NEWS
Minority services group produces book
Harrow Ethnic Minority Services, which works in partnership with schools, has produced a children’s book with author Verna Wilkins. It is available from pravina.ladhu@harrow.gov.uk
Storytelling turns real life to fiction
Arts charity Creativity, Culture and Education has launched a project to turn real-life situations into stories. See http:tinyurl.com67exjrv
Jot down this sketchbook date
The use of sketchbooks in education is the subject of a national conference next month. The event, organised by the charity AccessArt, takes place in Cambridge on March 19 and will look at practical ways of using sketchbooks, notebooks and journals as a learning tool. For details, go to www.accessart.org.uk
SCIENCE
What is it
Understanding the nature of forces at work in our world is a vital concept in physical science. This is a collection of resources to help inspire pupils to discuss, explore and experiment, with material suitable for both primary key stages.
How to use it
Key stage 1 resources include a PowerPoint on push and pull forces. The slides can be used as a basis for discussion of movement and vocabulary, and to construct a Venn diagram of push, pull and pushpull objects (uploaded by anngie). Another PowerPoint shows how different toys respond to forces (Wrea-gree-wanabee).
The collection also features a lesson plan and worksheet to introduce Year 1 pupils to forces, and a lesson plan and worksheet to help Year 2 pupils understand forces. Both include suggested activities (both HamiltonTrust). Among the KS2 material is a collection of worksheets and plans for the Year 4 unit on friction (laurenmarcyko) and a lesson on friction using the Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Usain Bolt (Hamish1979). A series of posters revise the key points of gravity, magnets, air resistance, forces and friction (ooee4).
Suggested experiments include using parachutes to measure air resistance (ruburg) and testing the water resistance of different objects (HamiltonTrust).
Where to find it
The collection can be found at www.tes.co.ukprimary-forces
PSHE
What is it
Developing friendships and gaining an understanding of their meaning is crucial to a child’s sense of security and inclusion. This is a set of resources to support learning in this area. Topics include respecting difference and diversity, bullying and developing confidence and responsibility.
How to use it
The collection features a series of ideas for assemblies on friendship, including a PowerPoint which asks children to come up with a recipe for what makes a good friend (uploaded by juliateacher) and notes for an assembly using poems and stories on friendship (rehanafazil).
A Year 6 scheme of work includes material on developing good relationships and respecting difference (arth), while a Year 6 lesson on friendship focuses on respecting differences and working together (ezzysunlight). Resources on playground behaviour include cards containing stories from four children who are finding the playground a difficult place. Pupils can play the role of “agony aunt” to give advice to the children (Milkandchalk).
A set of resources from BeatBullying covers a number of themes relating to friendships, relationships and social interaction, both in school and online. These include a lesson plan looking at what friendship means to young people, an assembly on cyber-bullying and a lesson on faith-based bullying.
A set of resources for a themed week on global citizenship, aimed at key stage 2 pupils, has an underlying theme of strength through diversity. PowerPoints look at family and friends, the local community, the UK and the global community (georgiwolf).
Where to find it
The collection can be found at www.tes.co.ukprimary-friendship
HISTORY
What is it
This is a collection of resources looking at toys from the past.
How to use it
The collection includes a set of pictures of toys from the past that can be used as posters or cut out and laminated for discussion or for games of snap or pairs (uploaded by elsa70). They can also be used in conjunction with a lesson plan looking at how today’s toys are different from those of the past (TES resources).
One exercise asks pupils to collect information on their favourite toys, which can then by turned into a pictogram (TES iboard), and a worksheet suitable for key stage 1 asks children to compare old and new toys (vzross). A photograph taken in 1900 could be used to ask children to identify any toys they can see (EnglishHeritage).
An interactive resource introduces simple timelines by looking at toys and is suitable for KS1 pupils (NGfLCymru), while a worksheet asks pupils to label old and new toys (Louise Bruzon).
Where to find it
www.tes.co.uktoys-of-the-past.
