Primary Teacher UK

Free Road Safety Books

Texaco is handing out thousands of free books. There are five books in the series, which centres on Hector, a boy with a vivid imagination who discovers lots of road safety messages such as the importance of using a seatbelt and crossing the road safely.

More than 1.7m copies are now available at Texaco garages. They will include a reflective sticker that children can attach to their schoolbag.  There is a website for the children to access further Hector information as well.

Link: http://www.hectorsroom.com/

Del.icio.us Bookmarks for Primary Teacher UK

After the excellent Maths resources on Del.icio.us that I mentioned last week and reading an article on how educators can use Del.icio.us (from Mr Belshaws site) I have decided to put all the sites I reference onto my Del.icio.us page. 

You can view my Del.icio.us bookmarks now, although there are very few links there at the moment!  As I have time I'll add them up. 

Link: http://del.icio.us/primaryteacheruk

 

The Year of Food and Farming in Education

A scheme to encourage pupils to visit local farms is to be launched next year.  The Year of Food and Farming in education will run in the academic year from September 2007 to July 2008. The scheme hopes to see pupils from primary and secondary schools visiting local farms, tending school gardens and learning how to prepare food.  Educational materials will also be provided to support teachers.  Children's minister Parmjit Dhanda said:

"Learning and understanding where our food comes from is vital if young people are to take responsibility for their own health and the environment.  Our Growing Schools partnership already supports thousands of schools in giving their pupils opportunities to grow, cook and eat fruit and vegetables from their own school garden and to visit farms to see food production at first hand.  The Year of Food and Farming will make that a reality for many more."

Excellent idea - we are having plots dug in our field at the start of next year for each class.  I'm hoping to plant some vegetables to have a meal with in the last week of the school year.

Sit Up Straight or Recline 135 degrees?

Researchers from Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen have found that a relaxed reclining (of 135 degrees) is the best biomechanical sitting position for our body.  The forward slouch is the worst with an upright 90-degree sitting position not much better.  Taken from the article:

The "slouch" position revealed a reduction in spinal disk height, signifying a high rate of wear and tear on the lowest two spinal levels. Across all measurements, the researchers concluded that the 135-degree position fared the best. As a result, Dr. Bashir and colleagues advise patients to stave off future back problems by correcting their sitting posture and finding a chair that allows them to sit in an optimal position of 135 degrees.

I have this vision of all the children sitting on deck-chairs during lessons now!

More school trips needed

£2.7 million has been announced today by Alan Johnson to encourage schools 'to use the wealth of educational opportunities on their doorsteps and further afield, to inspire and motivate every pupil'.  The money will go towards an ‘Out and About’ support package for schools.  This includes guidance on planning, funding and evaluating learning outside the classroom. 

I think that the reason a large number of trips don't go ahead is the cost of the coach.  On a recent visit to Manchester Museum just over half the cost was on the coach to get us there!  We already fill in enough paperwork - providing more paper is not going to help.

There is however also going to be a new overarching safety badge for educational providers which I do think will be useful.  If the educational provider has the badge it will be a pretty safe bet for a trip.

SparklePlus and SparkleBox to merge

The SparklePlus website, which has been providing quality KS1 resources since June, is now in the process of merging with the SparkleBox site.   According to Samuel, "The 'merger' should make things much less complicated for members, as well as making resources a lot easier to find."

For anyone that hasn't visited this site yet - pay it a visit.  There are hundreds of fantastic resources for KS1 children and lower KS2.  A large percentage of them are free to download as well.

Link: www.sparklebox.co.uk

Lazy Town at the BBC

Lazy Town is a CBBC programme which encourages children to eat healthy and keep fit.  After a suggestion for Julie I had a look at the Sportacus workout.   Julie commented on the Dame Kelly post that:

"My Y6 class are going mad for the Sportacus workout!!! The other night during Book Club we went into the ICT suite and one of the girls with a toddler-age brother showed some of the children the website and now they are all going on it at home! Bizarre - but it gets them moving!"

It's certainly different and funny to watch. I'm tempted to use it at school in a PE lesson to see how the children respond!

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/funandgames/lazytown/

Pupils like fun - not facts

Research by NFER has once again revealed something that we all know - Pupils enjoy subjects and activities where the curriculum involves learning that is active, participatory and has practical application.  It's a pity that what we test them on is facts - not life skills! 

The report also points out that there is a balance for pupils between the ease of familiarity and the challenge of the new. More intellectual rigour may be needed in the curriculum as key stage 2 progresses in order to engage learners at a time when they perceive many subjects to be getting easier.

Veiled classroom assistant sacked

The Muslim classroom assistant who was suspended by a school for wearing a veil in lessons has been sacked. An employment tribunal dismissed three of Mrs Azmi's claims of discrimination and harassment but found that she was victimised by Headfield Church of England junior school in Dewsbury and awarded her £1,000 for "injury to feelings".  Mrs Azmi had said she was willing to remove her veil in front of children - but not when male colleagues were present.

Teachers' TV joins up with Dame Kelly Holmes

An intersting email from Teachers' TV came though today advertising a new program presented by Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes. The Get Physical series is a unique resource developed to help teachers at primary and secondary level raise standards in PE and school sport. The comprehensive twenty part series shows how different schools from across the country use truly creative approaches to engage pupils with sport. The sporting activities have great effect on pupils and the programmes demonstrate how learning can improve in all areas of the school curriculum as a result.

The series will be broadcast on Teachers’ TV starting from 15 January 2007.

Whole-School Effect : 15 January at 12.15
Firm Foundations : 16 January at 12:00
Engagement at Key Stage 1 : 16 January 12.15
The Two-Hour/Four-Hour Challenge - Primary : 16 January at 18.30
Healthy Primary School : 16 January at 18.45
Active Lunchtime : 17 January at 18:15
A Place for Competition : 17 January at 18.45 
Taking the Lead - Primary : 18 January at 18.00
Playing it Safe - Primary : 18 January at 18.15
The Inspector Calls - Primary : 18 January at 18.30
Everyone's Included - Primary : 18 January at 18.45
Primary/Secondary Transition : 19 January at 12.00
Adults Other Than Teachers : 19 January at 12.15

For more information go to www.teachers.tv.