Here are links to some useful resources that schools can use to bring news and current affairs into their classrooms:

1) Newsthink – Newsthink is a free fortnightly email which explores current headlines in the news and provides teachers with activities, videos, photos and discussion triggers to use within the current curriculum. The content of each newsletter varies depending on the world’s current affairs. Newsthink is a resource primarily designed for Key stages 3 and 4 but could also be used for older secondary students.

2) First News – This popular newspaper for children also has a fantastic website. You can read articles, watch weekly news bulletins and take part in surveys and competitions.

3) BBC Newsround – The BBC’s popular news programme for children has its own dedicated site which is regularly updated and has some fantastic content for younger news readers. You can also watch the news and take part in other games and activities. Don’t forget to look at their e-safety special features and their accessible reader (which is great for sharing the headlines on an interactive whiteboard each day).

Are you aware of any other good news resources for children. Share them in the comments…

My latest copy of the BBC Schools newsletter was emailed to me a few days ago and it reminded me of all of the fantastic resources that they have created for teachers. Here are some of the things that are available on their site:

• Class Clips – More than 8000 video clips from BBC programmes that you can play in your classroom. These are all clearly organised and easy to search for.
• News for Schools – News reports to support your lessons, along with lesson plans which give ideas for using them.
• CBBC Newsreader – An accessible newsreader which is suitable for primary children. It shares some of the latest news headlines, organised by topic, and the site reads the articles too!
• Teachers’ Packs – Whole sets of lesson plans and printable resources for all ages… I’m sure that the Doctor Who pack will be very popular!
• BBC Bitesize – Revision lessons and activities for all ages and curriculum areas.
• School Radio – Podcasts, downloads, audio and video clips covering Music, Dance, History, Literacy, PSHE, Maths and Collective Worship!
• Primary History – One of my favourite History resources… this site has lots of wonderful resources for children and teachers. The timeline is especially useful.
• Primary Languages – Lots of useful resources for teaching French, Spanish and Mandarin to primary pupils.

Here are links to some of this week’s education-related news:

• Too many design and technology teachers in England are failing to keep pace with global technological advances, education inspectors have said.
• Thousands of children are being turned off maths and science at school because of “tedious” lessons, according to one of the world’s top physicists.
• Thousands of teenagers will learn a trade at a new generation of technical schools under Government plans unveiled in the Budget.
• A major two-year study found that student teachers in England had a weaker grasp of maths than trainees in nations such as China, Japan, Ireland, Finland and Russia.
• Teachers should receive bigger paypackets, according to one of Britain’s most influential businessmen, who argues that increasing their salaries would be good for the economy.
• The School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB’s) recommendations on pay for those unqualified teachers who earn a full-time equivalent salary of £21,000 or less have been published.
• Children at a comprehensive school are to become first in the country to be sent home early every Friday in an attempt to save money.
• More than 30,000 pupils from around the UK turned their classrooms into newsrooms as they made the news for real.

• A third of schoolchildren who took part in a UK-wide BBC survey say they do not believe in God, a majority help adults to use the internet and at least one in three is feeling the effects of the economic slowdown.
• Schools could be ranked by the number of pupils gaining university degrees under Coalition plans to drive up education standards.
• Students and academics at a world-leading London university want to build bridges between the Wikipedia website and formal research.
• A controversial “nappy curriculum” for under-fives will be radically overhauled after a Government review concluded almost half of children were starting school lacking basic social and language skills.
• Ministers are pressing ahead with a trial of a new-style phonics test designed to identify pupils lagging behind after a year of compulsory education.
• Children as young as 11 should be expected to read 50 books a year as part of a national drive to improve literacy standards, according to Michael Gove.
• Headteachers have accused the education secretary of being driven by an ideological agenda after it emerged that almost half the schools he has visited since taking power are – or have applied to become –academies.
• Plans to allow teachers in to search pupils for mobile phones and examine the phones’ content have been called “reckless” by a teaching union.
• Ofsted has launched a consultation on the inspection of maintained schools and academies in England. The changes aim to re-focus school inspection on what matters most: the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom, backed by excellent leadership and management, and good discipline and behaviour in schools.
• The process by which parents and other groups apply to set up so-called free schools is being tightened up.
• A walk around a Sheffield school has become a heroic quest to find weapons and magical items to defeat a monster.
• A third of 11 to 16-year-olds say their families have cut back on spending amid the economic downturn, according to a BBC survey about UK young people.

Next week’s Teaching Events include:

• 1st to 31st March- Tenner 2011
• 14th to 27th March- Cambridge Science Festival
• 26th March - Earth Hour
• 27th March - World Theatre Day
• 27th March - Census Day 2011

Here are links to some of this week’s education-related news:

• A number of made-up words such as “koob” or “zort” are to be included in the government’s planned new reading test for six-year-olds in England.
• Contentious plans to publish league tables of five-year-olds’ assessment results have been abandoned after strong criticism from teaching unions and early-years experts.
• Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has been accused of breaking his word that he would boost school repair budgets after it emerged that funds had been slashed by £86,000.
• The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education is calling for a cultural shift in the nation’s attitude to maths and a change in its teaching.

Image – done

• Computerised exams should replace pen and paper tests for a generation used to digital learning, the head of England’s exams watchdog has said.
• Secondary schools in England spent £293m on supply teachers last year – the equivalent of nearly £100,000 per school, the Taxpayers’ Alliance says.
• This report in the Telegraph explores how one of Britain’s worst-performing school became one of the best.
• The revival of Latin is in full swing, but now Greek is getting in on the act in primary schools.
• The proportion of 16-24-year-olds not in employment, education or training in England at the end of 2010 was up on previous years, official figures show. Read the government’s response to this.

Next week’s Teaching Events include:

• 1st to 28th February -  National Heart Month
• 18th February to 13th March -  Fairtrade Fortnight 2011
• 1st to 31st March - Tenner 2011
• 1st March –  World Maths Day
• 1st March - St. David’s Day
• 3rd March - World Spelling Day
• 3rd March - World Book Day
• 3rd March - Dyscalculia Day

The Youtube video above gives information about a new offer from British Pathé. Their archive of 90,000 films and 12 million photographs covers an enormous range of subjects including modern British and world history, news, fashion, sport, entertainment, travel, warfare and 20th Century social history.

This archive is available to all schools in the UK through a special education subscription. Schools who subscribe have access to the following additional features:

• Unlimited downloads of British Pathé material for use within the classroom,
• Curriculum-specific collections created by teachers,
• Permission to publish films on Secure Learning Platforms.

Many state schools in the UK already have access to free British Pathé downloads under agreements with their Regional Broadband Consortium or Local Authority, so it’s worth checking to see if your school already has free access.

You can also follow British Pathe on Twitter at @patheschools.

Here are links to some of this week’s education-related news:

• A review of the National Curriculum in England has been revealed by Michael Gove. The review includes an emphasis on more ‘facts’ and may also indicate the possible return of a compulsory modern foreign language at GCSE. Mike Baker has written an analysis of the updated curriculum and teachers sharing their opinions on the TES forum and on the BBC site. The TES also has a report on the new curriculum and how it will be implemented over the coming years and the Guardian has a video report about the announcements.
• Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren are failing to study science to a high standard after being turned off the subject by poor teachers and unsafe laboratories, according to MPs.
• Students across the country have taken part in a day of action against the Government’s controversial plans to axe the EMA grant.
• Schools are facing a near half a billion pound “stealth cut” following a “totally unexpected” reduction in capital funding by the Government.
• This report in the Guardian questions whether uniforms are necessary in schools today.
• The Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, has written to 100 headteachers to offer his congratulations on their results following the publication of the secondary school performance tables.
• Health and safety red tape is stopping school children getting out on regular science field trips, a report warns.
• Mobile phone text messaging can boost children’s spelling skills, according to new research.

Image – Texting

• A new Ofsted report looking at the barriers to good literacy shows that poor development of speaking and listening skills at an early age is holding children back from learning to read and write.
• White working-class boys are falling behind their classmates after being let down by unambitious teachers, according to Ofsted.
• The proportion of Ofsted reports resulting in formal complaints by schools has more than doubled over the past two years, new figures show.
• Old-fashioned teaching exercises like reciting times tables and verb conjugations are better than trendy new teaching methods, a study suggests.
• Mothers should be taught how to cuddle and talk to their babies as part of a major Government drive to stop children descending into a life of crime as they grow up.
• Sixth forms in England are to receive extra funds to refurbish buildings and meet the demand for additional places.
• Official figures show that the number of UK students accepted onto university courses dropped last year, as record numbers failed to get places.
• Teachers’ private lives are coming under scrutiny from heads who are “trawling” the internet in search of incriminating material, union officials have warned.

Next week’s Teaching Events include:

• 24th January to 4th February – Big Schools’ Birdwatch
• 25th January – Burns Night
• 27th January – Holocaust Memorial Day
• 27th January – Headroom Forums for Headteachers
• 28th January – Data Privacy Day

Happy New Year! I hope that you enjoyed the Christmas break. Here are links to some recent education-related news:

• The quality of science education in England’s secondary schools has improved in the past three years, Ofsted inspectors say. You can read the official report here.
• More than one-in-10 state secondary schools in England are now academies, outside of local authority control. However, research has found that just a quarter of adults wanted new-style schools run by parents and private companies in their area and the majority opposed proposals to give them extra independence.
• Head teachers have warned that schools will be effectively powerless to expel the worst behaved children under controversial Government reforms to discipline policies.
• GCSEs should be scrapped and replaced with new tests for 14-year-olds, says ex-Education Secretary Estelle Morris.
• The former children’s commissioner for England has warned that the coalition’s “savage” cuts risk robbing a generation of the chance to improve their lives and risk crushing social mobility.
• The government has been accused of performing a partial U-turn over funding for a charity that gives free books to children.

Image – Seuss Collection

• Two former teachers are on a mission to make reading fun by writing some new adventure stories.
• Children as young as four are being tutored to pass the 11-plus examination amid rising competition to get into grammar schools.
• Almost a fifth of secondary schools were in deficit at the end of last year.
• An independent school entrance examination is to be put online to make it less stressful for pupils.
• A quarter of a million students could miss out on university this year amid record demand for places before a hike in tuition fees.
• Ballroom dancing should be taught widely in schools to help children learn discipline and to develop good relations between boys and girls, Ann Widdecombe has said.
• In this report in the Guardian, an ex-teacher outlines why she is home schooling her own children.
• A series of programmes on ITV1 has been asking if we are putting children under too much pressure.
• Children are being left without decent adult role models because of the decline of the traditional extended family, according to a leading headmistress.
• The National Bullying Helpline has closed due to a lack of funding and the resignation of its chief executive Christine Pratt.

Next week’s Teaching Events include:

• 15th January - Martin Luther King’s Birthday
• 12th-15th January – BETT

If you are attending BETT, read these handy guides to help you make the most of your visit:

• BETT for Beginners
• Alternative Guide to BETT
• BETT 2011 – who to visit? where to start?

Here are links to some of the education-related headlines this week:

• New research has shown that ‘the effort a parent puts into ensuring their child buckles down to schoolwork has a greater impact than that put in by the child or the school.’
• Research from Edinburgh University has shown that ‘Young people get more information about sex in school lessons than they do from their friends or parents’. Despite this, a survey has revealed that eight in ten teachers did not feel adequately trained and confident to teach sex education lessons.
• According to a new study, ‘Pupils make more effort with male teachers as they are seen as ‘more fair”.
• More than one in five of England’s primary schools are full to bursting point, government statistics have revealed.
• Children attending new “free schools” could be taught in pubs, undertakers, pet shops and hairdressing salons under proposals published by the Government.
• Plans for guaranteed school trips have been dismissed by ministers.

Image – Natural History Museum, London

• It has been suggested that schools in middle-class areas will have their funding cut to pay to support children from low-income families.
• The government has announced it is abolishing a pay body for school support staff in England. Read the official DfE statement about this. However, there are concerns that this could lead to underpayment for many support staff.
• The body representing Scotland’s university principals has said students may have to pay towards the cost of their degrees after they graduate.
• The BBC have produced this article about changing the terms in the academic year.
• Watch this video which shows what happens when a teacher moved into a family home in order to improve the behaviour of the teenager living there.
• After building an extremely successful presence on Youtube, Mr. Thorne is launching his own web site tomorrow which allows schools to view his videos even if Youtube is blocked in their areas.
• The top toys for Christmas have been revealed. How many of your pupils will have these on their Christmas lists?

Visit Teaching Events to find educational events to use in your classroom.

Teachers TV have made a number of announcements about new projects and resources recently:

• Big Debate Live – With the government’s comprehensive spending review looming, Teachers TV wants to hear from teachers, teaching assistants, headteachers and governors on where the money should be spent, cut and saved. A live, interactive, online debate will be taking place on Thursday 21 October at 8pm. To register an interest, sign-up to the debate and put questions to the panel in advance of the discussion, go to www.teachers.tv/big-debate-live.
• Learning from the News – These videos are a series of short, topical classroom resources designed for use with primary and secondary pupils, based on the latest news. The videos are also accompanied by curriculum-based lesson plans, covering Key Stage 1 to 4.
• Great Children’s Writers: Anthony Browne - Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne visits a London primary school and talks to pupils about his books, ideas and inspirations. The programme is a useful resource for teachers wanting to capture the imagination of their pupils and bring them back to books.
• School Matters: Teenage Love and Relationships - South London teenagers together with PSHE consultants and teachers discuss the ups and downs of relationships, and the role schools can play in helping pupils prepare emotionally and practically for these powerful experiences.
• Primary Science – Mummification and The Big Stink with Deborah Herridge - Deborah reveals how a tomato can be mummified using a similar technique employed by the ancient Egyptians. Changes to the fruit are then recorded over the following weeks – covering the APP criteria for Observing and Measuring over time. The Big Stink recreates the challenges facing the Victorians and their sewage system – introducing a practical science investigation helping teachers to use the APP criteria for Gathering Evidence.
• Secondary Singing with Howard Goodall - After the hugely successful Sing-Up project in primary schools, this programme aims to give music teachers and senior management in secondary schools both the inspiration and know-how to get their pupils singing.

It has also been announced recently that the government has ‘pulled the plug’ on Teachers TV, so its future is currently uncertain. I’ve used many of the Teachers TV resources myself, so I hope that the sites and its resource stay online… have you used Teachers TV? How do you feel about this news?

Some of this week’s education-related news articles include:

• Announcements about improvements to the education of England’s poorest children throughout their time at nursery, school and university. However, “non-essential” education projects including youth clubs, after-school music and art activities and child safety projects are to be cut, to enable the government to meet this commitment.
• Ministers have agreed the schools budget for England and are to claim schools will be protected from across-the-board cuts.
• A report suggests that schools should open in shifts to make the most of scarce resources at a time of austerity.
• Psychologists and unions have claimed that teacher training courses do not cover enough ground on classroom management. Meanwhile, the Guardian has asked if parents are to blame for bad behaviour in schools. New research has also claimed that ‘children raised by single mothers are twice as likely to misbehave as those born into traditional two-parent families‘. In another report, MPs have warned that bad behaviour is ’caused by mixed ability classes’.
• The Department for Education has pulled the plug on Teachers TV, the online training site for British schoolteachers.
• More than half a million extra school places will be needed in the UK over the next five years as a result of immigration, a pressure group has said.
• School toilets have come under criticism with many children avoiding them ‘because they are dirty and occupied by smokers and bullies’.
• After Tom Daley’s success at the Commonwealth Games, this article comments on some of the problems that he has had to face during his time at a previous school.
• A school in Greater Manchester has banned GCSE pupils from using fountain pens so that they become more familiar with the ballpoint pens that are required for use in exams.

Image - I tend to scribble a lot

• Education chiefs are warning parents of the dangers of school trips to London after the Foreign Office alert level for European terror attacks was raised.
• The Guardian is celebrating the work of entrants to the Young Critics book review competition.
• History in schools is being put under threat as thousands of children are allowed to drop the subject at the age of 14 for “trivial reasons”, according to a leading academic.
• Ministers in Scotland are taking steps to strengthen rules designed to protect Scottish schools from closure.
• The business secretary, Vince Cable, has said that a free market in tuition fees would be unfair.
• Europe’s only troupe of boy cheerleaders have picked up a trophy at the National Cheerleading Championships.
• The BBC has produced an interesting report which outlines what universities of the future might be like.

Visit Teaching Events to find educational events to use in your classroom.