February 6, 2010 at 12:43 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Becta would lke to encourage you to nominate a colleague for the Teaching Awards in the Becta Award for Next Generation Learning category! This is the second year that Becta has worked in partnership with the Teaching Awards Trust to seek out individual teachers who are making a huge impact on their learners with ICT. The Becta Award for Next Generation Learning focuses on teaching and learning, and how the teacher uses technology creatively to inspire and engage pupils in order to help them achieve their full academic and social potential. You can see the full criteria on the Teaching Awards website. [http://www.teachingawards.com/]
February 1, 2010 at 4:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Tuesday 9th February 2010
European Safer Internet Day (SID) is supported by countries throughout Europe and during the week, a range of activities will be taking place across the continent to help protect young people online. The theme for SID10 is ‘Think Before You Post’ and we hope to make the whole week (from Monday 8th February – Friday 12th February 2010) a week of action in the UK. For further information about internatonalactivities for SID please visit www.saferinternetday.org
Welcome to Thinkuknow’s Safer Internet Day 2010 website. We hope these pages help to identify regional and national activities that you may wish to promote or get involved with, as well as highlight various resources (from CEOP and other organisations) that will help you raise awareness in your area.
What can you do?
You can help raise awareness of online safety issues in your community and here are a few suggestions and ideas to get you thinking…
By Anthony Evans – Online Content Manager at 2simple
I am sure many schools will be thinking about the theme of Internet Safety as we approach Safer Internet Day on the 9th of February.
Staying Safe online is very important to us here at 2Simple and as so we are running a competition to promote this message.
What do your pupils have to do?
Use any 2Simple Software to help promote the theme of Internet Safety. This could be a Poster, a Comic Strip, a game or a SuperStory, like the one below. The choice is yours !
Click on the book to view, thanks to Gemma, who made this book in 2CASS
What could your pupils win?
1st prize: 3 x free home user titles of your pupil’s choice
2nd prize: 2 x free home user titles of your pupil’s choice
3rd prize: 1 x free home user titles of your pupil’s choice
How do you enter: Either email your file to competition@2simple.com (with ESAFETY 2010 Competition entry’ as your subject title)
Or post your printed work to: Gemma Holmes,
2Simple Software,
Enterprise House, 2 The Crest,
Hendon, London, NW4 2HN
Please include with your entry:
- School name and address.
- Pupil’s name and age
- A brief description of their entry
Where and when will the winners be announced? The top 3 winners will be announced on this blog on the 5th of March 2010
When is the deadline: Friday 26th February 2010
Good luck and we look forward to reading/ viewing your entries Please note: By entering the competition you are allowing 2Simple to reproduce your pupil’s entries and display them at future events and on our websites.
February 1, 2010 at 4:18 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Is your school or organisation making a huge difference with technology? Is ICT transforming the way that learners learn, parents communicate and staff work? If so, then Becta wants to hear from you!
Now entering their fifth year, Becta’s ICT Excellence Awards provide a great opportunity to not only celebrate the amazing work of schools, local authorities and other supporting organisations but to share the experiences of those at the forefront of the use of technology in learning.
If you want to share your story or that of a school or organisation that you know, the ICT Excellence Awards 2010 are now open for entries. For more information on the categories and criteria, and to access the online entry forms, go to www.becta.org.uk/excellenceawards. The deadline for entries is 24 March 2010.
January 19, 2010 at 10:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
There is always a danger that no matter how good an event is, it will turn out to have very little impact in the longer term, as you forget what you saw and more pressing concerns vie for your attention. Here are 7 suggestions for preventing that from happening.
January 17, 2010 at 10:16 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Hylands Primary, Elm Park Primary and Scargill Infant Schools were all in action at BETT 2010. Pupils from Hylands Primary School demonstrated how they are using visualisers to improve learning and teaching. Similarly, pupils from Elm Park Primary did the same – as well as this the Elm Park pupils were interviewed live on the radio. Finally, Scargill Infant School were presented with their ICT Mark certificate. Variously throughout the week, the HIAS ICT team spotted representatives from many Havering schools eager to find out about the latest products and services. Great to see so many of you there!
January 9, 2010 at 10:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Chris Drage finds BETT digital delights that harness creativity to engage pupils
With teachers juggling to balance creativity with SATs results and league tables, it’s refreshing to see the software industry continuing to develop stimulating and high-quality resources to help learners acquire mathematical concepts, skills and knowledge.
January 9, 2010 at 10:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
By George Cole – published on www.agent4change.net
Running alongside the exhibition at BETT 2010 is a stimulating and vibrant seminar programme that lets visitors discover and debate the issues surrounding educational technology. BETT is renowned for attracting experts from around the world to speak, and this year is no exception.
Many of the seminars offer real-world, practical examples or activities, designed to inspire teachers to use technology in new, bold and effective ways, or simply enable schools to get the best out of what they have today. If you’ve never attended a BETT seminar, be sure to check out this year’s programme for more information and booking details. Meanwhile, here’s a taster of some of the highlight sessions.
January 7, 2010 at 3:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
OpenCheck is a free web and phone service provided by LGfL which allows you to set the open or closed status for your school. Parents, pupils and staff can either check online or by telephone to see if school is open.
You can use this service in the event of snow T, swine flue, power cut, boiler failure etc. You could also use it to disseminate time critical advice – such as the return of coaches after a residential trip.
To give you an idea of the messages you can display online here are two from Havering schools today…
School will be closed on Thursday 7th January due to the forecast heavy snow and dangerous icy conditions. We made this decision to enable parents to make alternative arrangements. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused. We expect to reopen on Friday and will post this information by 6.30pm.
Last Updated: 06 January 2010 18:01:33
School is closed today. Thursday’s closure is due to forecasted heavy snow and dangerously icy conditions. This evenings Disneyland meeting has been cancelled. A detailed information sheet is available to download from the Latest News Section on the school web site.
Last Updated: 06 January 2010 15:19:24
Details of the OpenCheck service are….
London Grid for Learning (LGfL) have an OpenCheck service which provides a convenient means for parents or pupils to check by web or telephone whether a school is open.
What does the school have to do?
The status can be set by the Headteacher or the USO administrator. Every school has an USO administrator (they are the person who worked with Jan Atkins to set up LGfL StaffMail accounts – email Jan on jatkins.311@lgflmail.org for the details for your school). This person can set the status of the out-going message for the school to one of a range of available options.
They will log onto https://support.lgfl.org.uk using their USO ID and select ‘School Open Check’ from the Resources menu. The USO IDs and passwords have been issued to every school for StaffMail.
You can test the service by calling 020 8408 7508 and entering the 7-digit school DCSF code 000000, you will hear a sample message.
What do parents need to know?
A. That the OpenCheck service exists
B. The phone number they can ring (020 8408 7508) to check if a school is open/closed
C. The school’s 7 digit DCSF code (311xxxx) – keyed in to identify correct school within the system
D. That the same information is available on a map at http://map.lgfl.org.uk/opencheck
Don’t forget to reset the status when school opens again!
January 4, 2010 at 10:42 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Insurance premiums for computer equipment have risen in Havering. This raises the need to continue to improve security measures to reduce the risk of theft. Schools in Havering should continue to use SmartWater or SelectaDNA forensic marking plus equipment Etching Kits. Details are available from the HIAS ICT team. Zurich will be conducting surveys in 3 or 4 Havering schools where thefts have been high; we hope to share their recommendations in due course.
To reduce burglary and the impact of theft in your schools follow these steps:
Make sure your asset register is kept up to date and that paperwork showing purchase date and price are to hand. Be diligent with recording all serial numbers.
Mark your equipment – forensically with identifiable solution, and etch it with the school name and post code.
Mark and record new equipment as soon as it comes into school.
Use posters (such as the Havering SmartWater poster) on all ground floor windows, keep them refreshed, don’t let them get faded or tatty, new signage indicates thorough marking and robust security. Real thieves avoid SmartWater and SelectaDNA because if caught with equipment marked this way it leads to a 100% conviction rate.
Buy orange data projectors, they are only sold to education and are easily identifiable by the police, eBay and cash convertors. Use coloured paint to customise other equipment, make it difficult/undesirable to sell on – we know a sleek white Mac looks lovely, but if you think it looks great so will a thief.
Don’t leave unsecured equipment unattended, if staff have laptops these should not be left in empty classrooms, equipment should be locked away overnight if left in school.
Don’t store all your mobile equipment in one place.
If you padlock laptop trolleys to a wall fasten them with the doors towards the wall.
Consider monitored CCTV, catch thieves during a break in.
Advertise any security measures you have, over sell to pupils and staff. Many thefts may be the result of possible tip offs – this may be pupils talking about new equipment in school, make sure they also talk about the security measures.
If you are unlucky enough to be the victim of theft make sure HIAS ICT and the Havering insurance office know – even if it is below the excess level. We’ve had patterns of theft in the past and your information could divert a theft in another school.
Follow police and insurance advice for properly securing your school.
