Wallace & Gromit are calling on people across the UK join The BIG Breakfast from the 20th -27th April to raise thousands of pounds for sick children in hospitals and hospices by enjoying a BIG Breakfast.

Research suggests that breakfast eaters have lower stress levels and better concentration than breakfast skippers yet 1 in 4 adults in the UK admit to regularly skipping breakfast, so Wallace & Gromit’s BIG Breakfast calls on the nation to wake up to a BIG Breakfast which not only helps everyone who takes part have a brighter day but also helps raise vital funds for sick children across the UK.

Could you hold a BIG breakfast for pupils and families at your school? For more information and to register to take part, call 0845 600 1924 or visit www.wallaceandgromitsbigbreakfast.org.

Don’t forget that you can find other educational events to take part in by browsing our Teaching Events site.

As the Chancellor what economic decisions would you make? What would your Budget for the country be? Which taxes will you levy on society? Where would you choose to spend the money you’ve raised? Here is a chance for the young people in your school to have their say. Watch this video to find out more:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chance to be Chancellor is a competition that is open to all 14-18 year olds across the UK and their decisions will form the Youth Budget 2012. For a chance to win the national competition, visit the Paying for It site.

The Fun Food Company runs nutritional shows to KS3 students during PHSE sessions (or just for fun learning), in the form of a 2 part show (1 hour long). The sessions explore the importance of a healthy breakfast and how to balance the eat well plate, as well as recognising which foods contain carbs, protein, vitamins and minerals etc. The second half of the show is a competition loosely based on the television programme ‘Ready Steady Cook’, where 2 celebrity chefs (teachers) and their 2 team mates (pupils) battle for 15 minutes to cook a balanced meal, red team (red chillies) verses the green team (green peas).

Each team has a fully functional stage kitchen with 2 electric woks, a steamer, chopping boards, knife sets and cooking utensils. Once the competition has ended, the teams present the finished food onto the centre presentation table, where 10 audience volunteers come and taste the food and give their opinion. The winner is then voted for by the audience (50 – 300 pupils).

The show sounds like a great way for pupils to learn about healthy eating and the importance of it, whilst having a fun and interactive hour. You can find contact details for The Fun Food Company on their site.

I’ve mentioned the free content from the Red Cross on Teaching News before and they have now published a new resource called ‘Positive Images’. It is designed to help teachers, youth workers and other educators teach young people (aged 12 and over) about migration and development.

The resource includes clear lesson ideas and plans with accompanying resources. There are also relevant video resources on the Red Cross’ Youtube channel and these are also embedded on the download page for the resource. Find them all here.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been busy working on a new set of themed resources for my Teaching Ideas site. I’m pleased to say that the new theme is now available!

The theme has over 100 teaching ideas, activities, display resources, videos and photos… all of which can be used to support teaching about healthy eating, the human body and exercise. There are lots of posters which you can print and put on your classroom wall, as well as activity sheets for children to use.

Teaching Ideas now has 14 themes and I’m planning some more themes which will be published over the next few months and in 2012. If you’re starting to think about Christmas lessons, don’t forget to look at the Christmas theme!

Action for Happiness is a movement for positive social change. The project aims to bring together people from all walks of life who want to play a part in creating a happier society for everyone.

Their site has lots of ideas to encourage happier living, as well as information about groups and events that you can take part in. There are also lots of resources that might be useful for PSHE teachers.

www.actionforhappiness.org

Find out more in the Youtube video above or visit their site at www.actionforhappiness.org.

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.

Saving Squad is a free online resource for 7-11 year olds, designed to improve young people’s financial capability and promote the benefits of saving money. Children create an avatar and solve real world money and numeracy based problems in order to earn points and unlock games.

The resource also includes lesson plans and ideas for teachers and parents/carers as well as guidance and discussion topics. It looks very useful… could you use the site in your classroom?

Fearless is part of the UK charity, Crimestoppers. Crimestoppers runs the 0800 555 111 telephone number, which you can call to give information about crime anonymously. The Fearless site is aimed at young people, allowing them to give information about crime online, and offering workshops about crime that affects them.

The Fearless team have created resources for primary and secondary teachers which you can download from their site. The resources are also embedded below:

Primary:

Secondary:

The Hands On Scotland site aims to help frontline workers make a difference to children and young people’s lives. It offers extensive practical information and ‘hands on’ techniques to respond helpfully to troubling behaviour.

A new section has recently been added to the site, giving information, ideas and activities to help promote positive mental health, or flourishing, in all children and young people. The new area was designed for parents, carers and anyone working with infants, children and young people.

It contains 14 topics covering a wide range of issues including confidence, resilience, gratitude, good relationships, sense of purpose and emotional balance. The information is drawn from extensive literature in positive psychology, health promotion, education and public health. Find out more at www.handsonscotland.co.uk.