My World in 60 Seconds is a film project for 11-14 year olds, set up by the Geographical Association, to create an alternative guide to our world, a guide that is created by you. The organisers want to re-present the world as people know it, so they are looking for young people to make short films that are thought provoking, insightful and engaging.

www.geography.org.uk/11-19/myworldin60seconds

60 seconds is just long enough to guide someone through part of your world, to show what it is really like for you. The best films can appear on BBC Big Screens across the country. A panel of judges will watch all the films and the ones that in their opinion best reflect what we are looking for could be shown. These films will also appear online as part of a guide to our world.

Find out more at the My World in 60 Seconds site.

Here are details of two fantastic resources for those teaching Literacy / Music / History linked to the topic of Ancient Greece:

‘Heroes of Troy‘ is a music resource for school children aged 9 to 11 and offers 7 songs to learn, each linking to an episode of the Trojan War. The website is audio-based, but also includes Teachers’ Notes, words and music for the songs, backing tracks…and well-known music presenter David Grant is on hand to teach all of the songs.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/troy/

It’s intended to target a range of music objectives at Key Stage 2 but also links to the history topic Ancient Greece while offering opportunities to link music with literacy and performance.

Winged Sandals offers animated versions of different Greek myths, along with games and other online activities to try. This has always been popular with children whenever I’ve used it at school.

www.wingedsandals.com

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

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I’ve always been a fan of the BBC’s Newsround TV show and website, as they provide current news which is more appropriate for children to read. Simon Widdowson recently shared this fantastic version of the site which is even more accessible.

www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/newsreader

The site has a much simpler interface with less distractions and it will even read the news to you. It is also accessible to those to use switches to use a computer and you change the settings to make the site even more appropriate for your needs.

Young people around the world have been sharing their experiences of work for the BBC World Class Workarama. They have been answering four questions:

• What work do you do at home?
• What work do you do outside the home?
• Are you paid for any of the work you do?
• What is the money spent on?

You can read the responses on the interactive map on the BBC site. They make interesting readingand would be useful for work within Geography / PSHE lessons. You can also read a selection of these on the BBC World Class site, and get involved yourself by completing the form here.

I’ve had an email from the senior producer of the BBC’s Bitesize websites who wrote to say that the site has recently had a makeover. There is a new look for the KS2 area (for children aged 7 to 11)…

as well as the KS3 area (for students aged 11-14)…

The KS3 pages have lots of new activities (examples here, here and here) and there are also new videos on the KS2 pages. The Bitesize pages are a wonderful resource for schools, covering lots of different subject areas and topics in really interesting and interactive ways, so have a look to see what’s new.

According to this article from Guardian Education, David Tennant (actor and current star of BBC Show Doctor Who) is the ideal headteacher.

Image from www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho

Primary school children were asked to vote for the person they would most like to be in charge of their school. Some of the other choices included Barrack Obama, JK Rowling, David Beckham and Cheryl Cole. Lots of celebrities were chosen by the children ’because they were fun’.

The survey also indicated that most children felt that their own headteachers made them feel happy at school. 88% of children also believed that their headteacher wanted the best for their school. Read more results in the article.

Who would be YOUR dream headteacher? Let us know in the comments…

The BBC send out a monthly newsletter for those interested in receiving information about their resources for schools.

The newsletter has information for primary and secondary schools and is a easy way of finding out about the latest additions to the fantastic BBC Schools service. To sign up, visit www.bbc.co.uk/schools/newsletter

Do you receive any other education-related newsletters? I would like to feature other mailing list messages that teachers find useful. Please leave a comment on this post or send me an email… thanks!

The BBC recently reported on some new research which states that a quarter of children read just one book with their teacher each year. This is due to the use of extracts, rather than reading (and enjoying) entire stories.

How many books do you read with your class each year? I generally read lots of short stories, but try to read longer stories when possible. Although reading with the class is one of my favourite parts of the job, one of my concerns is having time to fit it in.

What do you think?

Image: ‘Reading is fun‘