Thursday, September 24, 2009
Have Your Say, September 2009
A new school year brings a plenty of free new resources and opportunities for students and teachers.
The housing and homelessness charity, Shelter has launched an online Teachers Centre to support schools in developing a better understanding of homelessness with children and young people. The centre has free interactive Classroom Kits for both Primary and Secondary schools (key stage 2 and 3) containing really interesting resources including videos, games and information packs all designed to encourage children and young people to think and talk about the issues around homelessness. The site also contains practical information and advice about housing. Visit the website.
Debate Mate is a charitable organisation founded by the Barrister Margaret Mc Cabe to develop and promote the verbal intelligence of young people through debating. The programme is designed to bring debating to schools and areas which traditionally have least access to debating clubs and competitions. The programme recruits and trains undergraduates who already have debating skills to go into schools and mentor other young people in the skills of debating and reasoning by running an after school club for 16 weeks. As well as being assigned a Debate Mate, schools which register to take part in the scheme receive free training for staff and opportunities to enter competitions and attend other events organised by the charity. The programme is free to schools. To find out more or apply visit the website.
Mangahigh is a new website designed to learn and practice maths through games. The games on the site are free to users. (There is a membership option to access functions such as feedback and progress reviews.) The games are designed to require the successful application of mathematical concepts to progress, for example using geometry skills to build a path across the voids, and escape from a pyramid. The site is aimed at 11-16 year olds.
National Poetry Day takes place across the UK on 8th October 2009. The official website lists events taking place regionally and nationally. There are resources and materials free to download around this year’s theme of Heroes and Heroines. A new feature for National Poetry Day 2009 is the facility to send an e-card from the site containing a poem specially written for the site by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. The poem will be published on October 3rd on the National Poetry Day website.
October 10th 2009 is the 10th annual Big Draw Day. Organised by The Campaign for Drawing the Big Draw promotes the pleasure of drawing through public events across the UK. 100s of venues across the country are hosting public drawing activities for all ages. The aim is to show that "drawing can be a public activity as well as a private passion." Visit the website to find out events taking place in your region, or to register your own event.
What works well is a new website where teachers and other educational practitioners can share their experiences and practice in improving learning and teaching. The experiences are organised as case-studies which can be search by age, key words or curriculum area. The site , funded by the DCSF, already has over 100 case-studies available. The most recently added case-studies are featured on the front page.
The Royal Society are now accepting applications for their 2009 Partnership Grants. Grants of up to £3,000 are awarded to projects which give young people the chance to work with science and engineering professionals through their school. All schools across the UK can apply with previous projects involving students ranging from 5-18. To find out more about the application process visit the website.