December 2008 - Posts
If there are any teachers who are unable to join the Kent launch of the Myst project in Paddock Wood on 19th January, you would be welcome to join us in Urban Swale on Tuesday 6th January, at Fulston Manor School, Sittingbourne. Tim will be introducing his work in the same way, just at a different venue. We have not had the uptake we hoped for, so places are being made available more widely.
The day is free to Kent teachers, but supply cover is only available if you are in an Urban Swale school. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Gemma Cullen gemma.cullen@kent.gov.uk to reserve a place. Unfortunately the deadline is Monday 15th December pm, so please act quickly to avoid disappointment.
Carolyn Lewis
Primary ICT Consultant
A new website to support school and local authority leaders involved in the Primary Capital Programme and Building Schools for the Future processes is now live. The Future website provides resources and news, and access is free. Go to http://future.ncsl.org.uk/
Karl Newman from Sevenoaks Primary sent me a link that I just had to share! Three children from Karl's Year One class had been using 2Create A Story to write about 'Sam The Spaceman'. They used a USB microphone to record their voices. Once they had finished they saved their work and ticked a box labelled 'SWF copy'. This gave them a Flash version of their story, (.swf file in the same folder as the saved 2Create A Stry file). Karl then put it on the school website.
http://www.sevenoaks-pri.kent.sch.uk/page_viewer.asp?page=Sam+the+Spaceman&pid=148
I just love it! James:)
Leading ICT Teachers and Hands on Support Providers will be aware that all HoS activity should be recorded for monitoring and evaluation purposes. When planning local HoS provision, HoS Providers should conduct a prior assessment of needs and at the outset jointly complete a HoS Agreement with each teacher / school they support.
HoS Agreements are now available in both paper and electronic formats. The online Hands on Support Agreement is available at www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?hosactivity.
Use of the online form replaces having to send a copy to Maryan Wyles.
If you have any questions in this respect please do not hesitate to contact Heidi Barton (Lead Primary ICT Adviser) or the appropriate Hands on Support Consultant:
Carine Jacquel - Secondary
Mandy Barrow - Primary (West Kent)
Phil Bracegirdle - Primary (Mid / East Kent)
Please may we remind all schools of the following:
Children should always be supervised by a responsible adult when using the Internet.
Teachers should evaluate any websites fully before they use them with their students. This includes websites going to be shown on the interactive whiteboard as well as websites accessed directly by the pupils. Often this will mean checking the websites, search results etc just before the lesson. Remember at all times, what may be considered a safe site today might not be tomorrow.
Particular attention should be paid to image advertisements as they can change each time the web page is accessed.
Schools may like to add the following wording to pages on their school websites where there are links to external websites:
"The links on this page are to external websites. All these links have been checked, but we cannot accept responsibility for the content on, or links from these sites. Children should always be supervised by a responsible adult when using the Internet."
There are still a few places available for the following ICT courses in January:
08/01/2009 – E-Safety in the Primary School (Stour Valley)
14/01/2009 - Using ICT to Enhance Learning and Teaching in Science at Key Stage 2 (Oxford Rd)
28/01/2009 – Enhancing Learning and Teaching by using ICT in the Foundation Stage (Stour Valley) For more information on the course content visit
www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/news/courses or www.kenttrustweb.org.uk?asktraining
Alternatively contact Maryan Wyles on 01622 203800Ext 292
I teach first grade (6 yr. olds) in Alabama (United States). Each year the other first grade teacher and I (eight total) do a Christmas Around the World project. Each teacher takes a country or part of the world and we learn about the traditions, etc. of that country. They make a little student passport where they travel classroom to classroom learning about the different countries. This year I'm thinking of doing England. Would you be interested in some sort of mail exchange? Our last day of school before Christmas break is December 19 and I know the mail takes awhile. So we would have to plan fast. Are you interested?
Shaynna
First Grade Teacher
Daphne Elementary School
If your class would be interested please email mandy.barrow at the usual kent.gov UK address.