SECED COMPETITIONS
£10,000 giveaway
ECED IS back for the new term with
S
another incredible ICT giveaway.
We have teamed up with specialist
provider of curriculum software for
learning platforms, Birchfield Interactive,
to offer two schools the chance to win its
new Games Pack and Question Editor
Suite, worth £3,549.
In addition, 10 runners-up will win a subject-specific
Games Pack of their choice, worth £249.
One of the first UK companies to offer SCORM-
conformant curriculum content for learning platforms,
Birchfield’s VLE (virtual learning environment) software
has already been purchased by eight local authorities
and over 300 secondary schools. The addition of this
new Games Pack and Question Editor Suite has been
developed specifically for key stage 3 and 4 teachers as
a fun way to reinforce pupils’ learning via a VLE.
Consisting of 32,000 editable, preloaded curriculum
questions, each Games Pack Suite offers 100 per cent
curriculum coverage for 19 secondary school subjects.
Written by practising teachers, the questions
encompass 413 key stage 3 and 4 topics, and can be
uploaded to one or more of 12 2D and 3D games, all of
which vary in terms of style, play duration, number of
levels, and degree of difficulty. These question sets can
be edited or supplemented before being uploaded to a
game to support students with special needs or extend
learning opportunities for the gifted and talented.
Each game provides feedback for pupils and
concludes with a summary of the questions that have compatible with a standard web browser, such as You can also post entries on a postcard to SecEd the correct entries and announced in SecEd during
been asked, the answers given, and the correct answers. Internet Explorer 7 or Mozilla Firefox. competitions, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, Herne November. All entries will be passed on to Birchfield
The software will also interact with a VLE to track Hill, London, SE24 0PB. Interactive.
progress for teachers, provided your learning platform
How to win
The deadline for entries is Friday, October 30. For more information on Birchfield Interactive, visit
currently offers this functionality. To be in with a chance of winning this VLE software www.birchfield.co.uk
Uploaded to a SCORM 1.2 or 2004 conformant range, answer the following question: How many
Terms and Conditions
learning platform, the Games Packs Suite would be secondary school subjects does Birchfield’s Games This competition is open to all UK secondary schools,
accessible to staff and pupils 24-hours-a-day, seven- Pack and Question Editor Suite cover? but is restricted to one entry per school. The normal
days-a-week from home or school. You can email our answers, including your name, SecEd terms and conditions apply. For a copy of these,
As an added bonus, if your school has still to make school and contact details to Pete Henshaw, the editor email pete.h@markallengroup.com
the switch to a learning platform, the software is even of SecEd, on pete.h@markallengroup.com The winning schools will be drawn at random from
EVENTS
Book listings
September 5 to 10
The British Science Festival
Sense and Sustainability: Educating for a Low Carbon World
This year, the Festival joins in the celebrations of Darwin200, marking 200 years since the birth of Charles Ken Webster and Craig Johnson
Darwin, by exploring his scientific ideas and the impact they have had. The event, supported by the British
TerraPreta: publishing@terra-preta.co.uk
Council, offers science teachers the chance to quiz top scientists. Keynote speakers include television experts
ISBN: 978-095598310-8
Adam Hart-Davis and Professor Robert Winston.
£15.00
Venue: Surrey (various)
Sense and Sustainability aims to help schools dispel some common myths
Contact: www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/BritishScienceFestival
about the issues of sustainability and the environment.
It argues that schools should take inspiration from leading design, industry
From Monday, September 28
and business suppliers, such as General Electric and Toyota, when developing
NCSL Models of Leadership Event environmental policies.
This free event, organised by the National College for School Leadership, will tour England from September to The book looks at how schools can adopt techniques used in these areas,
November. It will discuss a range of leadership issues, including a look at different models of school leadership,
in order to help lead the transition to a low carbon economy.
and succession planning. There will also be optional lunchtime seminars from Teachers TV. The event will visit
The book is introduced with a foreword by Jonathon Porritt, former
London, Guildford, Peterborough, Exeter, Nottingham, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, and Hull.
teacher and founder director of the Forum for the Future, who gives a helpful
Venue: Various
overview of why schools should be leading the way in promoting sustainability.
In true environmental campaigning style, the book is published “on demand”, and sections of the text can
Contact: www.ncsl.org.uk/modelsofleadership-index
be downloaded from www.senseandsustainability.com for a small fee.
The chapters include a focus on current environmental policies, and also a step-by-step guide to help
September 18 to 20
schools develop themselves with sustainability in mind.
NAME Annual Conference As well as focusing on what individual schools can do, the book features a more general look at the state
The National Association of Music Educators’ (NAME) conference is taking bookings now. This year’s theme of the world, including information on oil supplies, temperature change, recycling, and population levels.
is “musical development”, and the event promises a broad mix of workshops, presentations and keynote
sessions, and a comprehensive exhibition of music education products.
Effective Teachers in Secondary Schools
Venue: York University
Tony Swainston
Network Continuum: www.continuumbooks.com
Contact: www.name.org.uk
ISBN: 9-78185539463-6
£39.99
Thursday, October 1
Fourth Annual Delivering Diplomas Conference: Engagement and collaboration
This book and DVD set aims to do exactly what it says on the tin: help individual teachers and schools to
SecEd and Delivering Diplomas continues the successful series of Delivering Diplomas event, with a day develop better classroom practice.
of workshops and addresses from employers, FE and secondary Diploma deliverers. The focus is on how
Having spent 20 years teaching in comprehensives, as well as completing a secondment working with the
to implement successful partnerships, and work together to secure effective Diploma delivery. We have
Department for Education and Skills, Mr Swainston seems well placed to offer tips and guidance to those
speakers and educationalists from all sectors, including Rolls Royce, the Learning and Skills Network, all 10
looking for ideas to develop their teaching.
of the Sector Skills Councils for Phases 1 and 2, and a group of first year Diploma students.
As the basis for his book, the author uses the government’s Hay McBer Report, which was commissioned
in 1999, to look into the characteristics of effective teachers.
Venue: Aston University Conference Centre, Birmingham.
The chapters cover a range of general topics, from a summery of the above
Contact: For the full programme, visit www.deliveringdiplomas.com
report, to a more philosophical look at the Art and Act of Being a Teacher.
There are also focuses on five individual teachers, who are interviewed for
Wednesday, November 4 the accompanying DVD.
One-to-One support: Developing the Agenda for Mentoring and Befriending In the book, each teacher’s section is related back to a chapter or
National charity the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation is hosting its annual conference for all education
recommendation from the Hay McBer Report.
professionals wanting to explore the impact of one-to-one support for young people with a specific focus
For example, Larraine Biscombe, French teacher at John Smeaton
on early intervention strategies. The conference will bring together over 250 policy-makers, funders and
Community High in Leeds, is used to demonstrate effective use of teaching
methods and strategies.
commissioners with mentoring and befriending leaders and practitioners. Eight debate-led seminars will
The DVD features around 30 minutes of excerpts from the five
facilitate discussion about the strategic contribution of one-to-one activity, while keynote plenary sessions
teachers’ lessons, designed to give the reader a first-hand look at different
will highlight the value of volunteering and explore the potential of social return on investment for one-to-
teaching ideas, and demonstrate how the findings of Hay McBer have been
one support. Held in partnership with CoSA, SecEd and The Third Sector.
effectively implemented.
Venue: Inmarsat Conference Centre, London
Contact: 0161 787 8600 and nationalconference@mandbf.org.uk Listings by Chris Parr
18 SecEd • September 3 2009
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