The PGCE Survival Guide is a new free e-book created to support those who are about to start PGCE teacher-training courses. However, it is such a fantastic resource that it could be useful for all teachers.

The PGCE guide site explains more about the book:

“It’s full of useful and practical, hints, tips and advice from recent PGCE graduates and more experienced teachers covering every element of teacher training, from your first day at university, through the hectic world of placements (with lots of valuable teaching tips) to finding a job- we have it all covered!

You won’t find countless chapters about educational theory – just real tips and advice from real teachers that have been selected to help you during your teacher training.”

I mentioned the #pgcetips Twitter tag on Teaching News a few weeks ago. The contributions to this tag have been collated and added to the book too. In fact, the book has over 250 super useful hints and tips from the education community on twitter!

I wish that there was a book like this when I started my teacher training course many years ago! Tim Handley (and the many other contributors) have done a wonderful job of creating an extremely valuable resource for all teachers, so download a free copy of the book or buy a paper copy!

Here is another collection of interesting education-related news, links and resources that I’ve discovered during my summer break.

Ideas to Inspire

I’ve added 5 new collaborative presentations to Ideas to Inspire over the past week or two. These have included ‘Ways to get to know your new class‘, ‘Ways to use Google Search in the classroom‘ and ‘Best Non-Tech Strategies and Techniques‘. The total number of ideas on ‘Ideas to Inspire‘ now exceeds 1200 – all of them contributed by teachers and educators from around the world. Thanks to Tom Barrett and David Mitchell for starting the new presentations.

#twittereducator

Peter Richardson has set up a simple way for teachers to find other educators on Twitter. Simply visit Blastfollow and enter the hashtag #twittereducator. You will then be able to follow a number of other teachers who have been recommended on Twitter. If you’re already on Twitter, why not send a tweet recommending other educators and add the hashtag #twittereducator to add them to the list? Find out more on Peter’s blog.

BrainPOP’s Space resources

Our new Space Teaching Theme was launched this week and it has attracted lots of positive feedback. By coincidence, BrainPOP have just revealed a new Space themed page too – Starship Brainpop. Their site has links to all of their space themed movies (some are free and some require a subscription) and their blog has lots of space themed resources too including activity sheets and an Astronaut Moby!

Other links:

• Wacky Races Papercraft – Instructions and printables showing you how to create the Wacky Races vehicles. Shared by @xannov.
• Communication and Collaboration Tools –  A useful list of online tools and resources. Shared by @mbarrow.
• Book Trailers – A selection of short movies which are designed to encourage student motivation to read. Shared by @profteresa.

Have you discovered anything interesting or exciting during your break?

Image – Welcome to my kingdom

Here are some of the interesting education-related things that I’ve found during my summer break so far:

Google Teacher Academy UK

The first Google Teacher Academy UK event took place this week and it sounded like an amazing experience for those who were able to attend. Even if you couldn’t make it, lots of people have been sharing what happened via their blogs and Twitter accounts. Here are some ways to follow the event it you couldn’t go:

• About the Google Teacher Academy (from Google’s site)
• GTA Posterous Blog – A special blog was set up allowing the attendees to write about what happened. This is a very interesting and useful resource.
• ICTSteps – Kevin McLaughlin has been writing blog posts about his experiences.
• Ian Addison has also describe his feelings about the event on his blog.
• Tom Barrett has created a collection of all of the blog posts about GTAUK which you can subscribe to if you use Google Reader.
• You can also follow the #gtauk hashtag on Twitter.

PGCE Tips:

Tom Henzley is aiming to create a free e-book containing tips for students starting a PGCE course. The book will contain contributions from people who post messages on Twitter using the hashtag #pgcetips. Here are some of the contributions so far:

• Be organised. Listen to and observe everything. Keep all bits of paper! (from @adambutterworth)
• Listen to advice, offer to help, don’t expect to be perfect – your mentor won’t expect you to be! (from @zaragozalass)
• Innovate… learn from school placements and write out your idea of what makes a good teacher… pick the best bits from others (from @dan_bowen)

Take a look at the other contributions by searching Twitter for #pgcetips and add some ideas of your own too. Lots of the ideas will be useful for practising teachers… not just PGCE students!

Other useful sites I’ve found:

• 20 websites no teacher should start the year without – A collection of sites which should be very useful for teachers (suggested by @colport).
• Fuzzwich – A simple online tool which lets you build animations. Shared by Mark Fox.

• Educational Jargon Generator – Create your own educational jargon which this clever site! Shared by @russeltarr.
• Secure Passwords Video – Here’s another fantastic video from Commoncraft which explains why it’s important to have strong passwords. Very useful for ICT / esafety lessons. Suggested by Lee Kolbert.
• Phil Bagge has updated his ICT videos with some new tutorials about using Google Docs for collaborative work.

Have you discovered any useful news / resources during the past few weeks?

Image – Underneath a Star

Here is another collection of links to the latest education news stories:

• SATs for 11 year olds have too high a margin of error to be used to compare schools in league tables, according to the NUT and ATL, who have urged the government to scrap the tests for Year 6 pupils. The leader of the NUT has given hints that there could be another boycott of the SATs next year, although more notice would be given this time around.
• Trade Unions were outraged by the £200,000 pay package of a primary headteacher in south London. Michael Gove has written to the School Teachers’ Review Body to say that he wanted no headteacher to earn more than the prime minister. The TES have published a related article which explains that rocketing headteacher salaries are justified by the ‘mammoth pay packets of singers and footballing megastars’.

Image – Decus Et Tutamen

• Michael Gove has also published the Department for Education’s key policy commitments and invited the public to hold them to account on delivery.
• The chairman of Ofsted has explained that it is not ‘an absolute disaster’ if schools contain bad teachers.
• The scrapping of school building plans has cost education authorities at least £160m, according to the Local Government Association.
• Empty shops could be converted into schools, saving a third of the cost of starting a new building. Meanwhile, a report from the Auditor General for Wales has said that that school buildings in Wales are in a poor state and there is a long way to go before all of them will be ‘fit for purpose’.
• Reforms that will allow every school to become an academy will be rushed through at a pace usually reserved for emergencies such as anti-terror legislation. However, the Director of Education at Civitas has explained that academies are failing to teach traditional subjects in favour of less challenging qualifications in an effort to drive up results.
• Students will have to pay more for university, possibly through a graduate tax, according to the Business Secretary Vince Cable. University students will also be able to take low-cost two-year degree courses in order to save time and money before entering the world of work.
• Thousands of people could miss out on a university place in the UK this year after 660,953 people applied to start full-time undergraduate courses. The Lecturers Union fears that up to 170,000 people could be disappointed.

Image – Graduation Cake Guy

• The debate about school lunches continues as the chairman of the School Food Trust has criticised parents for filling children’s packed lunches with junk food.
• A Scottish government pledge that all school children receive two hours of physical education a week is not being met, according to new figures.
• A group of primary school children have been honoured by the Royal Society of Chemistry for disproving the theory that spiders are afraid of conkers.
• Do you want to get your children more interested in Maths? Why not find out more about the maths buskers who want to communicate the wonder of maths to people in the street!

It’s been another busy week with lots going on in education. Here are links to some of the headlines:

• Hundreds of school buildings projects were scrapped this week. However, there was confusion after the original report included errors which gave some schools hope that their plans were to go ahead, only to be cancelled later. Two headteachers, where ‘buildings are beyond their life expectancy’ have since asked Michael Gove to rethink his plans and the government has faced mounting anger over the decisions. Here is the full list of projects scrapped.
• The government has announced a review of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, expressing concerns that it is too rigid.
• An author and literary researcher has claimed that it is harder for English children to read and write because of the complexity of the English spelling system.

Image – Extra Credit

• Primary schools in England do not have enough specialist Science teachers, according to a Royal Society study.
• Key Stage 2 test results were released to schools which administered the tests. Michael Gove released a statement about this, revealing that the 2011 KS2 SATs will take place in the week commencing May 9th. It was also revealed that a quarter of schools did not sit the KS2 SATs tests this year.
• A Green Paper will be released in the autumn to look at a wide range of issues for children with SEN and disabilities.
• The education secretary has said that modular A-Levels could be phased out, bringing back traditional exams at the end of two-year courses.
• The National Union of Teachers has claimed that schools could be breaking the law by asking support staff to teach lessons when qualified teachers are absent.
• A BBC Panorama programme reported that 18 UK teachers have been struck off for incompetence in the past 40 years and claimed that bad teachers are ‘recycled’ by moving between schools. This report from the Guardian talks about the issues raised in the programme and complains about the ‘teacher-bashing’.
• Headteachers will be given greater powers to search pupils and clearer guidance on when they can restrain disruptive pupils in a drive by ministers to improve behaviour and discipline. This BBC article outlines some experiences of behavioural issues in the classroom.
• The government plans to cap headteachers’ pay to the £142,500 salary of the Prime Minister.
• Teaching unions have accused the government of ‘cold calling’ headteachers to encourage them to turn their schools into academies.
• Schools are using increasing amounts of CCTV and other security measures, turning them into ‘prisons’, claims a study by Hull University.

Image – Dystopia

• The charity Teach First aims to double the number of top graduates it recruits into the teaching profession.
• University and higher education staff face cuts to their pensions, with a vote about the issue taking place on 22nd July. There is also a risk to university jobs if plans for 25% funding cuts go ahead. The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has also outlined plans to separate teaching from examining in high education.
• There has been a rise in the number of children eating school lunches in England, according to data from the School Food Trust.
• A new report revealed that the number of NEETs (teenagers not in education, employment or training) may be worse than previously thought. It also shows the effects that being in this situation has on the individuals.
• The Department for Education has revealed that the cost of developing their new brand was £5250 excluding VAT, which included £91 on ‘stationery specific to the change of brand’.

Naace, ‘the professional association for those concerned with advancing education through the appropriate use of ICT’, has produced a statement entitled ‘A Vision for ICT in Education’. This statement was produced with a number of other delegates and was addressed to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education.

www.naace.co.uk

It explain’s Naace’s view that ICT is important as a tool for learning. You can read the full statement below:

How do you feel about this message?

This post contains links to this week’s education related news stories:

• More academy news… Schools will not be required to consult with parents or staff before converting to academies, according to this report… A list of schools who have expressed an interest in becoming an academy was published… New data has also questioned the success of England’s academies, who might be relying more heavily on GCSE equivalents… and this report questions if parents will actually have the time to run free schools.
• The major three classroom unions have warned that the proposed pay freeze for public sector workers could lead to mass industrial action by teachers.
• An article in the Guardian suggests that abolishing the General Teaching Council could put children at risk.

Image – Open Book

• The schools minister, Nick Gibb, says that children are leaving school without a sufficient knowledge of facts. You can also read his ‘vision for schools’ which was published this week.
• It has been claimed that some Muslim parents are withdrawing children from music lessons for religious reasons.
• The BBC have collected some wonderful photographs of schools who have been supporting the World Cup through their lessons.
• In this Guardian report, a teacher describes how pupils appear to enjoy provoking teachers on a regular basis.
• Ed Balls, the shadow education secretary, has launched a ‘save free school meals campaign‘ to reverse the cancellation of plans to extend free meals to a further 500,000 pupils.
• The health secretary has told the BMA conference that ‘the Jamie Oliver approach will not work in tackling public health problems like obesity and smoking’.

Image - Link

• A national competition based around the Olympics is to be launched with the aim of ‘reviving’ competitive sport in England’s schools.
• The school starting age in Northern Ireland could raise to six years old, in line with most of Europe.
• The Education Minister in Northern Ireland has stated that the future for new school buildings is bleak, unless she gets extra money.
• The BBC’s School Report Sports Day event took place, allowing pupils to make up their own reports. Was your school involved?
• The Open University has reached 20 million downloads of educational material via iTunes – a new world record.
• A Google Teacher Academy will be taking place at the end of this month, offering 50 teachers and other educators the opportunity to share their ideas and discuss the use of Google technology in the classroom. Follow some of the teachers who will be attending by following this Twitter list.

Here’s a round-up of this week’s education-related news stories:

• Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, prepared a written ministerial statement on education spending. In his budget statement, George Osbourne, warned that education spending in England could be cut by as much as 25% over the next four years.
• The chair of Ofsted has resigned, fuelling speculation that ministers plan significant changes at the organisation.
• An announcement is expected next week about the future of the Building Schools for the Future scheme.
• The number of primary aged children is expected to rise by 13.5% by 2018, putting pressure on schools and education budgets. The proportion of 16 to 18 year olds at school, college or in training reached its highest ever level last year.

Image – Salt and Vinegar

• Parents want more advice about how to prepare healthier lunch boxes, rather than having schools tell them what they can and cannot put in them.
• A coalition of senior doctors and nurses have written to Michael Gove, expressing ‘deep concern’ at his decision to axe plans for free school meals for half a million primary school children from low income families.
• A leading headteacher says that more effort should be boosting results among the most able pupils, rather than concentrating on the drive to raise standards to a minimum threshold.
• The National Governors Association is telling its members to be cautious about becoming an academy. The government has also released a list of schools that have asked about becoming an academy.
• A study has shown that the free schools model in Sweden has not significantly improved pupils’ academic achievement.
• Students and staff at 100 UK colleges and universities are protesting against funding cuts in further, higher and adult education.
• An experienced headteacher has been suspended after allegedly making comments about a pupil.
• A report from the Telegraph finds out about schools who are taking part in a range of ‘eco’ activities, including recycling, reducing waste and growing vegetables.

Image – Stack of Books

• Sir Tom Stoppard believes that books are being left behind as an increasing amount of young people’s time is spent focusing on ‘the moving image’.
• It was also claimed that access to PCs and high-speed broadband can lead to a decline in test scores among young people.
• Atmosphir has left their ‘beta’ stage and offers free games based learning opportunities for schools. Thanks to Kevin McLaughlin for spotting this and sharing it on Twitter. Find out more about Atmosphir in the video below:

Here is a summary of this week’s education news:

• The government in England is setting out how parents, teachers, charities and other groups can apply to set up their own “free school”. Read an outline of the process on the Department for Education’s site. However, a Guardian article suggests that academies are bad news for teachers.
• TeachersTV have produced a video report which explains the new developments in education since the formation of the coalition government.

• The Department for Education confirmed changes to qualifications and the curriculum (including the introduction of iGCSEs and the dropping of the proposed new primary curriculum). The Guardian reports on schools who allow the children to choose their own topics.
• You can also watch a TeachersTV report about the decision to abadon the primary curriculum reforms.
• The second annual TES Schools Award took place on 17th June.
• Inspectors say that almost half of schools they visited are not providing their pupils with a good education. Ofsted has also recommended that parents of home schooled children should be legally obliged to register with their local authority and undergo annual ‘inspections’.
• A psychologist and author has called for computers and technology to be banned from schools until children reach nine years old.

Image – Exam

• A study has shown that pupils who are taught in smaller class sizes achieve higher marks in exams.
• Gender-specific qualifications are being planned by the UK’s biggest exam board.
• The exams watchdog has ordered examination boards to redraft new science GCSE papers because they are not rigorous enough.
• Health advisors stated that primary school children should be taught about sex, relationships and alcohol.
• Nearly half of teachers completing a survey believe that the health and safety culture in schools is damaging children’s learning and development.
• Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is setting up a school as part of a reality TV show.
• The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has upgraded their machines so they can be used by secondary school children.
• Teachmeet Blackpool took place this week. You can read more about the event on Zoe Ross’ blog, on Jan Webb’s blog, on Bev Evans’ blog and with this PrimaryPad document. Follow the tweets using the #tmbpool hashtag.

Here is this week’s collection of education news stories:

• I seem to have mentioned lots of stories about academies in recent weeks. However, the TES is now reporting that ‘the government will be forced to slash the number of academies it had hoped to create by September due to a lack of time and resources’. This BBC report also reports on the possible loss of services for children with special educational needs because of the academy scheme.
• The 2010 Teaching Awards in Northern Ireland took place this week, rewarding a number of teachers and headteachers for their work.
• Ofsted’s latest survey on religious education found that in many of the schools visited RE was no better than satisfactory. They believe that this is because ‘teachers are unsure about what they are trying to achieve in the subject.’
• Ministers are still refusing to confirm their spending plans, which could threaten a programme to build new schools in England.

Image – Focus

• Research shows that children to learn to read from a very young age perform no better by the age of 5 than those who learn later. A report from the National Literacy Trust also has some interesting findings, including this statement that ‘a significant number of parents are either unconvinced of the benefits of supporting their child’s literacy, don’t prioritise it or don’t have the skills to do so.’
• The government has ordered an independent review of child protection and social work in England, prompted by a number of high-profile abuse cases.
• Ministers are shelving a scheme to widen entitlement to free meals to more low income families, prompting complaints from campaigners against child poverty.
• State school pupils will be able to take a tougher International GCSE (IGCSE) after the Government has announced that it was introducing the qualification.
• New technology could allow students to complete exams from the comfort of their own rooms, according to this BBC article.
• The universities minister, David Willetts, has said that ‘England’s university system needs a radical overhaul to give more value to students and taxpayers’. He said that universities need to find cheaper and more flexible ways to teach.
• Despite Ofsted’s crackdown on pupil safety, it appears that some inspectors are not always following their own rules.
• Headteachers at boarding schools are demanding the right to give cake to their pupils as ‘children should be allowed access to “homely food” after school.’

• The popular PurpleMash site has received a makeover this week, with some handy new tabs which make it easier for teachers and children to find ‘app-tivities’ to use.
• The World Cup 2010 has begun and lots of schools are using the event as part of their lessons. This BBC video shows a school involved in a soccer-themed project. Don’t forget the World Cup resources on Teaching Ideas if you would like to try something similar!