School World

Deutscher Wiederholungskurs will help Higher Tier candidates achieve better grades at GCSE. It provides material for revision for the GCSE speaking and writing tests and helps to bridge the gap between GCSE and ‘A’ level.

The course presumes the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary that a proprietary course will have covered and then builds on that knowledge to take the student to a higher grade.

The course is divided into 8 topics drawn from the GCSE syllabus, each containing the same tasks:

• Oral questions to revise the topic briefly;
• Suggestions for visual stimuli for further oral revision;
• A passage of German entitled “Fritz erzählt” which contains gaps to fill in and practice for case endings, pronouns and verb endings;
• Comprehension exercises on the passage to be answered in full German sentences;
• A passage of English for translation into German; and a series of questions in German, the answers to which should form the basis for a short essay. Finally there are a series of related role-play situations.

The book is fully photocopiable for ease of use in the classroom and will prove an invaluable source of revision and consolidation for your GCSE students.

Sample pages from the book, order code T1616emn, can be found on http://pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/modlang/T1616.pdf

Prices

Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery

• CD with school-wide rights: £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery
• Both the Ring Binder and the CD £26.94 plus £3.95 delivery
• Prices include VAT.
• 
  

You can purchase the report…

 By post from First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, NN17 4HH

• By fax to 01536 399 012
• On-line with a credit card at http://tinyurl.com/mw79zv
• By phone with a school order number or a credit card to 01536 399 011

When ordering the book please quote the reference T1616EMN.

Key issues in energy for Geography – Key Stages 4-5

DVD Pack: 6 Units + Activity Sheets

Energy Crisis
Nuclear or Not
Clean Coal
Renewables
Zero Carbon
Energy Efficiency

This is the energy debate in its geographical context. It features UK nuclear power stations, wind farms, coal and oil fired power station, hydro, CHP, the BedZED zero carbon project and the Centre for Alternative Energy. The people that work in energy and industry experts spell out the facts and the options clearly and succinctly. How will the UK meet its energy needs?

Short video units
Easy to use click and go menus

Sample: click here

Linked activity sheets

More info: click here

DVD Pack £29.99 ex Vat, £35.99 inc Vat

ORDER

On line: click here

By phone 020 8960 5536

By email admin@team-video.co.uk

By post Team Video PO Box 38194 London W10 5WZ

There are so many ‘narratives’ and versions of this conflict and its history that teaching it can become a minefield. Even knowledgeable, honest, unbiased speakers and historians cannot avoid having their own ‘baggage’.

Middle East Education (London) Ltd addresses this problem by harnessing the knowledge of neutral scholars as well as those from both sides. The PowerPoint lessons on the website are designed to be used by a teacher in the classroom, and for students working alone.

To access the free resources just go to: www.middleeastedu.co.uk and click on the level you require.

The PowerPoints include:

• 1 general outline for PSHE, covering the history of the conflict and recent events.
• 11 more detailed ones for A-Level and above, covering the history, recent events, religious aspects, ethics.
• 15 simpler, shorter ones for KS4 (New, from end of June 2012). As for A level, but simpler, less detailed
• 1 brief outline for KS4, as for PSHE but simpler, shorter.

All are accompanied by Teachers’ Notes and Lesson plans and have been prepared by Jews, Muslims and Christians working together.

Talks

We have increased our pool of Jewish, Muslim, Christian and secular very knowledgeable speakers, and can now cover most of the UK with one, if not two speakers. They can tailor their talks to your requirements, giving a general overview, or on specific topics (see website), or as introduction or summing up after the students have worked with the Power Points.

Cost

The resources on the website are free and we do not charge a fee for talks.

However, as a non-profit-making company we would hope to receive £50 – £100 to cover speakers’ expenses.

Please contact me for further details, or to book a talk.

Anne Smith
Administrator
Middle East Education (London) Ltd

07790 860 742
meedu@toucansurf.com

For many parents, the period when their children are at nursery school is a period of contradiction.

These parents are desperate to know what their children did during their time at school, how the children behaved, etc. But this is the age when children are least able to answer.

Typically children might come up with one or two memories of the day – which can excite or upset the parents – but there is no guarantee that such memories are actually representative of what happened.

All of which means one thing: parents want and welcome reliable information about what happened in school.

You will, of course, already be sending information to parents – information about large scale events (reminders about this being the day for the taking of the school photo, or the school being shut because of very bad weather). You’ll also be sending out notes on educational progress in which you tell all the parents what the group did.

But it is now possible to go much further – from behavioural matters (explaining why there were tears before the child gives his/her version to the parents) to praise for achievements (a real breakthrough in reading).

In short, every school has a need to remind parents of the school-wide issues (“we’re closed on Monday for the bank holiday”). But the school also needs to make sure that its version of events is put across to parents so they are not solely reliant on the child’s version and parental gossip.

What happens when such a news service is put out on a regular basis is that not only are parents reassured, but they also quickly tell friends who use other nursery schools that at their child’s school they get regular reports on progress and issues. To use the modern phrase, such an approach becomes a piece of viral marketing.

The way in which such an information service operates is via text messaging on to mobile phones. You type the message on your computer and send it out to the parents that you select – be it to the parent of one child, all the parents with children in one group, or indeed the whole school.

To see how the system works, please do take a look at our website. Alternatively call us on 020 8150 6024.

The school minibus: gateway to education beyond the classroom, but seemingly too expensive to buy, full of red tape and the need to have someone in the school who sees to the maintenance.

Except that there are solutions, solutions which can be used to provide a minibus, whether for the exclusive use of the sports department or to be shared with other departments in the school.

For a start, a minibus does not necessarily require a large payment of money up front. If the school leases a minibus rather than buying it outright the school then pays for it on a monthly basis, thereby overcoming completely the problem of squeezing already limited cash reserves. And that is only the start of the saving.

Where some school visits and trips are paid for through contributions from parents and the PTA, this can often generate enough funds to cover the monthly cost of the minbus.

Alternatively, the minibus can be funded through small monthly deductions from various departments’ income. Or, if you can persuade both the PTA and perhaps half a dozen departments in the school to agree to fund the bus jointly, the funding problem is completely resolved.

The issue of keeping the vehicle fully maintained and operational at all times can be overcome by an arrangement whereby the company from whom the school leases the minibus is also in charge of maintenance.

What’s more, if you order a minibus in the near future, the chances are it will be delivered to you in September.

Benchmark Leasing specialises in the supply and maintenance of school minibuses. If you are interested in the benefits of a minibus do call us on 01753 859944 or click here to see what we can offer.

For as long as any of us can remember, universities have demanded certain A level grades as the entry ticket to a course.

But in recent years a second requirement has been added, a requirement that has had less attention but which can in many cases have as much impact on the success or failure of an application as the student’s grades.

In fact each year we are seeing an increasing number of highly able and talented students failing to get to the university of their choice because their application does not make the most of their potential, their personality, their drive, and their ability to give something back to the university as well as be a good student.

Students now need to be well informed and focused in order to make the right choices and to give themselves the best possible chance of getting a place on the course and at the university that best suits their future aspirations.

They also need to know why they want to go to this university, to study this course, and they need to be aware that being at university is a two way process. The university gives the student opportunities – the student needs to show that he/she will seize those opportunities and give something back in return.

”How to Successfully Apply to University” seeks to clarify the process of applying for university and contains information and insights that will be useful for all students as they face the university application process. It outlines each step from the first thought to the completion of the application, and looks at all aspects of the process of selecting and applying for a university place.

The approach within the book includes carrying out research to find the best suited course/university, understanding the UCAS system, delivering the best possible personal statement, the actual application and the post-application process, funding, and student accommodation, etc.

Sample pages can be viewed at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/careers/T1779.pdf

ISBN: 978 1 86083 810 1; Order code: T1779emn

The volume is available as…

• Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery
• CD with school-wide rights: £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery
• Both the Ring Binder and the CD £26.94 plus £3.95 delivery

Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the book or CD…

• By post to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Way, Corby, NN17 4HH
• On the phone with a school order number at 01536 399 011
• By fax to 01536 399 012
• On line with a credit card at http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=47&products_id=753

Dr Vanessa Pittard, Head of Technology Policy Unit for the DfE, last week clarified that although the Programme of Study (PoS) for ICT will be disapplied in September 2012, ICT is still required at all key stages and will be included on the National Curriculum in September 2014.

With freedom to innovate new teaching until September 2014, this means exciting times for ICT. No longer bound by the old PoS, teachers are free to experiment and develop a fresh, relevant new ICT curriculum to challenge pupils.

Whatever your plans now the ICT PoS has been disapplied, Serif, the UK graphics software company, has new online resources which can save time and make it easier to teach a new ICT curriculum.

Serif’s online resources offer inspiring ideas to engage students with the latest technologies, with guides mapping materials to KS3, Functional Skills, the GCSE ICT and the OCR Nationals. And as the resources apply to a wide range of cross curricular areas, each section shows the key skills covered to help create your own SoW.

For free online resources with creative ideas for ICT, go to http://educationresources.serif.com

Share the materials across your VLE – they’re completely free. You don’t need a licence for Serif graphics software to benefit from them, but as Serif satisfies many creative ICT requirements, if you’d like a free copy of Serif software under no obligation email edusales@serif.co.uk

Claire Macdonald
Education Business Manager
Serif (Europe) Ltd

t: 0800 376 6868 e: edusales@serif.co.uk

Produced with the co-operation of The Universities of Sussex and Greenwich by Team Video.

The DVD comprises of 20 questions asked by students from years 10,11 and 12. They are from a wide range of backgrounds and are the first in their family planning to go to University. Their questions are an A – Z of their concerns and aspirations from “where will I live?” to “will I get a better job?”

The answers come from graduate students from exactly the same backgrounds and are direct, clear and honest.

Each question is formatted for instant click and view and, with the linked student briefing sheets, it allows students to easily focus on the issues, so they can consider their options and make appropriate decisions.

Briefings Updated with 2012 fees, loans and bursaries information.

The DVD also includes Two Student tours of Universities.

These two ten minute films follow year 10 and 11 students visiting two Universities: Sussex, a purpose-built campus, and Greenwich, a multi site university.

Ideal preparation material for students planning University visits

What they say

“This is a thorough and truly comprehensive guide which prepares young people for the difficult choice of deciding both whether to go to university and where and how to apply.”

George Ferris
Aimhigher Consultant
Waltham Forest East London

“The Structure of the DVD is very straightforward … As a Careers recourse it is well pitched and important for year 10 pupils who are thinking about sixth form choices and beyond.”

School Librarian

Use These Links to Preview

Preview student briefing sheets
View Clip
More Information

To order or request a review copy

On line: www.team-video.co.uk
Email : admin@team-video.co.uk
FAX : 020 8960 9784
Price £39.99 (exc. VAT) + £2.50 P&P postage is free if ordered online

TEAM VIDEO  PO BOX 38194  London W10 5WZ  TEL O20 8960 5536

As Great Britain gears up for the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the nation is fixated on sport like never before.

With this in mind, we’ve created an Olympics Quiz for use with your tutor group and other subject classes.

Take the Olympics Quiz: www.myworks.co.uk/peolympicsquiz

Try splitting your class into groups to test their knowledge of the sports included in previous Olympics, or use the recap pages to teach your students about previous host cities.

Regards,

The Boardworks PE team

P.S. This one-off quiz is modelled on our MyWorks mini quizzes; short, formative tests which are great for quick homeworks, or whole-class starters/plenaries. To find out more about MyWorks KS4 PE, try our sample quizzes. www.myworks.co.uk/ks4pe/#bodytab3

It is considered by some that the art of handwriting is less important than mastering the keyboard.

And this is the case in some schools across the USA as they have announced that skills crucial to 21^st century success include keyboard skills but not handwriting. In Indiana, for example, pupils from the age of eight sit standardised tests online. Proficient typing will help them to pass exams; handwriting has nothing to do with the matter.

Meanwhile one of the English exam boards has just conducted a test in which the students read the exam questions on tablets such as the iPad, but then have to answer the questions using pen and paper.

So where does the balance lie?

Interestingly, research undertaken by Dr Karen James from Indiana University has shown that ‘children who had been taught to write developed brain patterns similar to those found in reading adults. That doesn’t happen with keyboarding…’.

Indeed, many teachers observe that there is a link between cursive script and effective spelling. To generate cursive handwriting, the pen arm and torso work together, creating a sense of space and direction connected with a particular word. By contrast, tapping on a keyboard often involves only a gentle up-and-down movement of the fingers.

Handwriting is also an expression of personality. It is idiosyncratic, it is human, it is the hallmark of an individual. However, if you don’t put your name on a piece of typed work, the chances of identifying who it belongs to are reduced. Only if the writer’s style of writing is highly individual will the source of the writing be recognised.

To help children to develop a good clear style, we have developed ‘Handwriting Made Simple’, a fully cursive handwriting programme in which all letters join. It contains twenty-nine sessions for Upper Key Stage 1 and the same for Lower Key Stage 2.

Detailed notes for teachers are also included.

This resource is available as a paper book, an e-book or a download.

Free sample pages are available on our website.

If you would like to know more please call 01772 863158 or email us at enquiries@topical-resources.co.uk

As always, you can order in any of these ways:

• On our website
• By phone on: 01772 863158
• By fax: 01772 866153
• By email: Sales@topical-resources.co.uk
• By post: Topical Resources, P.O. Box 329, Broughton, Preston, Lancashire PR3 5LT

Topical Resources
P.O. Box329
Broughton
Preston
Lancashire
PR3 5LT

www.topical-resources.co.uk
sales@topical-resources.co.uk

Tel: 01772 863158