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Billy from Thomas Adams has uploaded all his x-games resources to the KS4 documents section within the ICT area of the new Shropshire Learning Gateway.  These resources are only available to Shropshire schools:

https://www.shropshirelg.net/curriculum/foundsubjects/ict/secondary/Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fcurriculum%2ffoundsubjects%2fict%2fsecondary%2fDocuments%2fKS4%2fX%20Games&FolderCTID=&View=%7b00AB74E3%2d6FA2%2d4181%2dB4B3%2dEFCD662FBD24%7d

These resources support the use of an xbox to provide evidence towards the ASDAN qualification at KS4.

Please click the following link to view the Diploma in IT newsletter for June 2008. www.e-skills.com/diplomanewsjune08

Dear Steve,

Today, we’ve launched a new collection of free online whiteboard resources.  They are from our Absorb courseware, and offer a wide range of simulations, animations and models across secondary school science, D&T and mathematics.

You’ll find these resources at www.yenka.com/freecontent/

Teachers in your LEA can use them in schools and at home, and there’s no need to register - just search or browse for the content you want.

Last year Childnet undertook research with some 400 trainee teachers reviewing how the topic of E-Safety could fit into the initial Teacher Training Curriculum. This work was commissioned with funding and support from the TDA and Microsoft. The results highlighted that e-safety needed to become an integral part of teacher training and that those entering the profession needed practical support and resources to support their learning. See report at http://www.childnet.com/publications/policy.aspx

Responding to this need Childnet and its partners have launched a new set of resources including a website and DVD called ‘Know IT ALL for Trainees’ The video content is introduced by Karl Hopwood and can be viewed online at http://www.childnet.com/kia/traineeteachers/default.aspx The TDA are distributing the Trainees DVD to the 250 Teacher Training institutions across England over the next few weeks.

With additional support from Becta we have also produced a complimentary set of resources for existing Teachers (in secondary schools) to help with their professional development and understand the importance of E-safety and where this topic can be taught in the curriculum. This content is introduced by Ruth Hammond and can be accessed at http://www.childnet.com/kia/teachers/ This website also contains an interactive online version of the excellent Becta ‘Signpost to safety’ document with hyperlinks to all the available online resources, websites and training resources. See http://www.childnet.com/kia/teachers/resources.aspx

Free Assembly Downloads
Available to download from 1st February 2008

To mark European Safer Internet Day, your school can run the FREE DOWNLOADABLE CEOP school assemblies, ideally during February.  They are creative and innovative assemblies addressing internet and mobile safety that only take a maximum of 15 minutes!

Get it in your school diary NOW! February 2008

There will be individual assemblies for Key Stage 2 (8-10) and Key Stages 3/4 (11-16), targeted and relevant for these age groups.

To get access to the Safer Internet Day Assemblies go to www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers/safeintday.aspx or click on the Assemblies Banner in the Teacher/Trainer area.

Once you have registered for the assembly downloads, we will have to verify your account (unless you have already attended a Thinkuknow training course). Once you have been verified for the assembly downloads, you will also have access to other resources such as our Social Networking Film and lesson plan.

The downloads will be available from our “Resource Area” from 1st February 2008 but only to those who have registered and have had their accounts validated.

Kind regards

CEOP Education team

Are your teachers using and sharing
digital resources for learning and teaching?

Becta and the NEN invite your school to join this programme to:

§  exploit online digital resources

§  create new materials to support learning and teaching for secondary aged students using those online digital resources

§  work with your RBC (and possibly its Local Authority and other schools) to produce these materials and then share them across the NEN.

Projects last from April to December 2008.  Funding will be up to £25,000 per project. Bids are required by Friday 22 February 2008.

Further Details

On our way to Teachmeet, Andrea and I passed the Film Education stand. We were very impressed by the pimary literacy software that they were demonstrated, Picturacy. I am sure Andrea will post details about it when she is back at work.

Eager to find out more details I visited their website, but I was unable to find what I wanted. While searching around the site I did come across a number of useful resources for primary and secondary education. The free resources included study guides and worksheets for a variety of films and generic study guides aimed at the film industry, you can also purchase more resources aimed at the film industry.

The organisation also offers free screenings of films for schools, for example:

Thursday 7th February 2008
Certificate: 12A cert
Running time: 122 mins
Suitable for: KS 3/4, Citizenship, Media, English and AS/A2 Media Studies
Visit The Kite Runner educational online resource

Based on one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Kite Runner is a profoundly emotional tale of friendship, family, devastating mistakes and redeeming love. In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn apart forever. It’s a glorious afternoon in Kabul and the skies are bursting with the exhilarating joy of a kite-fighting tournament. But in the aftermath of the day’s victory, one boy’s fearful act of betrayal will mark their lives forever and set in motion an epic quest for redemption. Now, after 20 years of living in America, Amir returns to a perilous Afghanistan under the Taliban’s iron-fisted rule to face the secrets that still haunt him and take one last daring chance to set things right. Screening in: Birmingham Cineworld and London-Empire Leicester Square.

The London Screening will be followed by a 45 minute discussion on the film by writer and journalist Ian Haydn Smith. Please ensure you can stay for the whole event before booking.

To keep up to date with new additions to the site and to receive free resources for teaching film education you can sign up to the mailing list.

ClickView has developed a unique digital media solution that allows schools to not only manage all their video, podcasts, still images and audio files in one central library, but deliver them to all users across their school network and also to student’s homes.

Evan Clark, developed the digital video delivery software specifically for schools: “Streaming is a great solution when you’re one user on a home computer, but in schools, where hundreds of users may want to access digital video at any time, the resulting pressure on the network is immense. ClickView’s patented predictive file transfer technology effectively lifts the pressure from the school network, and means that hundreds of students can access digital video at the same time.”  This has opened up the chance for pupils to watch and work independently in IT suites, and letting every teacher access the school’s digital media resources anywhere that there is a computer.

The technology also comes with over 800 educational programmes specifically made for schools, but with the use of a capture card, you can also quickly and easily import VHS and DVD recordings into the system - simplifying and upgrading the current use of video in the classroom. As part of the anytime, anywhere learning agenda, digital video can also be seamlessly linked to any VLE or web based application. And to ensure we embed the use of digital media in the classroom, regular professional development sessions are provided free for teachers, by teachers, with experience of creative and effective use of digital media.

On January 10th 2007 at BETT, the Minister for Schools Jim Knight announced a Home Access taskforce in order to evaluate ways in which home access to technology and the internet can be delivered. As a result of this taskforce BECTA is looking for schools willing to participate in pilot programmes starting at the beginning of November.

To qualify primary or secondary schools should have an average or above average (> 15%) free school meal eligibility amongst pupils and be willing to work with both Becta and the IT industry to quickly implement a pupil / parent purchase scheme within a sample year group.

For further information or an informal discussion please contact ben.chapman@becta.org.uk (Tel. 07831 160 110)

Origin8 launching today - is a nationwide challenge for solo artists and bands aged 14-18 to create a piece of original music inspired by art from London’s National Gallery.

To enter - original music tracks need to be uploaded on to the Origin8 website at www.origin8.org.uk, where online voting will take place. 50 finalists will be invited to an all day Masterclass in February half-term. The event will be hosted by a celebrity guest and will include workshops in songwriting, production and the music industry.

The overall winners will win the opportunity to work on there track in a professional studio with help from a professional songwriter.  For more information, please visit www.origin8.org.uk