Welcome to the August 2009 Newsletter. For further information on any of the items below, just follow the link. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any of your colleagues that you think would be interested. All prices quoted are exclusive of P & P and VAT. If you have any comments or suggestions on this newsletter, or indeed any special requests for special software offers, please email them to kim.conway3@btinternet.com

Look out for the September SS4E Newsletter which will be a Scottish Learning Festival Special.

Software News

SUMS Online Ltd is offering two primary schools in each Scottish local authority FREE perpetual licenses of their award winning SUMS Maths, worth £490. The version of SUMS Online provided through this initiative will be delivered through Glow. SS4E will be in contacting authorities shortly to discuss this initiative www.sums.co.uk

Young Talent Wanted - As part of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, students can learn how to use the latest tools from Apple to push their creativity further and showcase work on Eurocreator.com, which provides a safe, moderated platform for teachers and students to view and share media. Adventi can help get schools started and demonstrate how the Mac can improve essential skills like literacy and storytelling through images, movies and sound, build narrative skills by making films and animated shorts with iMovie, see how simple it is for students to record songs and improve language skills using the Mac's built-in recording studio, GarageBand. To find out how you can get your school involved contact Adventi on 0845 606 2641 or mail info@adventi.com

New from EdICT Training is their Achievement System which enables you to record wider achievement and track enterprise activities. It's a bespoke solution which can be tailored for the needs of your staff and pupils. For further information contact Stewart_Elder@edict.co.uk

Did you know that in August 2008 R-E-M Limited bought Zings Music Group to compliment and enhance its teaching resources business? They specialise in sourcing and supplying quality instruments at favourable prices. Email info@zingsmusicgroup.com to request a catalogue or visit www.zingseducation.co.uk

Special Offers

*Mediaroots Training DVDs now available from LT Scotland - LT Scotland have negotiated a money saving licensing scheme on the Mediaroots training DVDs. These training DVDs teach you everything you need to know to get the most from your software, from Beginner through to Advanced User. All training DVDs teach not only the individual tools and techniques of an application, but also how to apply these to real life projects. Titles available include Photoshop CS4 and Flash CS4. For full product listing, costs and further information on the scheme contact the Customer Services Team at LT Scotland 0141 282 5000 www.mediaroots.co.uk

*Software Savings from LT Scotland - Learning and Teaching Scotland has negotiated agreements with a number of the leading software publishers, including Microsoft, Apple and Adobe, to sell their products through software licensing schemes. These are unique to Scottish education and can help schools and authorities make substantial savings. www.ltscotland.org.uk/aboutlts/resources/software

50% Off Chatter Chatter titles from Sherston - Sherston are offering 50% off single users for each of their Chatter Chatter titles. Each of the Chatter Chatter titles includes a vocabulary builder CD, Topics CD Including: First Words, Colours, The Body, etc, printable worksheets, Flashcards, Self-assessment sheet and a pronunciation guide all presented in a in a high quality A4 book. Titles available in the series are Chatter Chatter English (can be used as an introductory course or EAL and EFL), Chatter Chatter German and Chatter Chatter Spanish. Ideal for use on Interactive Whiteboard. www.sherston.com

50% off Strumbie Island and A Busy Day from Sherston

Strumbie Island supports and encourages the development of emotional literacy in young children. This resource helps with recognising, understanding and appropriately expressing emotions and behaviour. It also contains many accessibility options for flexible and individual preferences, including options for switch users and facility for recording own commentary and singing along with the Strumbie Song.

A Busy Day - based on the daily life of a child, A Busy Day offer a different approach for those who find the process of reading difficult. It provided the basic fundamentals for early literacy involving pre-reading, writing and communication skills. It is a flexible reading approach linking pictures and text with functional nouns. This interactive reading tool can be adapted to suit the needs of slow starters in mainstream English as a second language. It teaches comprehension of the printed word in an interesting, fun and motivational way

Exclusive from Seventh Sense - AlphaSmart Neo 2, FREE USB Cable and Carry Case now £159 - £10 Discount on SSP of £169 - The NEO 2 is the simple and rugged note-taking device that has all of the features of a NEO 1 (fully featured word processor, typing tutor, long battery life etc.) but also includes innovative wireless technology that allows wireless printing, wireless voting and assessment functionality, wireless file transfer to a Google Docs account and Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Maths compatibility. This offer is exclusive to Seventh Sense Solutions. To place your order call Seventh Sense directly on 02089 057 773

Free Resources

The Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System is a unique digital collection of information about Britain's localities as they have changed over time. Information comes from census reports, historical gazetteers, travellers' tales and historic maps, assembled into a whole that is much more than the sum of its parts. This site tells you more about the project itself and about historical GIS. A separate site, funded by the UK National Lottery, has been created to make this resource available on-line to everyone, presenting our information graphically and cartographically. This site is called A Vision of Britain Through Time and presents the history of Great Britain through places. www.visionofbritain.org.uk

Renaissance Learning's 'Watch Them Grow' sunflower growing competition and 'Quest for Knowledge' continue to challenge and enthral pupils of all ages across the UK. The latest 'mission' from Young Samurai author Chris Bradford is now available to view at www.watchthemgrow.co.uk/quest.

Events

Renaissance Learning's National Conference on Accelerating Learning, takes place at the Holiday Inn in Stratford-upon-Avon on 18th-19th March 2010. Keynote speakers include current Children's Laureate Anthony Browne and Jacqueline Wilson, who held the post from 2005-2007. For further information or to book visit www.renlearn.co.uk

*Only applicable to Scottish Education

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