Education News

Imagine a farmer coming into your nursery and transporting your children (figuratively) to his farmyard through song, dance and story-telling and the power of make-believe.

This is exactly what happens with our Funky Farmyard workshop.

Here at Perform we specialise in running workshops in nursery schools using imaginative creative resources, performing arts-based exercises and role-play scenarios which stimulate each child’s physical, cognitive and social development.

Our teachers (who are fully trained actors and singers) are able to captivate children’s imaginations with their dramatic story telling, specially written catchy themed songs, games and poems.

“The children were enriched and enthused, as were the staff!” – Whitchurch First School.

In addition to our Funky Farmyard theme we also offer Rumble in the Jungle, Tea Under The Sea and Beep, beep!

There are more details on our website at www.perform.org.uk/classes/primary-schools/explorer-workshops/nursery-themes.html

To book a workshop, or to ask any questions about our work, please either:

Call me on 0207 255 9136
Email me at allisonsmith@perform.org.uk
See the website
Allison Smith
Perform4Schools

The chances are that for many young people today newspapers are either something that exist in other households but not their own or they are gossip columns with very little international news.

Which is why Newsademic exists – for it is an international newspaper written and edited for KS 3 and KS 4 students.

To date we have over 30,000 readers – which is why we know there is a demand for such a publication.

It is also why we are happy to offer a free two month subscription to the paper. We know that schools that see it, like it.

The publication supports the PSHE, History, Geography, Science, English and RE curricula though its focus is on international news events that shape and affect the world that we all live in today.

Newsademic carries no advertising. Neither does it feature articles about television, sport, computer games, pop music or celebrity culture.

The newspaper is distributed fortnightly as a PDF file by email or as a download. Although it can be read on screen it is designed to be printed out and read as a paper copy. An intranet licence allows all students to access an HTML searchable version of Newsademic via their school network. Two levels of activities, based on some of the featured articles, accompany each issue.

Annual subscription rates start at £24.00 and schools can photocopy any part of the newspaper as many times as they wish for use within their school.

To subscribe free of charge for two months please go to: www.newsademic.com/promo/h0112

For more information visit www.newsademic.com

Constructing schemes of work and curriculum documents in drama to meet the needs of the department and OFSTED is one thing. Providing the rationale behind the work of the drama department is another. As is providing teaching material for colleagues who are not drama trained, and yet find themselves teaching drama lessons.

I am sure that for those who were drama trained it is all a straightforward process – but for those who were not, there is a need for support.

One possible way forward is through the use of the copiable book “Alive and Kicking” (also available on CD so that it can be loaded onto the school’s learning network – which means everyone can read the scheme of work at any time).

It provides a series of templates for all three years of Key Stage 3. There are schemes of work taken term by term, with three distinct modules per year. There is a detailed scheme of assessment criteria tied in to an expectation of many students going on to GCSE courses but also tied in to National Curriculum Level equivalents. There is also a package of resource materials for use with the modules, most notably a series of mini-scripts for children to work on in combinations of twos, threes, fours or fives.

The list of contents is huge – for example within the section on classroom practice there are articles on:

Rules of the studio
Key concepts and key words, year by year
Solo work (from simultaneous solo activities to audition speeches)
Improvisation
Scripts
Workshops
Use of Games
Alternative strategies
Feedback.
Other chapters cover key skills, assessment, reporting – and of course the complete year by year schemes of work. There is a sample chapter available on-line at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/drama/T1650.pdf

Cat No: 978 1 86083 569 8; Publisher reference no: T1650emn

Prices

Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £29.95. plus £3.95 delivery
CD with school-wide rights: £29.95 plus £3.95 delivery
Both the Ring Binder and the CD £36.94 plus £3.95 delivery
Prices include VAT.
You can purchase the book…

By post to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Way, Corby, NN17 4HH
By fax to 01536 399 012
By phone with a school order number on 01536 399 011
On line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=474

SEALSONGS is a collection of assembly songs which aims to get children engaged through the experience of making and creating music. The lyrics were written with considerable input from Year 4 and 5 pupils, so speak from children to children, and the musical backing tracks were professionally recorded.

But the resource goes further and offers teachers detailed advice on writing new lyrics, leading singing and other ways that SEALSONGS may be used in the classroom. Thus it enables teachers to give young children the positive experience of working with others in creating new songs within the SEAL framework. There is also guidance for non-specialists in how to teach songs.

The SEAL themes are:

Song 1: New beginnings
Song 2: Getting on and falling out
Song 3: Say no to bullying
Song 4: Going for goals!
Song 5: Good to be me
Song 6: Relationships
Song 7: Changes

Two further general songs – one about writing songs and one providing a Rhyme Game – are also included in the pack.

JENNY MOSLEY (Founder of Quality Circle Time) said “SEALSONGS is a wonderful gift to any adult who wants to truly help their class or school embed SEAL as a way of ‘being’ with ourselves and others. We all know that song can lift you to a different spiritual dimension – David Stoll has given us the perfect package to help even the most music-shy amongst us to engage young people in the process of creating heart-warming songs as part of a creative team….. This is an excellent resource.”

HOWARD GOODALL (National Ambassador for Singing) said “These SEALSONGS have the authentic ring of children’s ideas and feelings in every line. This, for me, makes it a valuable and empowering set of musical tools….. with excellent supporting materials and explanations.”

The SEALSONGS book and CD are now available as a download for £10 plus VAT. This price includes a licence for full use of all the material within the school, including recording new versions of the songs. The complete package is split into different files so that schools may choose which elements they wish to record or print.

Sample music can be downloaded from www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/music/SEALSONGSSamples.zip and you can purchase the book and CD on-line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=739

In my experience, one of the great problems with mental arithmetic tests (as with most kinds of formalised assessment) is that the results can be warped due to the fact that many children will do less well within an test setting than when faced with a more commonplace classroom experience.

However, we have found a way to overcome this problem – and the solution is fairly straightforward.

Obviously one key point is to make the testing programme one that relates to knowledge that we really do want the children to have. This involves having detailed feedback so that it can readily be seen where each child is regularly making the same mistake.

In this way, the fretting and concern that children might have when it comes to a mental arithmetic test is set aside, and the analysis of the results of the tests becomes a valuable educational resource in itself.

It was from this thinking that we devised our Mental Arithmetic Programme for Year 2 to Year 7.

The resources within the programme are available as photocopiable books, as PDF ebooks, as an audio CD or a combination of the PDF ebook and audio CD.

With the audio versions, questions are read to the children, they are then given the correct 5, 10 or 15 second intervals to answer the questions.

Each format contains 30 sets of teacher’s questions and answers as well as 30 photocopiable pupil sheets with prompts. The repetitive questions in each book steadily get harder over the course of a year.

Full details are available from our website – http://www.topical-resources.co.uk/numeracy (just scroll down the page).

If you’d like to talk to us about these resources please call us on 01772 863158. Alternatively drop us an email at enquiries@topical-resources.co.uk

As always, you can order in any of these ways:

Online at: http://www.topical-resources.co.uk/numeracy
By phone on: 01772 863158
By fax: 01772 866153
By email: Sales@topical-resources.co.uk
By post: Topical Resources, P.O. Box329, Broughton, Preston, Lancashire PR3 5LT

Topical Resources
P.O. Box329
Broughton
Preston
Lancashire
PR3 5LT

www.topical-resources.co.uk
sales@topical-resources.co.uk

Tel: 01772 863158

‘Production, Finance and the External Business Environment’ Pre-Release Resource Pack

As you will know, the A293 pre-release material was made available earlier this month. It’s focused on ‘A&W’ fashion retail.

To help you and your students prepare for the exam, a special resource pack is being written now, specifically for the January 2012 pre-release material!

The ZigZag Education team will be working hard to dispatch this resource pack to you by 31st January, giving you time to fully prepare your students for the exam. As well as the case study commentary, topic material, presentations, and questions, you will also receive two exam-style practice papers with mark schemes, based on the pre-release material! Pre-order your GCSE OCR A293 Resource Pack now!

Last year’s edition received excellent praise:

‘A comprehensive and well-structured resource… Covers all areas of the pre-release in sufficient depth… The questions are well devised… The glossary activities allow the student to consolidate their understanding and revise with ease… allows the teacher to use each element individually or as an entire companion to the pre-release… adheres strictly to the OCR specification.’ – L Sweetman, Head of Business & Independent Reviewer

‘Directly linked to the pre-release case study… very useful for students and really liked the way that it could be given to students to work on independently or as homework.’ – É Casey, Head of Business & Independent Reviewer

Pre-order now at http://zigzag.at/UL80 (the pack will be ready to send to by the end of January).

The GCSE OCR A293 Pre-Release Resource Pack for A&W (UL80/4511) is available as a photocopy master with site licence (£59). Also available in: easy-printing PDF files (add 30%+VAT) or PDF with editable Word files (add 50%+VAT).

Pre-order now at http://zigzag.at/UL80

ZigZag Education, Unit 3, Greenway Business Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol BS10 5PY

t: 0117 950 3199 | f: 0117 959 1695 | businessUL80@zigzageducation.co.uk

Give your promotional code UL80 to get free postage!

When teaching year 7 through to GCSE students, locating the right resources for each topic and year group can be a time consuming task.

Added to which, if you are absent and cover needs to be sorted urgently, you need a resource at hand to pass on to the cover staff.

It is with this in mind that we have produced The Art Portfolio resources.

The resource includes a variety of information, hints, tips and activities covering all aspects of the art curriculum. Many tasks are designed to allow students to work directly on photocopies of some of the sheets, while others can be used in conjunction with a range of standard art materials.

What’s more, The Art Portfolio is the ideal resource to be given to students for them to work on their own.

The Art Portfolio contains seven units, each with ten masters.

Here are details of each unit:

Unit 1: Drawing
Upside Down Drawing, Textual Drawing, Dot Drawing, Contour Drawing, Drawing Natural Forms, Negative Spaces, Sighting, Drawing a Face, Drawing Shaded Areas and Magnification.

Order code 1002

Unit 2: Visual Language
Colour Circle, Colour Studies 1, Colour Studies 2, Basic Forms in Light and Shade, Pattern, Pattern in Picture-making, Tone Made by Line, Tones and Textures, Tactile Values and Texture

Order code 1003

Unit 3: Art and Artists
One page History of Western Art, Prehistoric Art, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Roman Architecture, Leonardo’s Sfumato, Impressionism, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Surrealism, Pop Art

Order code 1004

Unit 4: Exploring Media
Exploring Graphic Media, Exploring Pastels, Using Printed Line, Exploring Bamboo Pens, Exploring Wash, Using Frottage and Collage, Using Found Materials, Using Stencils, Exploring Brush Drawing and Exploring Transfer Prints.

Order code 1005

Unit 5: Painting
Taking a Line for a Walk, Lettering Painting, Sketching, Painting Techniques, Oil Painting, Watercolour Painting, Tempera Powder Painting, Wet-in-Wet Painting, Linear Perspective and Interior Perspective.

Order code 1006

Unit 6: Image Making
Transmogrification, Ideograms, Still Life, Facial Expression, Weather, Footwear, Identikit, Windows, Landscape 1 and Landscape 2.

Order code 1007

Unit 7: Special Needs Unit
This unit has been specially written in response to demand from teachers who have used The Art Portfolio. It provides a range of tasks, suitable for special needs and other lower ability pupils that develop their skills in art. Text is easy to read and instructions are kept simple. Tasks include colouring, shading copying and arranging.

Order code 1008

Each resource contains 10 photocopiable masters and are also available as PDF downloads or as a PDF or editable Word files on a CD. The price of £14.99 + VAT is the same for all formats.

Should you choose to purchase all seven units at once, the full set is reduced to £59.99 + VAT and is available to purchase by clicking here.

Once purchased the CD’s can be freely copied and networked throughout the school.

To see sample pages please email sales@classroom-resources.co.uk quoting the order codes mentioned above.

You can order The Art Portfolio in any of these ways:

On our website at the above web links
By phone on 0117 940 6409
By fax on 0117 940 6408
By email (quoting a school order number) to sales@classroom-resources.co.uk
By post to: Classroom Resources, PO Box 1489, Bristol, BS99 3QJ

There can be little doubt that where a child’s education focuses on language skills, then the child’s learning, thinking, social and emotional well-being will be enhanced.

But of course simply having an intervention programme is not enough. For the programme not only needs to focus on children’s language, it also needs to change classroom practice so that it can lead to an impact on learning, social development and emotional development.

And beyond that we need to be certain (through independent evaluation) that the programme does achieve what we want it to achieve.

This is exactly how our programme, Primary Talk, works. It supports the communication development of all children, including those with speech, language and communication needs, and in this way it helps schools improve pupil outcomes.

Better still, the University of Sheffield independent evaluation of the pilot programme found that Primary Talk has a significant impact on classroom practice and helps to improve school environments for all children.

As a result, in schools where Primary Talk has been implemented, teachers report that more children understand what is said in lessons, because of the strategies adopted.

Primary Talk provides a package of training, mentoring and resources for school staff and accreditation of primary schools. The programme is available to local authorities, individual schools or clusters of schools, and can be delivered directly by I CAN staff or via a project of training your trainers to deliver.

To see exactly how Primary Talk could work in the unique conditions within your school, please contact I CAN on 0845 225 4073.

Alternatively you can email us at primarytalk@ican.org.uk. Please provide your contact name, position, school name, address, contact phone number and the best time to reach you by phone.

If you would like to read more about this remarkable project and the way it is being applied in schools across the country, there is more information on our website.

It’s not too long before the exam season when sometimes there may be a bit of panic in the air ……..

and not just for students facing their GCSE or A level exams!

Judging by the comments we’ve had from some premises staff over the years, it seems that “the powers that be” in their school or college suddenly decide they need some new exam desks…. and they want them yesterday!

If you’re faced with such a situation (or even if you don’t have such a tight deadline) then why not give Central Educational Supplies a call on 020 7515 1797 or visit their website to see how we might be able to help.

We can supply folding, cantilever or “zimmer” style desks from only £15.95 ex vat, as well as transporters for folding desks. We can often supply exam desks at short notice although it’s always easier if we have a few weeks notice!

Central Educational Supplies Ltd, PO Box 999, London E14 6SH

Tel: 020 7515 1797
Fax: 020 7515 4420
Email: signpost@talk21.com
website: www.centraleducational.co.uk

PS. If you’re in the market for new classroom tables and chairs you may find what you need on our website…… or why not give us a call?

In a teacher’s busy life it is often hard to find the time to come up with new ideas for workshops to stimulate your students’ acting skills. This book is the answer.

In 1984 Actors’ Lab was set up in Scotland as a drama workshop which concentrated solely on building acting skills. It was highly experimental and challenged many of the received opinions and conventions surrounding theatrical production. This book, written by a key player in Actors’ Lab and running to 104 pages, represents the distillation of many years of intense examination of acting methods and skills.

The Actors’ Lab Workshop contains 43 workshop units and is ideally suited to secondary school pupils with some acting experience. Each workshop is designed to fit into a two hour period and there are also suggestions for warm up exercises and follow up material. The book is not intended as a detailed guide on how to conduct a workshop but aims to provide a framework within which participants are free to experiment and adapt to suit their own skills and personalities.

You can see a full list of the topics and some sample pages at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/drama/T1552.htm

Publisher’s reference: T1552EMN ISBN: 978 1 86083 598 8

Prices

Photocopiable book: £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery
CD with school-wide rights: £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery
Both the book and the CD: £26.94 plus £3.95 delivery
Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report… please quote the order ref: T1552EMN

By post to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Way, Corby, NN17 4HH
By fax to 01536 399 012
On line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=406