For some time there has been a need to encourage and support teachers aspiring to become or recently appointed as ICT co-ordinators. Martyn Wilson and Janet Roberts of Hampshire County Council have worked with Naace and Nottingham Trent University (NTU) to develop a course aimed at new and aspiring ICT coordinators.

These articles provide information about how to apply to run the course and other details.

The streamlined approach is designed for schools with 'good' ICT. In such a school, there is likely to be less need to use the self-review framework as a development tool so the focus for them might be to have their self-review validated by an external assessor through a more streamlined approach. The assessment process is exactly the same for all schools; it is simply the preparation/approach that is streamlined.

An ICT Co-ordinator in an infant school decsribes how she has set up an after-school Internet Café for children and their parents.

Naace has been invited to offer two briefing sessions in the Local Authority Lounge. These cover ICT CPD experiences for ICT advisors and the use of web-conferencing to support transition and MFL. Naace will be making four contributions to the Seminar Programme covering collaborative tools in teaching and learning, personalised learning, transforming learning and a report on the 'Let's Play Project'.

These notes are designed to support you if you have completed the Becta self-review framework and are now ready to proceed to an assessment.

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/

Full text of the Naace response to the QCA secondary curriculum review, available for browsing or to download in Word format.

Here are the next steps to guide you through renewing your ICT Mark. They will also apply if you have been recommended for the ICT Mark using the streamlined approach.

Margaret Allen is Head of European Education Market Development, Promethean. Margaret is an experienced primary school teacher, specialising in the application of ICT to support the teaching of younger learners. Regarded as a leader in this field, Margaret has also delivered training to PGCE students, sharing her knowledge and skills to help them effectively integrate ICT into teaching pedagogy.

Margaret's passion for education extends beyond the classroom boundaries. As an early adopter and evangelist of interactive whiteboard technology, she has become an expert commentator on its positive and enriching effects on teaching and learning. Her thoughts on this subject were featured on BBC Child of our Time.

This expertise has made her a sought-after author in the education press, with Margaret regularly contributing articles to publications such as Child Education, Junior Education, TES Magazine, SEN and NAACE.

Committed to the development of interactive whiteboard best practice, Margaret works closely with major publishers and software houses to ensure resources designed for interactive solutions truly meet the needs of the classroom, and importantly, help realise the full potential of the technology.

Within these pages you'll find many ways in which you can deliver a rich curriculum through a range of topics. We have chosen to focus on just five. For younger children there are some exciting ways to learn about Food. Margaret Allen highlights the versatility of IWBs and Susie Arnott and Marie Hindmarch suggest ways of using stories as a starting point. Andy Pierson brings inspiration and help when teaching music in a Seaside topic. Photographs of beach huts, taken by Roger Keeling, provide a stimulus for mathematical activities.