We pay pound;30 for each tip printed. Send brief ideas for teaching, admin or how to cope to the address or email on page 3 Brain boxes Make a class “Brain Box”. This can be any sort of box, decorated in any way, as long as it has a slot for children to post questions into. The questions can be to do with school work, or anything they don’t want to ask out loud.

Joanne Leach

What, no kit?

For children not participating in PE (for “no-kit - cop out” reasons) create a range of activity sheets, such as: list 10 points about how to stay safe in the gym, what makes a good team player, what have you learned from watching the lesson, why is exercise food for you, what exercise requires us to use (lungs, arm muscles, makes us sweat). This is a good tactic for encouraging them to remember their kit.

Kim Gorringe

Tidy-up time

Getting the children to tidy up the classroom can often become a drawn-out experience. To speed things up, try using a stopwatch. Give the children a time limit, for example two minutes, and if they manage to tidy up quietly and sensibly within that time, then they earn their reward (perhaps a class merit or team points). This will guarantee a more efficient class and will save a lot of time.

Sarah Wiggall