Here are five of the best teaching resources that I’ve discovered online this week:

1) Ready for Ten - This is ’a parent-powered website for mums and dads of 6-9 year olds. It’s a place to connect with other parents and share advice and support on the highs, lows, and uncharted territory of the years before ten.’ This is certainly something that can be shared with parents at school and there are also some useful ideas and resources for teachers too. Recommended by @GillDeCosemo.

2) Stencyl – This free software lets you create your own flash games. It’s ‘Kid Tested’ so it could certainly be used as a learning tool in the classroom. Recommended by Andrew Field.

3) How do snowflakes form? – This free video from Twig-it explains how snowflakes form… although this topic might not be relevant for readers in the UK at this time of year, the rest of the ‘Twig-it’ site looks very interesting as it offers Science videos which are accompanied by related learning activities. There is a selection of free videos on this page. Recommended by Carol Allen.

4) Time Toast – Here’s another great free online resource. This one has a wide range of timelines which can be used in different areas of the curriculum. The site also lets you make your own free timelines which could be used as the starting point for work in the classroom… or could you ask the pupils to make their own using the site? Recommended by sites4primary.

5) Howtoons – Howtoons provides ‘engaging content that teaches kids how to build things, combining instructions with storytelling.’ They have amazing sets of comic strips in the form of instructions which you could be used in the classroom. Could your pupils make their own comic strip instructions? Recommended by Tom Barrett.

Have you discovered any useful resources online this week?

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

Schools:

• Ofsted have released a new report called ‘School governance: Learning from the best’ which identifies the key characteristics of governing bodies in schools judged as outstanding.
• Schools in England should do more to help children of parents serving in the armed forces, Ofsted has said. Read the official report here.
• Only four out of 10 newly qualified teachers in Wales land substantive jobs in primary or secondary schools after training, according to new figures.
• Four thousand fewer student teachers will receive a place to train at university this year, raising fears of massive overcrowding in primary schools over the next decade.
• A south London council has warned it cannot guarantee a primary school place for every child in the borough by 2015.
• School library services providing books to more than half a million pupils have been axed in the last year, a TES analysis has revealed.
• Groups that want to open Free Schools in September 2012 can now submit their detailed plans to the Department for Education. For the first time, the Department will also consider applications from people who want to set up age 16-19 Free Schools, schools that cater specifically for children with special educational needs, and schools that offer alternative provision.
• A secondary school in Surrey is planning to install CCTV cameras in the communal area of its pupils’ toilets.
• Parents will be expected to spend more time helping their children with schoolwork under plans to extend the reach of the national curriculum beyond the classroom and into the home.
• A study of twins and adopted children in America has found pushy parenting has little effect on a child’s future.

• Fears that GCSEs and A-levels are getting easier are to be investigated by the exams standards watchdog.
• Rigid discipline and academic rigour are helping to transform the lives of students at a striking new school in an area scarred by deprivation and gang violence.

Universities:

• Oxford University academics are seeking a symbolic vote of “no confidence” against the government’s handling of higher education in England.

Other News:

• A heart charity is calling on the government to include the teaching of life-saving skills in the national curriculum.
• A teachers’ union is mounting a High Court challenge to government changes to their pension scheme.
• Many secondary school boys do not have the stamina to read beyond the 100th page of a book, research suggests.
• Teenagers may have a good excuse to be anti-social, moody, self-centred and reckless, according to new scientific insights into how the human brain develops.
• The Prince of Wales’s charity for young unemployed people has warned the UK is developing a “youth underclass”.
• Public spending on education and training has more than doubled in the last 20 years, according to the latest Social Trends study, published by the Office for National Statistics.
• More than 20% of children aged 10 to 15 have been frightened or upset by bullying in the past year, according to the first British Crime Survey report on their attitude to the police and personal safety.
• As exams loom, leading educationalist Anthony Seldon has offered some words of advice to all those about to sit them.
• Business Secretary Vince Cable has launched a consultation on plans to increase the amount of leave for new parents in England, Scotland and Wales.

Due to other commitments with my teaching and my many other Teaching Websites, I am struggling to keep Teaching Events updated at the moment. As I result, I am working on a new, much simpler system, so Teaching Events will be offline for a short time. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Parent Notes is designed to provide useful and concise information for parents of children aged 4 to 11 years. The site has useful articles in a range of categories, including learning, behaviour, health, holidays and school life.

parentnotes.net

The site is written by primary school teachers who are also parents and provides lots of valuable advice and ideas. The Parent Portal is another useful site for parents, which was mentioned on Teaching News here.

What are your favourite sites for parents? Could you share these on your school website?

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

• Snow has dominated the news this week which has resulted in thousands of school closures. Many schools have used the Internet to support learning at home.
• MPs are to vote on controversial plans to raise tuition fees in England on 9 December, ministers have confirmed. Meanwhile, pupils as young as 13 have joined university students in another national day of action against tuition fee increases and Nick Clegg has urged students to reflect on the “true picture” about government plans to raise the fees.
• David Cameron has ordered a rethink on plans to cut funding for school sports in England. A campaign has been set up to Save School Sport Partnerships which you can follow on Twitter and Facebook.
• Plans to shake up the schools system could lead to increased segregation, the Department for Education’s own research warns.
• This report in the Guardian claims that Michael Gove’s policy of devolving power to schools might end up dismantling vital shared services.
• School league tables of pupil performance at just five years old are set to be published under highly controversial government plans to give parents more information.
• The Standards Site is now offline and according to a tweet from @educationgovuk, ‘all relevant content on the standards website is now on www.education.gov.uk‘.

• Research has found that students from comprehensive schools get better degrees than privately educated peers with the same grades.
• Latin will undergo a revival in state schools under Coalition plans to put it on an equal footing with modern foreign languages.
• Almost 100,000 children are being squeezed into “full” schools amid mounting competition for the most sought-after places.
• Instead of increasing benefits for children, new mothers and fathers should be offered parenting classes according to the government’s poverty czar. In related news, conditions for equal parenting in the UK are the fourth worst out of 21 countries measured, according to a new table recently published.
• A new report from Ofsted explains that ‘The best leadership in schools focuses on improving teaching and learning with headteachers seeing this as their core business.’
• Ofsted has said there is “real cause for concern” as 10 local authorities have been found to be inadequate in safeguarding children this year.
• The independence of Ofsted is under serious threat from a parliamentary bill that could enable ministers to “meddle” with – or even abolish – the watchdog, headteachers have warned.
• This report from the TES discusses the need for increased sex education training for teachers.
• Councils are to be charged for carbon emissions and some costs are likely to be passed on to schools.

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

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.

The Parent Portal is a fantastic new website which aims to support parents with their children’s journey through school. It has been set up by Simon Haughton with contributions from lots of other teachers.

The site is constantly evolving and currently has information about:

• Different ways that children learn,
• Ideas for healthy eating,
• Advice about helping children with reading, writing and maths,
• Internet safety information,
• Helpful tips about supporting children with their homework.

It’s a useful (and growing) resource… why not tell the parents at your school about it? Mention it in your newsletters and emails, or add a link on your school website - www.theparentportal.co.uk.

If you’ve missed any of this week’s education news, here is a summary of the main events:

• The General Teaching Council for England is to be axed. Education Secretary Michael Gove told MPs that he believed that the organisation ‘does little to raise teaching standards or professionalism’. This follows the the scrapping of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency and BECTA, and will allow the money to spent ‘on the front line’ instead. The TES spoke to Michael Gove about his plans in this report.
• Michael Gove has also stated that more than 1,000 schools have shown an interest in becoming an academy, stating that the level of interest is ‘overwhelming’.
• Failing schools will be ‘given a year to improve’. After that time, ‘organisations with an excellent track record of educational excellence’ will take them over.
• Concern has been expressed over the increasing use of modern technology in nurseries, rather than traditional play-based activities.
• A reading test for 6 year olds will be introduced ‘to make sure that young children are learning and to identify problems early’.
• The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that there is not enough money to finish Labour’s ‘Building Schools for the Future’ scheme and to fund free schools. Therefore, building work on hundreds of schools may have to be abandoned.
• Despite cuts to spending on adult education, the new business secretary has described how ‘his mother’s mind was saved by adult education’. The BBC have also spoken to a number of adults who have returned to education and have started learning new literacy and maths skills.
• A report from the Guardian states that children need ‘a sense of the broad sweep of history’, rather than teaching of selected events.
• A group of young carers have joined forces to create a campaign to raise awareness and help find young people who may be hidden young carers so they can get the support they need. Watch their video below:

• A report from the CfBT Education Trust explains that schools policies are more influenced by the media and by pressure for quick fixes, than by research evidence. It also calls for the setting up of an independent chief education officer to give objective advice.
• A union leader has stated that university lecturers could opt for a national strike unless agreement is reached over redundancies.
• Plans to create a ‘ super college’ in Glasgow have been questioned by the Educational Institute of Scotland, who have said that few student places would be provided there than are already currently available.
• An A-level student has asked for an exam to be rescheduled because it clashes with one of England’s World Cup matches.
• A new survey had reported that parents spend an average of 49 minutes a day together with their children.
• Parents in Wales have been warned that under-15s should not drink alcohol, even under parental supervision.

Go Givers is a free site for primary and middle school children (aged 5 to 14). It contains a wide range of free, engaging, and interactive citizenship-rich cross-curricular resources.

www.gogivers.org

There are areas for teachers, parents and children. The teachers’ section has free lesson plans and downloadable resources, which all aim to develop a sense of personal responsibility and concern for the world that we live in.

learndirect has launched two FREE online storybooks to help families make the most of their time together and have fun while learning.

learndirect research has revealed that almost one in three parents admit to wanting to brush up on their basic English and maths to support their children’s learning and development. Backed by celebrity mum and Waterloo Road actress, Angela Griffin, the new storybooks “The Journey to Darkest Somewhere” and “The House of Scary Words” let kids become the lead characters and change details within the stories.

Here’s a video which gives more information about the project:

The books also encourage readers to use basic English language while they play, so kids and parents can learn together. The new storybooks are available at www.learndirect.co.uk/readtogether. Kids also have the chance to win a professionally printed version of their book. Entrants simply need to register their personal storybook on the website before 31 December 2009.

Bullying UK is a registered charity which was founded in 1999 by journalist Liz Carnell from Harrogate and her son John, as a direct result of their experience of dealing with school bullying. Liz has been researching and writing on school bullying issues for 14 years and now uses the Internet to provide information and advice.

www.bullying.co.uk

The Bullying.co.uk website has a huge collection of articles for young people, schools, parents and other adults. There is also a useful section about cyberbullying. Don’t forget to follow Bullying UK on Twitter, or consider making a donation if you can.