News
Making sense of maths: vital support for teenagers born very prematurely
Primary school children pick up a pBone and pTrumpet to play
Warwick Music Group, the company that has encouraged thousands of youngsters worldwide to take up musical instruments, has embarked on a new project to ‘teach a class to play’.
The company is running, free of charge, weekly tuition sessions for some 90 children that have never played a musical instrument before – with the goal of putting on an end- of-term performance for parents and the rest of the school.
The ten week project at Frederick Bird School in Coventry sees children from three year-four classes using pBones, the world’s first plastic trombone, and pTrumpets, the world’s first all-plastic trumpet.
Each class will have a weekly forty minute lesson with the aim of performing a whole- year group mini-concert in December. The project, which is being run by Becca Pope of Warwick Music Group’s education team, started on Wednesday, 30th September with instruments delivered to the school on Tuesday, 29th September.
Lizzy Seymour, Head of music and performance at Frederick Bird School, said: “This is a great opportunity and we are really looking forward to working with Warwick Music Group. It’s fantastic that we have a company with a worldwide reputation supporting a local school.
“Most of the children have yet to pick up a musical instrument so this is a great experience for them and great fun too. It is a challenge but I know they will give it their all.” Chris Fower, Director of Education at Warwick Music Group, said the programme with Frederick Bird School was a great example of how a local company can help a local school.
“We are an unusual company – not only because we develop innovative instruments but because we can offer a total package to support schools. In addition to pBone and pTrumpet instruments, we also provide sheet music and educational resources from Warwick Music - and on this occasion a teacher from the education team too! It’s quite rare for a commercial company to be able to offer such a package.”
www.warwickmusic.com 6
An award-winning research team is developing a web-based e-learning programme to help teenagers who were born very prematurely with vital maths skills. This unique resource will be used by teachers to support children’s learning. As one in every 50 babies is born before 32 weeks of pregnancy, almost all teachers will be responsible for supporting children who were born very early.
“Many children who were born very prematurely, before 32 weeks of pregnancy, have learning difficulties,” says lead researcher Dr Samantha Johnson. “Of all school subjects, these children are most likely to struggle with maths. Such difficulties, even in primary school, can affect children’s prospects throughout their whole life.”
“We’ve found that teachers often feel ill-equipped to support such children’s learning, especially in maths,” says Dr Johnson, who is based at the University of Leicester. “In earlier work we found that over 90 per cent of teachers in the UK wanted this sort of support. We hope to enable teachers to help all premature children to achieve their full potential.”
Maths skills are reported as being even more important than reading skills in predicting life chances. They are linked to future employment prospects and earning potential. Dr Johnson and her team are determined to help.
The three year study, funded by children’s charity Action Medical Research, has now begun. “We are investigating the learning and maths skills of teenagers who were born very prematurely to find out which areas of maths they are struggling with and why,” Dr Johnson explains. “Importantly, we also hope to find out what types of support these young people need at school. “We will use the information gained in this research to develop a web-based, e-learning programme that shows teachers how best to support premature children’s learning, especially in maths,” says Dr Johnson. “In earlier work, we found that over 90 per cent of teachers in the UK wanted this sort of support. We hope to enable teachers to help all premature children to achieve their full potential.”
www.action.org.uk/research
Universities “must act now” to meet Government carbon reduction targets
Higher Education (HE) institutions must take urgent action to meet Government carbon reduction targets by adopting new technology to reduce emissions. This is the advice from leading software provider Advanced Learning as many universities and colleges could be doing more to prioritise sustainability. According to research, 65% out of a total of 126 universities are expected to miss the Government’s 43% emissions reduction figure by 2020, with only 35% currently on track to meet or exceed this. Based on current projections, just over half of HE establishments will eventually achieve their designated target in five years’ time.
Space utilisation figures for the HE sector, which typically monitor the frequency and use of lecture theatres and meeting rooms, are as low as 25% in some cases due to institutions using poor energy performing buildings. As universities receive record numbers of applications, many are constructing more buildings to accommodate an increasing student population instead of successfully managing their existing space capacity.
www.education-today.co.uk
Greg Ford, Managing Director of Advanced Learning, comments, “The rise in tuition fees, combined with greater restrictions being imposed on international students, has understandably led to a greater focus on student satisfaction and retention. However unless universities act now, they face inevitable penalties if carbon reduction targets are not met.”
Ford adds, “Universities can still make a significant impact on carbon reduction before the 2020 deadline. Timetabling and resource management systems can be implemented swiftly and record and report on vital attendance data to determine whether rooms are being appropriately utilised.
“With access to real-time information, they can easily identify poor energy performing buildings and make more informed decisions to increase their space utilisation statistics. Effective space management also provides tangible financial and efficiency benefits and ensures a fully supported student experience.”
www.progressomis.com October 2015 Dr Samantha Johnson
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