The creators of the popular Blitz School site (previously featured on Teaching News here) are now running Victorian Invention Workshops for primary schools. The new workshops aim to ‘provide a valuable insight into the groundbreaking Victorian age of invention and innovation with a full five hours of interactive activities designed to maximise the learning of your pupils and take them to the heart of this wondrous era.’ The workshops sound like great fun, with opportunities to handle artefacts, investigate steam power, dress up in the Victorian photographer’s studio and take part in and end of day quiz.

Their site offers full details about the workshop and the objectives that it covers. There are also information about Victorian inventions and lots of free resources that all schools can use. Take a look!

Teachers often invite various people and providers in to their schools to share their expertise and enthusiasm of their subject with the children. in2schools searches the country for workshops, guest speakers, educational after school clubs, theatre companies and fundraising ideas for teachers to find.

It looks like an extremely useful resource for teachers who want to discover others who can help to share their knowledge of topics which are being covered in the classroom. Take a look!

Sing Up is launching a new set of professional development workshops running until February 2011.

The programme of one-day workshops, which are led by the country’s top singing leaders, have already been popular with music and educational professionals. The training aims to build the confidence and expertise of teachers and musicians in leading and supporting children’s singing.

www.singup.org/training

Each session is designed to offer those working with Key Stage 1-3 students practical, insightful and inspiring tips for bringing out the best in their pupils and to make the most of singing across the curriculum. The programme covers a wide range of themes including using singing to support the transition process, relating singing to the curriculum and using singing in SEN settings.

To learn more about these workshops and to book online visit www.singup.org/training. To book by telephone, call 01634 729883.

The Science Museum are now taking bookings for their outreach programme for Autumn 2010. The team are fully booked for the current summer term, so book early and take advantage of their wonderful resources for the next academic year. They offer a wide range of presentations and workshops for all age groups, including:

• The Bubble Show – Their most popular show… Find out the secret Science Museum bubble recipe, learn how certain materials can change the way others behave, and step inside the famous human bubble.
• The Golden Coconut – Younger children can help Monkey and his jungle friends use forces to get the Golden Coconut down from its tree on their beautiful desert island.
• Water Transporter – Can KS4 students transport water across a 6ft gap without carrying it? The solution involves a funnel, bamboo canes, guttering, string, hosing, plastic sheeting, elastic bands… and a whole heap of ingenuity, in this challenging workshop.

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/educators/we_visit_you.aspx

The Science Museum site gives more information about these and other activities. It also offers downloadable teaching resources to use in your own classrooms.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust are a conservation charity protecting wildlife in town and countryside and in rivers and seas throughout Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside. They offer a range of services for schools in their areas.

Eco-Factor is Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s outreach education department. The project visits primary and secondary schools and provides workshops covering an array of environmental topics including waste and recycling, climate change and the natural world. The project will visit any schools in the highlighted region for a small fee. For further information or to book a visit from the team please called Sue Buck on 01772 751110 and quote Eco-Factor as your enquiry.

Schools also have the opportunity to record their experiences through the use of film and photography. Schools can chose from two new workshops, with an additional workshop being launched in early 2010. The new workshops available to schools are as follows:

• A Photo Storyboard Workshop: This workshop is designed to encourage discussion of environmental issues affecting our planet, allowing pupils to express their opinions in a new and exciting way that can be easily shared with others in the community.
• A Basic Filming Session: This workshop is a simple yet effective way of obtaining and presenting evidence for environmental initiatives such as Eco-Schools. All of the school’s plans and ideas for change will be logged as part of the filming, showing clear evidence of the environmental action plan and how the school will be more sustainable in future.
• A Complex Filming Session, coming in 2010.

Even if you’re not based at a school in these areas, their website has some useful resources for schools including ideas for helping wildlife at home, facts and information about a range of animals and links to lots of wildlife sites.