A blog for students on the FDLT and BALT courses at the University of Northampton

at Leicester and UN

September 30, 2019
by Jean
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What can we learn from education in Finland?

When you are examining the curriculum, what is taught and how learning is organised, making international comparison can be useful. In this article in the guardian, journalist Sally Weale discusses the approach to the curriculum and learning in Finland. As … Continue reading

September 2, 2019
by Jean
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What to bring along to the first week

Today you will receive an email from Abbie Deeming, the course leader. You will probably be thinking about the first day and what to bring. Here is a reminder: You must bring: 2 forms of ID for enrolment You can … Continue reading

August 5, 2019
by Jean
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Curriculum documents

Throughout the FDLT and BALT courses you will often need to read and refer to curriculum documents.  These are some of the key documents: For Early Years: This is a link to the page where you can access and download … Continue reading

June 13, 2018
by Jean
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FDLT year 1 field trips

Last week the FDLT year 1 students went on field trips to explore different ways of supporting learning outdoors. Led by Ken Bland and Georgina Hand, they explored fieldwork around a river including mapping the meander, measuring depth; testing speed … Continue reading

June 7, 2018
by Jean
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Can your pupils sew on a button?

Great British Button Challenge! Hobbycraft did some research and found that out of the 10,000 people they surveyed 1 in 5 could not sew on a button, with 52% never taught this at school (Hobbycraft, 2018). This summer they’re running … Continue reading

January 12, 2018
by Jean
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500 words – live lesson!

On Monday 15th January at 2pm there’s a live lesson available to watch to inspire your participation in the BBC Radio 2 500 words writing competition. You can see information about the live lesson here. Calling all story writers! Now … Continue reading

January 5, 2018
by Jean
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Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Here’s a great way of starting 2018 with some actions for happiness.       There is more detail about starting the new year in a positive frame of mind here. It would be interesting to devise … Continue reading

December 21, 2017
by Jean
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Good deeds!

I came across this great idea from Action for Happiness on Twitter. Its a calendar encouraging people to be kind throughout December (and beyond). Its also available in Italian, French and in a decoration free version. The organisation Action for … Continue reading

November 23, 2017
by Jean
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Classroom Adventures!

The FDLT Y2 Leicester group used their creative skills and Book Creator to make a collaborative book about some unexpected happenings in the classroom. Here’s the whole book on Google BookCreator: Classroom Adventures Here’s a version on YouTube: When making … Continue reading

September 29, 2017
by Jean
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Children’s Laureate

The current Children’s Laureate is Lauren Child and she is in this role from 2017 to 2019. This is what the Book trust said about her: “The role of Children’s Laureate is awarded once every two years to an eminent … Continue reading