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2nd December 2022A Hayward

I promise to keep this short this week as it is a busy, busy time of year. Our Christmas Quiz has been really popular, but there is still time to get involved. We have spaces so please pass round your school to see if anyone would like to get involved. Suitable for Key Stage 2 and 3. Open to schools in South Tyneside only.

Engineering competition

Primary Engineer are running a competition encouraging pupils aged 3-19 to become creative problem solvers and engineers. Pupils get the opportunity to interview an engineer, enabling them to ask the questions that matter to them, before drawing a solution to a problem they have identified in the world around them. It looks fab, find out more here https://leadersaward.com/about/

Santa’s STEM Workshop

From the IET – “Make, create, imagine and discover with our Christmas STEM activities workshop, which provides fun craft ideas, recipes, projects, challenges, experiments and activities for teachers and families to do with kids.”

Suitable for children aged 4 to 13 years, each activity provides STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) inspired learning and comes complete with step-by-step guides, printable worksheets, lesson plans, videos and pictures.

Santa’s STEM Workshop

Google Santa Tracker

This site is full of fun activities – click on the hamburger icon

to see the full range. https://santatracker.google.com/

Other Santa Trackers are available:

The official Norad site https://www.noradsanta.org/en/

E Mail and watch Santa on his webcam https://www.emailsanta.com/santa-tracker.asp

Where is Santa Claus on the App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/santa-tracker-track-santa/id1059325444

South Tyneside Christmas Opening times, bin collections and so on, can all be found here

https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/15820?utm_source=friendly_URL&utm_medium=all_marketing_materials&utm_campaign=christmasclosures

And finally the World Cup!

You can’t avoid it, apparently there is some football competition going on! IT Archives are running a competition too. Learn all about World Cup logos and then have a go at designing a new logo using vector graphic design. There are two prizes to be won for each of KS1 and KS2, the deadline is 18 December 2022. FIFA Competition

Watch Out!

22nd July 2022A Hayward

Download (PDF, 133KB)

Download (PDF, 106KB)

Snapchat Meet Up Feature Warning!

22nd July 2022A Hayward

Snapchat’s newest feature “Meet up” adds an extra layer to their existing Snap Map feature by allowing users to get directions to their friend’s exact location. It pairs with Apple Maps and Google Maps, and shows how long it would take someone to walk, drive, or use public transport to reach the address. Anyone can then find the location of your workplace, school, or home address and the fastest route to get there.

Whilst this feature can be very useful for family and friends, it does add a significant risk factor. We would recommend that Snapchat Maps are disabled on the app, they are on by default. This is known as ghosting.

There is some excellent advice about Snapchat maps and the dangers of “Meet up” here

SAFEGUARDING ALERT – Snapchat Meet Up

Here’s how to change settings in Snapchat

Snapchat guide

FREE SENDco Conference July 7th 2022

30th June 2022P Chippendale

You may have already heard about the SENDCo Free Conference July 7^th through social media if not please see attached flyers, if you know someone who would be interested colleague or parent please forward the invitation

The conference will be held at The Tom Cowie Lecture Theatre, St Peter’s Campus, (building 11 on the map shown below)

For those too far away there will be a link to join on TEAMs

Anyone attending on site will be welcome to stay for the book launch, unfortunately we cannot extend the TEAMs link to cover this.

Frank Styles – Graffiti Artist who worked on the #SeeMe project will also be on Campus doing some work as part of the conference and book launch

Download (PDF, 140KB)

Please email [email protected] if you and/or your colleagues would like to attend

Download (DOCX, 311KB)

Download (DOCX, 113KB)

Parentzone – On Teaching Online Media Literacy

6th June 2022A Hayward

We live so much of our lives online that interpreting what we see – online media literacy – has become a vital life skill.

The government published its Media Literacy Strategy last year, recognising that children and young people need media literacy education.

Media literacy is something parents, teachers and professionals can all teach, both in everyday interactions and in a more structured way.

So what exactly do you need to know to teach media literacy? What elements of the online world should you cover? Find answers, and lots of free resources, here: Online Media Literacy: what is it – and why should we teach it?

Teaching online media literacy to children with SEND often calls for a range of different approaches.

The government has funded Parent Zone to develop specific media literacy resources for this group.

We’ve worked with teachers, drawing on their expertise to create a free, specialist online resource library.

The PZ SEND site includes specially adapted lessons, activities, worksheets, videos, and guidance on how to adapt them – along with feedback, ideas and best practice from other SEND teachers.

Computing Research Review Paper

19th May 2022A Hayward

The Computing Research Review paper has been published this week. Here is the link to the Government site.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-computing?fbclid=IwAR2tt0fWJoFK-s04hR2RL0ADRdVurqxSy1wSNIw9v7f4jz_nh2mDL_fi41c

This review explores the literature relating to the field of computing education. Its purpose is to identify factors that can contribute to high-quality school computing curriculums, assessment, pedagogy and systems. We will use this understanding of subject quality to examine how computing is taught in England’s schools. We will then publish a subject report to share what we have learned.

The purpose of this research review is set out more fully in the ‘Principles behind Ofsted’s research reviews and subject reports’.

We have also found a really useful infographic that explains the main findings.

Download (PDF, 1.39MB)

5 Minutes on Friday

13th May 2022A Hayward

Meet Spike

We have just taken delivery of a number of Spike Lego Prime sets to use with Y6, 7, 8 on trips to Openzone. He’s very friendly, and a great dancer! He can easily transform into a number of other robots, from cars, to grabbers. Have a look at the Spike website for more details, but maybe your students would like to have a go at building and programming with Spike instead of EV3. Lego Spike Information

Free Microbits

Unfortunately the scheme to apply for free micro bits has expired. We were successful and now have some to use in sessions at The Word. I hope some of you were able to take advantage of it too and get some of the kit for school. But, you can still access a raft of other resources, see below.

Free CPD on using Microbits

Teachers can take advantage of free CPD, posters and loads of other resources to support your teaching with Microbits. Click here to see what is available.

NCCE Year 5

One of the units that is causing concern is Programming A – Selection in Physical Computing. The unit specifies using Crumbles. Most schools don’t have these and can’t afford to buy them. There are options however to use other kit. BBC Microbits can be substituted, and if you don’t have them you can use the microbit simulator online https://makecode.microbit.org/

We offer sessions on this unit using Lego Wedo 2 and Sphero Bolts, which are also an excellent alternative. Remember the NCCE is a guide, and not a tablet of stone!

New Digital Matters learning platform

Activities for children in KS2 to help learn about online safety. Visit the site by clicking here.

Google Magic

Google Docs has got a few new features up it’s sleeve. This really short video explains the magic that happens when you type an @ sign in a google document.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIvb0r5MXnc

Dementia Action Week

Next week is Dementia Action Week.

And Finally

It’s never too early to think about trips to [email protected] Word. We are more than happy to put dates in our diaries for next Academic year starting September 2022. If you have a project or topic that you think you would like to enhance by filming in our TV studio, or if you would like to make artefacts in our Fab Lab, now is the best time to get the date you want. Just get in touch and even if your ideas aren’t completely formed, we can still pencil it in.

Have a great weekend

Huggy Wuggy Bear

6th April 2022A Hayward

Just to make you aware, we have had a couple of reports of instances of a new craze in KS1 playgrounds in South Tyneside. Huggy Wuggy Bear! The character is part of an adventure game available in the google play store. The age range is Teen, but the game is based in a Toy Factory and has some appeal to younger children.

Of course the craze has gone viral on Tik Tok and other social channels. In the playground it seems to be manifesting as “jump, scare” games. There is also a video on You Tube with some questionable lyrics, which is being sung in schools.

Levelling Up

28th March 2022A Hayward

The Schools White Paper, Levelling Up, published today, sets out a series of new measures to support the delivery of these ambitions, including:

Schools will offer a minimum school week of 32.5 hours by September 2023
Ofsted will inspect every school by 2025, including the backlog of ‘outstanding’ schools that haven’t been inspected for many years
By 2030 all children will benefit from being taught in a school in, or in the process of joining, a strong multi-academy trust, which will help transform underperforming schools and deliver the best possible outcomes for children
At least £100m to put the Education Endowment Foundation on a long-term footing so they can continue to evaluate and spread best practice in education across the country

What’s a Mod?

28th March 2022A Hayward

Coding skills

Modding can be a gateway to coding and programming – it could be the first step towards a career in game development. It’s a great way for your child to let their imaginations run wild while honing the coding skills they may have begun to learn in school. But…

Dangers of Mods

The biggest concern around mods is the possibility of adult, explicit or age-inappropriate content being added to a game. For example, one of the most common modifications is to sexualise a (usually female) character’s appearance or simulate sexual activity. These are not picked up by the games PEGI ratings and can be disturbing when young children find them.

Mods are sometimes accessed by “downloadable content”. Accessing content in this way could leave your device exposed to malware or viruses. XBox also warns that personal data may be exposed or accessed by the mod’s creator.

Read the full article from Parent Zone here.