The Schools' News Service

What distinguishes an A or B student from a student with a lower grade? Here is one simple answer: critical thinking. The student who can engage in critical thinking gets the A or the B. The student who can’t gets the lower grade. The book “Critical thinking” takes this position as its starting point and [...]

It’s been my pleasure to attend many educational I.T. shows over the years, demonstrating a range of software titles. Most of these have been concerned with the acquisition of early literacy skills and often created some debate amongst visiting teachers. Opinions would sometimes become quite heated when discussing the pros and cons of different teaching [...]

Trying to convince teenagers of the need to engage in a healthy lifestyle can on occasion seem a difficult task. Which is why one PSHE teacher thought about turning the issue into a series of “Life Games” – all based around the curriculum requirements for the health and lifestyle topics in PSHE Key Stages 3 [...]

A source of lesson plans for Form Time One of the problems which can occur with Form Time is the issue of finding a variety of engaging subjects and topics that will interest the students, and have a meaningful educational impact. One can do it for one’s own specialist subject, but in other areas it [...]

Interactive literacy products at discounted prices For over 15 years, Easylearn has been providing schools with high-quality, photocopiable, literacy resources. They are now developing software, and in January they are launching some new interactive literacy products. More will follow during 2010. Each new product will be available at an unbeatable introductory price. The first of [...]

Making every lesson go as planned What is the most effective way of making a lesson proceed exactly as you want it to? There are, of course, many answers to this question – but one of the simplest ways is to have a starter activity which engages the pupils as soon as they enter the [...]

If you are enjoying this news service from UK Education News you might also be interested in receiving a weekly news item on your specific area of interest straight into your email. The service is completely free, you can unsubscribe instantly at any time, and we guarantee never to give your email address to anyone, [...]

Noyna School Apron’s best selling ‘flame retardant’ PVC aprons are proving to be a big hit with Food Technology teachers working in primary schools, particularly those involved in simple cookery for Key Stage II. This bright and cheery range not only brings colour and quality to the classroom, but over the years it has proved [...]

Traditionally the answer to this question has been: show the pupils a model skeleton. But now there is another answer, and because it is a much more hands-on approach it tends to generate much faster and more comprehensive teaching and learning. The answer is: give out half a dozen skeletons and let the pupils complete [...]

The Model Learning LearnWise programme is unique in that we work with both teachers/mentors and their mentees to develop academic study skills. The programme contains four central elements. Firstly, they are proven to raise attainment. Secondly, they develop the pupils’ academic study skills. Thirdly, they improve motivation, And finally, they develop more effective independent learners [...]

Enforex is proud to announce the opening of its newly renovated and fully equipped Summer Camp! http://www.agorabcn.com/ Barcelona holds the best of both worlds with beachside fun and all the cultural attractions of one of Europe’s most admired cities. The new Summer Camp location provides everything that you need on site. The facilities include a [...]

How do you communicate what’s unique about your school? All of us are faced with the task of communicating what’s unique about the ethos of our school. Ideally this should be done in a fresh and innovative way – otherwise we are just going to look like every other school! The use of a professional [...]

School Trip Advisor are looking for funny School Trip stories to put on their website. Best one gets a £25 M&S voucher for Christmas. This came about after reading “My school trip to women’s prison!” By KARL PILKINGTON writing in the SUN online. “Whilst other friends now tell me of their fond memories of school [...]

Teaching social relationships is hard Teaching teenagers about social relationships is hard. Even emailing schools with details of a book about social relationships is hard, because if I use a certain word beginning with “s” and ending with an “x” then about 40% of the schools in the UK will block the email. That’s how [...]

Product review How can students be shown the value of careers in Science, Engineering, Maths etc? 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 topic, because if they answer “Baron Frankenstein” then the [...]

Book review www.mechanics-online.com is a new web application that uses interactive visual models and videos to help students understand the concepts in Mechanics M1. It is written for the A-level Mathematics Mechanics M1 modules from Edexcel, AQA, OCR, MEI and WJEC. Here’s a quick list of things you should know about it: It addresses the [...]

Functional Skills are a must-pass element of vocational Diplomas, an integral part of the new GCSE criteria, will replace ALAN and Key Skills … and will feature in the new School Report Card. In short, a core part of every school’s 14-19 strategy. Guroo provides brilliant multi-media resources for Functional Skills, based on real-life scenarios; [...]

The school tour – what to do with the students after dinner? Many teachers have found that the gap between the evening meal and bed time on the school tour can be a real headache. There is a limit to what can be done with quizzes and writing up the work sheets. That is, of [...]

What do Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, Madison Square Garden and QE Grammar School Wakefield have in common? In fact all four of these locations, along with many others, had their seating built and installed by Sandler Seating. That is because with our unique storage system up to 108 chairs can be stored on a single [...]

What is the easiest way to reduce distractions in class and improve concentration? This is a slightly unusual and effective way to improve teaching in class, which is now being used in numerous schools across the United Kingdom to improve results and behaviour in class. Magic Blackout Blind on a roll is a quick and [...]

Careers Alert: Newport’s Social Studies graduates 11th highest earners in the UK and highest in Wales Recent data published by Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows that graduates from Social Studies courses at the University of Wales, Newport are on average the 11th highest earners in the UK for this subject area and the highest [...]

How do you convert predicted D grades to C and above? You know the situation. Everything’s been done, all interventions applied and everyone has worked hard at motivating that cohort of underperforming students. And still their grades won’t budge. The reason is not hard to find, because the same problem keeps re-appearing. These students remain [...]

Creating maps and adding new media content for early years children MapCaster is a brand new software program that allows children to add images or videos to maps they create within the program or download from the internet. The finished map can be presented by children to the whole class. By using digital media, MapCaster [...]

Presenting Research in Art and Design GCSE One of the problems with asking GCSE students to work on a case study is that it can well be the first time they have ever had to do this. Thus they are not only coming to terms with art as a subject, but also the issue of [...]

Cutting costs in education means looking for efficiency savings The government’s approach to cutting costs in education has been made clearer with its recent announcements about recruitment services, energy meters and the like. What it confirms is that the main emphasis is going to be on efficiency savings in education rather than straight cuts. The [...]

FREE ONLINE ADVENT CALENDAR FOR YOUNG READERS One of the funniest Christmas books from the home of Santa Claus has been turned into an engaging online advent calendar for young readers. Kidzone Finland, a fun, educational website for UK kids aged five to 11, run by the Embassy of Finland in London, has launched an [...]

One of the great developments in GCSE music has been the expansion of the course to include many of the things that a “real musician” has to do. Whether the individual is playing in an orchestra or a rock band the issues still arise. Directing, rehearsing, unprepared performance, group playing, group singing, form, harmony, composition, [...]

To see the message in full colour, with more details, please click on: http://www.timetabler.com/eNewsLetter/Timetabling-CookBook.html TIMETABLING — A Timetabler’s CookBook This book is a complete guide to every aspect of timetabling and its principles. Whether you use a computer program (TimeTabler, SIMS Nova T6, Facility-Scheduler, etc), or you schedule manually, it is important to understand the [...]

Teenagers offered chance to win £3000 prize in poetry competition Significant upturn in interest in poetry among Britain’s sixth formers For most teenagers who write poetry, the biggest reward they can probably imagine is that someone, somewhere will publish their carefully constructed lines. But in a few months time seven members of the teenage poetry-writing [...]

From School Trip Advisor News http://www.schooltripadvisor.com/news Britain’s smallest school enjoys lots of school trips. Kids at smaller schools get more one-on-one teaching time and more educational trips , suggests a recent report on what is thought to be Britain’s smallest school. Hollinsclough Primary School in Derbyshire has just five pupils and nine teachers, equating to [...]

Raising Money for Secondary Schools It is an indisputable fact that some schools manage to raise far more money from non-governmental sources than others. When one looks at this it is often tempting to explain the difference by the nature of the local community or the wealth of the parents, but that in fact can [...]

When you’ve done everything, and the grade is still predicted at D You know the situation. Everything’s been done, all interventions applied and everyone has worked hard at motivating that cohort of underperforming students. And still their grades won’t budge. The reason is not hard to find, because the same problem keeps re-appearing. These students [...]

A source of lesson plans for Form Time One of the problems which can occur with Form Time is the issue of finding a variety of engaging subjects and topics that will interest the students, and have a meaningful educational impact. One can do it for one’s own specialist subject, but in other areas it [...]

The complete set of KS3 history materials for peer, teacher or self-assessment teaching chronology, historical knowledge and understanding, interpretation, enquiry etc. Materials that can be used for peer, teacher or self-assessment are always beneficial – especially when they contain such attributes as an overall teaching framework, mind maps and personal pupil assessment record sheets. Key [...]

How do you apply political events to exam questions? It always impresses examiners when students back up their points with up to date examples, and teaching with them keeps students interested. Part of the challenge for any Government and Politics teacher is to apply current events to exam topics. How does the MPs’ expenses scandal [...]

Do Your Pupils Have Trouble Learning Their Times Tables? Many children struggle to remember their Times Tables. For some children the traditional method of learning them is easy but for many others it’s a task that isn’t fun or rewarding. Knowing the Times Tables and being able to recall them quickly is a very important [...]

For me, one of the key difficulties of teaching Numeracy within SEN in a secondary school is the fact that much of the material I see is not appropriate to the age range. It seems to me that a lot of material at NC levels 3, 4 and 5 tends to be presented for a [...]

Children with attention problems, poor thinking skills, avoidance tactics and low self-esteem present real problems. These are major barriers to achievement and pupil involvement. But there are effective strategies to help these children – Active Listening for Active Learning is a new mainstream resource that promotes understanding, participation and personalised learning in the classroom. Active [...]

Drama for Students with Special Needs Building group trust or self confidence, to teach self awareness, body awareness and self-expression. Sometimes there is a book that simply offers what it says it offers – and this is one case in point. It is a book of lesson plans for teachers who wish to work using [...]