New Products & Services (73)
New contextual lesson plans created for audio recording software
By Sonocent on 18 June 2013, 15:33pm
Teachers who incorporate Sonocent's audio recording software into their lessons – or make use of any similar recording equipment – can now benefit from downloadable lesson plans covering English, ICT and SEN at both primary and secondary level.
These resources are authored by a panel of respected and renowned educational consultants including Trevor Millum, Chris Warren, Steve Bunce and Sally McKeown. In the English section, for instance, lesson plans are organised into specific contexts such as 'Observation', 'Poetry Power' and 'Tell me a story' and others. In 'Poetry Power', Sonocent's Audio Notetaker can be used to practise the delivery of spoken verse so students can confidently and powerfully express the words as they interpret them.
Making Maths fun should not be too puzzling
By 7puzzle on 17 June 2013, 14:11pm
Known among schools as 'The Puzzle Man', experienced arithmetician Paul Godding MSc has faced one major obstacle all his life: the false conception of Maths lessons being all about memorising numbers, rules, and formulae. 'Boring!'
If 25 years of teaching Mathematics has taught Paul one thing, it is that students need to feel confident and enthusiastic to properly and consistently progress in their level of knowledge and understanding of the subject. This philosophy led him to create a range of collaborative number-related board games, card games and puzzles which require logic, strategy and spatial awareness.
OurSchoolsApp – a free app to keep parents up to date
By Contact Group on 12 June 2013, 13:40pm
Contact Group, provider of school-home communications solutions, has launched OurSchoolsApp - a personalised app that schools can give free to parents, to keep them instantly updated with school information, news, events and contacts. It is designed for use on iPhones and Android devices – now owned by nearly 60 per cent of the UK adult population and steadily rising.
Easy to update and amend, OurSchoolsApp can be personalised with the school’s name and branding. Information can be readily uploaded by non technical staff via the app’s portal which replicates the layout displayed on the recipient's phone, making it easy to add, update or delete content.
Every time a school adds information, news or events onto the web portal, parents will receive a push notification and also a reminder prior to an event. Additionally the app includes updated phone numbers, email addresses and photos of school contacts, with click options to call or email.
Exploring science through video, visuals and praxis
By Twig on 07 June 2013, 11:37am
A recent harnessing of video to explain scientific topics has proved to be an award-winning strategy which has provided primary school students with an enticing means to be engaged and familiarised with challenging concepts such as energy, forces and material states.
Driven by the award-winning success of their Key Stage 3 and 4 film-based learning resource, Twig World have produced a new series of original short films designed to match the school curriculum for science taught in Key Stage 2.
Transforming school news with live updates straight to parents
By Pressglue on 31 May 2013, 14:08pmA national company is launching a unique way of keeping family and friends up to date with the latest news from the classroom. PressGlue has spent the last 2 years researching and developing their news-publishing site, which will allow parents to have real-time access to developments and news from the school via email alerts.
The idea came from Director Jonathan Farber who, as a parent, quickly realised the limitations of traditional newsletters and how quickly they went out of date before they made it into parents' hands. He tells us more:
Assessing working memory - why is it important?
By Lucid on 30 May 2013, 09:44am
Working memory is the brain’s temporary storage system which underpins all cognitive activity, playing an important role in supporting the acquisition and development of educational skills.
It's difficulties are associated with a wide range of learning and neurodevelopmental disorders. Tests of working memory can help teachers to understand the nature of a child’s educational difficulties so that effective classroom strategies can be put in place to overcome memory limitations.
Lucid Recall is a brand new, teacher-friendly computerised assessment of working memory standardised for use in the 7–16 age range. It takes less than 30 minutes and gives immediate results. The accompanying teacher’s manual contains advice on supporting children who struggle with working memory.
Think2Read helps children to see beyond words into a world of meaning
By Think2Read on 28 May 2013, 13:01pm
Based on years of research, trials and evaluations, Think2Read has created a compelling comprehension programme structured on improving thinking skills and collaborative enquiry that teaches children how to question deeply and make meaning for themselves.
It offers a complete teaching resource of six modules with full lesson plans, quality activities and in-depth assessments which help children to learn progressive skills that show them how to summarise, retell, predict, clarify and question.
The resources that grew out of Donna Thomson’s pioneering approach to teaching comprehension strategies and child-led enquiry skills were shortlisted for the 2007 Education Resources Awards. Her series of books based on these teaching methods have since accumulated sales of over 30,000 copies. Donna’s research-based Think2Read comprehension skills programme has been revised and is now available in digital format using a range of picture books, novels, non-fiction and poetry from top children's authors that includes fiction and non-fiction video footage.
Digital Nursery unveils its new and evolved tilting table
By Digital Nursery on 22 May 2013, 14:12pm
Route 2/Digital Nursery has launched its new interactive table product, The Tilt & Touch.
The new product retains all the fun and function of the hugely popular C-Point Table and its touch applications which are designed to reflect the EYFS and Key Stage 1 Curriculums, and combines that with the ability to tilt and lock the screen in place.
This allows smaller children to access the table more easily, opening up the age usage, and for it to be used in circle time for story-telling or activities for the whole class.
“We think the Tilt & Touch is the next step in the evolution of the product,” said Route 2’s Commercial Director, Richard Bijster.
Working together to support children with learning difficulties
By Dore on 16 May 2013, 11:54am
The involvement of parents in their child’s education is recognised as hugely beneficial: it promotes important two-way communication between the school and the family, fosters common aims and provides all-round support for the child. Ofsted recommends that schools should “engage parents in supporting pupils’ achievement, behaviour and safety and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development” (The Framework for School Inspection, Ofsted, Jan 2013).
For pupils with Special Educational Needs, this involvement is critical. The Lamb Inquiry looked into the most effective ways of increasing parental confidence in the SEN assessment process, stating that, “Good communication is not just better for parents and professionals, it is better for children. In the most successful schools, the effective engagement of parents has an impact on children’s progress.” (Lamb Inquiry, Crown Copyright 2009)
Schools encouraged to explore British Sign Language in the classroom
By SignSpell on 13 May 2013, 14:05pm
Schools are being encouraged to think beyond standard phonics-based teaching in early year education by exploring a new teaching resource based on British Sign Language (BSL).
Told through a combination of books, online games and videos of words and phrases, SignSpell is the first holistic educational resource of its kind, designed to help hearing children in their early years to read, spell and remember words through basic BSL.
