News
Top 10 favourite children’s books revealed for 2013
Microsoft searches for a star
Microsoft, in conjunction with Naace, the ICT association, has launched a new competition designed to challenge and inspire school children about the possibilities of coding and computer science, by creating their own computer games.
The Kodu Kup will offer UK school children, aged between seven and fourteen, the opportunity to design a brand new computer game, using Kodu, a visual programming language built specifically for creating games by Microsoft. The entries will be judged by a high profile panel, which includes Gary Carr (Creative Director at games studio, Lionhead, home of the multi-million selling Fable titles) and Theo Chin of independent games developer, IndieSkies.
Kodu is already widely used by teachers in schools across the UK, delivering basic programming and problem solving skills to school children, whilst aiming to keep their interest and sustain their excitement for learning. Kodu Kup entrants must develop a game that matches to the following themes: water awareness (developing a game that tackles the environmental issue of water); Mars exploration (a game that is centred around the exploration of Mars) or a retro arcade game. Steve Beswick, Director of Education, Microsoft UK, said of the competition: “If the UK is to continue to remain economically competitive, it’s essential that we get our young people excited about computer science from the earliest age possible. A young man from the US recently developed a fantastic, simple game called Bubble Ball for his phone that went on to be downloaded over 2 million times worldwide - why can’t we do the same in the UK? It’s this sense of being given the freedom to think and design creatively that we are hoping to capture with the Kodu Kup.” The competition is now open and closes on May 31st. Ten shortlisted teams or individuals will receive an invite to Microsoft’s Reading headquarters where they will take part in workshops, as well as present their games to the judging panel. The top three teams will each receive an Xbox 360 with a Kinect, and the overall winner will win an opportunity to spend some time at one of the world’s most exciting game developers, Lionhead.
uFor more information, visit
www.pil-network.com
Renaissance Learning has announced the top 10 favourite children’s books of 2013, as voted by 300,144 children across 1,605 UK schools.
The top spot went to the first book in Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampires series, Glass Houses. However, J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books continue to prove popular with children, demonstrating two key trends in this year’s list: books with a fantasy or adventure theme and books which have had on- screen success.
Notably absent from the list were classics from the likes of Roald Dahl (Matilda, The BFG) and Allan Ahlberg (The Jolly Postman), although according to separate but related data showing the most read (as opposed to most popular) books, they remain some of the most highest ranked by UK children.
Rachel Caine’s list-topping offering
Barbara Band, Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and a school librarian commented: “Borrowing of children’s fiction from libraries is at a seven year high, with a 0.3% increase this year compared to last, showing that children’s reading is very much alive and thriving… It’s vital that we make sure that children continue to have universal access to books to ensure once their appetite in reading is whetted, they are able to sustain that interest.” The research is taken from Renaissance Learning’s annual ‘What Kids Are Reading’ report, authored by Prof. Keith Topping, Professor of Educational and Social Research at Dundee University, and due to be released in full in early March. It includes data from over 300,000 schoolchildren across academic years 1 – 11 throughout 1,605 UK schools. More than 4.4 million books and 51 billion words were read through the course of the research, which took place over the last academic year.
uThe full 2013 report will be released on 7th March 2013 to coincide with World Book Day, and can be requested from
www.readforpleasure.co.uk/wkar2013
Oxfordshire science event offers playful prizes
50 primary schools have registered for this year’s Oxfordshire Big Science Event, up 25% on 2011, suggesting the competition will be the biggest yet. The competition has begun in schools across the county with more than 5,000 pupils expected to participate. The Big Science Event final will take place on Thursday 27th June 2013 at Science Oxford Live. The county-wide competition is coordinated by Science Oxford and challenges primary school pupils to devise and execute their own science investigation. Last year, 40 schools entered the competition and the investigations varied from ‘Which material makes the best parachute for Batman?’ to ‘Can girls hear better than boys?’
This year, Science Oxford is running a separate Big Science Event competition in Buckinghamshire.
Schools Programme Manager, Natalie Ford, said: “The Big Science Event competition is one of the highlights of my year. I find it inspiring to see all of the creative ideas for science investigations that the children come up with.” The winning school will receive a prize of £1,500 worth of playground equipment from event sponsors, Playforce, who are supporting the event. Dr Colin MacAdam, Managing Director at Playforce, commented: “At Playforce we believe learning should be fun and that's why it's such a treat to be able to work with Science Oxford for a second year. They share our passion for exploring science and learning through play, as well as during classroom time, as well of our love of innovation and imagination.”
4
www.education-today.co.uk The winning prize, from Playforce
Thomas Bradley, Hamish Harrison-Cushing and Rodolfo Neils-Gervasio from Year 5 at St. Aloysius Primary School won first prize in 2012 with their experiment ‘Do ants like salty or sweet foods best?’
uFor more information, visit
www.scienceoxford.com/schools/BSE February 2013
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