aged 15-18 comprises a series of two-day events with specialist sessions on cardiology, paediatrics, oncology, emergency medicine and many other topics – enabling students to attend a wide-ranging introduction or select the sessions most relevant to their interests.

The Summer Law School for 15-18s, in three distinct five-day Parts to allow time for more cases, more analysis and more debate on some of the most intriguing legal questions. Students can choose to focus on Criminal Law, Civil Law or International Law, or to attend all three Parts for a comprehensive introduction to legal study.

Our Physics Summer School is now in two separate five-day events, with Part One being relatively maths-light and open to all students from 15 upwards, and Part Two more mathematically focused, and reserved for students who will have completed AS Level (or equivalent) Maths by Summer 2017.

For keen Mathematicians we also have the Maths Summer School, which is a five-day course open to students who will have completed Maths AS level or equivalent by Summer 2017.

For those interested in the Humanities, we have Summer Schools in Economics, International Relations, History, and Politics, while Arts enthusiasts should check out the English Literature, Classical Civilisations, Art History, Critical and Cultural Theory, or Philosophy Summer Schools (all for students aged 15-18).

Last but not least, we also have a smaller number of courses available for younger students (ages 11-14) in Law, Medicine, Creative Writing and Science subjects.

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 2017. 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.

www.leaversgear.com
E-mail: enquiries@leaversgear.com
Freephone: 0800 9545662
Phone: +44 (0) 28 91853974