A wide range of Primary classroom activities, reviews and resources has been developed and published over the years originally by MAPE and, more recently since the merger in 2004, by Naace.

ICT Year 6: Creating Electronic Big Books

The Direct2U service was a weekly email subscription service for primary teachers from Becta, which ran during 2005/6. The scheme offered lesson plans featuring ICT in activities based on six subject strands. The service has now been discontinued but Becta have given us permission to use a selection from the plans in this magazine. A full archive of all the Direct2U activities can be found at http://forum.ngfl.gov.uk/direct2u

Introduction

In this activity, children work in small groups to design and create an electronic Big Book for the younger children in the school. They will take into account the reading age and interests of younger children and the format of Big Books, and test out their books and modify them if necessary. There is not room here to give full details of how to use Big Book Maker but it is well supported with manuals and guides http://primary.naace.co.uk/activities/BigBookMaker/

The 'hotseat' guest for December is Sarah Peacock who works at one of Sheffield's City Learning Centres. I met Sarah as part of the successful Visual Learning Course which I attended earlier this year which Naace, MirandaNet based at the Institute of Education and Bath Spa University won the TDA bid to run as a CPD programme.

Sarah will be live in the 'hotseat' on Monday 15th December between 4-5pm. Please post questions before, during and after the live sessions.

Paul Williamson has spent a great deal of time empowering teachers in different subjects to use their Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) effectively. The successes have become increasingly apparent with every area of the school moving forward rapidly.

Broadgreen are one of the few high schools across the country that run a baccalaureate programme. The programme is highly successful one for their students and are Becta's ICT Excellence Awards 2008 - joint runner-up award winners for the Best whole school in the North West category.

Andrea MacBeath of Richmond Park School Richmond Park School,a special school in the south side of Glasgow, explains the role of music in dveloping communication skills.
We are a school primarily for children with physical impairments but like most special schools in Scotland there has been a gradual change over the last few years in the range of needs of our pupils. We are seeing a growing number of children in the school with communication difficulties whether it be children with no intelligible speech, articulation difficulties, or children with autistic spectrum disorders. Each of these groups of children, of course have different needs and so various approaches have to be adopted in the school to develop their communication skills.

Richard describes the role of ICT in helping students with complex learning difficulties access literacy.

Last term the Council for Subject Associations (CfSA) which was set up in September 2007 and funded for three years (before it has to become a self-financing organisation) produced the first of a series of Primary Subject folders that went into all schools across England for free. Other organisations can purchase a copy for £7.50. I was asked to write the ICT leaflet for the first issue on the theme of 'Every Child Mattters'.

The second Primary Subject's theme is the Gifted and Talented strand of the National Curriculum and was sent into schools in the last week of September 2008. Although I gave a sneak preview of the text in the Summer edition of Primary Focus, I have included the PDF that will be distributed along with leaflets from the other 16 subject associations to all schools in England during the third week in September 2008. The third edition of Primary Subjects will be distributed to schools in January 2009 and it has been confirmed that the theme will be Globalisation.

Your comments (posted underneath the article) on what you think of the leaflet would be very helpful feedback!

Crossley Heath have used their Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in so many ways to improve teaching, the delivery of the curriculum as well as the enjoyment of learning taking place. The following description highlights the way the schools secure email system is being used to help students make dramatic improvements in the quantity and quality of assignments set.

Naace have been successful in securing a TDA bid won by Steven Coombes based at Bath Spa University and being delivered as a 'Visual Learning Course' by Christina Preston and John Cuthell at MirandaNet (based at The Institute of Education, London).