Resources : Education and Learning

Staffordshire County Council is committed to providing opportunities for learning for young and old people alike throughout their lives.

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Planning your career..and career aspirations - build your dream! 

National Careers Service - The "Next Step" Service will be changing to the National Careers Service soon! All of the career tools will be available on a brand new web site with user-friendly design.. see new portal here

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Education Philosophers  :  John Dewey (1859-1952) ; Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) ; Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) ; Howard Gardner (Youtube) or see sample Education Philosophies 

Teaching and Learning Resources:

Early Years, birth to three years - Talk to your baby!

Talking to young children helps them become good communicators, which is essential if they are to do well at school and lead happy, fulfilled and successful lives. TTYB's comprehensive website includes a wide range of free downloadable resources as well as many useful links, current sector news, research.......more

Reggio Emilia - Approach to learning.

The 'Reggio' approach was developed for municipal child-care and education programs serving children below six. The approach requires children to be seen as competent, resourceful, curious, imaginative, inventive and possess a desire to interact and communicate with others......more

Early Years foundation stage profile...Can do's! for Personal, social and emotional development; Communication, Language and literacy; Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy. Knowledge and understanding of the world;Physical development; Creative development. Pdf poster.

ICT "How to...." guides

Audacity, RM Colour Magic with Digital Images, Microsoft MovieMaker to capture still images ,Microsoft PhotoStory, Microsoft MovieMaker,Coming soon ... Stop-frame Animation (Hints & Tips) more....

Handwriting
KBER  : Kath Balcombe Educational Resources

Kath has written and published a number of books and other resources including software. Much of the material has been developed from her teaching, with many ideas and initiatives coming from the pupils themselves..more

Developing Handwriting - National Strategies - Early Years: Gateway to Writing

Writing Competion - 247tales.com ; the online writing competition that challenges you to write short stories using 247 words or fewer ...enter here

Support for Spelling - National Strategies - Primary Guidance

Spectrum Spelling - Google search results

Supporting Reading - Schools Library Association- Riveting Reading Series

     Monthly Themed Booklist

     Red Hot Reads 2008

Recommended Booklists - Literacy Trust

Early Learning- Free Resources: Word Transport Alphabet and much more.

Recommended Booklist - Book Ahead 0-3 3-5 6-7

Storysacks - Reading, speaking & Listening Resources

Chatterbooks - Chatterbooks is a reading group programme for children aged four to twelve which is all about encouraging a love and enjoyment of reading find out more....

Love Books and Reading - From digital photography to romantic fiction, colourful picture books to engaging audio books, hardback, paperback, big, small and everything in between - we'll have something that's right for you in Staffordshire libraries

Myths & Legends - to offer support and encouragement to children. Myths and Legends for all those who enjoy stories and storytelling.....more!!!!

Well Trained Mind. The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (first published 1999 by W.W. Norton and now in its third edition) offers a step-by-step, grade-by-grade, subject-by-subject guide to the classical pattern of education called the trivium. Thousands of parents have used the curricula, books lists, and methods of The Well-Trained Mind to teach their children successfully at home-either full-time or as a supplement to classroom education. Find out more  here

Are you worried about your child's communication skills?

Communication is a vital skill that all children need to learn. Without it they will not reach their full potential. At Talking Point parents and carers are given  information they need to help their children develop these skills. If your child has difficulties with speech, language and communication, you'll find lots of help and advice for you.....here

Modern Foreign Languages Useful Websites  :
French     German     Spanish    Primary Specific

Language Guide.org : A collaborative project to develop interactive, sound-integrated language learning resources. European & Asian Lauguages; an excellent auditory resource.....

Online languages tuition via Learn 2 Lingo

Mathematics  - Weblinks : Pre-school, Maths Games for Early Years Count Us In takes you to a whole series of games at abc.net.au , an Australian site. Fish Alive , Count with Lecky and Compare and Order are all at crickweb.co.uk .   Primary & Secondary Free Maths Resources at Mathskit a website where you can find various on-line resources for use at home, for example calculators, dice, stop watches and other timers as well as links to online mathematics dictionaries and more.

Carol Vordeman - Mathematics online - private purchased service see her describe how this works in Youtube

Nrich . University of Cambridge
A good understanding of mathematics is an important part of scientific and technological thinking. Online Problem Solving challenges ...more

Functional Skills - Information, guidance and useful websites.

InterHigh. A  independent virtual school on the internet!

This website will introduce you to a new type of school.
Founded in September 2005, Inter High School offers a complete secondary school education on the internet.

Lessons are delivered by teachers and the pupils logging into virtual classrooms. How does this work?

Personal,Learning and Thinking Skills - A Framework of Skills: Independent Enquirers, Creative Thinkers, Reflective Learners, Team Workers, Self Managers, Effective Participators.  For each of the six groups of skills there is a focus statement accompanied by a set of outcome statements. When used with a young person these can be "traffic lighted" - Green (embedded), Orange, (emerging), Red (not yet in place). See framework (Pdf)

Study Skills - Education Corner.com

Khan Academy - Learn almost anything for FREE.

THINK! Education road safety - helpful guidance, activities and resources

Parents Channel TV - encouraging My Child!

SEN : Parent Partnership - This service is for parents and carers of children, aged 0 to 19, with special educational needs. A confidential and impartial service.

Guidance for parents on Dyslexia click here

Autism : National Autistic Society (NAS) is the leading charity providing guidance, support and campains for a better world for people with autism.. more 

Ambitious about Autism is the national charity for children and young people (CYP) with autism. They provide services, raise awareness and understanding, and influence policy. They exist to enable children with autism to learn, thrive and achieve. Through TreeHouse School they provide specialist education. To learn more about this charity and the support that it offers CYP & families click here  . The Parent Participation Project have produced a series of films called Our Voices, which is a collection of real life experiences from parents and professionals exploring how to make parent participation more inclusive :www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/ourvoices!

Local NAS support for people in Staffordshire is co-ordinated by Machita Denny her email address is: machita_denny@btinternet.com  Please see Jigsaw website for support network.

Dyslexia in Staffordshire

Dyslexia can also cause unexpected and persistent difficulties in acquiring numeracy skills and spoken language. There may be accompanying weaknesses in the skills that support personal organisation, for example, speed of processing, short term memory sequences and possible weaknesses in auditory and/ or visual perception

The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) estimates that 10% of the population are dyslexic- 6% demonstrating mild dyslexic tendencies, but 4% of these are severely dyslexic

Dyslexia - Support for Parents

A number of leaflets and other Parental Resources are available to download.

AbilityNet - is a national charity helping disabled adults and children use computers and the internet by adapting and adjusting their technology.

Factsheets
- a selection of downloadable factsheets that would support learning : Autism and Computing; Dyslexia and Computing; Dyslexia and Voive Recognition Software; Elipepst and Computing ;Free web accessibility resources; Hearing Impairment and Computing;Learning Difficultiers and Computing; Vision Impariement and Computing...more

Skillsheets
- a selection of downloadable skillsheets enabling access to learning through ICT: Auto-correct and autotext in Microsoft Word; Changing toolbars in Microsoft word; Help with spelling in MS Word; Making text easier to see in MS Word; Mouse - Using the keyboard...more

Psychologists Anywhere Anytime - an online resource helping each visitor to grow both emotionally and intellectually and, thus, help you to understand more, feel better, be more satisfied and productive, and improve the depth and quality of your life........more

How to get the most out of your GP - new Contact a Family video
 
Having a good GP can be invaluable. They should take into account a parent's concerns and ideas to enable joint decisions to be made about a child's healthcare. However a recent survey by Contact a Family showed that three quarters of families questioned felt their GP had no involvement in their child's condition.
 
Ella Baines, a GP and mother of a child with complex needs, has worked with Contact a Family to produce a video offering some useful advice about how to get the most out of your doctor.
Watch the video
Read Ella's top 10 tips
Contact a Family's research GP involvement in disabled children's healthcare

Does your child have a mental health condition? Now they can help transform their services!

Puzzledout.com is a new online tool, covering England only, which gives children and young people an accessible place to speak about their experience of mental health services. Their views will help influence the services they get from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), including new and existing CAMHS).

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Please click on any of the following aspects to discover more about these. Children and Adolecent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) ; useful Links for young people (Connexions, Duke of Edingburgh award;  Youth information and Youth Justice System) ; some useful help for further parenting information.

Staffordshire Parents Action Network (SPAN)

The Staffordshire Parent Action Network helps parents and carers of disabled children under the age of 18 make a difference to the services offered to them in Staffordshire. Formed in 2010 with funding from Aiming High for Disabled Children and support from Staffordshire Parent Partnership Service, we are a group of Staffordshire parents and carers and we want to collect your ideas and opinions...more

Within the Staffordshire County Council website you will find a wealth of information and support for your child(ren) young person.

Staffordshire Museum and Art Gallery Exhibitions; Educational Visits & workshops; Shugborough Museum Service also provides exceptional learning opportunities - museum on the the move (mom); within the extensive museum service : explore the collection now!

The William Salt Library is a huge collection of printed books, pamphlets, manuscripts, drawings, watercolours, and transcripts. The Library's collections represent an outstanding resource for the study of local and family history in Staffordshire and are available for consultation by the public in thier reading rooms free of charge more... For more information regarding contact details access & Location click here

Staffordshire Library Service

To find your nearest library click here.  For mobile library service click here

Archive Discovery Zone
If you are looking for an inexpensive resource then this is a fantastic research tool to help home educators in Staffordshire look for activity and events from the past. This resource provides ample opportunities to consider history and citizenship issues as well as develop or deepen factual knowledge..click here

Staffordshire Parent Partnership :This service is for parents and carers of children, aged 0 to 19, with special educational needs....more....  

Music Resources

If you are looking for music resources in Staffordshire then select your district from the list provided and discover whats available now!

Teaching resources for music

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

"Its a lovely theatre.... theres always a warm welcome" BBC Radio Stoke " find out whats on now!

Youfind.me.uk  . Advice and guidance for young people - http://www.youthbox.info/HelpAdvice/Learning/Learning.aspx 

Things to do and places to go for young people in Staffordshire!

If you are looking for an activity either today or over the next four weeks then look here first! This emerging database will provide you with opportunities for ; Adventure,Community Learning, Family Learning, Fashion, Food and Cooking...arts...music...sports and lots more. Updated regualrly this will become THE place to find out whats happening in your District / Post Code......

Flexi-Schooling

Hollinsclough Primary School  -  A Flexi School. The school has developed innovative learning models which can be adapted to meet personalised needs through flexi school arrangements.

Please see Guidance Report published by CfBT Education Trust - New models for organising education: 'Flexi-schooling' - how one school does it well.

Manara Education
We support parents who wish to be more involved in their child's education, whether through flexi-schooling or home education. We also support 'human scale' education, multi-age learning communities, personalised learning, education for sustainability, and parental choice. Our curriculum at Manara Academy is inspired by Montessori and Classical education grounded in Islamic perspectives. All our staff are CRB checked, our curriculum is broad and balanced, and our pupils are happy to learn in a caring, home-like environment find out more here

Dr Roland Meighan and "Personalised Education Now"

Personalised Education Now seeks to develop a rich, diverse, funded Personalised Educational Landscape to meet the learning needs, lifestyles and life choices made by individuals, families and communities. It promotes education based on learner-managed learning, using a flexible catalogue curriculum, located in a variety of settings, and operating within a framework of democratic values and practices. An educator becomes, pre-dominately, 'the guide on the side' rather than 'the sage on the stage' find out more here.

 
Please continue to revisit this domain to see further details of information, services, activity & events in Staffordshire.

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Periodically we look to provide downloadable information or services to support EHE children and young people. 

Please click on any item below for more information...

The Albrighton Trust

THE CHARITY provides educational, recreational and leisure facilities for mentally, physically and sensory disabled users...find out more

RAF Cosford

The RAF Museum Cosford aims to preserve an important part of Britain's national aviation heritage and to display it for future generations. The Cosford Aircraft Collection includes British, German, American, Japanese and Argentinian airplanes, all with an important place in the development of military aviation history. Cosford also hosts an extensive missile collection, including unique, early German experimental missiles, a Transport and Training airplane collection as well as a Research and Development collection.

Located in Shropshire just 40 minutes from Stafford the Cosford site also houses the National Cold War Exhibition which details the history of the Cold War from 1945 to 1991. This National Collection is FREE and offers those that are home educating an essential experience at any level of need. Highly recommended, see more.....

Galore Park

For parents home-educating their children, Galore Park provides a refreshing change from the National Curriculum based textbooks available on the High Street more....

Catholic Heritage Curricula - CHC

It is Catholic Heritage Curricula's belief that, when solid academics are offered in a gentle, flexible manner, the vast majority of children will blossom spiritually, emotionally, and academically. CHC's educational approach lays a joyful foundation, resulting in children who achieve at and above grade level, do not 'burn out,' and instead 'learn how to learn' more....

Christian Education Europe Ltd.
Christian Education Europe Ltd. provides Accelerated Christian Education materials and services to schools and home schools in the United Kingdom and Europe. Originated in the USA but international in approach and content, the curriculum concentrates on traditional methods of learning. It is being used in thousands of schools and many thousands of home schools in over 100 different countries worldwide; to find out more about how this works click here

Accreditation pathways!

Qualifications: what the different levels mean...to find out what different qualification's are worth, and where they can lead? more...

Staffordshire 14 to 19 Qualifications

Advice and guidance for students on local, regional and national provider routes. Information advice and Guidance for students. 

If you are looking for details on courses for 14-19 year olds in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent then click here

Staffordshire Connexions Service also provide FREE information, advice and guidance please see their dynamic website
 
Supporting Careers Teaching and Learning... if you are looking for strategies to help your child then you might find some useful ideas here 

Parents in Touch - guidance for Home Educators more.....
4,000 Worksheets to choose from - a years subscription for £9.95. To preview these click here

A Star Tutoring - bespoke tutoring for Mathematics, English Science & ICT. For your own free assessment please look at thier website or for more information telephone, Newcastle-under-Lyme (01782) 619065 or email info@astartutoring.com

Little Arthur Education service supporting Home Educators.

Little Arthur Independent school in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, is geared exclusively to the needs of home-educated children, offering a personalized educational service for 11 -16 year olds more....

Structured Home Learning

Established in 2005 Structured Home Learning has been working in the home education sector, designing and supplying home education materials...more..

GCSE & A Level qualifications - Oxford Home Schooling

Oxford Home Schooling can provide a private alternative if you are looking to purchase this? more....

International Correspondence School ( ICS ) - GCSE, A LEVEL and IGCSE

IGCSEs provide a robust academic qualification, a bit like the 'O' Levels of old. You don't have to complete lots of coursework during the course, but will be tested via written exams at the end. As a distance learning student, this will help you to manage your time and plan your studies....more IGCSE and home page. 

The London Art College  - opportunities for home educators.

The London Art College provide two courses designed especially for the young artist, whether being home schooled, wanting a little extra help outside school, or just for the child's sheer enjoyment. Our courses are suitable for ages 7 to 14 are hands-on courses that introduce the young student to an understanding of how to draw and use colour in an interesting and captivating way. Both courses are fully illustrated with easy to understand colour step-by-step guides and exercises more.....

Tate Modern Kids Zone - http://kids.tate.org.uk/ 
Art School - Resources - http://young.tate.org.uk/content/student-resources

National Extension College (NEC) 

NEC is the UK's leading provider of flexible home study courses leading to recognised qualifications.  You can get ahead with more than 44 subjects to choose from - GCSEs, IGCSEs, and A levels. find out more...

On your marks! London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic GamesThese learning and teaching ideas are split to provide ideas for pupils aged 7-11 and 11-14. The ideas explore themes linked to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and have been developed to support teachers and support staff in using the resources provided on this site. EHE parents might find them useful also; please find out more....

College Atlas, USA
Study skills guides for colleges students were designed with college students in mind. Time management, notetaking, reading comprehension, essay writing, test taking, active listening, stress management, researching, and memorization are only a few of the topics addressed in our study skills guides for college students more.....

Noteworthy Composer!

Noteworthy Composer is a software music composition and notiation processor for Windows. It allows you to create, record, edit, print and play back your own musical scores in pure music notation. Click here to find out more....

Geography Education - Staffordshire's Award winning website

Bookstart - free books

Bookstart aims to provide a free pack of books to every baby in the UK, to inspire, stimulate and create a love of reading that will give children a flying start in life.

This website provides parents and carers with information on receiving your packs, activities to do with your children, events happening in your area and a range of other resources to help you enjoy sharing books with your child more.....  Also check Booktrust for recommended books for other youngsters and learning and teaching ideas for some.

Museums and Library Archives- Making a difference to children and young people - West Midlands museums,galleries and archives.
Defining Learning, Crime in Worcester Teaching Resources. Further opportunites / partnerships are coming here soon.

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Cornucopia - museum , library Archive collection.Cornucopia, is an online database of information about more than 6,000 collections in the UK's museums, galleries, archives and libraries. Whether you are interested in painters or politicians, dinosaurs or space travel, the Romans or the Victorians, Cornucopia can tell you what is available and where to see it. click here for more information.

Bringing History to Life

Learning Curve is a free online teaching and learning resource, following the History National Curriculum from Key Stages 2 to 5.

Sources: see documents, photos and film from the National Archives

• History: unlock the meaning of these records
• Education: enjoy games and activities for thinking and learning about our past

Find out what people thought, said and did at the time of some of the most interesting events in history more....

History Learning online

A good starting point for those interested in learning history online. The site includes a wide range of general and A-Level history resources covering Ancient Rome, Medieval England, Tudor England, Stuart England, World War One, World War Two, Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany and inventions of the Twentieth Century...more

The Great War Archive

Booking a school visit to Parliament

How do you make the news interesting, relevant and digestible for children?

As a parent or grandparent, do you worry that your children or grandchildren are growing up with very little interest or understanding of the important issues and events that affect us all?

How do you even begin to explain the complicated political, economic, environmental and technological issues we read and hear about every day?

The difference in the way that First News present the news is that they do not assume children know the background to a situation such as the issues in the Middle East. They put each news story in context and use graphics to make it exciting, impartial and engaging . First News introduces children to the news in a trusted environment with a newspaper written just for them. Are you interested in Film Making?

Are you an adult interested in moving image education or filmmaking with young people?

If you are a parent, teacher or filmmaker who is watching or making films with children on then these pages are for you, more...

Travellers' Times

The only national magazine for Gypsies and Travellers Travellers' Times quarterly magazine features views, opinions, reviews, pictures and articles on and by Gypsies and Travellers and covers health, rights, learning, Europe and the world more...

OCR have recently published past examination papers - resource

click here OCR .

AccessArt

www.accessart.org.uk - visual arts learning resources for all ages, all abilities.

Join the brand new AccessArt Holiday Club! Aimed at children aged 6 to 12 who like making, the AccessArt Holiday Club delivers fun and engaging sculpture holiday activities straight to your email, throughout the year. Access to the Holiday Club members area with online workshops, making tips, materials information, gallery, ask the artist and more. Makes an ideal and creative gift: £28 per year. Find out more at: http://www.accessart.org.uk/membership.php

ArtSigns - Bristish Sign Language : The online BSL/English glossary for art and design

Why not use The Counmmunity 'Scrap Shack' for Creative Resource Materials?    The Community "Scrap Shack", Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent is a 'Not for Profit' Community Interest Company that reclaims clean safe waste from local businesses and individuals. Only scrap suitable as a creative resource is collected and once sorted it is displayed in the Scrapstore for members to select, purchase and use. Regular items include paper, card, foam, fabric, plastics, tubes, tubs, and wood. To find out more click here

Staffordshire STEMCENTRE

Staffordshire Stemcentre is a not for profit organisation providing enrichment and enhancement of the STEM curriculum. We design and deliver an evolving range of innovative activities for schools and colleges that are curriculum focussed. These activities reflect changes in society and the future skills agenda. In supporting Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) across the 4-19 year age range we work closely with industrial partners. We also support and broker a wide range of national schemes developed to meet the needs and interests of young people.  

Bug Hunt is now in its fourth year and there have been new exciting developments to the site. This website based activity is being offered to all Staffordshire Primary Schools and FREE to ELECTIVE HOME EDUCATION children in both KS1 and KS2 to encourage pupils to think about their environment and biodiversity in a fun and interesting way.

There are opportunities to:

• Survey a range of habitats for a range of invertebrates.
• Tally data, form graphs and interpret data.
• Participate in a Staffordshire Survey and compare data given in areas of Staffordshire.
• Use data from the survey to improve the school grounds by encouraging certain species of invertebrates. This in turn could introduce extra food chains!
• To compare surveys completed in school grounds to areas belonging to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.
• Provides a wealth of local information supplied by participating schools via easily accessible links through maps. Helping children understand geographical locations.

To register for all downloadable resources and gain access to the website orto find out further information: View and/or apply on our newly developed website  www.staffsstem.co.uk    under KS1 & 2 Educational Activities.

• Alternatively contact Staffordshire STEMCENTRE Tel: 01785 353348
• Fax: 01785 353363
• Email: stempoint@staffs.ac.uk

Genes to Cognition (G2C) Online is about modern neuroscience. Very good 3D modelling for example see the Brain

All Our Futures, Creativity Culture and Education,NACCCE, May 1999.
http://www.cypni.org.uk/downloads/alloutfutures.pdf 

Teaching Resources - Free : useful links to almost everything!

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Citizenship & the Big Society!!!

Bristish Youth Council launch four governance guides for children and young people

The British Youth Council (BYC) has recently revised and updated four guide booklets as part of their Youth at the Table training programme, which aims to support young people's involvement in governance. The guide booklets are designed to help develop the skills of young people in order for them to become effective members of a committee or a charity trustee board.

The four guides are:

• What is governance?
• The essential information you need to know about governance.
• What skills do I need to be great at governance?
• How do I get involved in governance.

The four guide booklets will help equip young people with the essential skills and knowledge that they need to be an effective Trustee or committee member. Included in the guides are topics such as, what governance means to young people, how to get involved in governance, the benefits of getting involved in governance, how to be an effective Trustee, the roles and responsibilities of Trustees and a list of important organisations to know about when thinking of becoming a Trustee or committee member.....more