The Schools' News Service

Now that the flurry of exams is coming to a close, why not order your class set of revision guides and workbooks for your new Year 10s today instead of waiting until the new school year? That way those studying the new specifications will be able to monitor their progress straight away, and you can [...]

Drama Cover Lessons comprises 22 units of work which are photocopiable, self-contained and designed to develop the pupils skills in a meaningful way. They can be set quickly by the Drama Department and administered easily by the cover teacher, who can thus feel more comfortable with administering and supervising this subject. The units of work [...]

One of the great problems that there can be with looking at new resources is the issue of quality. Publishers put out adverts saying that their materials are excellent, but the reality can occasionally be a little different. Which is why Teaching Resources UK provides a huge selection of ready made resources specifically for form [...]

It is easy when we talk about drugs to think exclusively about the illegal variety – cocaine, heroin, etc. But when considering drugs education with students, it is worth also bringing into the discussions the issue of legal drugs such as caffeine, alcohol, paracetamol, tobacco, etc. When it comes to alcohol, for example, repeated surveys [...]

How can you engage your A Level Economics students in the daily world of economics? How can you get them to apply the principles of economics from the classroom to the commercial world? To get them using economic terminology with fluency and produce the results in the exam room? thebusinesspodcast.co.uk will get your students using [...]

Schools spend vast amounts of time and money gathering data, exporting data into spreadsheets and then manipulating those spreadsheets to display the student performance information they want to share. These spreadsheets then have to be disseminated to other members of staff or groups for further interpretation and subsequent action. Often, this process has to be [...]

For science students today there are two issues. The first obviously involves learning what they are taught in the classroom and the lab. The second involves staying in touch with scientific developments – and their implications. It involves discussing the fact that cars driven by Google employees have been cruising the streets, gathering information on [...]

Schools are about teaching and learning they are not about discipline and behaviour. But if the behaviour and discipline in school is not right, then the teaching and learning suffers as a result. In improving schools we find that behaviour and discipline is integrated with the teaching and learning patterns of the school. The unity [...]

The transformation from a young person who writes a history essay because he/she has been told to do so, to a student who is genuinely interested in history and enjoys writing about it, can be slow and gradual. What we hope, however, is that by the time the student considers which universities to apply to, [...]

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 [...]

One way to look at this is to consider the past SATs results gained by schools in disadvantaged areas where the pupils might be expected to have difficulty with their basic skills. This is not to say that SATs are good or bad – but rather to use them as a comparative measure. In this [...]

There are two points about The Outward Bound Trust that tend to attract teachers, when thinking about education outside the classroom. The first is the quality – both of the experiences that they have on offer as well as the outstanding quality of instruction. The second is financial assistance. Being a charity, they have Outward [...]

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, until suddenly we find that there is a pupil [...]

One of the key findings of school efficiency research has been that both in schools that are facing challenging or difficult circumstances, as well as in schools where there is a feeling that progress has slowed down, there will always be some departments which are highly effective and which are continuing to move forward. In [...]

Obviously the themes behind the stories have a universal relevance, but they are set in a culture that is distant from that experienced by the children every day. In order to help children learn the deep significance of each story, we have produced a series of DVDs known as “Fleeting Shadows” using shadow puppets, music [...]

Students are often taught about ICT programmes but are not taught the most basic computing skill of all – typing. Touch typing is a skill and, like holding a pencil, once bad habits set in it is very hard to stop. But of course it goes much further than bad habits. The student who can [...]

Recording your students on a regular basis does one thing more than any other: it heightens the profile of your department within the school. What’s more the student’s enthusiasm for the music they create is increased, and the CDs can be used as fundraisers. Meanwhile Ofsted will accept them as evidence of work and the [...]

Environmentally friendly; free data wiping. When you have IT equipment that is no longer needed there are three fundamental issues you need to consider: COST. Firstly, and most obviously, you’ll want to have it removed free of charge from your school. ENVIRONMENT.  Secondly, you’ll want to be assured that it is going to be treated [...]

None of us particularly likes taking a gamble on ordering worksheets, etc, without really knowing what we are going to get. The occasional sample page can help – but really it is much better if the whole product is available on inspection. So we’ve produced ready made resources, lesson plans, work sheets, activities, assessments, interactive [...]

If you are looking for ideas and activities for form periods we’ve produced a huge selection of ready made resources specifically for form time including lesson plans, work sheets, activities, assessments, interactive games and video clips. Not only will they provide you with fun, interesting and informative activities, but they will save you hours of [...]

At GRENVILLE EDUCATIONAL MEDIA we offer a superb collection of DVDs for R.E. – that’s why we’re considered such a reliable and cost-effective resource for many R.E. departments. HOWEVER now we’re offering even more! – we’ll give you a FREE DVD mini-series on the life of Martin Luther (see panel below for full details). With [...]