The Big City Pack. Most locality packs tend to feature rural areas. This one for key stages 1 and 2 aims to redress the balance with a look at Glasgow, Phnom Penh, Santiago and Dakar. It contains photos and teacher’s book. Pounds 12.75 (pp Pounds 2.55). Oxfam, 274 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DZ.
Oxfordshire Schools Leaving Home Project; Teacher Training (INSET) Materials. The first of these packs from Centrepoint is a practical aid to designing lessons and group sessions for 13-18 year olds on leaving home. The second looks at how the topic fits into the national curriculum and contains a one-day training course for teachers and trainers.Pounds 5 and Pounds 6 respectively (inc pp). Centrepoint: Housing for Young People at Risk, Bewlay House, 2 Swallow Place, London W1R 7AA.
The United Nations Primary Kit. This year being the UN’s 50th anniversary, schools can expect a flurry of materials. This one includes activities for pupils, teachers’ notes, background information and ideas for extension work. Pounds 16 (inc pp). Pearson Publishing, Chesterton Mill, French’s Road, Cambridge CB4 3NP.
Expeditions. This richly-resourced and well-presented secondary school pack from the Army Teamwork Education Programme is free. It looks at what’s involved in running school excursions, paying particular attention to safety, and contains a video, maps, teachers’ guide and other elements. Telephone: 0202 666505.
Oxford Reading Tree Rhyme and Analogy Strand: Card Games. Children love card games. To encourage their awareness of letter and rhyme by focusing on letter shapes, spelling patterns and letter strings, this pack includes 386 cards, divided into four sets with teachers’ notes suggesting more than 50 games. Pounds 34 (exc VAT; inc pp), Oxford University Press, Educational Division, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP.
Creating the Conditions for School Improvement. This partly photocopiable book is about recipes and ingredients rather than TV suppers, say the authors. Included are materials for organising school workshops on issues including action planning, involvement and access. Pounds 19.99 (exc pp). David Fulton Publishers, 2 Barbon Close, Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3JX.
The IT in Maths Pack. This pack has sections on number and algebra with computers and calculators; geometry with computers; maths in context and secondary maths with a graphics calculator. Two discs of data (one for PCs and one for Archimedes). Pounds 15 (inc pp). Association of Teachers of Mathematics, 7 Shaftesbury Street, Derby DE23 8YB.
Young Citizen’s Passport. All UK secondary schools should now have received two copies of this pocket guide to street law for school leavers and are being encouraged to buy more with the help of local solicitors, banks and retailers. Pounds 2.99 (inc pp). Discounts on bulk orders. Citizenship Foundation, Weddel House, 13 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9HY.
