The Schools' News Service

Since starting this news service I’ve written about 100 or so different locations that either I have taken pupils or students to, or which have been recommended to me. What I haven’t done is written about any of the theme parks, but I’ve been tempted to today, simply because I’ve had a couple of emails [...]

Is there a way of improving the efficient use of all the resources in your school? Most of us like to think that we are efficient in the way that we use school resources. And at the individual level there is no doubt that this is true. But increasingly the government is asking questions about [...]

When a student finds it hard to tell the time… One of the key problems that many pupils and students with short term memory problems have, is that of fully comprehending the concept of time. The memory problems can manifest themselves in terms of dyslexia or dyscalculia, but in both cases they can be accompanied [...]

What’s the difference between a classroom with posters on the wall as opposed to a classroom with no posters on display? Recent research has shown that repeated exposure to a message on a poster can change the way we think about a topic. Where the poster backs up a message that is being heard elsewhere, [...]

DAY OF ENVIRONMENT 2010 SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE AND PRESENTATION BY CELEBRITY BOTANIST, WRITER AND BROADCASTER PROFESSSOR DAVID BELLAMY at the INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION University of London FREE EVENT Specially designed for Years 11, 12 and 13 Logan Hall Bedford Way London W1H 0AL on Tuesday February 9th 2010 Three leading Israeli scientists will speak about [...]

Interactive Business Studies resources for teaching the 2009 GCSE specifications Having the right resources is an important factor in helping you to successfully teach the new GCSE specifications this term. Creating new material and lesson plans to deliver these curriculum changes takes hours of preparation time. As a result, the curriculum software company Boardworks has [...]

Which methods of teaching raise pass rates? There are hundreds of methods of teaching, and quite obviously some work better than others. Over the years a huge number of research programmes have been run which have resulted in the gathering of data which proves conclusively which methods of teaching work best. So extensive has this [...]

Is it possible to know about all special needs? One of the biggest problems with handling a special needs department is keeping up to date with all the special needs that one can encounter. Of course we all know that Tourette’s Syndrome exists, but quite possibly our knowledge of the Syndrome is sketchy. That’s fine, [...]

Discounted GCSE Revision Guides covering both the current and new specifications With the curriculum changing, this academic year your Year 10s and your Year 11s may be studying different GCSE specifications. To make this change easier, Letts and Lonsdale have discounted the prices of their MFL revision guides and workbooks covering both curricula, with books [...]

Raising the aspirations of students in the classroom “The aspirations of an individual teenager can be a major limiting factor on achievement.” Such a statement is explicit within the National Strategies Inclusion programme which looks for the development of positive behaviour for learning. Indeed the whole emphasis of Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning is [...]

How can students be shown the value of Science? If you ask your students what jobs or careers focus on Science, you can get an immediate understanding of just how highly they regard the subject. It is an important point, because if they answer “Frankenstein” then the chances are that they hold Science in low [...]

School Yearbooks and Young Enterprise – How Hardy’s Can Help You A Leaver’s Yearbook is a great project to undertake as part of Young Enterprise and/or Enterprise in Action. At Hardy’s we have been working with schools for many years, helping them deliver high quality Leavers’ Yearbooks that they can be proud of. With our [...]

“Peter Pan the Musical stands up alongside Oliver and Joseph as one of the best” JAMES WESTALL, Director of Music at Sedbergh Junior School in Cumbria, talks about the production he staged last June: “Our production of Piers Chater Robinson’s Peter Pan Musical was a great success. We played to full houses on all four [...]

What’s the point of a trip to the Bay of Naples? One reason for visiting the area is obvious: the area contains Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and Herculaneum – it is one of the most dramatic parts of Europe. There can’t be many teenagers who have never seen some sort of TV programme about the region [...]

The simplest way to raise grades in exams There is nothing more frustrating than observing a student who you know could get a high grade in history at GCSE or A level head towards a far lower grade. The reason, of course, might be lack of application or student attitude, but it could also be [...]

Is it possible to know about all special needs? One of the biggest problems with handling a special needs department is keeping up to date with all the special needs that one can encounter. Of course we all know that Tourette’s Syndrome exists, but quite possibly our knowledge of the Syndrome is sketchy. That’s fine, [...]

Buying musical instruments Does one use the local music store, or go online? Having worked in a moderate sized town where the one and only music shop first went through a phase of cutting back on the range of products it sold before suddenly closing down, I do appreciate the problem of finding a reliable [...]

“Peter Pan the Musical stands up alongside Oliver and Joseph as one of the best” JAMES WESTALL, Director of Music at Sedbergh Junior School in Cumbria, talks about the production he staged last June: “Our production of Piers Chater Robinson’s Peter Pan Musical was a great success. We played to full houses on all four [...]

How to raise the level of your Christmas performance Christmas plays, Easter plays, school bands, presentations, drama lessons, and sports events etc… all require confident performers and speakers. Old wooden stage blocks can be difficult to move around, bulky to store and, above all, unsafe to use. This can result in both children and staff [...]

What is the simplest way to help pupils understand climate change and global warming? There can be little doubt that global warming is affecting all of us – and will have a huge impact on the rest of the lives of the pupils and students we teach. It is vital that those in school today [...]

Pioneering fast track business courses designed with your students in mind Did you know your students can fast track their business careers with our pioneering courses at Nottingham Trent University? Our flagship BA (Hons) Business Management (In-Company) degree has seen over 200 students work with over 25 companies. This unique course combines one year’s full [...]

New course timetable http://www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk/ The Smallpeice Trust is an independent educational charity which focuses on attracting students with an interest or particular aptitude in science, technology, engineering and/or maths to help increase the overall quality of future engineering in the UK. We are looking for students with a natural ability or interest in design and [...]

I’ve known The Outward Bound Trust for many years (they have been around for 65 years, I am told – it’s nice to come across an organisation older than me) and it is always a pleasure to look at their residential outdoor learning courses – not least because they operate in some of the UK’s [...]

Language resources for Key Stage 3 The highly successful Take 10 en francais and Take 10 en espanol help children to practise their language skills whilst engaging in fun daily physical activities. The booklet and accompanying DVDs and CDs promote activities such as aerobic routines set to traditional songs, dance, brain gymnastics, running and chasing [...]

Introducing ECDL 5.0 resources and Bank Safe Are you expected to produce your own ICT teaching resources on top of the never ending list of tasks and pressures already faced? Let CiA Training take away the headaches, freeing up hours of time allowing you to concentrate on what really matters, inspiring pupils through teaching! We [...]

Very low cost Microsoft Office for students, plus a bonus for the school I guess everyone would agree that students who have access to Microsoft Office at home tend to have something of an advantage. Through such access they are able to become familiar with the dominant brand software for word processing, spread sheets, presentation [...]

Practical Activities for Children with Dyscalculia One in 20 pupils and students is believed to have such problems in understanding basic maths that the child can reasonably be called “dyscalculic”. Although like dyslexia the problem is recognised as having a genetic origin, unlike dyslexia there is very little help and support available for the dyscalculic [...]

What do you say to a budding sixth form poet? For most of us, the sixth former who announces that he or she wants to be a poet is something of a challenge. Poetry is not known as a top earning profession, and indeed most poets earn their money doing other things. For most teenagers [...]

It can be difficult to get your students thinking about revising when the exams still feel like years away but, as we all know, making sure you recap what you’ve learned as you’re learning it can make those crucial weeks before GCSE exams far easier when they finally come around. To help your students make [...]

Effective Leadership, Raising Morale The Effective Leadership and Pupil Outcomes Project from the DSCF has reported that managers in improving schools are particularly good at motivating colleagues and maintaining their enthusiasm over a long period of time. However many managers have had little training in motivational techniques. This report fits in with a report that [...]

Achieving better grades at GCSE German Deutscher Wiederholungskurs will help Higher Tier candidates achieve better grades at GCSE. It provides material for revision for the GCSE speaking and writing tests and helps to bridge the gap between GCSE and ‘A’ level. The course presumes the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary that a proprietary course will [...]

Teaching ECDL and the new CLAIT Series: product review Trying to find resources for the new ECDL syllabi, ECDL 5.0 and ECDL Advanced 2.0, can be difficult, not least because there is only one accredited publisher of such resources. The company in that fortunate position is CiA Training who publish a range of step by [...]

How the recession is influencing students’ career choices The careers charity CRAC is gathering information about how young people’s career choices are being influenced by the recession and they’ve got in touch to ask if I could pass on details of their survey. CRAC inform me that they are running parallel surveys between young people [...]

School Yearbooks and PSHE – How Hardy’s Can Help You We can help you incorporate the creation of a school Yearbook within the curriculum, meeting the needs of students and teachers by: Providing a means of fulfilling elements of PSHE curriculum – community cohesion, lesson plans, etc Helping you find time within the curriculum for [...]

Incorporating sustainability into your school All schools are now being encouraged by government to become both sustainable and efficient. Indeed, in England Ofsted have now been instructed to include sustainability and efficiency within the remit of their inspections, and it is anticipated that Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland will follow suit with their own inspections. [...]

What is the simplest way to show pupils that changes in the environment can affect the way we live? Historical perspective is not something that young people pick up easily. For most KS3 pupils, the world they see around them is the natural order of things. The past was different and odd, and largely in [...]

The impact of boys-only and girls-only classes in co-ed schools According to the findings from a government survey there is the suggestion that when male and female pupils and students are educated in separate classes all sorts of benefits can emerge. The pupils feel more able to interact with learning and to show real interest [...]

Why banking bones is important for all primary school children I can remember being in my late teens and reading with much amusement that the brain starts to decline from one’s late twenties onwards. After that it is all down hill. That explained exactly why as a teenager I knew it all and why those [...]

For most teenagers who write poetry, the biggest reward they can probably imagine is that someone, somewhere will publish their carefully constructed lines. But for the sixth former who not only gets that but also gets public recognition and cash, life must seem to take on a new meaning. Last year I wrote a little [...]

‘What is history?’ Do your students have the answer? Leading universities expect applicants for history to have a grasp of the conceptual and methodological disputes surrounding the subject. GCSE and A-Level curricula rarely offer students the opportunity for sustained reflection on these matters by addressing questions such as the nature of historical ‘truth’ and philosophical [...]

Practical Activities for Children with Dyscalculia Somewhere between one in five and one in 20 children are believed to have such profound problems in understanding basic maths that the child can reasonably be called “dyscalculic”. Although there might be some doubt about the numbers involved there is certainly no doubt that dyscalculia is a special [...]

Join the nation to remember the Passing of the WW1 generation This year Remembrance Day (11 November) will reflect on a significant milestone in our nation’s history; the passing of the World War One (WW1) generation. With the recent loss of life in Afghanistan also front of mind, Remembrance Day will feel as poignant as [...]

Free lesson plans showing maths in real and exciting ‘action’ Do you find it difficult to source new and interesting real-life applications for your lessons? Whilst it is vital to provide examples of how Maths is used in everyday life to engage students and aid their understanding, some of the common applications can be outdated [...]

Imagine a situation in which your pupils demand to do more music theory lessons. This may seem unlikely, but it is very possible. For many students, the theory is seen as one of the least attractive areas of the music curriculum. It often has to be taught in an ad-hoc fashion, enabling students to scramble [...]

Why different methods of teaching bring different results It is fairly obvious that the amount that a class learns depends at least in part on the way in which they are taught. As we all know, talking to a class is generally less effective than any form of teaching in which the children play an [...]

What is the best way to counter the effect of “laddishness”? For many teenagers, their position within the social sub-culture of the school is all-important. If faced with a straight choice between an A* in Maths and their status as a cultural icon within the school, not many students voluntarily choose the A*. But it [...]

From faith to the cosmological argument One of the key issues within the philosophy of religion is the existence of a wide range of topics (from, for example, miracles to the concept of soul) which need to be understood by the student for debate, discussion and argument to take place. With this in mind we [...]

What is the simplest way of tackling underachievement and increasing student confidence? We’ve written before about the issue of deciding on the best method of teaching a subject by using the “Evidence Based Teaching” approach in which one acts rather like a doctor, reviewing all the evidence and then choosing the approach most likely to [...]

Every school should be taking action on E-Safety. The only questions are what action, and how should it be implemented? Most people in education now agree that E-Safety is a matter of supreme importance and something upon which everyone in schools and local authorities should be focussing. But there can on occasion be a lack [...]

What does a lesson look like? This must look like one of the silliest questions ever – we all know, because we teach them. But there are a couple of really good reasons for contemplating this issue. First, not all of your colleagues in your school will be as experienced as you, and so watching [...]