Current figures are that desktop and server management is managed in-house by the vast majority of schools, though the focus is shifting as more and more schools come under the Private Finance Initiative scheme and see their IT services being taken over by the likes of Dell and other large manufacturing and service providers.

Whilst it is widely recognised that the quality of teaching and learning within a school is the prime factor in raising standards, the provision of high quality equipment along with a suitable maintenance schedule and rapid response is essential in ensuring smooth delivery of services.

If you’re currently considering IT outsourcing as an option, then please get in touch by commenting on this post.

We have therefore decided to construct a central web site at schoolclosures.info to hold national school closure information to provide a single point of reference for parents wanting to know about school INSET/training days, closures due to bad weather or to check holidays – in effect any time a school is closed to pupils.

This also supports schools in delivery of their business continuity procedures by providing another communication medium through which to communicate with parents.

The service is free and there and no plans to introduce any charges for this service.  The site will be fully searchable on the name of the school as well as having the usual facility to browse an entire authority.

If you would like more information, please get in touch at enquiries@schoolclosures.info

Taking advantage of the frequently hectic pace within school administrative teams, bursars and finance officers receive an official looking invoice requesting payment; due to pressures of work, many are passing them for payment without the necessary checks and balances being put in place.

School based colleagues are urged to always question any requests for payments which do not have an existing approval to spend attached.

History Today Magazine for £47.00

We can also provide subscriptions to the following magazines (more being added all the time):

Encyclopedia Britannica Online Student Edition
TES Magazine
TES Scotland Magazine
TES Cymru Magazine Subscription

GSCE Pod provides access to revision and topic based podcasts which children and adults alike can access on computers, iPods, mobile phones and a variety of other technologies.

Topics currently available are: 

• English Language
• Geography
• History
• Religious Studies
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• GCSE Essentials

Click on the links for more information.

Our petition can be found at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/higher-ed/

In addition to providing Internet access for remote schools/educational establishments, this offer also allows Traveller and other mobile communities to stay in touch with their base school and to continue their education throughout the travelling period.

More information is available by following this link.

There is currently disagreement over how long it will take to clear the back log, with some campaigners claiming this could be as high as 75 weeks.  Figures obtained from the SLC by the National Association of Disability Practioners show that by last week only 3,294 applications had been fully processed out of 15,371 applications.

The government allocates around £90m every year to disabled students. They can qualify for around £5,000 for equipment, and more than £20,000 to pay for a personal helper. This year the SLC took over the processing of applications, which are complex and require detailed medical evidence.  

A statement issued by the SLC apologising to disabled students caught up in the delays said: “We recognise that the work is more complex than general loan application processing, and so over the last two months we have doubled the size of the team working on the cases.”

The results of an official enquiry into the problem is expected by Christmas.

The BT Internet Rangers site provides pupils with lesson plans, certificates and even example homework to support their learning and has examples of successful schemes from across the UK.

The scheme also provides an incentive to pupils by awarding prizes to the most successful Internet Rangers.

The site doesn’t seem to be regularly updated, but should provide you with a method of starting off a similar scheme in your area.  Get in touch if you’re already taking part or are thinking of taking part and we’ll see whether can set up a support group via the site.

Logging in for the first time, the interface is friendly and easily understood – very picture intensive and intuitive.  Simply choose some artwork that takes your fancy and write your story around that artwork.  Then publish it to the community for people to leave comments or work with people across the globe to add to or tweak the story.

The site is primarily aimed at children between 3 and 13 years of age, with seemingly plenty of protection from any unwelcome attention which such a site may bring.  Collaborators must be invited to take part and join in the project, which ensures that any requests for connections are initiated by the author.

In addition to standard accounts, the system also has special accounts for Artists which allows the setting up of shops and subsequent retail of graphics via the site.

The service is free and shall remain so according to the web site, though premium services are to follow which presumably will be along the lines of Lulu.com – allowing self publishing and printing services.

When appointing an individual to a post identified as either a regulated or controlled activity, the employer shall have to check with the Independent Safeguarding Authority to ensure he/she is registered.  It shall be an offence for an employer to permit an individual to begin work without first checking this registration status and applies to both paid and voluntary work.

When a person first registers with the Independent Safeguarding Authority they shall be required to obtain an enhanced CRB disclosure.  Assuming that subsequent checks yield no negative results, registration is automatic.  However, if checks reveal an individual has been convicted of one of a number of defined offences, that person shall automatically be banned.  It shall subsequently be an offence for any banned individual to apply for or to undertake any work deemed regulated or controlled.

In addition to automatic banning, the Independent Safeguarding Authority may also contact an individual to inform them that they intend to ban them, but give them the opportunity to appeal against the proposed action.  This action occurs when an individual has an offence on a longer list that may indicate an individual is unsuitable to work with vulnerable people.

Once an individual has successfully registered they shall remain so for life unless barred or they cancel their registration.  Employers, police, social services, regulatory authorities and professional organisations shall have a duty to make referrals to the Independent Safeguarding Authority regarding any registered person whom they consider to have undertaken inappropriate behaviour or behaviour likely to harm a child.  The Independent Safeguarding Authority shall subsequently make a judgement on the continued registration for that individual and shall receive suitable representation.

More information can be found on the ISA web site at www.isa-gov.org.uk

Primary Assembly Plan (PDF)
Secondary Assembly Plan (PDF)

Key Stage 1 Lesson Plan (PDF)
Key Stage 2 Lesson Plan (PDF)
Key Stage 3 Lesson Plan (PDF)
Key Stage 4 Lesson Plan (PDF)

Key Stage 1 Activity Sheet (PDF)
Key Stage 2 Activity Sheet (PDF)
Key Stage 3 Activity Sheet (PDF)

Choose from upgrades to either Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional for only £30.00 including VAT with an optional £9 for the postman to drop a copy of the software through your letter box, assuming there’s no postal strike.

If you choose to download the software, expect a wait of around 60 to 90 minutes based upon the standard speed of a home broadband connection for the 2.2GB download.

After a quick download and installation process, you’re ready to begin making your first masterpiece with excellent documentation and support available on the Scratch project web site.

As well as being hours (perhaps days or hopefully weeks!) of entertainment for kids, it’s also introducing them to the basic building blocks of many programming languages.  It introduces the concepts of reusable modules which can be used time and time again to avoid inventing the wheel and to cut development overheads.  It also introduces the notion of variables, allowing a level of customisation into the modules depending upon the applicable need.

But most of all it’s really good fun.  You can create animations, stories, etc and share them on the Scratch web site for others to view and to remix.  Those six weeks will just fly by … more interesting programmes and web sites coming soon…

To be called into school to have your child’s behaviour questioned must be high on the list of every parents’ top ten of difficult situations.  The triggers that can provoke an unruly or violent episode can be complex and varied including peer pressure within school and at home, parental behaviour as well as problems relating to unemployment, finances, mortgages and potential repossessions.  This situation can be further complicated by the involvement of multiple agencies including the police, social services and trades unions where required with each party vehemently defending their own party.

In the current climate, respect has taken on a meaning which is likely unrecognisable to anyone over the age of 25.  Respect to older generations includes getting up from your seat on a bus to allow someone to sit down, holding a door open for someone following close behind and remembering please and thank you.  This is a whole world away from the current use of the word ‘respect’ which seems to now imply that respect is something to be demanded from anyone and everyone that you have an interaction with – it is no longer seen as something that has to be earned, it should be given like fealty to a medieval baron.

The balance needs to change for the better, but the question is how?

Unions remain divided on the proposals with some representatives viewing it as an unnecessary step.  Others welcome it as increasing the status of teachers, reaffirming the professional status which has seen a decline over the last few years as assessment moved more towards administered tests rather than teacher assessment.

This builds upon previous licencing schemes for School Improvement Advisers which saw existing professionals engaged in school improvement facing additional tests to ensure their ongoing suitability.  Presumably, if they failed then they would be ineligible to continue their school improvement role and this then begs the question what would happen to their employment by the relevant Local Authority or external agency.

Many educationalists have feared that the current education system whereby the role of the teacher is to disseminate information to the children is one that has not traditionally provoked ongoing professional development.  Initiatives such as Literacy and Numeracy hour, along with other expensive school improvement methods, has had some impact.  However, reform needs to be at a grass roots level with Headteachers being held to account for the current status of their individual school and plans to allow schools to open chains need to be shelved until education returns to it’s promotion of discussion, sharing of ideas and pupil centred learning rather than training pupils to pass examinations.