Welcome to the May 2011 e-news bulletin. Please feel free to forward this newsletter 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
- With demands on budgets to go even further, realising the full benefit of a school's investment in technology is not easy. Steljes are delivering a range of talks to let you discover how to get the most out of your existing technology, ensure that your pupils gain maximum benefit from your investment and take a look at future technologies that will impact the classroom. Talks include Future Classroom Technologies, Using Technology to Improve Attainment and How to Move Your Technology Forward. This will be followed by a chance for experience 'hands on' with the latest technology. This event will take place on 12th May 2011 at Heriot-Watt University. It is expected that demand for this event is high with limited places.
- Adobe - Adobe have released Adobe Creative Suite 5.5
- Microsoft's new yearly schools licence, the Enrolment for Education Solutions (EES) replaces the Schools Agreement, and should work out to be a more cost effective option for schools. Rather than counting every PC under the previous School Agreement, costs are calculated using a school's FTE staffing which should be lower than the PC count. The new agreement also gives you access to full Work at Home rights for your staff.
- The International Children's Games is the world biggest youth sporting event with up to 1,500 competitors ages 12 to 15 from more than 80 countries taking part. To help promote the games Lanarkshire and organising a series of Glow Meets, the first of which will feature Yvonne Murray-Mooney, MBE, who will talk about her successful career in athletics and how she achieved her status as one of Scotland's most outstanding long distance runners winning medals at European Championships, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games and World Championships. Attendees will also be able to ask Yvonne questions about all aspects of her career and the Games. This Glow Meet will take place on Wednesday 11th May at 2.00 pm. Look out for future Glow Meets to promote the International Children's Games including Scott Leitch, former Motherwell FC Captain, and former Assistant Manager at Motherwell FC and Aberdeen FC. This is a unique opportunity to ask Scott about his career as a professional football player and as an Assistant Manager at a SPL Football Club. Date to be confirmed.
Curriculum for Excellence
- BrainPOP UK - all BrainPOP UK animated movies and quizzes are mapped to Curriculum for Excellence and using DeepBeep their curriculum matching tool, you can quickly and easily find a movie to suit your needs. This month's spotlight is super Structures and next month's is Ideas that Changed the World. Sign up for a free trial.
- Maths on Track has a range of ready-made resources mapped to Curriculum for Excellence
New to the SS4E website
SS4E Showcase - this month's showcase is Espresso Primary
Free Resources
- Open Clip Art Library - Good quality clipart without the worry of breaking copyright
- Straight Street - Nice selection of open source symbols for learners with more complex needs
- Connected Histories - provides a single point of access to a wide range of distributed digital resources relating to early modern and nineteenth-century British history.
- The Connected Histories website is fully searchable and provides access to millions of pages of text, hundreds of thousands of words and tens of thousands maps and images. Connected Histories a JISC funded project at the universities of Hertfordshire, London and Sheffield.
- From schoolscience this month - Free posters from the British Ecological Society on Hedges and Ponds. For students aged between 14 and 16 years there is Aerosols' and Pressure. A more advanced handling of kinetic theory and gas laws, using aerosols as a case study, with really useful interactive graphics.
Forthcoming Events
- Thursday 5th May - - This course is aimed at teachers and support staff working with visually impaired pupils and will provide an overview of some of the technology available and how to create more accessible resources.
- 14th May 2011 - talk for primary and secondary teachers, Kirkcaldy.
- Thursday 19th May - The course will begin with an introduction to PowerPoint and a demonstration of resources, before giving participants a chance to create a basic PowerPoint Slide Show, for use as a photo album.
- Thursday 26th May - Participants on this course will have the opportunity to find out about the range of different types of games available - console, hand held, computer based - and how they are being used in schools. There will also be the opportunity for 'hands on' sessions to learn how to set up the equipment and try out the games as well as creating some simple ones using readily available software.
- Saturday 30th April 2011 - talk for primary and secondary teachers, Inverness.
Competition
The Great Bug Hunt - 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 of Martin The Bug Man's Guide to Big Bugs.
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 emailkim.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