EDS Press Releases - Warwickshire Web

EDS Media Coverage and Press Releases

Education Guardian Article: Newton's Bruises - 19 February 2008

Press Release: Warwickshire Futures

Press Release: Write Dream Network

Press Release: Secondary Maths Conference: Maths is Fun

Press Release: The Learning Fair: Exploring the Mysteries of the Teenage Brain

Press Release: The Learning Fair: The Well Being Oasis

Press Release: The Learning Fair: Persona Dolls

Press Release: The Learning Fair: The Power of Story

Press Release: The Learning Fair: The Curriculum Jungle

Press Release: Warwickshire Futures

International expert helps schools build community links

Headteachers from all over Warwickshire will be learning how to make better links with their local communities this week.
Heads and representatives from schools across the county will be given advice on building community relations by an international expert in the subject.
George Otero, founder and co-president of the Center for Relational Learning in Santa Fe in New Mexico, will give his insight as part of the Warwickshire Futures programme. Organised by Warwickshire County Council, the two-day conference will look at the new emphasis on schools being at the centre of community activity. The conference runs on 18 and 19 May at Staverton Park, Daventry. Schools will work with local partners, including other schools, local authorities, health, police and the voluntary sector to offer a number of different services on their site. Dr Otero will focus on how schools can focus on building learning communities by bringing parents, community workers, children and teaching professionals together. He will explore the ways that headteachers can take on these new challenges, promote “community dialogue” and develop their leadership skills. BBC Midlands Today and Inside Out presenter Ashley Blake will also give his perspective on how important community matters are.
Warwickshire Futures co-ordinator Sue Herdman, of the council’s Educational Development Service, said: “While schools are not expected to run all these new services themselves they will be at the heart of them and that will bring a set of new challenges. This conference will help schools understand how they can widen their horizons and build on the work they are already carrying out with their communities.
“Warwickshire Futures has been running for two years and has run a number of events that given heads and teachers the tools to develop their leadership skills. Part of the challenge is getting all the different partners together and actually talking together, and this conference gives advice on how to achieve that.”

Press Release: Medieval dream will inspire young writers

Warwick Castle will become a centre of literary activity next week when more than 140 young writers gather for a day of practical workshops.
The sights and sound of medieval life depicted in the castle’s exhibitions will be used as an inspiration for plays, poetry and thriller writing.
The group, known as the Write Dream Network, are drawn from seven primary schools (Acorns, Alveston, Lighthorne Heath, Hampton Lucy, Loxley, Temple Herdwyke, and Moreton Morrell) in south Warwickshire.
The children will have the chance to learn about feudal life and the castle impressive trebuchet – a huge and impressive medieval war machine. The children will even get to see the trebuchet (catapult) in action.
A group of teachers from each of the schools has planned the event with the support of Miles Tandy from Warwickshire County Council’s Educational Development Service. He said: “The idea is to get children excited about writing so that they are more committed to it and improve their standards. It promises to be a very exciting day, but the real benefit will be felt when the children are working on their own writing back in school.”
The visit will be followed by a period of intensive work in schools that will culminate with the children organising their own ‘Writers’ Festival’ in June.

Press Release: Maths is fun – homework is exciting!

Pupils at a Nuneaton school are enjoying maths homework – and the secret of how that happened is being shared with teachers around Warwickshire.
Maths is exciting at Higham Lane School, using a range of fun puzzles, games and practical projects to bring lessons and homework to life.
Pupils in Years 7 and 8 at the school have a homework box that is passed round the class on a rota basis for each child to take home. The box contains 45 different mathematical games and puzzles which the child keeps for four or five days. Pupils are encouraged to play with the games and puzzles with their families and then asked to comment on how they got on. There is also a video library containing different 15 minute videos on mathematical topics and again for a homework, the child takes home a video.
Head of Maths, Jayne Ward, who will be explaining the project at a mathematics conference run by Warwickshire County Council’s Educational Development Service, said: “This project has been extremely successful with favourable comments from children and parents alike. It is likely that a homework box will be created for year 9.”
Older pupils are also given tasks. For year 10, there is a financial literacy homework based on household budgeting. Pupils are asked to work in pairs to act as parents, making household financial decisions.
Over a 12 week period, the pupils will receive bulletins, for example “Boiler needs repair!” The pupils are required to make financial decisions as to how the budget should be spent.
Jayne said: “This has received excellent feedback from pupils as a really enjoyable piece of homework. It brings to life the realities of household budgetting: pupils can see for themselves how easy it is to fall into debt through poor financial management.”
Educational Development Service’s Maths Conference includes a number of other workshops aimed at head of Maths departments in secondary schools to explain how to bring the subject to life, and will also feature a talk from the Government’s Chief Mathematics Advisor, Professor Celia Hoyle.
Barbara Brown, Head of Educational Development Service said: “It isn’t always easy to engage pupils in mathematics but it is a crucial subject and it is vital that students learn as much as they can. This conference will show secondary heads of mathematics that the subject can come to life and that pupils can enjoy it.”

Press Release: Exploring the mysteries of the teenage brain

Students and teachers in Warwickshire have been discovering the weird and wonderful world of a complex work in progress – their brains.
A series of recent studies are set to revolutionise the way that people in education approach teenagers.
Advances in neuroscience have allowed much more detailed research to be carried out on the way the teenage brain develops.
The teenage brain is still a ‘work in progress’, a giant construction project. It is a teeming ball of possibilities, raw material waiting to be shaped. Millions of connections are being hooked up; millions more are swept away. A young brain is raw, vulnerable. It’s a brain that’s still becoming what it will be.
Some of the latest findings will be shared with teachers and governors at a Learning Fair, which is being held by Warwickshire County Council’s Education Development Service (EDS).
Sue Herdman, who runs courses on learning to learn, said: “We have been helping students understand their learning brains and some of the factors that make them unique. Being able to explain how the brain works in the context of their lives opens up opportunities for all. Equally some of the findings may challenge our assumptions and raise important questions. We may need to consider that some of the traditions of school life may not be the best way to develop better brains.
“Many of the students we have worked with around the county recognise the bewilderment that comes with the teenage years. They find it very liberating to understand why it is happening, and that helps them devise ways to manage it. For example, the part of the brain that makes sophisticated decisions changes a lot during the teenage years and it really helps the young people to understand why they struggle to make decisions at crucial times such as when they are selecting their A-levels choices.”
Work has been carried out with students across the county, including Stratford High School, Trinity Catholic School, Henley High School and Alcester Grammar School.
The Learning Fair will be held at Manor Hall in Sandy Lane, Leamington on 4 January.

Press Release: Teachers calmly enter a new world

As Warwickshire’s schools prepare to return for the New Year, teachers in the county will be stepping into an oasis of calm.
Just before the bell rings for the start of term, they will be finding out ways to reduce the stress they may feel during the hectic bustle of school life.
They will be visiting an oasis of calm at a Learning Fair organised by Warwickshire County Council’s Education Development Service.
The fair, at Manor Hall in Sandy Lane, Leamington, will bring together teachers and governors from schools across Warwickshire to discover ways that lessons can be brought to life and working patterns changed in schools. The oasis will include an area for quiet reflection – to allow people to sit quietly and reflect. There will also be an Indian head massage – for people to explore stress management, a reflexology and a multi-sensory exhibition featuring ambient music, smells and visual images.
Tess White of EDS said: “For people to be effective, they need to address issues of physical and emotional wellbeing. The Wellbeing Oasis will encourage visitors to explore strategies to manage stress, create a positive working environment and ensure an appropriate work-life balance. Ultimately it is the pupils who benefit and learning which is enhanced.”
Other displays, exhibitions and seminars at the Learning Fair include:
A curriculum jungle, where teachers can explore ways of bringing different subjects together under a single theme such as Africa, giving pupils an activity-based insight into a different world. Using persona dolls with young children to help them learn to express their feelings about themselves and each other. An exhibition showing how story telling can be used to fire the imagination of children of all ages The latest research into the massive work of progress that is the teenage brain.
Barbara Brown, Head of EDS, said:; “The Learning Fair is offering schools and their governors creative opportunities to think differently about learning and we hope that these will add to the already rich experience that pupils in Warwickshire schools enjoy.”

Press Release: Dolls bring personal touch to emotional education

Dolls are being introduced to Warwickshire nurseries and schools to help young children learn how to express themselves and understand each other’s feelings.
Research has shown that children as young as two begin to notice differences and start to discriminate against each other, but working with them in a positive way can help them learn to be more tolerant. Persona dolls are now being used to help children aged up to six to learn about issues such as racism, prejudices, bullying, discrimination, stereotyping, fears, anxieties and misunderstandings.
Teachers and school governors will be finding out more about the dolls at a Learning Fair organised by Warwickshire County Council’s Education Development Service. They are used to allow children to discuss a particular issue that might be affecting one of them. Instead of referring to the children directly, a group can talk to the doll. Jill Alldritt, Education Manager at Stockingford Early Years Centre, which uses the dolls with three-year-olds, explained:
“We are trying to give the children the tools and vocabulary to express their feelings. By using the dolls in a group they can learn from each other how to deal with a situation. An example was when a child’s mother was in hospital. We got a group together and told them that the doll’s sister was ill. We then asked them how they thought the doll was feeling, and what could be done to make them and the doll’s sister feel happy. The children decided they wanted to send some notes to say get well soon so we made a special letterbox for this. Sometimes young children find it difficult to express themselves, so using the doll helps them to say they are feeling.”
Schools and nurseries have started to use the dolls, which come as boys and girls from a range of ethnic backgrounds. Teachers will be shown how to make the most of them and encouraged to take them on at the Learning Fair, which will showcase numerous other ideas that they can introduce to lessons. It is being held on 4 January at Manor Hall in Sandy Lane, Leamington.

Press Release: Power of stories dates back to the Bard

Warwickshire teachers are finding how to uncover the JK Rowlings of the future among the county’s children. They will be finding out how the power of storytelling can fire youngsters’ imagination and help them learn.
A Learning Fair is being held by Warwickshire County Council’s Education Development Service (EDS) to give teachers ideas they can use in the classroom.
And the experience of two Leamington primary schools in making the most of Shakespeare will be shared with others. The Learning Fair, which will be held at Manor Hall in Sandy Lane on 4 January, will feature an exhibition that takes teachers and school governors along a path through different stages of how storytelling is used across the curriculum and for all ages. It will give examples of items that can be used such as puppets and tabletop play for primary children to more sophisticated props for story telling.
Miles Tandy of EDS said: “It is the most traditional way of teaching, yet as soon as a new piece of technology appears, people want to use it to tell stories. This exhibition will show teachers how to harness the power of story telling in all kinds of ways to really bring lessons to life for pupils.”
In June 2005 EDS worked closely with the RSC to host a national conference in Stratford on Avon called Primary Shakespeare Conference.
Working with Sydenham and Clapham primary schools, the aim of the conference was to explore how Shakespeare could be used in a modern way to fire imagination and develop creativity.
Juliette Westwood, headteacher at Sydenham Primary School, said: “We do a lot of work on using different learning styles to help the children make the most of their learning experience, and we wanted to do something that was based on movement. Simply reading a Shakespeare text can be quite dry, they were written to be acted and need to be brought to life.
“We have a high number of children from minority ethnic backgrounds and we were able to take the chance of working with the RSC to produce a Bollywood-style version of Romeo and Juliet. . The children really enjoyed the experience and it has stayed with them. By doing something so active and visual they were able to understand the passion of Shakespeare so much. The experience has stayed with them, and I hope that other schools will take any opportunity presented to them through the Learning Fair to allow their children to enjoy something similar.”

Press Release: Out of Africa and into the curriculum jungle

Teachers in Warwickshire will be journeying into the jungle next month as they hunt for new ways to bring lessons to life.
They will be visiting Africa to see how different subjects can be blended together to stimulate children’s learning.
A Learning Fair is being held by Warwickshire County Council’s Education Development Service, to give teachers new ideas.
The idea was developed following a successful project at Oakfield Primary School in Rugby, where children aged between 7 and 11 learned about India.
Headteacher Heather Fielding said the youngsters had relished the chance to get to grips with a number of large practical themes that stretched beyond traditional subjects such as science, geography and design.
She said: “The children carried out a lot of investigations and then produced something themselves. For example they designed and produced their own electronic carriages after studying modes of transport in India, and had creative art and music sessions. The activities were spread throughout a term and the children said they really enjoyed the practical elements and favoured working in pairs and groups. They certainly progressed in their learning - both skills and knowledge. At first we were anxious about meeting the requirements of the national curriculum but we actually exceeded them.”
The experience of Oakfield has been used to develop the Curriculum Jungle exhibition, and teachers from all over Warwickshire will be invited to see how they can use it in their schools. Teachers of children aged up to seven can also explore Toyland at the conference, which will show how toys can be used in the classroom. Toys can be introduced into a class to help pupils learn about technology, science, humanities and mathematics in a fun and stimulating way.
The Learning Fair will show teachers numerous other ideas that they can introduce to lessons. It is being held on 4 January at Manor Hall in Sandy Lane, Leamington.

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