The charity Let the Children Live has produced The Disposable Ones, a pack about its work with the street children of Colombia pitched at key stage 4 RE, humanities and PSE. Photocopiable materials in a hefty ringbinder document the country’s appalling social problems and contains heart-rending personal accounts of dispossession. Let the Children Live wants young people in Britain to know that their counterparts in Colombia have lives that they can’t begin to conceive of, and the pack is, in places, unbearably grisly (“If you die or are killed in the street, your body will be placed in a huge refrigerator with dozens of others until someone claims it”). But it is easy to read, clear to photocopy and comes with pictures, games and a tape for a suggested sing-a-long. Although how anyone thought the latter was suited to the subject is beyond me.
Details: Packs pound;35 from Let the Children Live, PO Box 11, Walsingham, Norfolk NR22 6EH There’s nothing like a bit of armchair travelling to take you from the freezing reality of midwinter to the tropical warmth of, say, the Indian sub-continent. And who better to take you there than Saeed Jaffrey, who is among the narrators of The Karadi Tales, a series of audiotape and book combinations for children from Classical Oceans. These are traditional Indian folk tales and fables that mine the rich, story-telling tradition of South Asia. Marvellously exotic escapsm at a reasonable price.
Details: pound;5.99 each or pound;21.99 for a set of four. Tel: 0208 902 5646, or e-mail: sales@classicaloceans.co.uk If you’ve ever used magnets in a classroom, chances are they were made by Dowling, which has more magnetic combinations than you could shake a stick at. Latest off the production line is the Magic Wall (pictured). When is a wall a magnet, you may ask? Well, when you stick magnetised letters on it, of course. A ready-made, board-shaped literacy aid, which can also double as a fun means of demonstrating magnetic properties.
Details: Dowling, tel: 0181 880 4135 Athletes all over the world are training hard for the first Olympic games of the new millennium. The UK has an excellent record in swimming (if not in a whole lot else) and Kellogg’s, the Frosties people, want to make sure that there are plenty more winners in the pool. The company has invested a great deal of money in support for school swimming, and this year is sponsoring an award to motivate young swimmers. The Olympic Award is designed to encourage those with basic swimming skills to explore not only swimming but water polo, diving and synchronised swimming. There are a huge number of other swimming awards to aim for too, but everything you need to know is explained in the Awards Handbook (splashproof, of course).
Details: pound;6 from the ASA Awards Centre. Tel: 01527 514288 Janette Wolf
