News
Teaching and Learning Academy launched Prior to the New Year, the Department for Education hosted the launch of the new Teaching and Learning Academy (TLA) in London. The successful event was attended by more than 60 delegates representing schools, DfE, GTCE, NAHT and ASCL officials, as well as subject associations and universities.
FILMCLUB introduces on-line start-up sessons for teachers
Interactive, online training sessions for teachers have been introduced by the education charity FILMCLUB so more schools can reap the educational and social benefits provided by school film clubs. Developed to enable busy teachers to join the scheme more easily than ever before, the one hour, interactive, on-line start-up sessions will take place at 4.30pm on: Wednesday 22nd February, Tuesday 6th March and Tuesday 20th March. They are open to all education professionals interested in setting up a free film club in their school or college including teachers, headteachers, teaching assistants, school librarians and 6th form students.
To sign up for an on-line start-up session teachers simply visit
www.filmclub.org and click on ‘Join For Free Now’.
‘Satisfactory’ school rating scrapped The RSA’s campaign to scrap Ofsted’s ‘satisfactory’ school rating has proved successful following the announcement by Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw, to change the satisfactory school rating to ‘requires improvement’.
The move, announced ahead of a Government summit on struggling schools, will be subject to consultation, and is designed to tackle the number of schools that have maintained a "satisfactory" rating over a number of inspections without improving.
University applications down Applications to UK universities have dropped significantly in light of recent fee increases. Consequently more students than ever before are seeking voluntary working placements abroad according to Projects Abroad – the world’s largest volunteering organisation.
Peter Slowe, Director of projects abroad states, “As a result of fee increases and massive graduate unemployment, volunteering for philanthropic projects abroad becomes an attractive option, It is an excellent way to step off the educational treadmill and gain some life perspective.”
Vocab Express announces new partnership Vocab Express, the online modern foreign language vocabulary learning application is launching new language resources for Key Stages 3 to 5 in partnership with educational publisher Nelson Thornes. This forms part of the continuing development of Vocab Express to make language learning more accessible and enjoyable for young people.
The new agreement will see the integration of Vocab Express with Kerboodle, the personalised online learning service for teachers and students that provides learning and assessment resources. Kerboodle users will be able to automatically connect to Vocab Express using their Kerboodle accounts, and can subscribe to the application as upgrades to their Kerboodle subscriptions.
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News in Brief Sky Sports Living for D
Sport Awards 2011
arren Taxis, PE Co-ordinator at The Phoenix School in Grantham, Lincolnshire, was awarded the title of Sky Sports Living for Sport Teacher of the Year 2011 after attending an awards ceremony at Wembley Stadium last month.
Sky Sports Living for Sport, delivered in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, is a free secondary schools initiative that uses sport stars and sport skills to improve the lives of thousands of young people by boosting confidence, changing behaviours and increasing attainment.
The Sky Sports Living for Sport Teacher of the Year Award, a new category for this year, has encouraged schools across the UK to nominate teachers who have gone the extra mile in helping their students take part in the initiative by developing outstanding Sky Sports Living for Sport projects, which have had a major impact on their students’ lives. Darren Taxis stood out as a shining example because his Sky Sports Living for Sport project clearly demonstrated how the initiative can help integrate pupils from all walks of life and boost pupils’ personal pride and confidence.
The Phoenix School caters for pupils with emotional, social and behavioural difficulties and Darren is constantly looking for new and exciting challenges for the pupils. Due to the nature of the pupils at the Phoenix School, the projects Darren ignites through Sky Sports Living for Sport aim to boost pupils’ self-esteem and self-confidence as well as their health and wellbeing. Although the aim of the projects is not specifically to boost academic achievement, many pupils involved in the projects have achieved Level 1 BTEC Certificate in Sports and Active Leisure and Level 2 BTEC Extended Certificate in Sport.
Over the course of the projects, Darren has organised a football programme for a group of students across Key Stages 3 and 4 and developed an archery programme and after school Archery Club. Other Sky Sports Living for Sport projects run by Darren include street dance and badminton, both of which have been very successful.
Darren’s effort and commitment have had a major impact on students, who have grown in confidence, focus and their commitment to sport. Most surprisingly, pupils who are not normally interested in sport have found a real passion for certain sports and this in turn has given them a much needed boost in self-esteem.
Nick Wood
Joining two other shortlisted finalists, Bob Foley of Newbattle Community High School and Martin Reay from Budehaven Community Schoool, at the prestigious UK awards ceremony, Darren received his trophy from Sky Sports News presenter Kirsty Gallacher who crowned him Sky Sports Living for Sport Teacher of the Year 2011.
As the Teacher of the Year, Darren wins £2000 towards his school’s next Sky Sports Living for Sport project, while joint runner ups Bob Foley and Martin Reay each win £750. All three finalists also win a year’s free Sky Sports subscription, a trophy and certificate in recognition of their hard work.
Nick Wood of The Lancaster School in Leicester was awarded the title of Sky Sports Living for Sport Student of the Year 2011. He received the accolade after being named East Midlands Student of the Year in a series of UK wide regional semi-finals.
With nominations rolling in from schools across the UK, Nick stood out as a clear winner. His story demonstrated how Sky Sports Living for Sport, delivered in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, has helped Nick apply lessons learnt through sport to situations in school and everyday life.
Making full use of
www.skysports.com/livingforsport, The Lancaster School encouraged pupils who had behavioural difficulties, including Nick, to become sports mentors for children at local primary schools and improve their own confidence and motivation. As the UK’s overall winner, Nick will receive a 3DTV, a year’s Sky subscription, £100 sports voucher and his school will also secure an extra visit from an Athlete Mentor and £2000 towards their next Sky Sports Living for Sport projects.
To watch the promotional video and find out more about Sky Sports Living for Sport, please visit
www.livingforsport.skysports.com
www.education-today.co.uk February 2012 Darren Taxis
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