Sing Up is the Music Manifesto's National Programme. The site has tons of information and resources for children, parents and teachers including free lesson plans and advice on how to get started with music in your classroom.
This is an unbelievable story! Just imagine if this happened to your school choir!
First the shopping centre security guard stepped in. Then it was the turn of a police officer.
But it wasn't drunken youths or shoplifters who required their attention. It was a group of enthusiastic carol singers from a local primary school. The children, aged between six and 11, were told they were singing too loudly. Parents and many of the shoppers who had enjoyed the carols were astonished by the intervention.
"They were a small group singing to raise money and they were singing beautifully," said their headmaster Ian Jones yesterday. "After a bit a security guard came over and said we had only meant to be singing for one hour and could we please stop. I just said 'No', because I knew we were allowed to sing between 11am and 3pm. He said he had complaints from tenants that we were too loud. " just asked how he proposed to stop children singing. In the end he said we would have to stop or he would call the police."
The 29 pupils from Ysgol San Sior school, aged between six and 11, had permission to sing at the Victoria Centre in Llandudno, North Wales, last Saturday to raise funds for the school. "I couldn't believe what they were saying," added Mr Jones. "Some of the parents were incredulous. A member of the public came over and said she thought the singing was fantastic."
Then a Police Community Support Officer arrived and shortly afterwards Mr Jones decided he and his pupils should pack up.
Organiser Debbie Ankers, whose nine-year-old daughter was singing, said: "To begin with, I thought it was a joke - it was just ridiculous. They were asking us to leave but we couldn't just leave when we had children there with parents coming later to pick them up."
Sue Nash, manager of the Victoria Centre, admitted last night that security staff should not have intervened. "It was quite loud apparently, and we have had problems with acoustics in the centre whenever we have had live music here," she said. "It was a misunderstanding but it has all been sorted now. Mistakes do happen."
The pupils will be allowed to return to perform their carols at the centre this weekend - and will not be required to sing quietly.
Today is Takeover Day. This is a scheme run by 11 Million when, for a single day, pupils are invited to take over adults' jobs, either at school or elsewhere.
At Broadwas Primary School in Worcestershire, all 21 staff positions were filled by KS2 pupils. Teachers have prepared easy to deliver lessons which the pupils will conduct. One pupils shadowed the headteacher as she attended meetings and observed a reception class. Pupils also took over support and administrative roles.
Headteacher, Mrs Sandra Logan, said, "It will give pupils an insight into what we do."
In a report in the TES, if the Conservatives came to power they would want every teacher to face a visit from Ofsted in 'lightning inspections' with no prior warning.
Their other education proposals include:
Today I returned from a Year Three residential visit to Fox Howl Outdoor Education Centre, Delamere. Fox Howl is the perfect place to take the Year Threes - it's not too far from school and it allows the children to try lots of activities that they don't normally try in school.
On Thursday they went on a nature walk, looking for signs of wildlife in the forest. We then tried some orienteering challenges, firstly within the centre, and then one on a larger scale in a safe part of the forest. In the evening we took the children on a night walk and when we returned toasted marshmallows on the bonfire!
On Friday we built dens and then took part in a trekking and trailling activity in the forest.
A brilliant time was had by all!
Started work on the Christmas play today! This year, our grand production is "The Wizard of Oz".
I attended a course today all about using images to stimulate writing. I must admit that I was a little reluctant to go on to the course. I felt at I wouldn't learn anything new.
I have been taking a look at the Times' Top Schools in the country. Not that I am exactly in favour of league tables, it does make us feel proud. There are some impressive results for Cheshire.
4th in the country in the small state primary schools is Duddon St. Peter's C of E Primary School in Tarporley and 6th in the same league is Little Leigh Primary School in Northwich. The highest Cheshire school with over 100 pupils is Prestbury C of E Primary School, Macclesfield.
I am really pleased that at position 253 is Wistaston Junior School. Of course this school no longer exists as we have amalgamated to become Wistaston Church Lane Primary School. But I am very pleased with the result. The top Cheshire state primary schools are:
4 - Duddon St Peter's C of E Primary School, Tarporley
6 - Little Leigh Primary School, Northwich
24 - Smallwood C of E Primary School, Sandbach
64 - Prestbury C of E Primary School, Macclesfield
82 - Black Firs Primary School, Congleton
85 - Davenham C of E Primary School, Northwich
118 - St Luke's RC Primary School, Frodsham Frodsham
138 - Ashdene Primary School, Wilmslow
247 - St Gabriel's RC Primary School, Stoke-on-Trent
253 - Wistaston Junior School, Crewe
335 - Lower Park Primary School, Poynton
337 - Egerton Primary School, Knutsford
343 - Comberbach Primary School, Northwich
422 - St Alban's RC Primary School, Macclesfield
429 - Leighton Primary School, Crewe
476 - Bunbury Aldersey C of E Primary School, Tarporley
508 - Christleton Primary School, Chester
Today we took the children to visit Whitby Morrison Specialist Vehicles in Crewe - aka The Ice Cream Van Factory. Whitby Specialist Vehicles was founded in 1962 by Bryan Whitby as a manufacturer of soft ice cream machinery and one-off custom vehicle bodywork. Today it produces, the manage estimates, 95% of the world's ice cream vans. Every vehicle is custom made to the buyer's requirements and some are shipped as far away as Spain, Italy and Australia!! Just this month the company was voted Business of the Year 2007 by the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce.
Today we arranged an Evacuee Day for our Year Sixes. This was the end to our focus on World War Two.
This has been such a fantastic topic. The children have been so interested in every aspect and it has provided us with a great focus for our English work on journalistic writing and stories with flashbacks.
All the children dressed up as war-time evacuees. The creativity and imagination shown by the children (and parents!) in creating their costumes was astounding and we were so proud of their efforts.
The first activity of the day was to enter the billeting office where we had arranged for TAs to 'pick' the children they wanted to stay with them. This was really good fun! Next, they planned their evacuation suitcases - one for 1940 and once for 2007. Although, of course, the items packed would be completely different, there were similarities, for example, the inclusion of games. We arranged for a war-time evacuee to come in to speak to the children about his experiences and to answer their questions. At lunchtime we had a war-time themed lunch available for the children, with such delicacies as 'Churchill's Corned Beef Hash' and 'Evacuees Macaroni Cheese'. After lunch the children sent a postcard home to their parents and we ended the day by dancing the Jitterbur.
I would highly recommend the idea of an evacuee day to anyone. The children loved it and gained so much from it.
The Learn With Dogs website is a very child-friendly website with lots of advice for caring for dogs and also ideas for fundraising for the Dogs Trust.
The E.On Experience is a lively, interactive online resource designed to help teach children aged 5-16 about energy. KS2 children can visit Energy Town where they will learn about the different types of energy we use, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, and effects on the world. There is also a free classroom pack which can be ordered free of charge from the site.
Day Two of the Conference has been even better. There has been lots of theory-based ideas, but today's courses were much more practical and I know I will be able to put lots of these into operation in school.
There was a speech from a very inspirational head teacher in the morning.
In the afternoon, I attended a course on New World Leadership which I think we really help me to approach problems and finding solutions more effectively.
Overall the experience was very worthwhile!
Today I was at the Cheshire Senior Leadership Conference at Shrigley Hall, near Macclesfield. This is the first time I have been on one of these conferences, but they have been running for about three years.
It's been a busy few days as we have had our Parents' Evenings. Late nights on Monday and Tuesday and then appointments until 6 tonight have made me very tired!!
I really enjoy parents' evenings as it's good to properly meet the parents of the children. I always find that behaviour and attitudes improve afterwards as well.
Tomorrow I'm off to Shrigley Hall for the Cheshire Senior Leadership Conference!
More than half of schools are now downloading significant amounts of lesson materials for free from the internet. The trend is noted in a wide-ranging survey of school computer use by the British Educational Suppliers Association.
The poll, which included 798 primary teachers indicates a major change in teachers' use of the web over the past five years.
Nearly all schools have downloaded some free resources since 2002, but the annual survey shows that the proportion of schools downloading a 'significant' amount of free curriculum materials and software now exceeds 50% of primaries.
The report suggest the figures may even under-estimate teachers' reliance on free web materials. The report says that, "It is likely that the subjective definition of 'significant' has changed over time. What was a significant amount of material in 2002 may well be considered to be less significant today."
According to the TES, here are the main findings of the Primary Review:
I just find this Review frustrating. Why can't a review ever pat schools on the back and say 'well done'? I guess this just wouldn't be interesting.
Parents run the risk of putting children off reading by forcing them to read literary classics.
Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider books, said, "Reading is not an issue we should keep banging children over the head with. As children, my generation were given the books that our parents read. Now children can discover their own writers. There have never been so many good living young writers."
He was speaking at the launch of the Starbucks Bookdrive, a campaign run in partnershop with the National Literacy Trust to promote reading by encouraging donations to school libraries.
He also suggested that the best way that parents could encourage a child to read was to set aside 15 minutes a day to read to them. "We are all so busy as adults that we tend to forget the inestimable value of spending 15 minutes a day reading with our child. There is no better way to get to know your child than to share their books with them."
Not that I really watch this programme (or pantomime, from what I understand) but I thought it was quite interesting that there is a Year Six teacher taking part in the X-Factor.
Applications for the Rolls-Royce Science Prize are currently being accepted. Prizes of up to £5000 are available for schools with the best applications.
There are a range of science activities at the website.
