The Sorrell Foundation is launching the YOUNGDESIGNCLUB to give pupils and their teachers an exciting new resource to inform and stimulate knowledge and debate about design.

The YOUNGDESIGNCLUB is free to UK primary and secondary schools, to run in lunch breaks or as an after-school activity. Each meeting will focus on a piece of design from any discipline, providing a growing menu of over 100 design stories. They will be structured around presentations and supported by flexible resources, including print, film and audio materials and PowerPoint slides (available as downloads). This will be followed by a discussion, and the pupil members will have the opportunity to produce their own crit in response, the best of which will be published by the YOUNGDESIGNCLUB. There will also be an annual awards ceremony at Somerset House, London.

www.thesorrellfoundation.com/young_design_club.php

Are you a teacher interested in running the YOUNGDESIGNCLUB? To register your interest, please complete the online registration form. The club will begin in January 2011 and the Sorrell Foundation will contact you in September with detailed information.

A free giveaway of the History Channel’s documentary ‘Inside the Body of Henry VIII’ is available for teachers. The DVD explores life in Tudor Times and is aimed at upper KS2 children, although it also works well with secondary students.

Image – Henry VIII miniature

To receive your free copy, please email thepeoplespeak@iamtomorrow.co.uk by 17th July with ‘DVD King Henry Order’ in the subject line. Also include your name, school, school address, postcode and telephone number. Only 1000 copies are available and postage is free.

ROKTalk, a text-to-speech service for websites designed to ‘make websites talk’ through converting written text on websites into real-time, audible speech, has announced it is to gift the service to up to 5,000 primary and secondary schools across the UK this year.

www.roktalk.com

Under the terms of the plan, the first 5,000 schools to apply for the free service before 31st July will have it installed and operational on their websites in time for the next school year in September.

Schools may apply for the free ROKTalk service to be added to their websites by completing the online application form at www.roktalk.com

National Schools Film Week (NSFW) provides teachers and their students the opportunity to see a wide range of films at local cinemas entirely free-of-charge. This year will be the 15th annual festival and it is available to any school. They welcome bookings of all sizes. Some schools will bring an entire Year group or Key Stage while others attend on a class-by-class basis. They do not limit places to any number of students or schools to any number of bookings. As long as there is space in the cinema, you are welcome!

The National Schools Film Week is the world’s largest festival for cinema & young people. This year’s dates are:

• England, Wales & Northern Ireland – 14-22 October 2010
• Scotland: 28 October-5 November 2010

Although these dates are a few months away, they are asking for requests now. My school put in our request this week, so get planning and see how you can get involved too!

Travelling to Teach is an exciting summer travel programme aimed specifically at teachers interested in volunteering and teaching abroad. The project is currently looking for dedicated teachers who would like to use the opportunity to volunteer abroad to really change lives teaching English, Maths, Science, Art or Drama.

What’s involved?

The Travelling to Teach programme works with a number of charity/community schools in India, Nepal and Tanzania which provide education to children from some of the poorest backgrounds.

This is a three week long trip which will see selected volunteer teachers visit and work in a school in India, Nepal or Tanzania educating the local children and working with the existing teaching staff. The aim of the volunteering programme is to provide interactive and interesting lessons to the children, bringing amusement to their classes.

Here is a video where teachers share their experiences from previous trips.

I came across Anithings at a visit to BETT a few weeks ago. It is a fantastic piece of software which allows children to create their own animations on screen. They can design their own characters and backgrounds or use the ones provided. Recording the animation simply involves pressing the record button and then animating the characters by moving them around.

Here are some demonstrations of how to use the software. The first shows how to make a simple animation:

This video shows some of the more advanced features, such as drawing tools, storyboards and speech bubbles.

Any animations created using the software can be posted online and then embedded into school websites or VLEs.

UPDATE – This offer is now closed.

The team at Anithings have kindly offered visitors to Teaching Ideas and Teaching News a 10% discount on any orders of the software during February. To receive this discount, simple quote ‘Teaching Ideas‘ or ‘Teaching News‘ when you place the order. Schools and teachers using either of these codes will also receive a pack of 90 Anithings stickers featuring characters from the program… great for a display or as a reward for children who create amazing animations with the software!

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Partnerships for Schools (PfS) are running an exciting new initiative to get Energy Display Meters provided and installed into English state-funded schools, absolutely free. The meter provides real-time information about your school’s electricity use in an easy-to-understand format which can be used as a teaching and learning tool.

www.energydisplaymeter.co.uk

The device is linked to your school’s PC networks, enabling you to raise energy awareness amongst pupils and teachers. It is also an excellent customisable teaching tool. Register your interest on the Energy Display Meter site and you will be informed as soon as applications are open.

Do you know a teacher who’s gone the extra mile and really changed lives?

The BBC is looking for an inspirational teacher, an unsung hero who has somehow made a real difference, someone whose story deserves to be told.

Perhaps they have brought new and innovative methods to the classroom, with outstanding results. Maybe they have thrown away the rule book, only to prove their way does actually work. They may have transformed a school, a class, or perhaps simply touched individual lives.

It might not be a teacher – we’re interested in hearing stories of outstanding classroom assistants, school supervisors and other education professionals as well.

For an informal chat please contact Gemma Collins on 02920 322572 or email gemma.collins2@bbc.co.uk

Image – China_155

The Blue Cross has volunteer speakers around the UK who are able to visit primary schools to talk to the children about responsible pet ownership, the needs of pets and how to be safe around dogs. These talks are free of charge.

www.bluecross.org.uk

To date, The Blue Cross have seen over 100,000 school children with this programme. If you are interested in finding out if there is a speaker in your area, please email education@bluecross.org.uk or visit www.bluecross.org.uk.

The Journey Journal is a special passport sized book that encourages young people to (re)think the places they visit. It has been written for use during holidays, school trips and to support the transition between primary and secondary school.

The Journey Journal site explains that “going somewhere new is a massive opportunity to discover and make sense of the cultures, environments, issues and alternative ideas. The Journey Journal is a clever little interactive book that is packed with things to record, think and do. Using the Journey Journal encourages critical and creative thinking, helping the traveller to see their world in new ways.

Copies of the Journey Journal are usually £4.49 incl UK P&P) but you can get a copy for just £2.50 (with free P&P) by using the code ‘SAGT’ when you order in their online shop.