FDLT and BALT students graduate in the winter graduation ceremonies at the Royal and Derngate theatre, Northampton. We send them all our congratulations and wish them well in their next steps!
February 11, 2019
by Jean
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Blog Archives
February 4, 2019
by Jean
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New sculptures appear at Waterside!
This afternoon the FDLT Y2 students explored the sculptures placed around the Waterside site.
They then chose their own space on campus and made a maquette (the small model that a sculptor would make as part of the design process). They then used green screen technology (DoInk app and Ipads) to virtually place their sculpture in the space, manipulating its scale to fit.
Some of the sculptures are inspired the university experience (learning and graduating).
Some are inspired by the materials themselves.
Others are inspired by the site itself (railway heritage and wildlife).
February 1, 2019
by Jean
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Activity Passport
You may have seen in the news recently that the DfE have released details about an ‘Activity Passport‘. The announcement reads:”Primary school children will be challenged to go on a nature trail, visit a local landmark or make a treasure map through a new ‘passport’ of activities launched by the Education Secretary to encourage more family time and help build children’s character and resilience.
Endorsed by organisations including the Scouts, Girlguiding and the National Trust – as well as children’s charity Action for Children – the list of activities is intended to support parents and schools in introducing children to a wide variety of experiences and fulfilling activities like flying a kite, learning something new about the local area or putting on a performance.” (DfE, 2019, lines 1-9).
Many of you will have been aware of the National Trust’s “50 things to do before you are eleven and three-quarters” which you explore here.
You can access an editable version of the passport here.
You can download the National Trust list here.
Those of you working on PDT1o64 or PDT2016 will be considering how we enrich learning and access resources and places to bring learning to life. What would be on your list of 50 things to do before 11? If you work with pupils over the age of 11, what would your list of 50 things pupils should do between 11 and 18 years?
Michael Rosen provides an alternative view to this initiative here.
References:
DfE. (2019) Activity ‘passport’ to inspire schoolchildren and boost resilience. [online] Available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/activity-passport-to-inspire-schoolchildren-and-boost-resilience [Accessed: 1/2/19]
January 9, 2019
by Jean
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Happy New Year
December 17, 2018
by Jean
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Using digital apps and tools to support spoken language
Last week the FDLT Y1 students in the Leicester and Northampton groups explored a variety of apps and tools to support and inspire spoken language in the classroom.
December 3, 2018
by Jean
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Christmas writing fun!
Pobble have shared ten fun ideas to inspire writing with a Christmas theme here.
Christmas poems
Jesse’s frosty festive poem evokes all the senses. She’d love you to have a read.
Christmas in China
What is your Christmas fortune? Dexter discovered what happens at Christmas in China and then wrote fortunes to share with his family. Read here.
The Iron Man saves Christmas!
Father Christmas has one last hope: The Iron Man. This fun narrative is a fun twist on a traditional tale. Click to read.
A recipe for the perfect Christmas
What ingredients would you choose to create the perfect Christmas? A beautiful teaching idea! We think Libby’s recipe is spot on!
The Christmas Truce
After learning about the truce on Christmas Day 1914, Holly wrote this poignant piece outlining the events.
The sound of Christmas
What does Christmas sound like? Lee shared his thoughts in this joyful poem. Have a read.
Victorian Christmas
Joe time travelled back to a Christmas Eve in the Victorian era. In this piece he explains what he discovered.
The Bear’s First Christmas
This simile packed story is a festive treat! Tiah tells the tale of ‘The bear’s first Christmas’. Read here.
If Father Christmas got stuck up my chimney…
What would you do if Santa got stuck up your chimney? Jessica would give him a push! Read more.
Reindeer job application
A job application with a twist! Maxwell is applying to be one of Santa’s reindeers. Would you give him the job? Read Maxwell’s letter.
Reference:
Pobble (2018) Festive teaching ideas. [online] Available from: http://blog.pobble.com/festive-teaching-ideas-for-you/ [Accessed: 3/12/18]
November 15, 2018
by Jean
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Make your own digital advent calendar!
I’ve come across this website which allows you to make your own advent calendar. You can add a message, photos, links to video and links to other digital material.
It is free to use non commercially and can be shared using a link.
It could be fun to make with pupils, sharing their art or photos of events perhaps?
If you make one share the link below!
November 8, 2018
by Jean
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Box of Broadcasts
As students of the University of Northampton you have access to a resource called Box of Broadcasts (BoB for short).
Click the link above to go to the opening page and then type ‘Northampton’ into the ‘where are you from?’ box. Choose University of Northampton (IDP) at this point.
You can then use your university username and password to enter the site.
BoB is an on demand TV and radio service for schools. You can both record programmes from the guide and search for programmes, as well as make clips so that you can use exactly the part you want in teaching, making resources and using in presentations. You can also collect and arrange items in folders of your own in an area called ‘MyBoB’.
There are many items on TV and radio that can be of interest to use as students of education and professionals working in schools. You can of course search for media content that you might use in school or are interested in watching yourselves.
Look up the playlist called ‘The Educators’. Here I have collected together some a radio series about key people working in education which you will find interesting to browse through.
October 30, 2018
by Jean
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How do our kids beat the robots?
This is an interesting radio programme, especially if you are in FDLT Year 2, and thinking about the curriculum and how we organise learning in schools. As you listen, think about what the presenter finds out about cross curricular approaches, creativity and how current ways of working relate to future changes in employment for our pupils.
It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 28th October at 1.30pm. Check here to see if it is available on iPlayer and if not you can listen to it through Box of Broadcasts.
Here is the supporting information:
“Sathnam Sanghera investigates how children can compete with machines for jobs in the future.
We live in a world where robots, algorithms and the incredible speed of computing have replaced jobs that used to be common. Secretaries, bank clerks and factory workers are becoming rarer. In the future, as robots and computers develop, whole new areas of work will be impacted. Even traditionally safe professions like accountancy, medicine and law could be under threat. So how do we make sure our children get the education they need to compete against machines that haven’t even been invented yet?
Sathnam hears from people who have a vision of how to prepare children for the modern world. They include Daniel Charny, the co-founder of Fixperts which gets children to solve practical problems using traditional making skills. Geoff Mulgan, Chief Executive of NESTA, the UK’s innovation foundation, talks about what the job market of the future might look like. Andreas Schleicher from the OECD explains how we should begin to measure our children’s skills when thinking about the careers they might have in future.
American educationalist Michelle Garcia Winner teaches what she calls social thinking, the kind of skill that no robot could ever match. Sathnam visits the XP school in Doncaster which is dropping some subjects in favour of getting children to conduct “learning expeditions”.
Sathnam considers whether, in the end, the best way to beat the robots will be to become more human.” (BBC, 2018, lines 1-15)
Reference:
BBC (2018) How do our kids beat the robots? [online] Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b9z4ng#play [Accessed: 28/10/18]
October 24, 2018
by Jean
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Exploring assessment
Many FDLT students will be exploring summative and formative assessment. Here are some links to interesting resources to make you think!
Formative and summative assessment, a blog post by David Didau. As well as raising some interesting points this blog post has a reference list that you could use to take you to reading.
Education Endowment Fund, a website with summaries of research projects. You can search this for areas around assessment.
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), a website with an exploration of a variety of aspects of assessment.
