Enfield school wins London Region Public Speaking Competition

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St. John’s Senior School beat off competition from 90 London schools to be crowned the regional winners of the Churchill National Public Speaking Competition.
Held at the HQ of the world famous English Speaking Union, Dartmouth House, St. John’s team had qualified for the London finals following an impressive debating display in the local rounds.
St. John’s team consisted of students Ryan Boroughs, Elizabeth Jonscher and Vraj Bhatt who were guided and coached by teacher Antigoni Efstathiou.
Headmaster Mr. Andrew Tardios accompanied the team to Dartmouth House and was immensely proud to see his students win the ‘London Cup’.
“Ryan (Speaker) was eloquent, informative and smart. He answered questions thrown at him from the challenging team, from the audience and even from one of the judges, with good sense, clarity and, what counted a great deal, with sincerity,” explained Mr Tardios.
“Elizabeth (Chairperson) was responsible for keeping the participants and the proceedings on track and then to summarise, succinctly, the main points made by each side. She had an aura of natural sophistication and spoke with courtesy and dignity throughout. Vraj (Questioner) had the task of probing the opposing speaker’s speech with questions that would demonstrate to the judges that he had the ability to think fast on his feet in order to test the basis of the opponent’s argument.”
Following feedback from the judges and photographs with the trophy, the team made their way back to the nearby Ritz Hotel, where they enjoyed refreshments and celebrated their success.
They will now prepare to take on the winners from other regions in England and Wales for the National championship, which will be held on the 30th April 2016 at Churchill College, University of Cambridge.

CAKE FOR THE QUEEN

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Win the opportunity for your school to visit Buckingham Palace by making a special birthday cake for Her Majesty The Queen!
Following the hugely popular Cook for The Queen competition for children that was held for the Diamond Jubilee, the organisers, Love British Food, are inviting schools to join in this summer’s Royal celebrations and commemorate Her Majesty’s 90th Birthday by making a Cake for The Queen.
The Queen’s official 90th Birthday is being celebrated on the weekend of the 11th and 12th June 2016. It begins with a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, followed by Trooping the Colour on Saturday. The finale takes place on the Sunday when the Mall will be transformed for Britain’s largest ever street party.
Communities across the country will be celebrating this historical occasion in many wonderful ways and schools are invited to join in the national celebrations by holding a fun birthday party, the centre piece of which will be a very special birthday cake for Her Majesty made by the children themselves. The more delicious, the healthier and the more spectacular the better!
The competition sets a specific challenge: as well as making a cake that is spectacular to look at and is decorated in a manner fit for Royalty, it must be made with healthy ingredients. The healthier, the fresher and the more local the better. This is an opportunity to teach children that there are alternatives to sugar! We want the delicious flavours of the ingredients to sing out in your cakes and for sugar and marg to take a back seat.
Photos of the top five winning cakes will be made into a montage and presented to Her Majesty The Queen as a birthday souvenir and the winning school will be treated to an exclusive trip to Buckingham Palace, during British Food Fortnight (17th September – 2nd October 2016)
How to take part
Taking part is easy. The competition is open to any group of children of school age and all you have to do is:
1. Adapt a traditional cake recipe using healthy and/or local ingredients or create your own brand new recipe. Eating healthily doesn’t mean you have to give up all things nice, in fact it is an opportunity to discover new, delicious ingredients to use. For example, did you know…
• Beetroot, courgette and carrots are all examples of vegetables that can be used in cakes?
• White refined sugar can be replaced with honey, fruit syrup or seasonal fruit?
• There are many delicious local butters available to use in place of margarine.
2. Bake and decorate the cake in a manner fit for The Queen.
3. Share and eat the cake – have a Royal Birthday Party for the class or the whole school. You could make it a fancy dress party with all the children dressing up to commemorate different features of Her Majesty’s reign: The Queen as a child, her wedding, Coronation, overseas tours, her love of horses and her famous corgis.
4. Send us: up to five photos of the cake, of the children making it and your Royal Birthday Party, plus a description of the recipe and ingredients you used and how and why you adapted it.

Who can take part?

The competition is open to any group of children of school age (primary and secondary) in the UK. The group should have an adult as a co-ordinator / point of contact.
How to Enter
To enter, send your photos and a description of what you did, including your cake recipe to info@lovebritishfood.co.uk by 15th July 2016. Don’t forget your name, your school or group name and a contact telephone number.
Winners will be notified w/c 18th July and the prize tour of Buckingham Palace will take place during British Food Fortnight (September 17th- October 2nd).
For more information about Cake for the Queen visit the Love British Food Website: http://www.lovebritishfood.co.uk/british-food-fortnight/cake-for-the-queen
Love British Food’s official sponsor in 2016 is Co-op Food.

Audio feedback: the key to learning languages

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José Picardo, assistant principal and languages teacher at Surbiton High School, explains how Showbie’s audio feedback functionality makes learning a language more comprehensive, and more exciting for students.

Surbiton High School is a 1:1 school, where every student and staff member has their own iPad or tablet device. While this is an encouraging step in the right direction, in order for digital schools to be truly successful and worthwhile, a tool that facilitates and coheres learning, oversees the workflow between student and teacher, and makes school-parent communication simple is essential.
Showbie is a classroom management app designed to enable teachers to digitally issue assignments and provide feedback on homework or tasks. The app manages the workflow for both teachers and students, and makes it easy for teachers and parents to monitor students’ progress; its overarching aim is to simplify and facilitate the workflow and feedback between teachers and students, and ensure that parents, students and teachers are on the same page.
Schools can be very conservative places, especially when new technology is introduced, however, when Showbie was introduced two years ago, we had students and teachers queueing up to get set up on it; it was unprecedented!

Audio feedback ¡es muy beneficioso!
Where the app really came into its own for me, was in my language classes. As a language teacher, I am no longer restricted to setting reading and writing homework assignments, as the audio feedback feature means listening and speaking exercises can now also be completed. When I set these types of homework, the audio feedback enables students to record themselves and send it to me for moderation; the process continues until the answer ¡es perfecto! I can give them audio corrections, so that they can hear how the phrases or words are pronounced, thus ensuring a certain level of proficiency when it comes to them actually talking in Spanish.
Learning a language is about more than just understanding words and phrases; the ability to pronounce words and comprehend the language when it is spoken is crucial for a thorough understanding. Students are enthused and excited to learn when the process is engaging and progressive; audio feedback makes this possible and, as a result of being able to practise speaking, writing, listening and reading in another language, student attainment is boosted.

Faster learning
There has been also been a significant improvement in the speed of learning within the school. The homework process used to be a lengthy procedure whereby it would be issued on a Monday, handed in the following week and then returned with a grade and feedback the week after; the entire process took a fortnight and wasted precious learning time. Classroom management tools help to streamline the entire process, as students can now receive suggestions and improvements from their teacher as soon as they start or complete the assignment. This ability to provide constructive feedback throughout the process means students’ work is of a far greater standard, as they are able to understand what they need to do to progress. As homework can now be issued and completed within the same week, the class can move onto the next topic sooner, so students’ are progressing far quicker than before.
From a teacher’s perspective, marking is a timely process, so we are usually only able to issue each student with a grade and brief comments for improvement. The audio feedback tool makes it easy to provide in-depth feedback when marking, which means students are able to better understand how they can improve their work.

Going forward
Classroom management apps create paperless classrooms and make organising the learning environment simple. There is no need to waste precious time searching for a student’s work amongst a huge pile of paper, because it is organised into portfolios, so teachers can search by name, grade or class.
I would certainly recommend using a classroom management tool to any school that is looking to use mobile devices to facilitate education. It has improved the standard of learning in our school and efficiently manages the workflow and communication between students, teachers and parents. The paperless classroom also means that schools not only save a lot of money each year, but also positively help towards saving the planet too! The entire school has benefitted from using a classroom management app, but none more so than our language students who are now able to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the dialect and are able to speak it with confidence and vigour. ¡Showbie es muy fantástico!

SCHOOLS GENERATE AVERAGE ANNUAL REVENUES OF £40,000 BY OPENING FACILITIES FOR COMMUNITY USE

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Some schools generating as much as £350,000 annually by using BookingsPlus helping them to cope with ever tightening budgets

 

Even if only 10% of the UK’s 24,317 schools adopted such online booking and marketing systems it could virtually wipe out the £103m schools deficit

 

Kajima Community, which specialises in marketing and managing the community use of schools and other academic institutions, recorded a 129% year on year rise to £11.7 million in revenue generated for the close to 150 schools using BookingsPlus, its unique web-based booking and marketing system, over the past year. If just 10% of the UK’s 24,317 schools were to use such systems it could virtually wipe out the £103[1] million schools deficit.

 

BookingsPlus was only launched in 2013 and provides a web-based, total administration system, including a room booking tool, white-labeled website, automated invoicing, online payments system and automated communications.

 

Users can choose to use the system as a stand-alone platform, or incorporate the marketing services offered by Kajima Community to help boost bookings.  All this helps schools open up their facilities for use by community groups such as dance and sports organisations, social clubs, holiday camp providers and charities. According to Sport England, 39% of sporting facilities in England are on school sites.

 

The technology offers schools a way of using their existing assets to generate fresh revenue and is being used by a full range of academic institutions including primary and secondary schools, academies and higher education institutions.

 

BookingsPlus is now generating average annual revenues of £40,000 for each of its client schools, with some schools generating as much as £350,000 annually. The system’s popularity is clear from the sharp rise in its use last year and the income generated.

 

Enquiries in the system are up 211%, invoices raised are up 178, value of invoices has increased by 170%, value of payments is up by 164%, bookings have risen by 160%, value of bookings in the system are up 129% and the number of schools using the system has risen 115% to 146.

 

Schools have used the revenue to invest in new equipment, carry out maintenance, offset existing budget deficits or invest in staffing. Leading alternative education provider Westside School, which caters for 30 students who have disengaged from mainstream education, now generates over double the average annual revenue by using the system, providing sufficient funding to maintain an optimum staff to student ratio.  This has enabled the level of pastoral care needed by its pupils, some of whom have, with extra support, gone on to take 5-6 GCSEs.

BookingsPlus is being used to manage the out of hours activity in Haverstock School, a leading secondary facility in Camden, which counts David and Ed Milliband amongst its alumni, and William Edwards School in Essex, which has maintained an Ofsted outstanding accreditation since 2010.

 

Steve Munday, Head Teacher of William Edwards School commented:

 

“The BookingsPlus system gives us a significant revenue boost, which we have been able to invest in ICT/ technology, sporting equipment and staffing to ensure that we can provide the best possible learning environments and opportunities for our students. Equally importantly it has helped us to become an integral part of the local community by giving local groups, charities and organisations the chance to use our exceptional facilities. Everybody wins!”

 

Chris Smith, Head of Kajima Community, commented:

 

“Over the past five years particularly, there has been mounting pressure on education budgets and for many schools and other establishments the ability to generate additional revenue streams is vital in enabling them to offer the best possible facilities and learning environments.

 

For years, the time and costs of administration and organisation for letting out space, whether it be sports halls, playing fields, classrooms, has meant the margins for generating additional revenues have been minimal. Kajima Community is changing that by making this process simple and profitable, whether schools are just looking for an effective booking system or for a more comprehensive marketing service.

 

We have seen uptake for our service more than double in the last year and our belief is that schools need to adapt to maximise the profitability of their premises, which we expect to see happening more and more in the coming years.”

 

[1] Total budget deficits for local authority maintained schools rose to £103 million in 2014/15Schools, education and children’s services spending document – Department for Education (DfE) 2015

SCHOOLS CALL OUT FOR GREATER CONTROL OVER BUDGETS TO IMPROVE STANDARDS OF EDUCATION

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Over 80 per cent of schools claim they would be able to provide a better quality of education if they were given greater freedom over managing their budgets, new research has found.

A study by HCSS Education, a leading education finance specialist, has found that 82% of schools think that more independence to make financial decisions would help to raise teaching standards across the board and reduce the attainment gap.

As a result, 41% of schools are interested in converting to academy status because it will provide them with full financial responsibility so they are able to effectively manage procurement and spend their budget in the best way possible. Another 35% of schools also believed that more money would become available to them if they became an academy. This could also help contribute to a higher standard of education, as it could be spent on providing students with better facilities and teaching materials.

However not all schools think that academisation is the solution, with over half of maintained schools (59%) saying they did not want their schools to become an academy. These findings suggest that while they want greater freedom over managing the budget, they would prefer not to convert to an academy to achieve this.

As part of the survey, academies were also surveyed on the reasons why they decided to make the change and when asked what their main reasons for converting to academy status were, a significant 65 per cent cited greater control over finances as a key consideration.

The survey was conducted as part of HCSS Education’s Academy Futures report, which takes an insightful look into how the education landscape is changing and the impact academisation  is having on both teachers and parents. It explores the barriers to conversion, the challenges schools may face when they first convert, and how these issues can be addressed.

Howard Jackson, head of education and founder of HCSS Education, said: “Our survey reveals that a very large proportion of maintained schools (82%) are calling out for much greater independence to manage their own budgets, as they believe that this will help to raise the standards across the board.

“As it stands, it is only schools that have converted to an academy that are given complete control over the budget, as maintained schools’ finances are still overseen by the local authority. For one reason or another, the academy model is not right for every individual school, but the problem lies in the fact that maintained schools are not given the same freedom that academy schools have, unless they decide to convert.

“With this in mind, it seems that schools would be wise to try to work towards a solution with the local authorities to gain more influence over their budgets, as it seems this is in the best interests of both the staff and students.”

 

For more information, please visit http://www.hcsseducation.co.uk/blog/academy-futures-report

BESA calls on the government not to micromanage teachers’ use of classroom resources

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Schools behaviour tsar wants to ‘tear up gold stars’

 

The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), the UK’s leading trade association for education suppliers, and three of the UK’s largest school sticker producers called on the government to trust teachers to decide for themselves which resources to use to motivate pupils in the classroom.

 

The call comes after the Government’s ‘behaviour tsar’, Tom Bennett, this week (Sunday Times, 28 February, 2016) criticised the use of stickers as rewards in schools. According to the Sunday Times article, entitled ‘School behaviour chief wants to tear up gold stars’, he claims that sticker charts are, ‘inappropriate for old children and that even primary schools should be prepared to drop them’. His concern is reportedly that the approach can be time-consuming and that ‘rewarding children with stickers and gold stars could be counter-productive’.

 

Patrick Hayes, director of BESA, said, ‘Up until this point, the government deserves a Gold Star for giving teachers increased autonomy over how they teach in the classroom. So it’s incredibly disappointing to hear about this intervention by its “behaviour tsar”. The last thing that teachers need right now is micromanagement in the classroom to the extent that they are offered government-sanctioned advice over whether or not to use stickers to reward pupils. While this issue could perhaps seem trivial, we should all be concerned if this sticker situation is symptomatic of a broader trend of greater classroom interference. The DFE should stick to its current approach and trust teachers to teach.’

 

Angela Toft, director of Brainwaves Rewards Ltd, said, ‘Rewards including stickers motivate children to learn, and encourage them to feel proud of their achievements. They help give them increased confidence to continue striving for excellence. A positive reward allows the child to show off their achievement to friends and family and helps them feel proud of the good work they have produced. Stickers are very effective when used in such areas as unhealthy diets, anti-social behaviour and poor attendance. Education is their future and stickers are very much part of making that future bright!’

 

Steven Laws, director at the Sticker Factory added, ‘A good educational practitioner will select and use the resources they see fit in order to achieve the best results for their pupils. I can state this with the experience of 15 years in the classroom in secondary education. I respect Mr Bennett’s right to express his view relating to sticker charts, but this is only one tool in a vast array of motivation products that are used in schools. It is my concern that should his advice be misinterpreted or taken out of context that all motivation products will be targeted and seen as negative, which they are not. Stickers, charts and all other forms of motivation products are only tools and when used wisely by skilful educational professionals, will enhance motivation in the classroom. I leave you with the words of a Year 7 pupil from Suffolk, “I put all my stickers at the end of my bed when I get them so when I walk in I can see all of them and what I’ve achieved.”’

 

Jeremy Eves, managing director of Super Stickers, added: ‘Given the use of bonuses, performance-related pay and other extrinsic motivators in adult life, it’s somewhat hypocritical for adults to “rubbish” the value of stickers as rewards for kids. Sure, overuse of stickers, like anything, can lead to disillusionment. But they are a child currency. For children, stickers are simply a means of getting some recognition. They provide some lubrication in the grinding cog wheels of learning. Teachers have spent their own money on stickers and other incentives for many years, alongside money from the school’s budget. They only do that because they know that stickers and incentives are important in their work and relationships with their pupils.’

SCHOOLS GENERATE AVERAGE ANNUAL REVENUES OF £40,000 BY OPENING FACILITIES FOR COMMUNITY USE

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Some schools generating as much as £350,000 annually by using BookingsPlus helping them to cope with ever tightening budgets

 

Even if only 10% of the UK’s 24,317 schools adopted such online booking and marketing systems it could virtually wipe out the £103m schools deficit

 

Kajima Community, which specialises in marketing and managing the community use of schools and other academic institutions, recorded a 129% year on year rise to £11.7 million in revenue generated for the close to 150 schools using BookingsPlus, its unique web-based booking and marketing system, over the past year. If just 10% of the UK’s 24,317 schools were to use such systems it could virtually wipe out the £103[1] million schools deficit.

 

BookingsPlus was only launched in 2013 and provides a web-based, total administration system, including a room booking tool, white-labeled website, automated invoicing, online payments system and automated communications.

 

Users can choose to use the system as a stand-alone platform, or incorporate the marketing services offered by Kajima Community to help boost bookings.  All this helps schools open up their facilities for use by community groups such as dance and sports organisations, social clubs, holiday camp providers and charities. According to Sport England, 39% of sporting facilities in England are on school sites.

 

The technology offers schools a way of using their existing assets to generate fresh revenue and is being used by a full range of academic institutions including primary and secondary schools, academies and higher education institutions.

 

BookingsPlus is now generating average annual revenues of £40,000 for each of its client schools, with some schools generating as much as £350,000 annually. The system’s popularity is clear from the sharp rise in its use last year and the income generated.

 

Enquiries in the system are up 211%, invoices raised are up 178, value of invoices has increased by 170%, value of payments is up by 164%, bookings have risen by 160%, value of bookings in the system are up 129% and the number of schools using the system has risen 115% to 146.

 

Schools have used the revenue to invest in new equipment, carry out maintenance, offset existing budget deficits or invest in staffing. Leading alternative education provider Westside School, which caters for 30 students who have disengaged from mainstream education, now generates over double the average annual revenue by using the system, providing sufficient funding to maintain an optimum staff to student ratio.  This has enabled the level of pastoral care needed by its pupils, some of whom have, with extra support, gone on to take 5-6 GCSEs.

BookingsPlus is being used to manage the out of hours activity in Haverstock School, a leading secondary facility in Camden, which counts David and Ed Milliband amongst its alumni, and William Edwards School in Essex, which has maintained an Ofsted outstanding accreditation since 2010.

 

Steve Munday, Head Teacher of William Edwards School commented:

 

“The BookingsPlus system gives us a significant revenue boost, which we have been able to invest in ICT/ technology, sporting equipment and staffing to ensure that we can provide the best possible learning environments and opportunities for our students. Equally importantly it has helped us to become an integral part of the local community by giving local groups, charities and organisations the chance to use our exceptional facilities. Everybody wins!”

 

Chris Smith, Head of Kajima Community, commented:

 

“Over the past five years particularly, there has been mounting pressure on education budgets and for many schools and other establishments the ability to generate additional revenue streams is vital in enabling them to offer the best possible facilities and learning environments.

 

For years, the time and costs of administration and organisation for letting out space, whether it be sports halls, playing fields, classrooms, has meant the margins for generating additional revenues have been minimal. Kajima Community is changing that by making this process simple and profitable, whether schools are just looking for an effective booking system or for a more comprehensive marketing service.

 

We have seen uptake for our service more than double in the last year and our belief is that schools need to adapt to maximise the profitability of their premises, which we expect to see happening more and more in the coming years.”

 

 

[1] Total budget deficits for local authority maintained schools rose to £103 million in 2014/15Schools, education and children’s services spending document – Department for Education (DfE) 2015

DISCOVERY EDUCATION INVITES PARTNER SCHOOLS TO JOIN DIGITAL ‘DAY OF DISCOVERY’ IN BIRMINGHAM

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Digital professional learning event will be held at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum on 12th April

Teachers from Discovery Education’s UK partner schools are invited to attend a unique ‘Day of Discovery’ next month, which will showcase the very latest creative ideas and strategies for using digital resources in the classroom.

‘Day of Discovery Birmingham’ will take place at the award-winning Thinktank Science Museum on Tuesday 12th April, as part of a tour across the UK, US and Canada, which will visit more than 20 cities this year.

The free, one day professional learning event will provide teachers with new skills and ideas for using digital media right across the curriculum, helping them to engage pupils at every Key Stage and bring lessons to life. It will also offer the opportunity to meet and network with other like-minded educators, who are passionate about using technology in original ways to transform learning.

Teachers attending Day of Discovery will take part in a range of dynamic, interactive sessions, providing ideas and inspiration to breathe new life into everyday teaching. Key sessions will include:

  • Spotlight on Strategies: providing practical ideas for using digital media in every lesson
  • Cross Curricular Coding: revealing how coding can be used beyond STEM learning in ever more creative ways
  • Global STEM project: sharing how one UK school is working with pupils in North America as part of an innovative and collaborative STEM project.

Making the most of Birmingham’s impressive Thinktank venue, teachers will also be invited to enter the museum’s state of the art planetarium for a special digital space event, where they will take part in a virtual tour of the night sky and solar system. Delegates will also have the chance to try out exciting new astronomy-themed resources including Discovery Education Espresso’s newly launched cross curricular Space Module, which allows primary pupils to discover the wonders of our solar system and imagine the thrills of space exploration.

Day of Discovery Birmingham builds upon the success of last year’s London event, which welcomed teachers from across the UK aboard HMS Belfast. Over 60 teachers are expected to attend Day of Discovery Birmingham, joined by members of Discovery’s global community of education professionals.

One of the UK schools already signed up to take part is Coventry based Grangehurst Primary School. Assistant Headteacher Gemma Clarke said:

“ We are really looking forward to taking part in Birmingham’s first ever ‘Day of Discovery.’ Discovery Education Community events always provide fantastic new ideas and a positive energy that we take straight back into the classroom. We see the impact upon our pupils immediately.”

Helen Miller, Community Manager at Discovery Education said:

“ We’re excited to be bringing our flagship community-led event to Birmingham for the first time. Day of Discovery is a fantastic opportunity for schools who are enthusiastic about using digital resources to connect with one another, and share ideas and best practice. The Discovery Education Community in the UK is really growing, and we are delighted to be helping so many schools to transform their classrooms into dynamic digital learning environments.”

Day of Discovery Birmingham is open to teachers, senior leaders, ICT co-ordinators and support staff from all Discovery Education partner schools – both primary and secondary. Online registrations are now open at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/day-of-discovery-birmingham-2016-registration-21524772173?Aff=PR.

The Discovery Education Community, which reaches over 2 million teachers worldwide, is one of the fastest growing professional learning networks for tech-savvy teachers in the UK. The Community connects members in their own school, across the country and around the world through events, networking, idea-sharing and inspiration.

ENDS

Notes to Editors and Invitation to Media

We would be delighted to welcome you to the Day of Discovery event at Thinktank in Birmingham on Tuesday 12th April. The event runs from 09.15 to 17.00 with lunch served at 13.30.

Journalists will have the opportunity to speak with:

  • [Insert name of Discovery Education representative and times available]
  • Teachers and senior leaders from the Discovery Education Community

 

To confirm your attendance, or for further information, please contact:

Helen Miller, Discovery Education Community Manager: helen_miller@discovery.com / 07984454208

or Angie Shatford, Inkstream PR and Marketing: angie@inkstream.co.uk.

Half a Million Children a Step Closer to Rocket Science

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Royal Horticultural Society and UK Space Agency rocket seeds returned to Earth from International Space Station this week

Half a million children across the UK are a step closer to Rocket Science this week as rocket seeds that will be grown as part of Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and UK Space Agency educational initiative, Rocket Science, have returned from the International Space Station (ISS).

The seeds travelled with American NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, and Russian Space Agency cosmonauts Mikhail Korienko and Sergey Volkov on the Soyuz spacecraft on Wednesday 2 March, landing on the Kazakh Steppe in Northern Kazakhstan. They were then flown from Moscow to NASA, Houston via Stavanger in Norway for refuelling. The seeds will now make their way back to the UK, to be packaged and delivered to schools and educators across the country.

The 2kg of seeds were flown to the ISS in September 2015, where they have been orbiting the Earth at a speed of 17,000mph. In January this year British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake sent a special video message to schools from the ISS across the country inviting them to help with this unique space food mission.

In April, children and young people across the country will embark on a 35-day voyage of discovery to find out what growing plants in space can teach us about life on Earth and whether we can sustain human life in space in the future. Results will be collected and analysed by biostatisticians and published later in 2016, feeding into the real life work taking place in space science research. *Please see notes to editors for a regional breakdown of current registered schools and educational organisations.

Claire Custance, RHS Skills Development Manager, said: “This is a thrilling week for us as well as children and young people up and down the country as they come a step closer to receiving their very special Rocket Science seeds, and taking part in this unique project. We are very excited to be able to work with the UK Space Agency to engage so many young people in horticulture and science.”

Children and young people of all ages (from early years right up to university level) and all abilities are encouraged to take part in the initiative. To register for Rocket Science, organisations will be asked to either log into the RHS Campaign for School Gardening website or become a member of the Campaign. Membership is free and includes many benefits including a free welcome pack.

Find out more and sign up here: https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/Competitions/Rocket-Science-Application-Form (Please note that spaces are now limited so we cannot guarantee seeds to all that apply)

Follow the mission with the RHS and get involved online by tweeting @RHSSchools, using #RocketScience.

UK National Apprenticeship Week: Alcoa Foundation and Discovery Education host live virtual field trip for pupils worldwide

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UK National Apprenticeship Week: Alcoa Foundation and Discovery Education host live virtual field trip for pupils worldwide

 

Schools invited to take part in live broadcast from the Alcoa Kitts Green plant in Birmingham on 4th March for exclusive look at careers available in today’s advanced manufacturing industry

 

Secondary schools from across the UK and beyond are invited to join a landmark live broadcast next week, in celebration of National Apprenticeship Week.

 

The Manufacture Your Future Live Virtual Field Trip is being organised by Alcoa Foundation and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development to schools. Broadcast from Alcoa’s aluminium rolling mill in Kitts Green, Birmingham on 4th March, the event will be streamed live into classrooms around the world.

 

The broadcast – which will be freely available to all schools in preparation for National Apprenticeship Week in the UK (14th to 18th March) – will give students the chance to tour a sophisticated manufacturing plant without leaving their classrooms. Home to some of the most advanced manufacturing technology in the world, the Alcoa Kitts Green plant produces rolled aluminium products for aircraft, highly demanding industrial applications and high performance Formula 1 racing cars.

 

Pupils taking part will see first-hand how Alcoa’s cutting-edge products are developed, and will hear how Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) classroom subjects link to real-life manufacturing at the plant. They will also see how apprenticeship schemes can provide routes into some of the most exciting jobs in advanced manufacturing, meeting engineers who have risen through the ranks as apprentices and hearing directly from current Alcoa apprentices.

 

Alcoa engineers will be joined on the day by pupils from Grace Academy, a specialist business and enterprise school in Solihull who will undertake the field trip in person. These students had the unique experience of interviewing Nick Boles MP, Minister of State for Skills, at the Houses of Parliament which will form part of the live broadcast.

 

Tim Burgum, Science Teacher at Grace Academy said:

 

“We are thrilled to be taking part in this live broadcast with Discovery Education, and have the opportunity to see behind-the-scenes at the Alcoa plant. The virtual field trip will enable our pupils to experience how STEM subjects and skills relate to real life apprenticeships and future careers.”

 

The virtual field trip is being provided as part of Alcoa Foundation and Discovery Education’s award-winning ‘Manufacture Your Future’ programme and website, which provides teachers, pupils and families with resources and advice to build excitement around careers in advanced manufacturing.

 

Suzanne van de Raadt, Programme Development, Alcoa Foundation said:

 

“As the manufacturing industry continues to evolve and expand, we know the importance of offering resources such as the Manufacture Your Future Live Virtual Field Trip to spark students’ interest in this dynamic industry. It’s the first step in preparing tomorrow’s workforce with critical skills needed to fill the increasing demand in this field. We are proud to showcase talented members of Alcoa’s UK team as they share their stories and connect classroom STEM skills to their advanced manufacturing careers.”

 

Lewis Bronze MBE, Founder and Director of Content at Discovery Education said:

 

“Discovery Education is proud to continue our partnership with Alcoa Foundation. We want to encourage secondary schools right across the UK to take a virtual leap beyond the classroom on 4th March and join us for our live lesson.”

 

The Manufacture Your Future Virtual Field Trip builds on the success of Discovery Education’s 2015 Magna Carta and 2014 Remembrance Day live broadcasts to schools.  The 45 minute lesson will be available to watch live online at [http://www.manufactureyourfuture.com/UKVirtualFieldTrip and www.discoveryeducation.co.uk/vft] at 14:30 GMT on 4th March, and schools unable to take part in real-time will be able to access a recording on the Manufacture Your Future and Discovery Education website after the event. The site will also offer free, engaging teaching resources including lesson plans and cross-curricular digital content.

 

For more information about the virtual field trip visit: http://www.manufactureyourfuture.com/UKVirtualFieldTrip.