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.

The Direct2U service was a weekly email service produced by Becta in partnership with Naace. The service was for primary teachers and offered lesson plans featuring ICT in activities based on six subject strands. The service is discontinued but you can view the lesson plans in this archive.

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.

A fascinating question and one that teachers would probably answer with 'more knowledge than we have now!' That alone is reason to share this vast wealth of understanding in the world, and really begin to learn from each other. Knowledge and understanding are not learned in isolation for in collaboration we can achieve much more. Teachers cannot possibly know all the answers to the questions children ask but it is their responsibility to equip learners with the thirst, skills and opportunities to be able to find out - and not simply through a Google search either.

This article explores this approach with Key Stage 1 pupils in a Hampshire infant school.

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).

This Article looks at the Big Books on the Naace Primary website and the Big Book Maker utility which allows you to make similar books of your own. A new and much improved Big Book Maker is available from amongst the Naace Primary resources at http://primary.naace.co.uk/activities/index.htm
Full instructions for making the books are available on the site but I wanted to show you some of what is already available in order to illustrate the kind of thing you and your children might create and also to show how the existing books can be useful across the whole curriculum.
For comment or contributions, including any Big Books created by you or your pupils, please contact me at h.govier@btopenworld.com