As the Chancellor what economic decisions would you make? What would your Budget for the country be? Which taxes will you levy on society? Where would you choose to spend the money you’ve raised? Here is a chance for the young people in your school to have their say. Watch this video to find out more:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chance to be Chancellor is a competition that is open to all 14-18 year olds across the UK and their decisions will form the Youth Budget 2012. For a chance to win the national competition, visit the Paying for It site.

The Fun Food Company runs nutritional shows to KS3 students during PHSE sessions (or just for fun learning), in the form of a 2 part show (1 hour long). The sessions explore the importance of a healthy breakfast and how to balance the eat well plate, as well as recognising which foods contain carbs, protein, vitamins and minerals etc. The second half of the show is a competition loosely based on the television programme ‘Ready Steady Cook’, where 2 celebrity chefs (teachers) and their 2 team mates (pupils) battle for 15 minutes to cook a balanced meal, red team (red chillies) verses the green team (green peas).

Each team has a fully functional stage kitchen with 2 electric woks, a steamer, chopping boards, knife sets and cooking utensils. Once the competition has ended, the teams present the finished food onto the centre presentation table, where 10 audience volunteers come and taste the food and give their opinion. The winner is then voted for by the audience (50 – 300 pupils).

The show sounds like a great way for pupils to learn about healthy eating and the importance of it, whilst having a fun and interactive hour. You can find contact details for The Fun Food Company on their site.

I’ve mentioned the free content from the Red Cross on Teaching News before and they have now published a new resource called ‘Positive Images’. It is designed to help teachers, youth workers and other educators teach young people (aged 12 and over) about migration and development.

The resource includes clear lesson ideas and plans with accompanying resources. There are also relevant video resources on the Red Cross’ Youtube channel and these are also embedded on the download page for the resource. Find them all here.

Road Safety Week takes places in the UK from 21st to 27th November. Here are a number of resources that can be used to support activities during the week:

1) Road Safety Week site – The official site contains lots of relevant information and resources that schools can use. Look in the Educators and Resources sections to get started.

2) Road Safety with Buzzy Bee – Sing along with these road safety songs. There is also a video version of one of the songs:

Click here to view the embedded video.

3) 3M Streetwise – This online resource has sections for pupils (aged 7-11), teachers and parents.

4) Tales of the Road – This site has a number of games which children can play online to teach them different road safety messages.

5) Road Safety Adverts – There are a number of road safety adverts available online. Here is one of the more recent ads from the Department of Transport:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s another advert which is a little older… and not quite so scary!

Click here to view the embedded video.

This Tufty road safety advert was made in 1973:

Click here to view the embedded video.

6) Life. Live It – The British Red Cross have a great website for 5-11 year olds which teaches children how to avoid accidents and what to do if they do occur.

7) Renault Safety Matters – Renault have lots of games and activities which teach road safety to 7-11 year olds.

8 ) AAttitude – The AA have a site for older students who are beginning to learn how to drive.

Are you going to teach any road safety lessons this week?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been busy working on a new set of themed resources for my Teaching Ideas site. I’m pleased to say that the new theme is now available!

The theme has over 100 teaching ideas, activities, display resources, videos and photos… all of which can be used to support teaching about healthy eating, the human body and exercise. There are lots of posters which you can print and put on your classroom wall, as well as activity sheets for children to use.

Teaching Ideas now has 14 themes and I’m planning some more themes which will be published over the next few months and in 2012. If you’re starting to think about Christmas lessons, don’t forget to look at the Christmas theme!

Here are five fantastic new resources that I’ve discovered this week:

1) Schoolswaps - Are you a teacher? Do want to receive some postcards from somewhere exciting for your class? If so, sign up to the first ever Great Big School swap! Thanks to @andytgeezer for sharing this on Twitter.

2) Life. Live it – The Red Cross have a fantastic child-friendly site which gives information and advice about first aid for 5 to 11 year olds. The site includes films, activities, quizzes and ‘how to’ videos. Thanks to Simon Haughton for recommending this.

3) 7 offline ideas in 7 minutes – Here’s an interesting video from Dave Stacey which gives seven ideas for activities that don’t involve the Internet. Watch the video embedded below and read more about this on Dave’s blog.

Click here to view the embedded video.

4) The World’s Biggest Treehouse – Crooked Brains is one of my favourite blogs as it shares lots of weird and wonderful photos. Here is a recent post on the site which shares images of an amazing treehouse. Could you use these pictures in the classroom… to develop descriptive writing… as a starting point for a spooky adventure… to encourage the children to build their own model treehouses… to look at structures and materials?

5) Ten Twitter Tips for Teachers – Do you use Twitter? The whiteboard blog has a fantastic post about how teachers can make the most of this amazing tool. Don’t forget to follow Danny Nicholson (the creator of the Whiteboard blog) and Teaching Ideas (our Twitter Account) on Twitter!

What new resources have you found this week? Leave a comment to share them with others…

I’m now on my half term break, so there won’t be any more Teaching News posts for a few days. In the meantime, please complete my survey!

Action for Happiness is a movement for positive social change. The project aims to bring together people from all walks of life who want to play a part in creating a happier society for everyone.

Their site has lots of ideas to encourage happier living, as well as information about groups and events that you can take part in. There are also lots of resources that might be useful for PSHE teachers.

www.actionforhappiness.org

Find out more in the Youtube video above or visit their site at www.actionforhappiness.org.

Saving Squad is a free online resource for 7-11 year olds, designed to improve young people’s financial capability and promote the benefits of saving money. Children create an avatar and solve real world money and numeracy based problems in order to earn points and unlock games.

The resource also includes lesson plans and ideas for teachers and parents/carers as well as guidance and discussion topics. It looks very useful… could you use the site in your classroom?

MoneySmartWorld have a wide range of money worksheets, curriculum based lesson plans, practical money management workbooks, story books and informative articles specifically designed to help young people learn about money. Their resources are designed for all ages.

As well as the paid resources, there are also lots of free resources to download, so take a look!

Fearless is part of the UK charity, Crimestoppers. Crimestoppers runs the 0800 555 111 telephone number, which you can call to give information about crime anonymously. The Fearless site is aimed at young people, allowing them to give information about crime online, and offering workshops about crime that affects them.

The Fearless team have created resources for primary and secondary teachers which you can download from their site. The resources are also embedded below:

Primary:

Secondary: