In a week dominated by election news, here are links to some education-related news articles:

• Ed Balls urged headteachers not to boycott SATs – At last Sunday’s National Association of Head Teachers conference, Ed Balls asked head teachers not to go ahead with their plans to boycott this year’s SATs. Despite this, children in more than 900 schools will not be taking next week’s tests.
• SATs pressure turns children off reading – Almost 100 children’s authors and illustrators sign a letter supporting heads and teachers in their campaign to get rid of national curriculum tests for 11-year-olds.
• ‘Fix or Ditch’ new school curriculum – The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association claims that the new Curriculum for Excellence is ‘a deeply-flawed programme which is not yet fit to be rolled out fully in secondary schools.’
• Too much TV can be harmful for toddlers – The more TV a toddler watches, the higher the likelihood they will do badly at school and have poor health at the age of 10, researchers warn.
• Education Issues for New Ministers – Whoever forms a government, the Guardian has highlighted ten issues that it thinks education ministers should address. Do you agree with them?
• Poor Literacy and Maths skills for some teenagers – One fifth of school-leavers so illiterate and innumerate they struggle to cope with challenges of everyday life.
• Children will eat more fruit if it looks good – Making fruit look good holds the key to getting children to eat more of it, a study suggests.
• Best children’s books revealed – Publisher Puffin has produced a list of 70 of the best children’s books.

Image – Newspaper

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

Makutano Junction is a Kenyan produced TV soap opera which currently attracts over seven million viewers in Kenya alone. You can watch the show online (including the previous series) at the Makutano Junction site.

www.makutanojunction.org.uk

A range of teaching materials, based upon the show, have been created to help teachers who face the challenge of embedding global learning across the curriculum. Classroom activities include viewing genuine extracts from the soap opera, which help engage young people with global issues; discovering similarities, challenging stereotypes and raising awareness.

The site also has an extremely useful area giving valuable information about Kenya itself.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the recording of one of this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. These lectures have been inspiring children and adults alike since 1825. They were initiated by Michael Faraday at a time when organised education for young people was scarce.

As the Royal Institution site explains… “In this year’s Christmas Lectures, Prof Sue Hartley will show you plants as you’ve never seen them before. They are complicated, cunning, beautiful and with plenty of tricks up their sleeve. And what’s more, we humans are dependent on them in ways you’d never imagine. As well as much of our food, our drugs, medicines and materials are all by-products of this epic 300 million year war.”

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the recording of one of the lectures. It was full of practical demonstrations, amazing facts and Sue presented it with a huge amount of enthusiasm for the subject. It was one of the most enjoyable Science lessons I’ve ever had and I can’t wait to watch it all over again on TV!

If you would like to see the lectures yourself, they are on More4 from 21st to 25th December at 7pm. Find out more here.

Numberjacks is a TV series which is shown in over 38 countries around the world. They also have a set of radio programmes, as well as a fantastic site which helps younger children to learn all about numbers. There are videos to watch and games to play… many of which will look great on an interactive whiteboard. Take a look!

www.numberjacks.co.uk