Education ShowReview
Breaking down the barriers to reading
The Education Show kicked off on the same day as World Book Day, with Kate Bostock, Trade Services Officer of the Publishers Association explaining the importance of books in children’s lives. Kate has worked on the initiative since it first began in 1997 and manned the Publishers Information Point on behalf of the Publishers Association, together with Caroline Horn’s Reading Zone andWorld Book Day representatives. On Friday 5thMarch, the Future of Reading
Literacy Forum took place alongside the Education Show, with support from the National Literacy Association. Developed to delve deep into the heart of literacy, attendees enjoyed a stellar programme of speakers and roundtable discussions, including a presentation by author and former Children’s Laureate,Michael Rosen. Commenting ahead of the show,Michael said: “I think it is vital for the education of every child in the country that we get back to talking about reading whole books.” Talking of the need for more and
better books in schools, Kate said: “Why do we give every child in the UK a book token? There is a serious minority of children for whom reading is not an expectation,” she said, describing homes that do not have any books at all and where reading is perceived as ‘nerdish’. Kate insisted that many families in the C2, DE groups were non reading families. An interesting point raised by Prof. Heppell, however, was that too few classrooms were set out in a way that actually encouraged children to read: “The problem is we had built a factory model of learning. How many of us actually sit at a desk and read?” Recognising the barriers to reading presented by classroom design, the Cool Schools initiative is perfectly placed to find ways of addressing the problem. Ray Barker of BESA added: “Literacy strategy had enormous effect, but it didn’t allow us to read books – we had to move on too quickly. Teachers are adopting a real book philosophy again; now that the SATs have been removed, they have a lot more freedom.” Children’s book sales have increased in the last 10 years; with more schools wanting to enjoyWorld Book Day, said Kate – a very positive trend that we hope continues.
Enjoying the Spring
Raising environmental awareness, theWaitrose kitchen garden van in support of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Campaign for School Gardening generated a lot of interest throughout the show. This cross curricular campaign aims to help children learn about gardening, growing food, healthy eating and how to care for the environment.More than 10,000 schools have signed up to grow their own garden, which promises to be a lot of fun for all primary pupils and teachers. Award winning educational charity, the Eden
Project was also there to highlight its range of education initiatives, tying sustainability and bio- diversity into careers and guidance with classroom activities across all Key Stages. “Whether teachers want to get their class thinking about jobs that give back to the planet, international environmental responsibility, engaging educational
April 2010
activities or find out more about free training opportunities, the Eden project is an inspiring and useful port of call,” said the Education Show team. Richard Joslin, emphasized the importance of
this area of learning: “Combining outdoor play with gardening, healthy eating projects, music and exercise are just a few of the innovative ways that today’s schools can help learners grow, while meeting the objectives of the Every ChildMatters agenda.With many of the Education Show exhibitors offering sustainability projects and resources, schools can work towards reducing their carbon footprint while fostering a sense of purpose and awareness of environmental issues in young people.” Playforce had its own outdoor classroom, where
visitors could see the ‘grow’ range in action and learn the life of insects through a magnifying bug table, while experiencing outdoor musical play equipment. Freenotes too displayed some beautiful musical play equipment, created to get children moving while learning about music. GymKids
professional organization embracing all special educational needs. Providing van hire to schools, Days Rental’s
Accessibility Consultant JohnWiggins told Education Today: “Our offering is unique in that we provide lease rental for SEN/special access requirements. People at the show seemed genuinely interested. It was effectively a launch for us and it couldn’t have gone any better.” This great service demands no financial outlay, schools can simply use it as and when, budget permitting.
Fundraising initiatives for schools
We also spoke to Alison Parkes of the Support Your School Recycling Scheme about its aim to raise £5m for UK schools through the collection of empty inkjet cartridges and unwanted mobile phones for re-use. Sharing the stand was Bag2School, a free off
the shelf solution to fundraising. B2S is not a charity; it is a business which specialises in collecting second-hand clothes in their original condition, which are sold to emerging nations.
A range of classroomsolutions
Innovative new educational publishing company, The Literacy Club choseWorld Book Day (4thMarch 2010) to launch a brand new series of literacy magazines for primary teachers and children in the 5-7 and 7-10 age groups. On view for the first time on The Literacy Club’s stand in Innovation Alley, TLC Teacher and TLC Kids are said to be the only magazines dedicated to the teaching and learning of literacy at this level, containing stories, poems, non-fiction texts and lesson ideas that will inspire young readers and help raise literacy standards. TLC Teacher and TLC Kids are available in both printed and digital formats and are supported by interactive resources and games, on screen texts and audio visual resources at TLC online. Another good initiative was SING UP,
a resource designed to encourage music back into Primary Schools. Next stop was Asthma UK where we saw a range of materials designed to raise awareness, while just along the corridor Battersea
brought its range of outdoor and indoor play equipment to the show, including interactive dance mats, climbing walls and fun gym equipment for children of all ages.While Wicksteed Playscapes, a leading provider of playground and sports equipment in the UK, were also pleased with the show, the company’s Jerry Jarman reporting 20 good leads on the first day.
Continuing to provide first class SEN support
With many resources available to help boost SEN teaching, the Education Show’s SEN Information Point for teachers was again hosted by Nasen. The show represents an opportunity for educationalists across the country to gather and share ideas, discover new resources and pursue their professional development. “Nasen have provided the SEN info point for
over five years now; with an increased focus on special educational needs provision in mainstream state schools, it’s essential that all teachers discover the best ways to meet the needs of their learners, no matter what their level of ability”, said Lorraine Petersen (OBE), CEO of Nasen, a leading
Dogs and Cats Home were offering a range of free resources all about promoting sensible pet ownership with the help of Hattie the dog! Moving on, Drake Educational Associates talked
us through their range of resources for numeracy highlighting the intrinsic link between fractions and learning to tell the time, while Kevin Bird of Zings, said although this was the first time this provider of musical instruments, media and books had done a show, they had “Big hopes for it.” School Communications explained how it caters
to the needs of the ‘invisible parent’ by communicating via email and sms, its weekly newsletter service proving very popular with schools determined to ensure inclusion for parents. With letters from school often failing to make their way home - a problem shared by many parents - this valuable service guards against any breakdown in communication. JamesWilson of Peters Books Selling Services,
which provides furniture and soft furnishing solutions told us: “Soft seating and rugs tend to be the most popular.” Asked if the show had been a success, James said: “We always seem to get
www.education-today.co.uk
21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44