Primary Teacher UK

Resources for assemblies and RE

Being asked to do an assembly is the last thing that most people want on a Monday morning, but if you are don't forget that there are lots of sites on the Internet that can help.  We have regular guests doing our assemblies from the local churches.  One, Janette Chalal, was kind enough to give me a list of some of the sites that she uses to help prepare her excellent assemblies.  Remember that I teach in a church school so the sites are predominantly Christian.

http://www.smsc.org.uk - This website supports spiritual, moral, social and cultural values across all subjects.  There is a library of downloadable resources to help with lessons.  It is also useful for finding resources online.

http://www.brf.org.uk - Barnabas.  This is Christian site with lots of ideas for assemblies.  There is a sub-site specifically for schools - http://www.barnabasinschools.org.uk/

http://www.sermons4kids.com/  - Another site focusing on the Christian religion.  This site has regularly updated assemblies as well as a wealth of resources.  I especially like the PowerPoint stories and artwork (http://www.sermons4kids.com/hmartin.htm)

http://www.request.org.uk - RE:Quest has a wealth of resources on it including a special section for KS1 with talking stories.  The site also has various links useful for RE lessons.

http://www.visual-impact-resources.co.uk/ - This site is for those that mind purchasing resources to help them.  Although not expensive a lot of the resources can be found freely on the net.  There are some well presented Bible stories for PowerPoint and 3D images for use in class with 3D glasses.

Have a look at the other posts under the RE category for more links relevant to assemblies and RE teaching.  Hopefully assemblies won't be too much of a pain now! :)

Crackdown on primary truancy

Lord Adonis has identified the worst-offending 17 local authorities for primary school attendance and ordered a crackdown after new figures revealed increased truancy.   The BBC reports that about 55,000 children skip school a day.  OfSTED who released the figures say that absence rates for primary schools in England rose from 5.13% to 5.21% in the year to autumn 2005.

More World Cup Resources

I found more World Cup resources in my pigeon hole today in the form of the Teacher magazine.  The resources are also available on the internet via the teachernet website.  What isn't included on the internet is a large A1 World Cup poster.  The poster has each of the World Cup countries located with a space for each child to find where their country is, write the capital and some information they have found out about it.  On the right hand side is a space to record the results of all the matches leading up to the final.

You can order copies of this poster free from Prolog on 0845 602 2260, quoting reference DfES 0461 2006 POS-EN.  Don't forget to check out the other resources available on the site.  These include: links to stats about each team / country, the national anthems among other ideas for lessons.

Using Ipods in the classroom

With Ipods being all the rage as the ultimate MP3 player at the moment it's only time until they start being used for (more!) educational purposes.  Interestingly two articles have come to light within days of each other. 

The first is from the Mr Belshaw website.  On the site he discusses how the Ipod can be used to show simple presentations, and even gives an example for downloading and testing.    The second is a link to Engadget which reveals that Pearson Education has announced plans to release downloadable study guides and audible review notes for exam preparation.

Legal action if boys don't perform well enough?

Here's an interesting opening statement from the BBC on one of their articles:

Schools may be open to legal action if they do not do more to help boys catch up with girls, according to a report commissioned by the Scottish Executive

That's a pretty strong statement, but the report does clarify that there would be no question of prosecutions as long as children had equal opportunities.  This has all come about because of the new UK-wide Equality Bill, due to come into force next year, which makes discrimination on the basis of gender illegal.  Professor Wilkinson, one of the authors, said that "it would be "regrettable" if there was any suggestion schools could be blamed for what is a wider social and parenting issue."

That would have been a lot of schools in hot water otherwise!

The sub $100 laptop pictures version 2

Betanews has managed to get images of the first working prototype of One Laptop per Child Foundation's $100 laptop yesterday. The simple device runs Linux and features a color screen, Wi-Fi, a 500MHz processor, and 1GB of flash memory.

The prototype unit, yellow and orange, as opposed to the previous pictures in green and yellow, has ariels that flip up to function as Wi-Fi and cover the USB and audio ports when not in use. A handle on the back is designed to make moving it easier.  It looks different to the original images I posted late last year.    According to the website we (the UK) are still to express an interest in what could mean a computer for every child in school.

http://www.ictgames.com

http://www.ictgames.com provides a nice number of interactive games designed for infants.

I liked the idea of this one, and think boys would too - http://www.ictgames.com/counting_cars_changecars.html.

http://www.ictgames.com/sky_writing.html seems a nice resource for learning letter formation.

Some of the games default to low/medium quality graphics; make sure you set the games' graphics to the highest quality by right-clicking on the actual game and changing the quality to 'high'

Rappers cause bad disclipine in schools

The Guardian is reporting on how a headteacher in charge of the government's taskforce on school discipline has urged parents and schools to ban children from listening to "offensive and horrible" sexist and racist rap music lyrics.  The taskforce claimed that teenagers who regularly listened to offensive and violent lyrics could be influenced into "further aggression".  The head, Sir Alan Steer, particularly critised "anti-women" lyrics as offensive and unacceptable in a modern, civilised society. 

Although the report mainly focuses on high school children, I think I can safely say that the majority of children in my class are big fans of 50 Cent, Eminem and Ja Rule.  Hearing children singing the songs in playground confirms this.  The funny thing is, they don't see anything wrong with the language they are using.  When I ask them about it, I'm told they're just singing a song which they have at home! How can you win?

Weight and Height measurements of all children

So have you given yours out yet?  "Dear Parent, later in the term school nurses will be coming to school to weigh and measure the height of the Reception and Year 6 children."  We gave them out today.   According to the Independent the measurements are needed because the Government has set a target to reduce the obesity in children under 11 by 2010 and has no figures to measure its progress.

It continues saying that from next year parents of obese children will be told the results in an attempt to shock them into taking more responsibility for their children's size.  Interestingly enough the letters we gave out had an option for the children to tick if they did not want their weight or height measured and I got a few of these back today.  The Independent's report continues saying that 'In all likelihood, the "fat map" that emerges from the weigh-in will match closely race and class demographics: working-class children are more likely to be overweight, as are black girls.'

The report continues with arguments against and for the weighing and two case studies of young children.  It's an interesting read.

5 year old with drugs in his bag

The Mail has reported on a news item that I heard on the news earlier this week.  A 5 year old returning home after school with what is thought to be 'speed' in his bag at the end of the day.  The report points out that the boy doesn't appear to be user.  The police are continuing their investigation:

"We are conducting inquiries after a five-year-old boy returned home from school in Dundee yesterday with a suspect substance.  Officers are investigating how the boy came into possession of the substance and tests are being carried out to determine what it is."