Free online CPD with Lyfta and British Council
Lyfta has a limited number of free places on their highly-rated CPD course, ‘Teach Sustainable Development Goals, skills and values with Lyfta’, available for state-funded schools in England and Scotland through the British Council Connecting Classrooms programme. Lyfta is inviting teachers to a free CPD training webinar, free no-obligation access to the Lyfta platform and resources (for at least a term), as well as ongoing support to create a range of high quality lessons for students.
What is Lyfta?
Lyfta is an award-winning, digital platform where teachers and students can easily access immersive and interactive storyworlds with engaging lesson and assembly plans.
The dynamic and powerful platform brings compelling stories from around the world to children in their home or school. Each storyworld features real people and places.Their inspiring stories are brought to life through short documentaries and multimedia content. This combination of place, people and pedagogy is unique to the Lyfta experience.
Lyfta’s resources are designed to be easily accessible and flexible and can be used for both home learning and classroom settings. The theme-based learning experiences are ideal for teaching subjects such as literacy, personal, social and health education, geography, religious and moral education, social studies, global citizenship, sustainable development and expressive arts, as well as fostering values and skills such as resilience, empathy, self-direction and critical thinking.
FIND OUT MORE AND SIGN UP HERE
You can listen to my NAPE podcast interview with Penny on the Education on Fire website www.educationonfire.com/national-association-for-primary-education/does-teaching-racial-justice-and-equity-have-a-place-in-our-primary-schools-nape-061/
Or on your favourite podcast app. Find the link here https://nationalassociationforprimaryeducation.captivate.fm/listen
Empathy Week 22-26 February 2021
Empathy Week is a global schools programme that uses the power of film to develop the skills of empathy, leadership and resilience in young people. In 2020, schools in 48 countries across 6 continents took part. We’re continuing to build the #EmpathyGeneration on 22-26 February 2021 by providing:
5 human films, 5 realities
️ Differentiated resources
A massive global #empathy action project
Primary and Secondary curriculum for 2021
Register @ empathy-week.com
Curriculum recovery from Coronavirus lockdown
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION in collaboration with HUMANITIES 20:20 Project and PRIMARY UMBRELLA GROUP present:
TOWARDS A BALANCED AND BROADLY-BASED CURRICULUM
Virtual Conference – Monday 8th March 2021, 4.15pm-6.45pm
The Conference, embracing a theme which has always been central to debate about children’s entitlements, has been highlighted by OfSTED as critical in curriculum development and its central importance has been further accentuated by the pressures under which primary schools are working in the post-lockdown phase as they prioritise what is perceived as essential in educational recovery.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on children’s education may be perceived as a justification for narrowing the curriculum at the expense of the arts and the humanities, but this conference will explore the case for preserving young children’s entitlement to as rich and diverse a curriculum as possible. Dr. Eaude’s keynote lecture will set the scene, highlighting some key issues and considering some lessons to be learnt from the period of lockdown. The subsequent presentations will focus on classroom practice, providing a spotlight on innovations which have been implemented in school and offering guidance for the future.
All are most welcome at this event, including teachers, teacher assistants, governors and students and it’s our hope that the conference will play its part in bringing together a range of stakeholders in primary education, all with a commitment to enhancing children’s entitlement to a balanced and broadly-based curriculum.
SCHEDULE: 4.15PM – 6.45PM
4.15pm – Welcome followed by
Keynote lecture – Dr Tony Eaude
Why a balanced and broadly-based curriculum matters – particularly for young children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds
Dr. Eaude has published widely on a range of educational topics extending from pedagogy in the classroom to children’s moral, social and cultural development, earning himself the reputation as one of the most articulate and enlightened voices in the primary sector. His most recent book (2020), Identity, Culture and Belonging: Educating Young Children for a Changing World, characteristically draws on his wealth of teaching experience in the primary school, including headship and his insights into the changing contexts for schooling and children’s development.
5.15pm – Presentations A & B (Attendees will be ask to choose A or B when booking)
A. Social action in the Primary School – Naheeda Maharasingham, Head of Rathfern Primary School, Lewisham
B. Developing a curriculum as rich in humanity as in knowledge – Tina Farr, Head of St Ebbe’s Primary School, Oxford
6.00pm – Presentations C &D (Attendees will be ask to choose C or D when booking)
C. Beyond teaching – experiencing the humanities – Rachel Ford, Head of Bannockburn Primary School, Royal Borough of Greenwich
D. Exploring History through the local – Alison Hales, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Greenwich
6.40pm – Concluding remarks
LOCATION
Zoom Online Event – Monday 8th March 2021, 4.15pm-6.45pm
CONFERENCE FEE – Includes Keynote Lecture and 2 Presentations.
£10 per individual or £50 for 5 or more staff members from a school.
FREE for students
To find out more and book click https://www.nape.org.uk/conference
National Tutoring Programme appoints Third Space Learning to provide subsidised maths support to disadvantaged children
Third Space Learning, the UK’s largest online maths tutoring provider for schools, has announced it has been selected by the National Tutoring Programme to provide essential maths support to disadvantaged children across England as an approved Tuition Partner. From today, state maintained primary and secondary schools can access Third Space Learning’s subsidised maths tutoring support, funded as part of the government’s £350 million allocation to tutoring.
Third Space Learning works closely with schools to provide online tuition from professional tutors to children who are struggling with maths. Since launching in 2013, the company has delivered over 800,000 online maths lessons to more than 66,000 children in 2,300 schools across the UK.
Tom Hooper, Founder and CEO of Third Space Learning said: “Recent research* suggests that the social attainment gap is widening, particularly in maths, with children from poor backgrounds falling further behind than their peers. We’ve found that our model for online tutoring helps children to make significant progress in maths, often as much as seven months in just 14 weeks**. More than half of the children we support come from disadvantaged backgrounds and working with the National Tutoring Programme will enable us to extend this to many more. We are delighted to have been appointed.”
To help close the maths attainment gap, Third Space Learning has pioneered a tutoring model which recruits STEM graduates from across the world. This improves access to specialist one-to-one tuition so that schools can provide greater support to those disadvantaged children who are struggling with maths.
Third Space Learning tutors are all STEM graduates who undertake a rigorous training programme covering subject knowledge, online tutoring guidelines and safeguarding policies. They are all vetted and meet the highest safeguarding standards, before joining one of the largest online communities of expert maths tutors.
Daniel Nelson, Headteacher at Choppington Primary School in Northumberland said: “The progress made by the children since receiving Third Space sessions has been superb with children accelerating their progress and now closing the attainment gap, closer to desired outcomes.”
Third Space Learning’s sophisticated virtual classroom allows pupils to talk to their dedicated tutor through a shared screen and audio headset, including personalised online lesson plans to align with core curriculum concepts and classroom learning. Online delivery also means that if schools are partially closed, or a child needs to stay off school, their maths learning can continue and not be disrupted.
Rose Luckin, Professor of Learner Centred Design at UCL said: “We need new thinking and clever technology to address the huge educational challenges the pandemic has presented. Third Space Learning’s innovative and research-informed approach to widening access to one-to-one maths tuition is a great example of this. It is excellent news for schools and children that Third Space Learning is a part of this national initiative.”
Schools can learn more about Third Space Learning’s subsidised spaces by visiting: https://thirdspacelearning.com/national-tutoring-programme/
Click here to listen to Tom talking to Mark Taylor on the Education on Fire Podcast
The development of handwriting skills
The world famous Christopher Jarman Handwriting Skills book has just been updated. This is designed for teachers and parents working with their children at home. The book contains handwriting exercises, exemplar pages and fun facts about the history of handwriting.
This resource is from our sponsor National Association for Primary Education.
Order from the National Office for £30 including post and packing or £25 if you are a NAPE member. All details can be found at https://nape.org.uk/christopher-jarman-handwriting
