News
Microsoft announced as knowledge partner for Bett
Microsoft has been announced as the knowledge partner for the Bett Arena at Bett 2013, a learning technology event taking place at the ExCeL in London from 30 January - 2 February 2013.
Anti-Bullying Week needs teacher support
Vic Goddard, Headmaster from Channel 4 programme ‘Educating Essex’, is calling on teachers to acknowledge that bullying may be a problem in their school, ahead of Anti-Bullying week which runs this year from 19 – 23 November.
As part of the campaign, the Anti- Bullying Alliance (ABA), which coordinates the week, has produced a campaign pack for school leaders, teachers, governors, youth workers, parents, carers and children, as well as a range of free briefing papers - to help inspire activity during the week. Goddard, from Passmores School in Essex, said: “Teachers and school staff need to make sure talking about being bullied is not something to be embarrassed about in their school. Young people can’t be expected to speak up if they feel they won’t be heard.”
Goddard added: “Unfortunately bullying does happen, but the more it’s acknowledged, the more we can do about it. Anti-Bullying Week provides the perfect opportunity to kick start discussions about bullying in our schools and communities. Let’s make sure kids feel confident enough to speak up. Let’s let them know they’ll be heard.” The theme for this year’s Anti-Bullying Week is ‘we’re better without bullying’ and the ABA is hoping to shine a light on bullying as a barrier to achievement. To get involved, visit
www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk Clampdown on takeaways near schools
Public health officials from Birmingham & Solihull NHS have been working with the city council to control the number of new licenses granted for hot takeaways near schools, in a bid to reduce childhood obesity. In an area where a quarter of eleven to twelve year olds are classified as obese, researchers
used Ordnance Survey geographic information to assess the proximity of hot food takeaways to schools, youth facilities and leisure centres. Subsequent analysis revealed that 71% of all primary and secondary schools in the city have a hot food takeaway within 400m; some have as many as 19 within this distance.
As a result of the findings, new rules were agreed to control the number of unhealthy fast food outlets clustered around schools. Furthermore, if a proposed takeaway is within 400m of a school then it is now a requirement to contact the school’s head teacher.
Several applications have already been refused on this basis. October 2012 Sustainability exchange
A new, online, community knowledge bank on sustainability is being launched by organisations from across the UK’s further and higher education sector.
The ‘Sustainability Exchange’ is a new website portal that combines resources and experience from 23 of the country's top sustainable development and education bodies, pioneering the UK's first centralised information portal for the sector.
The project has been developed in response to a growing demand for knowledge, discussion and debate on sustainable development, as universities, colleges and schools face enormous pressure from stakeholders and students alike, to be as sustainably minded as possible. The project is being supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and will provide a place for colleagues in different educational institutions to interact and share their sustainability experiences via community forums, news feeds, an events diary, best practice guides, toolkits, reports, research, webinars and videos. For more information on the Sustainability Exchange, to view the resources and to see a list of its partner organisations, visit
www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk
www.education-today.co.uk 5
The Bett Arena is new to the show for 2013, and will feature a range of expert speakers including ministers, politicians, media figureheads and recognised educationalists. As the only knowledge partner for the Bett Arena, Microsoft will play a key role in working with the organisers to help shape and mould the programme of content and share its expertise. Microsoft will also host their own theatre at the event in conjunction with Microsoft staff and teachers from across the sector. Sessions will address a range of content from Windows 8, BYOD, gaming in education and Office 365 for education.
Other confirmed speakers include Prof Sugata Mitra, Professor of Education Technology at Newcastle University, whose work inspired the film Slumdog Millionaire; and Baronness Susan Greenfield, Professor of Pharmacology at Oxford, who has been awarded 30 honorary degrees and heads a multi-disciplinary research group exploring novel brain mechanisms linked to neurodegenerative diseases. Throughout the four days of the show, the speakers will present insights and share thoughts into the latest trends and research in technology and learning.
Steve Beswick, UK Education Director for Microsoft said: “For nearly three decades, Bett has been recognised as the go-to event for educators and learning professionals…We are thrilled to have the opportunity to be a knowledge partner in this event as it continues to develop and grow, and together hope to explore the future of learning in a way previously un-paralleled.”
The full line up of speakers and programme for the Bett Arena will be announced on the Bett website at
www.bettshow.com
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