Five GDPR Myths Debunked
Living in an increasingly digital world has brought about undeniable changes to our lives. One of the consequences of this is the amount of data we all share, including many of our personal details. Medical professionals, retailers, insurers and numerous other service providers all hold personal data, some of which is highly sensitive. However, the way our data is used isn’t always clear and nor can we be sure it is being kept secure. The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the EU is introducing next May aims to tackle this by creating new rules to keep data safe. It will also give people greater control over how their personal data is used. While many organisations are now aware of the legislation, they are not as clear about the precise impact it will have on them and what new data practices they need to adopt. What’s more, there is no shortage of conjecture on the subject. So, Sam Reed, a certified GDPR Practitioner and the Chief Technology Officer at AirIT, is going to clarify the truth behind some of the myths circulating. Myth – It’s not relevant to the UK because of Brexit. Reality Because the legislation is being introduced while Brexit is being negotiated, some believe it won’t apply to the UK. Others believe it will only apply until March 2019, when we are due to leave the EU. In fact, the legislation will apply to anyone who offers services to EU citizens, regardless of where you are based. Even if you don’t handle EU citizen’s data, you will still have to adhere to new data protection laws being introduced to the UK. The government says the proposed changes, which have already been detailed in a Data Protection Bill, will incorporate GDPR’s rules. They are doing this to help Britain prepare for a successful Brexit. The new UK law will replace the 1998 Data Protection Act and aims to make the UK fit for the digital age. Myth – There isn’t enough clear information on consent available to start preparing. Reality One of the changes GDPR will make is raising the standards for getting consent to use people’s data. Some organisations believe they should wait for the Information Comissioner’s Office to issue their final guidance on consent before they make any changes but this isn’t necessary. The ICO says it is waiting for Europe-wide consent guidelines to be published, so they can offer consistent guidance. In the meantime, they have given draft consent guidance which they don’t expect to change much when they publish the formal guidance. The guidance given includes obtaining explicit consent, naming third parties who will rely on the consent, and making it easy for people to withdraw consent. An important point to clarify is that you don’t always need consent. For example, banks sharing data for fraud protection, or local authorities processing council tax information, can use a different lawful basis to consent. . Myth – It is going to put an unfair burden on businesses. Reality There are some who feel GDPR is putting undue pressure on businesses to change their working practices, or risk a hefty fine. However, the ICO has pointed out that the new higher fines being quoted are the maximum allowed and will not be routine. They say fines will remain a last resort and will be issued proportionately. So, those concerned that the maximum fine of £17 million, or 4% of turnover, will be imposed simply to set an example early on need not worry. Rather than putting undue pressure on businesses, I believe the new legislation offers the ideal opportunity to review your data and ensure it is up to date. So, in the end, you may end up with less data but it will be of a better quality. It is also a good opportunity to review your cyber security measures because new threats are constantly emerging and can affect business of all sizes. Some small businesses mistakenly believe they are unlikely to be targeted. However, according to the Federation of Self Employed and Small Businesses (FSB), cyber crime is one of the fastest growing risks to small businesses. An FSB report found that 19,000 cyber crimes are committed against small businesses in the UK every day. While a government report estimates that the average cost of a breach to a small business is £3,100. Making sure you have robust cyber security measures in place is wise, regardless of the legislation. The National Cyber Security Centre gives 10 steps you can take to protect yourself. Rather than hampering the ability of businesses to use data, GDPR may make people more willing to share their data because of the new security standards. ICO research shows that people “would be more willing to provide their data, and for different uses, if they felt they could trust organisations to handle it fairly, securely and responsibly.” Myth – GDPR is going to revolutionise the way we handle and use data. Reality There is currently so much hype surrounding GDPR, it is easy to believe it is going to completely change how we use data. But the ICO is keen to point out the new law is “an evolution not a revolution”. The new law will keep many of the same principles as the current data laws and simply build on these. Those who follow the current data protection laws are already likely to be in a good place. They now simply need to review and update their current procedures, which won’t just keepthem on the right side of the new law but will benefit them too. Myth – Everyone needs to appoint a Data Protection Officer. Reality There is also some concern that every organisation now has to appoint a data protection officer. The DPO is meant to be the data protection expert in an organisation. Although many organisations will need a DPO, including small businesses, everyone doesn’t need to appoint one. Under
New report warns of damaging accountability system for schools
A former Number 10 adviser and education chief at the RSA has warned that English schools are being damaged by common practices that are of little value to students. The Ideal School Exhibition is an essay penned by Julian Astle, which reveals that schools are dicing with students’ futures by scrambling to achieve the best league table results. This essay is a result of Astle’s search for inspiring “mission-led” schools that are bucking a growing trend of schools hollowing out their teaching in a bid to meet the constantly shifting demands of the government’s accountability system. These issues include: Narrowing the curriculum – particularly as pupils approach primary school SATs and GCSEs, when schools increasingly focus their time, energy and resources only on those subjects that will affect their league table position. ‘Teaching-to-the-test’ – the practice whereby schools drill pupils in the tactics and techniques of exam taking, and focus their instruction on the specific demands of the test and the mark scheme. This not only turns young people off learning but which generates superficial, temporary and illusory educational gains. Gaming – particularly the practices of manipulating the admissions and exclusions system to attract high-performing students and remove low-performing pupils. Also of entering large numbers of pupils for easy-to-obtain qualifications of little interest or value to the learner. Julian said: “Having worked at the centre of government, I know that the architects of England’s school accountability system are motivated by the best of intentions: to expose serious under-performance and raise standards. “But as the grip of that system has tightened over the last 25 years, and the catalogue of unintended consequences and perverse incentives has grown ever longer, it is hard to not to conclude that the costs now outweigh the benefits. We have reached that critical point where positive change becomes possible – where the risks of inaction are higher than the risks of reform. “The RSA calls on everyone who recognises the importance of assessment and accountability, but who shares our concerns that the system as currently designed is damaging children’s education, to join the debate about how to reform that system for the better.” To tackle these problems, Astle recommends: Training teachers in the use and misuse of assessment to develop a deeper understanding within the profession of how teaching-to-the-test impedes, rather than supports, learning. Making explicit Ofsted’s emerging role as: the guardian of a broad and balanced curriculum; a counterbalance to the pressures of the DfE’s numbers-based accountability system; and the body mandated and expected to referee the ‘game’, looking not only at what schools achieve, but how they achieve it. Withdrawing the ‘right’ for schools to act as their own admissions authority, and engaging with the RSA’s proposed Commission on School Admissions to ensure that the ‘low road to school improvement’ (manipulating the admissions system rather than improving teaching) is permanently closed. Abolishing the Ofsted ‘outstanding’ category and handing the definition of excellence back to the profession. Ofsted should play a role more akin to the ‘Food Standards Agency’ than ‘restaurant critic’, focusing solely on identifying serious underperformance. As the government and the inspectorate step back, so teachers, coming together through bodies like researchED and the Chartered College of Teaching, should step up, ensuring that research, collaboration and evidence-led practice drive-up standards. Creating a contestable ‘middle-tier’ to ensure that every school – particularly struggling or isolated schools without a high-performing local authority or Multi-Academy Trust behind them – is provided with timely and effective external challenge and support, with middle-tier bodies that cannot demonstrate an ability to maintain or raise standards replaced by ones that can. The publication of The Ideal School Exhibition kick-starts the RSA’s work to unlock the potential of an overworked teaching profession, and to get our schools focused on the pivotal relationship at the heart of teaching: between the teacher, the pupil and the text – the real substance of education. The essay will be launched today [16 November] in central London, with speakers including: David Laws, former schools minister, now executive chairman, Education Policy Institute; Daisy Christodoulou, director of education, No More Marking; Peter Hyman, co-founder and executive headteacher, School 21; Julian Astle, director of creative learning and development, RSA. David Laws, former schools minister and now executive chairman, Education Policy Institute, said: “Anyone who cares about the quality of the education England’s school children are receiving would do well to consider the warnings contained in this thoughtful essay. Ensuring the accountability system creates the right incentives, and drives the right behaviours, is a key priority.” Daisy Christodoulou, education director of No More Marking, added: “Exams are only an indirect measure of academic achievement, which means it is possible for them to be gamed and manipulated in such a way that they lose their original meaning. This report makes some vitally important points about why this is so damaging, and why the pursuit of exam results and accountability metrics therefore has to be informed by an understanding of the curriculum, and of what it means to master a subject.” Read more from QA Education:
The Importance of Interactive Learning in School
It’s impossible to understate the importance of interactive learning ina school environment, especially as recent developments in technology have, in turn,brought about ground-breaking changes to the way that kids learn.In essence, interactive learning espouses a “hands-on” approach which goes above and beyond textbooks to encourage student engagement and knowledge retention. Far from being a method of teaching reserved for only elementary-level students, the notion of the interactive classroom has been realised even at the highest stages of education (we’re talking tertiary institutions like Harvard!) – but if you still need more convincing,have a read of the following benefits. Student engagement Often, students can feel disengaged and distanced from their teacher, particularly if said teacher stays rooted at their desk doling out instructions for the lesson’s duration. Interactive learning is a prime opportunity to avoid this kind of passive information retention, as according to research, the majority of students learn more – up to 60% more, in fact – interacting (with a resource, or other people) than they do reading. Asking students to reconstitute what they’ve learnt in other forms – paraphrasing, the creation of a short animation, or a mindmap – will ensure that their brains remain engaged. Photo Credit: pixnio.com No lesson is the same If you know anything about kids, you’ll understand that they get bored very quickly – which means that if they know they’re in for the same kind of rote learning in every single class, they’ll soon distract themselves with things other than learning. Hence why switching up modes of learning is so vital.Even if only one interactive-learning exercise is planned for the lesson, the student will – because of the game played, or the debate had, or the websites visited on the SmartBoard – be able to better differentiate between each class and the subjectscovered in it. Student-to-student interaction In recent years, experts have discovered that if a question is posed to a small group of students rather than to just one learner, the answer is worked out and recalled more effectively. So, rather than asking your class to write down their answers independently, why not make use of the pupils in the class to enhance interpersonal skills and learning? Debates and role-plays are a wonderful way to formalise discussions like this and to encourage confidence in oral speaking in the members of the class. Forging a connection to the “real world” Traditional teaching methods have come under fire in recent decades for failing to properly equip children with the tools needed to navigate the twenty-first-centuryworld. Interactive learning tempers that problem by teaching students more universally-applicable critical and problem-solving skills. Much of the time, this teaching will be achieved via digital and technological means in the classroom, allowing teachers to put into practice the web-related tools that have become so central to modern life and work. Better yet, studies show that up to 80% of students perceive the use of technological aids to improve the teaching of their instructors. Alerting students to the educational potential of technology We’ve mentioned the teacher’s use of interactive tools, but what about the students’? Though it may seem a little risky to let the class loose on computers and iPads, these devices are in fact a wonderful way to awaken young people to the educational dimensions of technology.There are, of course, a couple of boundaries that have to be put in place so that students stay on track. You may have to block certain social media websites, for example – but once those kinks are ironed out, you can introduce the class to a whole world of invaluable e-learning resources, from Google Scholar to Quizlet. A generation of innovative learners, coming up! Based in New Zealand, Johanna Cider is a freelance writer with a passion for children, technology and travel. Johanna has written on behalf of NZ businesses such as Jumpflex Trampolines.
Apprenticeships ‘on the menu’ as Mitchells & Butlers launch new video series at The Skills Show 2016
Mitchells & Butlers plc, the company behind leading pub and restaurant brands such as All Bar One, Harvester, Miller & Carter, Toby Carvery, Browns and Sizzling Pubs inspired school leavers at last week’s Skills Show, giving future school leavers an interactive experience and showcasing the opportunities that a career in hospitality can offer. During The Skills Show, the UK’s largest careers show which took place at Birmingham’s NEC on 17-19 November, the pub and restaurant operator also premiered its series of ‘Apprentice v Graduate’ and Ever wondered what the benefits of an Mitchells & Butlers Apprenticeship are? videos across social media, highlighting the benefits of an apprenticeship against the option of going to college or university. The two videos demonstrate why there may be practical and financial benefits to an apprenticeship for someone looking to begin a career in hospitality, and how it can be an alternative stepping stone by gaining valuable practical experience alongside a qualification. As the cost of university and further education continues to rise and earning power of graduates drop, Mitchells & Butlers is committed to opening the doors to 1,700 apprenticeships within the next year. The Skills Show is a great opportunity to not only premiere the series, but also get talking and help inspire the next generation of chefs and managers. Leading Teenologist Sarah Newton, also joined the team to capture imaginations with fun food, creative mocktails and a prize giveaway selfie competition. Sarah Newton, one of the UK’s leading youth experts specialising in the emergence of Generation Z comments; “Teaming up with Mitchells & Butlers at The Skills Show was a fantastic opportunity to talk to our next generation of talent and their parents. We all want the best for our children and their futures, but we need to make sure we’re not leading them down a path that might not be right for them. Jan Smallbone, Director of Learning & Talent Development, Mitchells & Butlers comments: “Starting as an apprentice gives young people a genuine alternative to academic study, and a real path to a long term career in hospitality. We are dedicated to working with our teams to nurture this raw talent and develop them into the future managers across our businesses – and The Skills Show is a fantastic platform for us to talk to these possible leaders and showcase what we have to offer. “Apprentices that join the Mitchells & Butlers team will work across our renowned portfolio of brands, learn from our experienced teams, gain a professional qualification and have a real opportunity to progress up the ladder. Your career really can start with us and help us harness a pipeline of future leaders.” There are currently four different apprenticeships open to all school leavers, the company’s Bar & Waiting Apprenticeship and Chef/Culinary Apprenticeships see young people gain a Level Two qualification within their chosen field within the first 12 months. Mitchells & Butlers Hospitality Management Development Apprenticeship is a three-year programme designed to FastTrack apprentices into supervisory and management roles. It is also one of the first schemes in the industry to offer a combined programme that ensures apprentices gain experience working in customer facing roles alongside learning in the kitchen. Apprentices can then decide which roles best suit them, whilst being provided with the opportunity to take on new challenges. Mitchells & Butlers was a Feature Exhibitor in the Hospitality and Lifestyle sector at the NEC Arena in Birmingham. For more information on the Mitchells & Butlers Apprentice Scheme, how to apply and variety of roles available visit www.mbapprenticeships.co.uk. For more information on the Skills Show visit www.worldskillsuk.org.
The Importance of First Aid Training for Children
When we think of first aid training, we normally think about first aid training for adults. This isn’t necessarily a bad assumption. However, it does show that we often don’t bother investing in teaching first aid skills to children, and this shouldn’t be the case. Investing in first aid training for the children at your school not only gives the students in your care vital skills but also encourages communication and leadership abilities. First Aid Training: Giving (Literally) Life Saving Skills First aid skills are essential at all stages of life. Think about the video that went viral in February of the nine-year-old girl who successfully called 999after her mother passed out in a moving car on the motorway. She managed to stay on the phone with emergency services for seven minutes while she explained what her mother’s condition was like (“alive but very poorly”). She successfully explained to the call operator where they were and she remained on the line until the police and ambulance services came to the scene. As much as we’d like to, we’re not able to watch our children all the time. The older they get, the more they’re going to be going off on their own adventures. One of the best ways to calm your nerves about this is to ensure that they’ve got all of the skills necessary to be able to handle themselves in an accident. And I’m not talking about Liam-Neeson-in-Taken levels of “handling themselves” — just basic first aid! Encouraging Communication and Building Leadership Basic first aid training covers a range of fundamental but essential skills. This includes how to get ahold of emergency services, what to ask for, and how to describe someone’s condition. All of this can mean the difference between life and death. Running a first aid training for the children in your school means making sure they have a thorough understanding of how the different emergency services work and what to do in different kinds of accidents and emergencies. As any paramedic will tell you, some of the most important first aid skills are also the simplest. For example, when someone has a bad fall, our first instinct is often to move them. But if they’ve fallen on their back, then moving them can be extremely dangerous. In fact, it could even result in further injury or death. First aid training covers how to respond to a range of different accidents and emergencies — such as burns, broken and fractured bones, and CPR. Instilling first aid skills in children is essential for a number of reasons. It not only gives them invaluable life skills, but it helps to build confidence, communication skills, and the ability to work well in a team. First aid requires teamwork, leadership, and the patience to listen to those around you. Training helps build these skills, which are incredibly versatile and will continue to serve children well throughout their lives. Want to invest in a first aid training course for children? Get in touch and we’ll sort you out!
Building sustainable schools for the future
Shortage of space is becoming a fundamental issue for many schools across the country. Recently, it was revealed one in six secondary schools are already at or over capacity, with forecasts predicting there will be more than 300,000 additional secondary school pupils by 2020. In particular, a shortage in pupil places is placing a huge burden on schools to increase classroom sizes, numbers and implement redevelopment projects to make better use of existing structures. With budgets under threat, finding the best building products to use at the right price and with minimal disruption to class time is no easy task. As a result, it may be tempting for school decision makers to deem the external finish of the building a low priority. However, in the long term, taking a sustainable view to the built environment can help to improve a school’s branding – something that is particularly important for independent schools carving out their own identity. If possible, time and effort should be implemented at the planning stage to ensure any renovation, repair or addition to a school’s environment is something that will enhance it for the foreseeable future, and not paper over the cracks in the short term. Despite some schools having the luxury of open land to build on, it is not always the most practical option. Urban schools, in particular, are often hardest hit due to increasingly unavailable or expensive city building space. As a solution, many schools have turned to building upwards. Adding floors increases the number of classrooms whilst eliminating the need to build on open land that is vital to be used as a sports or outdoor area. A lightweight and cost effective solution is brick slip cladding systems, which are ideal for this purpose. With a wide range of brick types and colours available, it is also possible to match any additions or changes with existing brickwork to complement a school’s identity. For older school buildings where heat loss and thermal insulation can be an issue, retrofitting external wall insulation with brick cladding can be a highly effective option too. Staff and pupils will immediately feel more comfortable, energy bills can be reduced and previously old and tired structures will be rejuvenated. When working to tight budgets, school decision makers must ensure any money spent is with the future of the school and its environment in mind. Using products with short life spans may seem attractive at first, but robust, low maintenance solutions that are reliable for decades to come will put the school in a better position. Here at Eurobrick Systems, we have worked with schools on their cladding projects for over 25 years and understand the pressures faced today. When working with restricted budgets in a school infrastructure, it is vital to work with the right suppliers who can maximise the environment available to get the best result for teachers and students alike.
Child Bereavement UK – How schools can support bereaved pupils?
Child Bereavement UK supports families and educates professionals when a baby or child dies or is dying, or when a child is facing bereavement. Every year we train over 7000 professionals, helping them to better understand and meet the needs of grieving families. Our vision is for all families to have the support they need to rebuild their lives, when a child grieves or when a child dies. Our mission is to ensure the accessibility of high quality child bereavement support and information to all families and professionals by increasing our reach and plugging the gaps that exist in bereavement support and training across the country and embedding standards in the sector. Most grieving pupils do not need a “bereavement expert” they need people who care. Schools, just by carrying on with their usual day-to-day activities, can do a huge amount to support a grieving child. By gently introducing death and grief into the classroom, the fear is removed and children will develop coping skills should someone they know die now or in the future. Normality For a child, or young person, whose life has been turned upside down, the routines of school life can give a sense of normality. Everything else may have fallen apart but school and the people within it are still there, offering a sense of security and continuity. For young children and adolescents, school can give relief from an emotionally charged atmosphere at home. They may feel overwhelmed by a grieving family.There may be a constant stream of visitors expressing their own grief. Children and young people can find this difficult to deal with. A listening ear Children can be overlooked by family members struggling to deal with their own grief. For a child who wishes to, school staff can provide an opportunity to talk about what has happened with a familiar and trusted adult in relative peace and calm. When a parent or sibling has died, children and young people can try to spare their surviving parent by hiding their own grief and appearing to be OK. School is often seen as somewhere safe to express this grief. The opportunity to be a child Even when deeply sad, children still need to be children. Loss and grief are very grown up experiences. School offers the chance to play, laugh, sing and generally just be a child without feeling guilty. General support Keep in contact with home. Discuss concerns but equally important are successes. The family or carers will find this reassuring. Grieving children and young people can display altered behaviours in different situations. Good communication with home will help school be aware of this and provide a more realistic picture of how the child is coping. Be proactive Have in school a selection of resources on the subject. Refer to the Booklists and Resources factsheets in this pack for ideas. Stories are a wonderful way to gently introduce young children to the concept of death. Novels and poems offer young people a chance to learn through reading, listening and discussion. For more ideas see the schools section of the website www.childbereavement.org.uk. When someone dies in your school community, whether the death is one that affects an individual pupil, or of someone known to the whole school community, how you respond will be remembered by everyone affected, child or adult. The school’s response will depend on individual circumstances and the needs of pupils, staff and wider school community. Have a plan. See the factsheet “Writing a Bereavement Policy” and the example policies (Primary, Secondary and Specialist) on our schools section on the website www.childbereavement.org.uk. Everyone, child or adult, will grieve in their own way. Try not to make assumptions about what they should be doing, how they should be feeling or what is going to help. When not sure, ask them what they would like to happen. Someone from school should liaise with any family. Offer to visit if the family would find this helpful. A card or letter of condolence will reassure the family of your support. Avoiding the subject always makes matters worse. It is better to explain what has happened in a sensitive way to avoid rumours and whispers. Use the correct words “death” and “dead” rather than euphemisms such as “lost” or “gone to sleep”. Suggestions of words to use can be found in the schools section of our website. With a death that has affected your entire school, communicate with staff first and then pupils as quickly as possible. At this stage you probably need to say very little other than expressing sadness and who has died. Correct any misconceptions and say that you will give more information when you have it. Some schools decide to explain in an assembly, others that each teacher individually tells their class. When the death affects an individual pupil, if possible discuss with the bereaved child what you are going to say before doing so. The child may or may not wish to be present. Consider with the family how giving the news to the school community should be done. The parent, carer or child may wish to write a letter to be read out in school. Staff and pupils may wish to attend the funeral. Check that this is OK with the family before making arrangements. Think through practical considerations such as how are pupils going to get there, and cover for staff. For more information: Follow on twitter: https://twitter.com/cbukhelp View on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/childbereavementchar Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/childbereavementuk
Banish homework horrors: how to make homework meaningful and deepen learning
Plenty has been written about the horrors of homework. A negative impact on leisure time is high on the list of concerns, as is an uneven playing field, where some students benefit from more parental help or access to learning resources than others. Many students also find the marking process problematic as they are often left with little or no feedback on their work, or get a mark they don’t fully understand. But homework can no longer be seen a much maligned ‘add on’ to the school day. More complex curricula combined with new pedagogy like the flipped classroom, where rote material can be ingested at home, means that the work students do away from the classroom is crucial to their success. Homework also provides opportunities for reinforcement of work learned during school time and for children to develop their research skills. Students need to seek information for themselves and so are helped along the path to becoming independent learners, and the responsibility of meeting deadlines instills the discipline needed not just in the classroom, but all the way through life. Sam Blyth is director of schools at Canvas New technologies like Virtual Learning Environments have enabled a smooth transition between in-school and out-of-school work, and made homework more interactive, collaborative and fun. But technology alone won’t mitigate the stress and pressure that homework can bring. Online tools and access to technology must be coupled with a commitment from teachers to make homework as interesting and engaging as the work students complete in the classroom. By prioritising homework, students will feel more motivated working from home without a teacher’s supervision, and teachers will benefit from more engaged students who drive their own learning journey. As a result of countless conversations with teachers and parents, I’ve found that there are some basic things for schools to do to make homework more appealing and meaningful. These are: 1. Put kids in control of their learning Empowering students to learn independently, in a way that suits them, is motivational and inspiring. It’s crucial to give children the autonomy to influence their own path to knowledge, creating as much flexibility as possible within the constraints of curricula. Giving control to students isn’t the same as abdicating control of the classroom – but offering choices can motivate students to succeed. Give them a page of maths problems, but let them choose any ten to complete. If they usually do written book reports, allow students to write a traditional report, film a book review, or create a comic-book-style summary of the major events or themes. It can’t be done for every assignment, but why not try it occasionally? 2. Promote the use of digital tools and resources Banish the ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse forever by moving assignment delivery online. For students, Virtual Learning Environments facilitate access to engaging and compelling content. Using cloud-based solutions also means that students can access work from multiple devices, such as phones, tablets and laptops. For teachers the ability to track progress, or measure peer performance, in a centralised manner, allows them to spot trends or issues quickly and adapt teaching to fit students’ needs. Tracking progress is just as important for students as it is for teachers, seeing how they’re building knowledge shows children that the work they’re doing is paying off. Similarly, knowing what’s coming up builds interest and anticipation. Using self marking quizzes is another simple way to bring a fun ‘gamification’ element to the tuition. Going beyond the traditional curricula, and giving students the possibility to engage with each other in ways that are not associated with homework, often has a positive impact on students’ learning motivation. 3. Enable fast feedback and encourage sharing and teamwork By acknowledging and feeding back as quickly as possible, you’re telling the students you’ve seen their effort, which means their stress wasn’t all for nothing. Online forums enable two-way conversations with students and are a great way to give concrete feedback in an easy and accessible way. With Canvas, you can also give feedback via audio or video, which is a great way to personalise communication with students. Peer feedback is equally important. Teachers must enable a collaborative approach to learning by encouraging the sharing of work, feedback and ideas. When children feel that that what they are learning and producing will be shared and likely appreciated by others, they work hard to impress. Lastly, and too often ignored, is the process of self-evaluation. Encouraging children to ask ‘what did I learn here?’ and ‘how has this improved my knowledge?’ is key to ensuring they feel that the activities they have undertaken are worthwhile and part of a wider learning process. So three simple steps, but important ones. Following these methods will help to tackle the negative view of studying at home – promoting homework as both instructional and engaging; a crucial part of a student’s learning, leading to better outcomes for students and schools. https://www.canvasvle.co.uk/ Written by Sam Blyth the director of schools at Canvas.
Looking after sports equipment – How to reduce risk, prolong product life and save money
For over 12 years, Mark Harrod Ltd has been manufacturing and supplying a wide range of sports products to clubs, associations and schools with quality football goals and sporting equipment. As well as manufacturing and supplying the equipment, the team offers installation, maintenance and servicing support for its customers to help them ensure that the equipment remains safe in use for years to come. Mike Bugajski, has been visiting customers for 10 years to check that the products are being installed and maintained correctly and is concerned to find that, more often than not, basic guidelines are not being followed which could result in injury or damage to the product. Taking goal posts as an example, injuries are completely preventable if they are installed correctly, inspected regularly and used appropriately. Mike said: “All of our products are supplied with a general maintenance and safety guide outlining how products should be installed and checked. Health and safety is of upmost importance to any club, school or association offering sporting facilities and it’s their responsibility to provide equipment that is fit for purpose and maintained to the required standard. “None of the customers that I visit would refute this but they don’t always realise that by regularly checking their equipment, not only keeps it safe and in good working order, it saves them money too. I often go on site visits to find football posts that have been installed incorrectly to start with. Not only could this create a health and safety hazard, it could put pressure on the component parts and damage them requiring them to be replaced – an expense that could have been simply avoided by following the installation guide correctly. Similarly, I sometimes find that posts have been dragged along the ground instead of dropping down the wheels that have been specifically designed to make moving large, heavy equipment easier – again resulting in parts needing replacing. The examples are endless. “Of course, it is sometimes difficult for equipment to be monitored 24/7, especially if it is used out of hours by third parties and may be misused resulting in damage. However, these instances make the need for regular inspections even more important as the group/individual allowing their equipment to be used could be liable for any injuries sustained. Lack of respect for the equipment is out of our customers’ control but ultimately it will have implications for the ongoing safety of the products in question.” Mark Harrod Ltd can ease the burden of keeping an eye on equipment and provide customers with peace of mind, ensuring that goal posts and other equipment remain fit for purpose and safe to use. The general maintenance and safety guide provided with all Mark Harrod Ltd goal post products covers assembly, dismantling, checking, anchoring, moving and storage as well as inspection sheets for recording all observations made and for keeping as evidence of best practice. Service and Maintenance Contracts are available at an additional cost which ensure sports equipment at customers’ premises conforms to the BS8461:2012 Code of Practice, BS748:2004 AND BS8462:2012. Visit www.markharrod.com to download a copy of the maintenance and safety guide and to view the product range or call 01502 710039 to discuss the services available in more detail. Twitter – https://twitter.com/markharrodltd Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/markharrodlimited Customer testimonial: The goals for my club Bradenham Wanderers FC arrived, and I just wanted to say a BIG thank you for the wonderful service from start to finish, if only every company could operate a customer service like yours, life would be so easy. 5 star performance, or 10 out of 10 ,what ever way you look at it, the experience of dealing with you guys has been a pleasure. Harry Murfet Basic Maintenance and Safety Tips: • Always use manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations when assembling equipment • Check equipment a minimum of once a week and ALWAYS before any game or training activity • All equipment should be weighted and /or anchored at all times • Never drag equipment across the ground. This could cause damage to the product and the surface, whether natural or synthetic