Get free VE Day 75 resources for your assembly!
The Royal British Legion assembly plans will help schools across the UK commemorate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. As the nation comes together to honour the Second World War generation on 8th May, The Royal British Legion has launched a range of new assembly resources to help pupils explore their shared heritage of Remembrance and commemorate the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation. The assemblies have been created in partnership with the National Literacy Trust to help explain to children of different ages and backgrounds why and how we remember the contribution of the entire WW2 generation on VE Day. The language, design and format reflect the needs of both teachers and students, ensuring everyone can benefit from engaging with these carefully crafted resources. The assemblies are aimed at Key Stages 2 and 3 and are an ideal way for schools to take part in the VE Day commemorations in this significant anniversary year. The assembly packs and learning materials are suitable for young people aged 7 to 14 and will be free to download from 9th March on the Legion website. The VE Day 75 resources are available to download at: rbl.org.uk Catherine Davies, Head of Remembrance at The Royal British Legion says: “It is important that children from all backgrounds learn about their shared history of Remembrance. The assembly packs will not only teach children about the significance of VE Day, but also help children explore the idea of Remembrance and discover its relevance to today. The Royal British Legion is committed to making sure the torch of Remembrance is passed on to the next generation and these assemblies will play an important role in achieving that.” The resources, downloadable in PowerPoint format, include: VE Day: Introduction for Assemblies – presentations designed to be shared with a whole school or year group, with a focus on helping students understand what VE Day is and how it remains relevant today. VE Day: How To Get Involved – presentations designed to be delivered to a year group, form group or class, focusing on ways to engage students around VE Day and providing different activity suggestions. They will come with detailed teacher notes, giving key information on VE Day as well as historic context to help teachers feel confident in delivering the presentation and supporting their class.
Three tips to enhance maths in your school
Alexandra Riley is author of the Power of Maths report and Senior Publisher in the Primary Maths team at Pearson. She leads the team behind Power Maths, a whole-class mastery programme developed in partnership with White Rose Maths. Here, she highlights how schools can not only boost results but improve perceptions about how maths is used in everyday life… Maths can unlock doors by giving children and young people the tools needed to access new learning or pursue a career that increases their future earning power. And yet, only 36% of males and 23% of females at Key Stage Four feel that mathematics is most likely to lead to a job in the future [1]. Meanwhile, myths about mathematics continue to perpetuate, from the belief that some people just can’t do maths to the perception that this isn’t a creative subject. Following the release of Pearson’s Power of Maths report, shaped by leading thinkers across education and business, here are some ways you can improve both the perceptions and teaching of mathematics in your school: 1. Bust myths Maths is relevant and important in our lives beyond the school gates. In your school, talk openly about the utility and creativity of maths. Maths is not about getting “the right answer”. Instead, show pupils that debate, discovery and creativity are an integral part of maths, rather than characteristics confined to humanities, and this makes maths fascinating and exciting. You can do this in practice, by regularly integrating problems with more than one solution into maths lessons, and debating the strategies used and solutions. Pupils will become engaged in their learning by thinking creatively and participating in rich mathematical discussion. 2. Build resilience If an adult is under-confident in maths, they can unknowingly pass on their anxieties to children and young people, leading to many arriving in their lessons ready to hate it. Building mathematical confidence among parents can be key to tackling maths anxiety in your school. At a primary level, teachers can give parents simple suggestions for engaging their child in learning at home, whether it is working on a puzzle book at bedtime, creating a maths picture storybook or talking about shape while they play together. You can run workshops to communicate this or draw on Pearson’s Handy Parent Factsheet, which explains the importance of a growth mindset and how parents can encourage their children to be confident mathematicians. 3. Never underestimate the power of professional development Teachers are one of the biggest influencers on our young people yet many maths teachers are not subject specialists (particularly at primary) and feel under-confident in teaching the subject. High-quality resources, such as textbooks and teacher guides, can help teachers to consistently implement what they have learnt in the classroom. You can also encourage teachers to observe, or even film, lessons and reflect on them with a colleague or as a team. This gives an opportunity to reflect on best practice, build subject knowledge and share new ideas. The future of mathematics is ultimately one where people from diverse backgrounds and interests come together to collaborate and drive change. By harnessing a passion for mathematics in schools and classrooms, we can all inspire young people with its power one step at a time. To read the Power of Maths report and its recommendations, please visit: pearsonprimary.co.uk
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.