Primary Teacher UK

Teachers' TV interesting programmes

Two programmes have come to my attention on Teachers TV over the next couple of weeks.  Both are on the same night, Tuesday 9th October.  The first looks at three projects aimed at helping Asian families overcome language difficulties and support their child’s learning.  A report by the Basic Skills Agency has shown that parents with limited English often come to rely on their child’s better understanding of the language, which in turn can hinder how much they can help their child through school.  Involving Asian Families in Learning follows three schemes that have been specifically designed to help families overcome language difficulties and enable the whole family to be involved in the education process.

The second programme, We Don’t Go To School, investigates why so many parents are home-educating their children.  According to programme statistics, over 30,000 parents teach their children at home, with numbers on the increase.  There are no rules, no routine and no two families operate the same way.  This programme considers what impact home-schooling can have on children and explores the reasons why it is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to school.

Numeracy skills particularly important for disadvantaged children

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are given a good grounding in numeracy in infant school are more likely to succeed in English as well as maths at the age of 11, new research suggests. The key importance of numeracy for children from poor families has been highlighted by a study which tracked the progress of almost 10,000 pupils between the ages of 7 and 11. The study’s author, Kathryn Duckworth of the IOE, said that the “predictive power” of maths test results at age 7 was quite striking for disadvantaged children.

“It might be said that children from poor backgrounds who did well in maths at age 7 and then went on to get good results in English and maths at the age of 11 simply had a higher IQ but it is more complicated than that. I checked the children’s recorded IQ scores at age 8 and found that they did not provide the explanation. It is possible that doing well in maths at age 7 acts to heighten children’s self-confidence and aspirations. It may also encourage teachers to offer them more support, which then translates into successful performance at age 11. A good result in English at 7 is obviously essential too, but not quite as important for future progress.”

Kathryn Duckworth emphasised, however, that her research should not be used to justify separate educational “treatments” for particular social groups. Instead, it provided support for the Government’s policy of personalised learning. “Assessment needs to provide a rounded picture of children’s development and support learning as well as measure it,” she said.

Kathryn Duckworth’s study, "What role for the three Rs? Progress and attainment during primary school: Wider Benefits of Learning Research Report No 23", can be downloaded from http://www.learningbenefits.net/

Every Child A Writer / Reader and Counter!

Today Ed Balls has announced £144 million for a new programme of intensive support for writing, reading and maths in primary schools – Every Child A Writer (ECAW), Every Child A Reader (ECAR) and Every Child Counts (ECC).

By the end of 2010/11 it is expected there will be 1,600 teachers trained to offer the high level of expertise involved in Every Child Counts and at least 1,800 teachers trained for Every Child A Reader.  Every Child Counts will be a partnership between the Government and the new charity, Every Child a Chance, a coalition of business partners, charitable trusts and others.

New guidance and training is also being made available this term for the first time to primary schools to support the teaching of writing for six, eight and ten year olds. The new Every Child A Writer programme will build on this, with further support to ensure that every teacher uses the best teaching methods, including one-to-one coaching, in areas of writing which primary children find hardest to master.

A-maze-ing resource

Adrian Fisher is a maze designer and according to the site "his mazes can be found in all corners of the globe.  His distinct design style and exquisite puzzles make him the undisputed world-leader in his field.  He is an authority on mazes and is sought after by the media in every country of the world." 

Great praise but not the reason I've mentioned him on this site.   Delve a little deeper into the site and you'll come across the 'Fun' pages and then the educational pages.  Here there is an excellent Maze educational pack which can be downloaded for free as a PDF file.  This pack looks at the history of mazes and how you can solve and draw your own.   There is also a history of mazes page which is equally interesting if you are into that sort of thing.

Cyber Bullying

Ministers are urging schools to involve police in the most serious cases of cyberbullying of pupils and staff in a new crackdown on the "unacceptable" and "insidious" use of new technology. They say some instances might break criminal or civil law protecting people from threatening communications and could lead to Asbos. Police intervention, along with that of mobile phone and web companies, might be needed to track the digital footprint of perpetrators. The threat of legal sanctions on top of school disciplinary measures, including the confiscation of mobile phones and temporary bans or restricted access to the internet, is recommended in far tougher guidance to combat the increasing incidence of this form of bullying. The drive includes a new emphasis on curbing "bystander bullying" by young people who pass on images or comments made by the original bully without thinking.

This follows on from a statement from Dr Tanya Byron, who will be leading the Governments review of harmful and inappropriate use of new technologies.  She says:

"Helping parents and their children get the best from new technologies while protecting children from inappropriate or potentially harmful material is crucial in today’s fast moving world.  The internet and video games have huge potential for children’s play and learning. Parents welcome the benefits technologies can bring but they also want their children to be safe and many have concerns about what their children may come across online or whether the videogames they are using are appropriate.   I will also be issuing a call for evidence in early October so that everyone with an interest will have the opportunity to contribute to the review and ensure that my conclusions are based on robust evidence and informed opinions. My final report is due at the end of March 2008."

Look out for details on how to make your contribution to this report on this site.

 

'Nail Bomb' in teachers car

This is related to a secondary school in Liverpool, but still pretty scary.  I was only talking to a friend who teaches in another primary school on Friday about the terrorist plans they have in place.  From the BBC:

"Pupils had a lucky escape when an explosive device detonated in a teacher's car near a Liverpool school. The blast happened outside Runnymede St Edward's in Sandfield Park, West Derby - an independent Roman Catholic school.  Witnesses said the device was a nail bomb, but police described it as an improvised firework-type device.

The home-made device exploded in a car in the school car park on Friday, minutes before pupils left for the day.  Detectives said it was lucky no-one was killed or seriously injured.  The interior of the silver Nissan Micra, which belonged to a teacher at the school, was extensively damaged and the windows were smashed."

Merseyside Police said two men were seen in the area at the time of the blast and want to speak to them. One of the men was white, stocky, about 5ft 10ins tall and aged between 40 and 50 with light-coloured or ginger hair. Officers do not yet have a description of the second man.

Why would anyone do this?

 

Term Dates for 2009 - 2010

Earlier this year, the Local Government Association (LGA) issued it's recommended term pattern for the school year 2009-2010.  The proposed pattern for 2009-2010 includes 195 days and 5 non-contact days which will have to be identified from within the terms set out.  The Standard School Year has come from discussions around year patterns, including consideration of the five and then the six, term year.

The term dates are only a recommendation, but already some 45 authorities have made 'in-principle' decisions to adopt the pattern.  These authorities are listed on the website as well as the principles that underpin the LGA thinking on the term pattern.

ECM Leadership Direct from the NCSL

The NCSL have launched a free online resource called ECM Leadership Direct. ECM Leadership Direct is part of the Every Child Matters agenda and according to the website, the first leadership resource of its kind bringing together existing knowledge and best practice to help ensure every child is able to thrive and achieve their potential.

The site is home to an authoritative bank of 41 publications, 46 think pieces, 33 tools and activities, surveys and questionnaires, and 32 case studies – drawn from practice and NCSL development work over the past 3 years. According to NCSL the resource will grow and evolve as the ECM agenda unfolds.

Link: www.ncsl.org.uk/ecmleadershipdirect.

29 Useful Writing Sites

Linked to in this post; sites with:

• Ideas and stimuli, including 300 creative writing prompts
• Technical aspects of language, with grammatical pointers
• Writing tools, such as author contact databases and writing frames
• Sites to vary your children's non-fiction reading diet
• IWB-friendly sites for character description
• High quality assessment

Enjoy!

Ideas / Stimuli

creative writing prompts  - 300 different ideas to get the creative writing process started. Not all of these are suitable at primary level but the majority of them are capable of being adapted.
languageisavirus.com - "Cure writer's block!". Well, I’m not sure about that but there are dozens of creative ideas aimed at adults but fully capable of being adapted for children. Great stuff!
ReadWriteThink - American-based site with some great English teaching ideas.
Pixar Shorts - Pixar’s short videos which could be easily used in English lessons relating to plot chronology/sequencing or as a time filler.
Wacky Web Tales  - Create your own stories and poems using these amusing and dynamic templates. Very good for consolidating teaching on different categories of words and phrases
"Kids on the net" - Creative writing, poetry, examples of pupils' work, activities and games

Technical Aspects of Language

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammarpage.htm - Very comprehensive and easy-to-use site with succinct definitions and examples relating to most grammatical terms.

Dr. Grammar - Frequently Asked Questions - Less or fewer? Affect or Effect? Me, myself or I?

Using Commas - As it says. Simple advice, easy to follow.

Other

contactanauthor.co.uk - Authors in your area who are prepared to visit schools and give readings or participate in workshops.

Literature-Map - The tourist map of literature - Suggests authors you might like and groups writers together, according to similarities of style, content and genre. Also works for films and bands.

Poetry.com rhyming dictionary and thesaurus - Very crisp, uncluttered tool which is easy to use.

David Wray's Writing Frames - Simple writing frames to help KS2 reluctant/lower ability writers get started.

Interesting non-fiction sites

Brain benders - On the amazingbrain site, where you might also find text that could be adapted for non-fiction work.

Real Life Sea Monsters - 24 Bizarre Creatures of the Deep - Possibly for non-fictional writing, with some adaptation.

Animal Splicer 1.0 - Splice together 2 different animals to create a completely new one! Fun to play with but could be used to create animals for work on habitats or report writing.

25 Worlds Weirdest Animals - Might be useful / could be adapted for non-fiction / habitats.

Howstuffworks.com - Great for non-fiction / comprehension at KS2 with a little adaptation.

Character and Description

Design a Lego head - Ideal for creating characters or describing features.

Design your own Lego character  - Like the head but a whole body plus accessories. Great fun

UGO.com HERO MACHINE Classic! - Superb fun! Design and print your own super hero or comic book character.

Make your own Mr Man or Little Miss - For character descriptions or just for fun!

Assessment

Writing assessment document courtesy of Leigh St Peter's School - Very detailed descriptors for assessing writing sublevels.

Ros Wilson Writing Levels - Brilliantly simple and clear method of levelling writing; found on the Kent GfL Site.

Large Class Sizes

Here are some worrying statistics that the Independent has picked up on: "Class sizes in UK primary schools are still far higher than in most other developed countries despite millions of pounds of government cash being pumped into the sector, an international study revealed yesterday.

Figures show the UK – with an average of 25.8 pupils per class in state schools – comes 23rd out of 30 Western countries surveyed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for class sizes. Only Korea, Chile, Japan, Turkey, Israel, Brazil and Ireland have larger class sizes. The smallest primary school classes are in the Russian Federation, where there is an average of just 15.6 pupils per class.

The report goes on to reveal that the gap in class sizes between private and state schools is higher in the UK than anywhere else in the world, with only 10.7 children per class in independent primary schools.The gap is almost twice as high as the country with the second largest difference; Poland has 20.6 pupils in state primary schools and 12 in the private sector."

Still we are told only 30 in KS1 but not in KS2!  Why?  Even this number is too many!  Think of the days when you only have half a class in for some reason - how much more quality, focused and individual attention can you give each child?