Welcome to the February 2012 e-news bulletin. Please feel free to forward this e-news bulletin to colleagues that you think would be interested in any of the items below. If you have any comments or suggestions on this bulletin or indeed any special requests for special software offers, please email them to kim.conway3@btinternet.com

News

• Storm Educational and Magmentis are looking for schools to give feedback on their latest early years resources for iPad, iPhone and Android tablets. Further details on the resources are available here. If you are interested please contact Magmentis
• Serif - Serif have produced their new brochure and is available as a pdf here
• BrainPOP UK - BrainPOP UK have teamed up with Google to provide schools that are Google App Users with a Google App domain to access BrainPOP UK resources via your Google account. You can export quiz results directly into a Google Doc spreadsheet
• I Can Animate from Kudlian Software - you may be interested to know that Bricknell Primary School in Hull used I Can Animate to produce a six minute animation, I Wish I Went to Ecuador, that has been nominated for the Hollywood International Film Festival in the best animated film eight to 13 category. Click here for more information.
• Steljes and Dundee University - As part of its on-going commitment to the education sector, Steljes, has announced it has signed a two year agreement with the University of Dundee to provide interactive technologies and training support to its School of Education, Social Work and Community Education. Under the terms of the agreement, Steljes will be supporting the University in gaining SMART Sub-Certified Training Centre status and to deliver appropriate training to student teachers at level 2/3.

New to SS4E website

• SS4E Showcase - This month's Showcase is Clicker 6
• Calendar of Events - we now have page that lists the up and coming events
• Competitions - summary of current competitions for schools

FREE Resources

• FREE Picture Communication Symbols to download for Boardmaker users - To celebrate the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, Mayer-Johnson will be releasing a FREE library of Picture Communication Symbols for Boardmaker users. You can sign up to their newsletter to ensure you find out when they are released here.
• BrainPOP UK now offers a Free different curricular move and related quiz every day on subjects that are tied in to significant, current and historical events for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

Curriculum for Excellence

Busythings.co.uk from the publishers of Beep, has been mapped to Curriculum for Excellence experience and outcomes. Busythings.co.uk is subscription based offering over 120 educational games for three to six year olds. Teachers can view the links for each game or search for a game that is mapped to a particular experience and outcome. Early learners can create music and art, play phonics games, draw letter shapes (cursive, precursive or print), learn the letters and their sounds, create labels and captions, practice reading and spelling, play calculating, number and shape  games, play maze games, experiment with cause and effect and develop mouse skills and computer confidence. Teachers can create custom made phonics worksheets, ring ready-made work sheets, activity sheets and clip art for cutting out and display. Busythings.co.uk is used in over 3000 schools, nurseries and homes across the UK. For a FREE 28 day trial, just click here 

Special Offers

• Save £50 on a year's subscription to Busythings.co.uk - Busythings.co.uk from the publishers of Beep, is offering Scottish schools and nurseries the chance to save £50 when they take out a subscription before 31^st March 2012. All the Busythings games are linked to the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes.  The activities can be quickly and easily configured to suit a wide range of abilities. You can try-before-you-buy by taking out a FREE 28 day trial during which you have access to all the Busythings resources. Busythings is constantly being updated with new content being added every month. To qualify for this offer please make sure you quote SS4E on your order form. Usual price £200, offer price is £150.
• Inspiration 9 & Kidspiration 3 - Scottish education can now purchase Inspiration 9 and Kidspiration licenses at specially reduced pricing from Education Scotland. Inspiration 9 and Kidspiraton are ideal for visual mapping, outlining, writing and making presentations, to brainstorm ideas, structure your thoughts and visually communicate concepts to strengthen and understanding with the Diagram and Map Views. Single licence and CD £33.50. For further information email Education Scotland or call 0141 282 5000
• Crazy Talk allows you to create unique digital content and delivers a solution for today's digital content creators looking to add a virtual host, product pitchman or digital actor to their movies, video projects and website in Stereoscopic 3D. Email Education Scotland or call 0141 282 5000 for the latest single, five user and site license pricing.

Dates for Your Diary

• Friday 2^nd& Saturday 3^rdMarch - ASE Scottish Annual Conference
• Friday 2^ndMarch - Books for All Primary School Pupils with Dyslexia
• Thursday 8^thMarch - Switching to Excellence for Pupils with Physical Difficulties
• Thursday 22^ndMarch - EsafetyLive -The first UK online safety event to be hosted in Scotland in conjunction with the Scottish Government - Drawing together online safety providers, industry leaders and experts in the field of internet safety.The event will deliver useful, current advice, resources and information regarding the safe and proactive use of online technologies in learning and education. Simply visit www.esafetylive.com to find out more.
• Saturday 24^thMarch - Developing Effective Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL) Programmes and Resources. Call 0141 222 4595 for further information

Competitions

• imovesdanceUK launches an "Urban Dance Scheme" competition to inspire more kids to dance. They are looking for 20 creative Urban Dance poses created by children in British schools to form the stimulus for the dance programme.Competition winners will create the basis for the Urban Dance Scheme of Work for seven - 16 year olds, designed to be taught in schools by teachers. The scheme will be a free resource to any school who enters, even if their entry doesn't make the final 20. For more information contact Imogen The deadline for entries is Friday 19^thJune 2012.
• The Great Bug Hunt 2012-Simply identify a habitat, explore and discover the bugs that live there, draw them and record your findings - it's that simple - plus, with the added benefits of fresh air, having fun and covering important parts of the science curricula in one fell swoop! The first prize is a Bug Day in your school, which will include the Big Bug Experience and bug sculpting, other prizes include a wildlife identification pack, three terrariums and ten runners up prizes o fMartin The Bug Man's Guide to Big Bugs
• Chance to win an Amazon Kindle - Renaissance Learning is searching for the 'Nation's Favourite Character'. All you have to do is nominate your favourite three. Closing date is 24^thFebruary 2012.

 

If you require further information on the above please click on the appropriate web link. Please feel free to circulate this newsletter to any colleagues who may be interested. Feedback on this newsletter is welcome; please email kim.conway3@btinternet.com with your comments. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, you can remove your address from the distribution list by sending a blank email with the subject 'unsubscribe' to kim.conway3@btinternet.com