Did you know that the Guinness World Records is the third biggest selling book of all time. It’s also the most borrowed book from school libraries! Schools can currently enter a competition to win a visit from the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen. Guinness World Records officials will also visit the winning school to adjudicate a series of world record breaking challenges.

You can enter the competition on the Guinness World Records Schools page, which also has a selection of lesson plans and resources for you to use. There are also some free online ‘page spreads‘ which include 26 pages of facts from the book. Take a look!

247tales is an online writing competition from Bloomsbury Publishing that challenges 10-16 year olds to write short stories using 247 words or fewer.

The prize for the winning story is £75 worth of Bloomsbury Children’s books plus a framed copy of the winning story and ten runners-up will receive signed copies of the guest author’s latest book. Winning stories will also appear on the 247tales website so that others can enjoy them too.

Current and future themes for competition entries include ‘The Game’, ‘The Secret’, ‘The Dragon’ and ‘The Mystery’. Could you use this as a starting point for writing in your classroom? For full details on the closing date and how to enter visit the RULES section of the website.

The Dream Lab is a new national design competition for schools. It’s being fronted by Sir Trevor Baylis (inventor of the wind up radio) and Ortis Deley (presenter on Channel 5’s Gadget Show) and it’s inviting school children aged between 13 and 18 to enter their ideas for sleep related gadgets. You can find lots of advice and downloadable resources here.

The winning child’s school design and technology department will win a prize of £20,000 and the winning child or team (up to 4) will win £10,000 to help them get their idea made. Find out more and get involved at thedreamlab.co.uk.

Over the past week, I have been redesigning Teaching News, so that the site matches the style and layout of my other Teaching Websites. The new site has much clearer design with text that is easier to read too. I hope that you like it!

I am also sorting through lots of the older posts (there are about 2,000 of them!) and other content to remove any broken images and links, many of which have arisen following the demise of Teachers.tv and the Standards sites. I’ve also been amazed at how many of the fantastic online resources that have been recommended here over the years have now simply disappeared.

UPDATE – The survey has now closed. Thanks to everyone who provided their feedback.

BBC Learning is launching a national recitation and performance contest for secondary schools as part of the BBC’s Shakespeare Season in 2012.  Students are invited to learn and perform a famous speech from one of Shakespeare’s plays.  They will take on classic speeches and monologues from his greatest works such as Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and As You Like It.

The contest is designed to get students up on their feet performing and enjoying Shakespearean language. It is also hoped that it will encourage an appreciation of the relevance of his work and its lessons in human nature through exploring the characters.

The Off By Heart website includes resources created by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) to get students up on their feet, actively exploring performance choices and language.  It also offers online resources to enable schools to select the student who will best represent their school in the competition.

Schools are invited to register their interest now at www.bbc.co.uk/offbyheart.  In June 2011 schools will be invited to nominate a pupil to represent their school.

Chance to Shine is a national campaign that aims to bring competitive cricket (and its educational benefits) back to schools. The project provides a coaching and competition programme for groups of primary and secondary schools. They also provide equipment, facility development (including playground markings and non-turf pitches) as well as training for teachers and coaches.

The organisers are currently running an exciting competition. To enter, your Key Stage Two pupils have to design a full-page magazine advert to promote the Spirit of Cricket message of ‘Play Hard, Play Fair, Have Fun’.

The winning advert will be reproduced as a full page advert in the ‘All Out Cricket’ magazine this summer. The top four designs will also win a place for twenty of the winning designer’s classmates to play on the outfield at Lord’s during a Test match!

Find out more about the competition at www.chancetoshine.org/competitionsoc.

A fantastic competition has recently been launched which is a joint effort of Doctor Who’s and the BBC Learning teams. Pupils aged 9-11 are encouraged to collaborate on a three minute script that takes the resident Time Lord on a new quest travelling through space and time inside the TARDIS.

The lucky winners will travel to the BBC’s studios in Cardiff where they will see their script brought to life by the Doctor Who team and cast including Matt Smith.

The BBC have lots of lesson plans to support the writing, and some exciting clips from the Doctor, calling kids to join in. Visit the Script to Screen site for more information.

Support Your School are currently running a competition which gives children a chance to show off their skills and design a character to be brought to life on their website, recycling bags and boxes.

As well as having their design featured as part of ‘Support Your School’s recycling scheme, the winning designer will win an Apple iPad while their school will win £1000 to be put towards their school’s art & design budget.

To take part, schools must be registered with the recycling scheme and teachers or parents need to register their interest here.

Find out more about the competition here.

Tesco are planning to create a new Board to be made up entirely of children. Six children, aged from just nine to 12, will be selected on the basis of their budding boardroom skills as a fledgling director. The young entrepreneurs will attend official Kids’ Board meetings at Tesco HQ – and will be tasked with shaping the future of the popular Tesco for Schools & Clubs programme.

To be considered for a place on the Kids’ Board, children will have to make the case for why they should be ‘hired’ through the online application. They’ll need to demonstrate that they have a talent for making decisions and a vision for the future.

You can find out more by watching the Youtube video above or enterthe competition at www.tescoforschoolsandclubs.co.uk/kidsboard.

Andy Green currently holds the current World land speed record of just over 763 mph and was the first person ever to break the sound barrier on land! All Primary, Secondary, Independent schools and Colleges in the UK can now enter a competition to bring Andy Green into their classrooms and interview him!

Give your students an insight into the Bloodhound 1000mph car project, whilst they learn about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics! How to enter…

1. Schools must register with the Leaders Award by clicking here.
2. Students should write a joint letter about why Andy Green should come into their school.
3. A covering letter from the Head teacher/ teacher should also be included.
4. All letters should be sent electronically to editor@leadersaward.com

Andy will review the letters and visit the schools with the most persuasive argument! The closing date for the competition is 30th May 2011. For more information visit the Leaders Award site.

Image – Bloodhound SSC