Daily Archives: 04/11/2015

Languages, Travel

Easier Student Trips to Germany

Exclusively prepared for teachers who organize
student trips to Germany

Dear Teacher,

For easier 2015 and 2015 Student Trips to Germany’s Rhineland:
Your partner Go2City – DJH’s all-in-one travel agency!

The incoming agency partner you’ve been looking for!  We help you with all aspects of your stay, so that you don’t have to spend your time and money planning the best travel for your students. Our in-house meeting planning agency creates the best itineraries at no cost and helps you book tours and tickets, often at huge discounts.  You safe money and time.

We own the accommodation and the in-house agency.  No middle men, no extra fees, no miscommunications or wasted time.  Just tell us what your group wants to do, and we’ll put the whole package together!

What do you want your students to experience in Germany?

  • Music? – We know the right festivals, concerts and local choirs and music groups for your performance
  • Performances? – We find local theaters, rehearsal spaces, audiences and stage time.
  • Sports? – We connect you to local teams, competitions, and stadiums
  • Education? – We have loads of contacts at local schools, universities, and programs.
  • Other programs also available, including drama, languages, etc.

Choose your customized itineraries and activity modules

  • Museum and theater visits
  • Sports and tournaments
  • Specialized city tours and looks behind the scenes
  • Excursions beyond city limits
  • Transfers and coach trips (free coach parking at our hostels!)
  • Local contacts for activity-centered trips (sports, theater, music, education)
  • And much more

Packages also available:

  • 3-day programs starting at 79 € per person
  • 5-day programs starting at 161 € per person

For more information, visit: www.go2city.travel

Free Unlimited Overnight Stays for 2 Chaperones with any Student Group Bookings!

Teachers and chaperones stay free with a group of 10 students or more, no matter how long the stay.  Ask us for details!

Budget accommodations – high quality hotel alternatives for student groups

You’ve heard amazing things about modern hostels in Germany. They are true at DJH City-Hostels in Bonn, Cologne, and Düsseldorf.  You get amazing 3-star hotel-quality accommodations in Germany at hostel prices, and they are perfect for student groups.  Our hostels are still among the best kept secrets of the budget-conscious traveler, but more and more foreign groups are catching on to the amazing value and quality:

  • Some of the best hostels in the world.  3-star hotel level at hostel prices!
  • Pristine, modern single & multi-bed rooms, all with private baths
  • Amazing rates: starting at € 22.90 per night per person, including breakfast, lunch or dinner, and all taxes

Who we are:

DJH GO2City is the new in-house travel agency by non-profit DJH (German Youth Hostel Association).   Operating 6 hostels in 4 cities in Germany’s Rhine Ruhr Region, DJH GO2CITY also plans and executes customised itineraries and programmes for groups and individuals.

Here a list of all our hostels:

City-Hostel Bonn
City Hostel Cologne-Deutz
City-Hostel Cologne-Riehl
City-Hostel Duisburg Sportpark
City-Hostel Duisburg Landschaftspark
City-Hostel Düsseldorf

Additional Ideas for Rhineland Trips:

Discover Duisburg

This city of almost 500,000 is one of Germany’s largest university towns, has the largest inland harbor, and is an important city for commerce, steel production, architecture, history, and culture.   Only about 20 miles from Düsseldorf Airport, Duisburg is the perfect city to include in a Rhineland itinerary filled with the region’s exotic and unique attractions. 

Stay at these two DJH City Hostels in Duisburg:
DJH Hostel Sportpark

An amazing hostel – brand-new, and with a look and a list of features that equal many top sports hotels:

  • In-house sports center, gym and sauna
  • Ball field on-premises
  • 2 volley ball fields
  • 7 conference rooms
  • All rooms with private bath

The hostel is located right in the enormous Sportpark Duisburg, one of Germany’s largest and most modern sports parks, with over 500 acres of land and 150 acres of water facilities. It supports 40 different sports and is home to 30 local clubs and teams.  Perfect for your sports-related trips!  Find information and pictures at:  http://www.duisburg.de/fa/sportpark/.

DJH Hostel Landschaftspark

The hostel is named after the Landscape Park Duisburg, a public park built in 1991 on a former industrial site and a stunning example of how the industrial past of a region can be healed by transforming industrial elements into objects of beauty and recreation.  Our modern hostel is right in the park, and it’s the perfect location for your Rhineland adventure.

Bonn & Cologne Christmas Market

A Magical Germany Christmas Experience for Your Groups

A visit to the enchanting Christmas markets in Cologne and Bonn is a spectacular occasion for all ages.  Each city’s market is unique, and Cologne’s has seven different markets all over the city waiting to be discovered by your student and group travelers.   Stay at our hostels in Bonn and/or Cologne.  Optional: additional activities, e.g. a trip to the Odysseum Adventure Museum in Cologne, the Cologne Cathedral, the Chocolate Museum, and much more – for a fascinating itinerary.

Rates: starting at € 22.90 per night per person, including breakfast, lunch or dinner, and all taxes.

Contact us for a free proposal for rooms and activities!

For more information, contact Rainer Perry – Marketing & Sales Manager North America, UK & Ireland; email:  rainer@go2city.travel

Full contact info below

Christmas Markets are just one of many reasons for a school trip to Germany.  Germany is becoming a trendier and more popular travel destination all the time, especially for student groups from the UK.   You know why:  whether by train, coach, car or plane, Germany is an easy reach from most places in the UK, often in just a few hours.  The country offers great values in accommodations, restaurants, and many other attractions – and the options keep growing from year to year. 

We at DJH GO2CITY want to help you get the latest about traveling to one of Germany’s most fascinating – and most accessible – areas: the Rhine Ruhr Region. 

For more information about DJH, to request a customised proposal or to book your group reservations, please contact:

Rainer Perry – Marketing & Sales Manager North America, UK & Ireland
DJH Go2City
934 8th Avenue 2b; New York, NY 10019; USA
phone: +1 646 207 6406
email: rainer@go2city.travel
www.go2city.travel
www.city-hostel.de
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djhgo2city

click here for our online ebooks:

DJH City-Hostels in Cologne & Düsseldorf

New in-house agency Go2City

Maths

Making Maths Magical

What is the one classroom activity that will enhance your pupils’ confidence in, and enjoyment of maths more than any other?

There are only a limited number of activities around that are designed specifically to increase children’s enjoyment of maths.  And yet the more children do see maths as an enjoyable subject the more confidence they will have in the subject – and the more rapidly their studies will progress.

Which is why we created Magical Maths.

Magical Maths is a school based workshop aimed at either KS1 or KS2 students.  It is taught on a class-by-class basis with up to five classes being taught during the course of the day, with each class session lasting 45 minutes to an hour.

The sessions are based around the notion of magic, and indeed the practitioner who leads the sessions is a member of the Magic Circle.  Children practice and perform the magic tricks that are taught during the workshop – magic which is all based on National Curriculum maths.

As a result the children gain new mathematical insights and revel in their new-found positive relationship with mathematics.

To enquire about a possible booking please call me on 07870 215675 or email Jasmine@Jasminesmagicparties.co.uk with the words MAGIC MATHS in the subject line.

 

Careers, PSHE, Sixth form

FAO the Head of Sixth Form

Exams, relationships, driving tests, independence, money … It’s just the Tip of the Iceberg.

Are our 16-18 year olds being left out when it comes to supporting
their mental health and well being in school?
The national curriculum does not cover key stage 5 and there are no suggested PSHE guidelines, so this could mean that finding a budget or a gap in the timetable for such provision is near on impossible.  Also this situation means that there are few organisations out there offering projects for the complex needs of 16–18 year olds.

The PSHE Association’s Subject Advisor Nick Boddington says:

“I guess the bottom line is that PSHE education in Key stage 5 is your last chance to provide that learning that everyone needs but lies outside of the academic curriculum.  Not a bad way of planning is to look back on all the PSHE work you have done in years 7-11 and ask yourself by the time they walk out of our school gates for the last time what more do we need to provided or reinforce to ensure that they have the knowledge understanding, feelings about themselves and others, are able to say and do, and understand their responsibilities to lead productive, independent, fulfilling and safe lives?”

The topics that are relevant and important to key stage 5 pupils can also be difficult to address within school and especially in the classroom. There are endless projects on career opportunities, university and finance, but it’s much harder to find sessions exploring more personal topics like sexuality, pornography and relationships, or effective delivery at that age on risky behaviours and health – yet according to research done with older students, this is what they are asking for.  According to Ofsted research, when asked what would make PSHE education lessons more useful, pupils said;

 ‘Rape culture. What to look for in a healthy relationship.’ Female student

“The influence of the media such as porn on people’s views of sex and the human body.” Male student

It is the combination of need and lack of provision that inspired Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company to develop two projects specifically aimed at the 16+ age group that tackle difficult topics in an involving, entertaining and informing way.

Having worked directly with over 100,000 young people Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company strongly believe, from their experience working with sensitive and hard hitting issues, that the way to approach PSHE education should include a much broader look at our world – the internet, technology, the whole sex industry, and attitudes to risk – you cannot separate topics into small boxes or educate on these complex subjects in a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation. It is now more important than ever to create relationship, sex, internet and safety education projects that can be as compelling, as exciting and as influential as the media campaigns and products it is battling against.

“If you’re too ashamed to speak to children about sex, exploitative free porn will fill the gaps” Grace Dent, The Independent, Sept 8th 2015

From september 2015 Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company will be touring the following projects for years 12 & 13.

“Sexposed Britain” A 30 minute performance followed by an interactive workshop.

Based on our imaginary fly-on-the wall documentary “Beyond the Surface” the play is made up of clips from the programme, the reactions of different people watching it, as well as parodies of other T.V shows and adverts.  The format allows students to consider many aspects of a topic in a quick, recognisable and engaging format.  The play shows a vast range of people in varying situations, from university students to grandparents, the pub to the school playground, the ideas of the young to doctors and psychologists.

The “Sexposed Britain” episode takes a mature approach to the many attitudes, ideas and pressures experienced by all ages in regards to sex and relationships in Britain today.  The storylines include scenes around teenage pregnancy, sexual pressure, sexting, pornography, communicating feelings, self-esteem and self respect, marriage and sexuality.

In our workshops we use our performances as a springboard for pupils to examine their own attitudes, ideas and behaviours in relation to difficult, contentious and sensitive topics. We strive for students to learn something about themselves that will make a positive difference to the rest of their lives.

“What’s driving you?”An interactive project with performed scenes that explore personality types and road safety.   

The format and content of the workshop utilise corporate training techniques and aspects of personality assessment used in the world of management and staff development, which are then combined with live performances, videos and debates.

This experience has been designed to empower students to be successful, healthy achievers and as they are asked to examine their ideas, attitudes and concepts of self, the project can influence many areas of their life – and not just the journey in a car.  The workshop explores:

–          Confidence
–          Communication styles
–          Attitudes to risk
–          Decision making.

There are different delivery formats available from assemblies to full day projects.
Prices start at £550 + VAT

Please contact us for further information and an exact quote.

Hazel Ward
Schools and Performances

Email: admin@tipoftheiceberg.biz
Tel: 07519593711

Geography

Geography Starters

As we all know, the first five minutes of any lesson tends to determine how the rest of the lesson will go.  If the lesson gets going on the wrong track, it is generally very hard to pull it back.

Therefore what we aim to do is engage the pupils and students as soon as they enter the room, preventing instances of boredom that can lead to poor behaviour, while at the same time setting the tone for the rest of the lesson. The pupils have engaged in work right from the start.

Geography Starters is a set of starter activities – crosswords, puzzles, wordsearches – which aim to get each lesson going in a manner which is interesting and invigorating for the students while at the same time setting the scene for serious study.

The volume contains some 40 activities in two groups – mental starters and worksheet starters (which can be copied and handed out to each student).

The mental starters include anagrams, what if? questions, odd one out, etc.  The photocopiable worksheets focus on specific areas of geography such as tectonics, oceans and seas, coasts, development, guess the country, natural hazards, the weather, population, and so on.

The volume, of course, comes with a complete set of answers, so that you can check answers in a full-class session or hand out the answers to the students at the end of the lesson

You can see a full list of the topics and some sample pages at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/geography/T1717.pdf

Publisher’s reference: T1717EMN ISBN: 978 1 86083 722 7

Prices

  • Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the Ring Binder and the CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery

Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report… please quote the order ref: T1717EMN

 

English

English Literature Summer School 2016 – Booking Now Open

A wonderful opportunity for students with a passion for literature to discover a range of new authors and texts, explore fresh approaches to familiar works and to prepare for undergraduate study of English Literature.

The English Summer School – Part 1 will cover literature dating from 650AD to 1790AD, including Middle English, Medieval Literature, Chaucer, The Renaissance, Shakespeare, Restoration Literature and the Rise of the Novel. In addition we will also be covering Historicist and Feminist critical approaches as part of this Summer School.

The English Summer School – Part 1 will be held on 25th – 29th July 2016.

The English Summer School – Part 2 will cover literature dating from 1790AD to the present day, including Romanticism and the Gothic Movement, Victorian Sensation Novels, Literature and the British Empire, Modernism, Postmoderism and Contemporary Literature. We will be covering the ‘Death of the Author’ and Postcolonial criticism as part of this Summer School.

The English Summer School – Part 2 will be held on 1st – 5th August 2016.

The English Summer School – Part 3 is new for summer 2016, and will cover Contemporary English Literature, including prose fiction, poetry and drama. We will be covering Psychoanalytic criticism and ‘Theories of the Canon’ as part of this Summer School.

The English Summer School – Part 3 will be held on 22nd – 26th August 2016.

Please note that students can attend all Parts of the Summer School, or just one or two, depending on their literary interests. Although the courses complement one another, they can also be treated as stand alone events and there is no requirement to have attended Part 1 in order to register for other Parts.

Thematic coverage by period, combining close study of texts with lectures on historical and cultural context, and setting major authors side-by-side with less familiar works, will help students to appreciate the development of prose, verse and drama in English from the middle ages to the present day. We will not only engage in close textual analysis of Medieval, Renaissance, Romantic, Nineteenth Century, Modernist and Contemporary writers, but also evaluate these movements in light of the authors’ own critical writing.

As well as looking at the purely written word, we will also cover literature in performance, comparing playscripts to film adaptations and reading through sections of the works using different performance theories. As an integral part of Part 1 of the Summer School we will attend a performance at the Globe Theatre on the Southbank. Literary theory and criticism will play an important role in the Summer School and students will be invited to examine texts they have studied in the light of competing theories of the nature and value of literature and the role of the critic.

This Summer School is suitable for all students aged 15-18 with a passion for literature, and will be particularly useful for those looking for a taste of undergraduate level engagement with texts and theory.

Practical Details:

The cost of booking any single Part of the English Literature Summer School £465, the cost of any two Parts is £850, and the cost for all three Parts of the Summer School is £1200. The Summer School will be held at a University of London venue in Bloomsbury (please note that these courses are not residential, and accommodation must be arranged independently if required).

There will be a limited number of bursary spaces available for those who would otherwise have financial difficulty in attending – please see our website for details.

To book a place please visit http://www.debatechamber.com/summerschools/english-summer-school/ call us on 0845 519 4827, or email info@debatechamber.com. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

 

Special Needs

ADHD – the debate rages on

In 20 years ADHD has moved from an American myth to a recognised issue but the debate still rages as to what to do.

According to the Care Quality Commission last year, there has been a 50% rise in England in the use of drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in six years. The watchdog warned health workers to “carefully monitor” their use as they have the potential to be “abused”.

As the consultant psychiatrist Professor Tim Kendall, said, “I think it’s a real trend. I think it’s too big to be ignored.”

Tim Kendall is certainly someone whose comments are worth considering since he compiled the national guidelines on treating ADHD, and he was one of the first people who pointed out that that there are real dangers to people who take ADHD drugs over a long period.

As he said, “I think there’s also increasing evidence that it precipitates self-harming behaviour in children and in the long term we have absolutely no evidence that the use of of Ritalin reduces the long-term problems associated with ADHD.”

Helping ADHD pupils and students through school is a volume that sets out in great detail exactly how ADHD students can be helped and supported in their day to day activities within the school without the use of drugs.

A fundamental view of the book is that the best approach for any ADHD child is one in which the parents and school can work together with a common purpose to help the young person – and with this in mind there is a substantial section of material at the end of the book that can be copied and passed on to parents.

This parental section contains both explanations and practical approaches to dealing with the ADHD child at home.

Of course, we all recognise that not every ADHD child’s parents will be able to work in the organised and controlled manner that will help ADHD students, and therefore we work within the school-based sections from the basis that although parental support is ideal it doesn’t always happen.

The book looks at individual behaviour, plus issues such as rewards, punishments, handling special days when behaviour may be exacerbated, overcoming impulsiveness, homework, where ADHD people can succeed and do well, ADHD and responsibility, and sport, the arts and other activities.

Helping ADHD pupils and students through school by Tony Attwood is available as a photocopiable book or on CD Rom which can itself be copied or loaded onto the school’s learning platform or intranet.

ISBN: 978 1 86083 855 2 Order code: T1789emn – please quote with order.

Sample pages can be viewed at http://pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/attentiondeficit/T1789.pdf

  • Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the Ring Binder and the CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report…