Lifetime LossI lost my mother last week to Alzheimer's disease. We were wonderful friends and she was a delightful parent and support to me throughout the years. I will miss her very much. During the services, I was brought back to many childhood memories and experiences that I alone shared with her. In Judith V…
2007 - That Was The Year That WasIf you're a huge music fan like I am, you'll know that this is the time of year when the shops are full of greatest hits collections, which have been released in the hope that they'll find their way into plenty of stockings for Christmas. In keeping in this spirit, today's post brings together some …
Social MobilityThe Sutton Trust educational charity has published a study which examines how social mobility has altered in the UK in recent decades. The research was carried out by the LSE, and has suggested that social mobility has been largely static in Britain since 1970. This means that clever children from p…
Children's Plan / Commercialisation of ChildhoodIf you've seen the news today you can't have escaped noticing that today is the day that the Government unveils its Children's Plan which encompasses it's vision for children's services over the next decade. The plan is very wide-reaching, covering such diverse topics as modernising playgrounds, mak…
Equality & Human Rights CommissionThose of you who have been asking me for information about discrimination in recent days should really take a look at the website of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This body came into being on 1st October, and replaces the three organisations - the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equa…
Free E-BooksHopefully many of you have now made use of the growing collection of ebooks which are available through E-Book Library (EBL) via Athens. However, several students have asked about Google Books in recent months, so this is the topic of today's post.Google Books is a project which aims to digitise and…
Educational Evidence PortalProbably the main function of this blog is to direct students and staff towards research reports and other useful information on the Web which they could otherwise have missed. Obviously I do my best to point users to as many useful documents as possible as they become available, but it's impossible…
More from OnTheWebHot on the heels of the last issue of OnTheWeb comes the latest issue, which covers children and education-related research and reports which were published during November. As usual, there's a wide selection of documents to pick and choose from; here's a selection of highlights from the latest batc…
Could We Have Made a Difference?We went to California this past weekend to surprise my daughter for her 30th birthday. We also spent some time in San Francisco shopping and exploring. I am always interested in the number of homeless and panhandlers there are in that city. Probably because they won't freeze to death like they would…
Child Poverty / International EducationThe latest big report relating to child poverty is the 2007 version of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's annual publication, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion. The report has made the headlines for its allegation that the government's approach to eradicating child poverty is stalling. A summary…
How Young Is Too Young?A couple of newspapers have today picked up on a story about a letter which appears in today's Times Educational Supplement (TES). The letter comes from the Open Eye campaign with which a number of influential educational figures are involved, and expresses severe reservations about the new under-fi…
Teachers / LiteracyIt's been mentioned briefly on this blog before, but I've been asked to draw people's attention again to the ongoing Becoming A Teacher project. Full details are available on the website, but basically this ongoing research programme is being sponsored jointly by the DCSF, the GTCE and the TDA, and …
Latest from OnTheWebThe latest issue of OnTheWeb contains its usual mixture of reports on all sorts of education and childcare related topics. Among the highlights are a report from Becta on whiteboards in primary schools and some Ofsted research on healthy eating in schools, or if you just forget about sleeping altoge…
Internet DetectiveFancy brushing up on your internet skills? Hopefully some of you are finding the occasional tips that I post on here useful when using the internet (click on 'Internet Tips' on the right of this screen to bring up a list of them), but if you've got the time to take a more holistic approach to improv…
A Visit from Two PrincessesWe had Thanksgiving at our house this year. Three of my grandchildren came and with my grandson in the highchair it was necessary to create a 'kids table' for my two granddaughters. I remember the dreaded 'kids table' from my own youth. We took a different approach this time. We created a princess t…
Children's RightsA number of reports looking at the views of children living away from home or receiving social care services have been published duting the last 12 months by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). Last week the conclusions from each of these were collected together to form the basis of a …
Starting To LearnToday and tomorrow sees a gathering of the great and good of the early years world at The Early Years Foundation Stage: Views From Near And Far conference. It all sounds very sedate, but according to a story in today's Guardian one of the speakers is likely to cause a little controversy by suggestin…
Google ScholarOne of the most interesting things about a job like mine is seeing how the way that students access information changes over time. When I started working at the College we had about 8 resources available through Athens; now there are 30. It was also true that most of those services focussed exclusiv…
If You're Happy & You Know It...With all the reports in recent months on bullying, poverty, exam stress, obesity and more besides, you'd be forgiven for thinking that British children's lives are at an all-time low. Not so, according to a newly published government review, which claims that most children in the UK feel happy and c…
Speaking of infants and toddlers...I just returned from the annual NAEYC convention. This year it was held in Chicago and it was a big event. I had the opportunity of spending time in the Discount School Supply booth with the new product I wrote, POCET-Infants & Toddlers. It was engaging and thought-provoking for me to talk to so man…
Play / PovertyThere's two new reports out today which are worth mentioning. They concern play and poverty, two of the topics which students most frequently ask for information about, so hopefully many of you will find the material in today's post useful.First up is a report highlighting the lack of play spaces av…
Children's TelevisionLast month, Ofcom published An independent Report on The Future of Children’s Television Programming; this is a piece of research which they commissioned following concerns that the rise of other forms of media (internet, mobile phones etc) was having a damaging effect on the amount of funding avail…
ADHD / MedicationTonight's episode of Panorama on BBC1 will feature new research which appears to demonstrate that drugs such as Ritalin, which are used as medication for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD, are not effective in the long-term. The study, which was carried out in the US, also highlighted possi…
Open Access JournalsAs if we didn't have enough academic journals available through Athens, there is also a large (and growing) number of 'open access' journals available on the Web. Basically, an open access journal is one which - as the name suggests - is freely available to anyone. As the internet has made it much e…
Special Educational Needs / School SportThis week the excellent Teachers TV is featuring a range of programmes which deal with various aspects of Special Educational Needs. As usual, all of the programmes broadcast on the channel can also be viewed in full via their website - a separate section of the site containing SEN programmes has be…
Child SafetyLast week saw the launch of No Fear, a new publication which investigates whether a preoccupation with keeping children safe is having the effect of damaging their freedoms and ultimately their relationships with adults. The report has been published by the Carnousite Gulbekian Foundation, which is …
Future FamilyThe BBC's Breakfast Programme is running a series of features this week on modern family life in Britain. Each of the reports will be available to view on their website after they are broadcast, but the series already seems to have made a bit of a stir with the publication of a poll which was commis…
Whew!I just finished creating some experiences and activities to populate a new teacher website resource. We already have resources for Head Start, Preschool and Environmental activities, but next week we are adding information for the infant and toddler caregivers. You might want to checkout this resour…
Latest from the Primary ReviewThe latest reports from the Primary Review (look at this previous post for information about the project) have again succeeded in making headlines. The claims contained in the new research form a mixed picture of primary education in the UK; pupils are praised for their positive attitudes towards le…
Resource BanksWhen you're out on placement, are you ever stuck for ideas on what to do with the children in your classroom? Or perhaps you just want to try something a little different to sessions that you've done before? If so, try taking a look at the TES Resource Bank. This is a collection of teaching resource…
Creativity in SchoolsAn new report from the Parliamentary Education and Skills Commitee has flagged the importance of creativity as part of a balanced curriculum. The full report is entitled Creative Partnerships and the Curriculum and can be read in full online; among the other documents it makes repeated reference to …
BereavementSeveral students have recently asked what information is available on child bereavement, which seems as good an excuse as any to make that topic the subject of today's post. A number of relevant books are available in the library as well as some useful Athens materials, but there are also a handful …
The Invisible WebAs it's a slow news day, here's the latest instalment of an occasional series of search tips / tricks which appear on this blog. Today's post concerns the Invisible Web (sometimes called the Deep Web), what it is, and why it matters.How big is the World Wide Web? No-one really knows, but what is kno…
When's Your Birthday?A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies has confirmed what many have suspected for a long time; the date of a child's birthday can have a significant effect on their likelihood of doing well at school. This means that children born in August are particularly at risk from the 'birth draw'.You c…
Community Family Support ResourcesThe number of students from the FdA Community Family Support who have visited the library office today suggests that you're all rather keen! I have spoken to some of you and suggested which of the Athens services should be most useful to you in carrying out research for your course, but it also stru…
Internet SafetyA new campaign has been launched by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), with the aim of helping young children to stay safe while they are online. Parents and carers of children can access a Strategic Overview with detailed information on internet safety, while children are …
Child ObesityOne of the most common enquiries from students is requests for information on child obesity, so no doubt many readers will be interested in today's news story that the Department of Health is considering sending warning letters to parents of children who are found to be overweight.Other sources of i…
Families & NeighbourhoodsYesterday saw the publication of a survey based on interviews with 2,100 parents across England. The survey, entitled Families and Neighbourhoods, was carried out by the Family & Parenting Institute, and draws a correlation between household income and satisfaction with the area in which people live…
Video GamesThis post is being created primarily in response to the person who left a comment on Monday's post regarding children and video games, but hopefully other readers will find it useful too. You may have read that Tanya Byron has recently been asked to lead an inquiry into the effects of video games on…
Alternative EducationA bizarre story in the Guardian today tells of a 'secret school' in Germany which had apparently escaped the notice of the local authorities for 30 years. The primary school had been set up by parents who were disgruntled by what they perceived as the "rigid" set-ups promoted by the state system.Thi…
Latest from OnTheWebOnce again the people behind the OnTheWeb service (click here for details) have done an excellent job of bringing together details of new reports and research in the areas of education and childcare. The highlights in the latest issue include the Harnessing Technology Review 2007, which is Becta's l…
Appropriate Practice-cont.I should have done a better job last posting of explaining about my 'adopted' grandchildren. Those two cuties are not my grandchildren, but my friends. They are part of my life so they call me their 'adopted grandpa.'The point of my posting was my frustration at teachers who fall into the trap of …
Primary ReviewPrimary Review is an independent project based at the University of Cambridge which is taking a detailed look at primary education in the UK. The project is set to run for two years (it has already been running for a year), and will produce a staggering 32 reports over the next 12 months.The first o…
Nursery PlacesThe Daycare Trust and National Centre for Social Research have just collaborated on Childcare Nation, a report which aims to act as a comprehensive study of the childcare in this country. Although the media have mainly highlighted its claim that a quarter of families pay for childcare places that sh…
Space LearningIf you're a devotee of the cult 1960s programme The Prisoner, then you may remember one episode where the characters were exposed to a new education technique which would allow them to learn an entire degree course in just a few seconds. It sounds far-fetched, but now a school in North Tyneside is p…
We Know Too MuchSometimes I think that well-trained early childhood educators know too much. It may certainly be the case when we look at our own children and grandchildren. I have three grandchildren (and two adopted grandchildren) in school this year. I have had the opportunity to help or visit several of the cla…
Rounding Up The ReportsFriday feels like a good day to round up some of the reports which have recently been published but not yet featured on the blog, so hopefully there'll be something for everyone in today's post. The educationalists among you have two documents to choose from - Effective Teaching and Learning for Pup…
It's a Family Affair...The changing face of the family in the UK is highlighted today with the publication of Focus on Families. This publication takes an incredibly detailed look at all aspects of family life, revealing findings such as women with qualifications tend to marry later, or that the number of families contain…
School Dinners / Children's TelevisionJust like buses, it seems that news stories relating to children seem to come in twos and threes... The first headline of interest today relates to the latest report on school dinners (will they never end?) which has found that there has been a decline in the take-up of school meals since they were …
Children & DoctorsAnyone writing about children's health issues may be interested in taking a look at a new publication from the General Medical Council. 0-18 Years: Guidance For All Doctors will come into effect from 15 October, and provides advice for doctors on how to deal with issues that can arise when dealing w…
Great BooksTeacher's TV and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) are collaborating on a project to find out which books have most inspired the people who work in education. The poll will remain open until the 26th October, after which Teacher's TV will broadcast a programme based on the votes received. If you'…
School CouncilsA new piece of research looking at school councils, and the role that they can play in allowing pupils to become involved in decision making has just been published. The report, entitled Real Decision Making? School Councils in Action was commissioned by the DCSF and looks at the work of school coun…
Guidance / Briefing Papers for SchoolsIf you work in a school or early years setting, you'll know that bodies like the DCSF regularly issue briefing papers for staff on a wide range of topics - for example, guidance for SENCOs, or information on literacy teaching, SENDA, the new Foundation Stage framework and much much more. If your wor…
Healthy EatingIt's induction week at the College, which may make it difficult to add regular updates this week, as everyone's so busy. So today's entry is just a short post to cover the story of a pilot study on Tyneside, which is going to investigate the effects of healthy school meals on children's behaviour an…
Finding the LeaksWe have been creating two ponds and a stream in our back yard. It has taken a long time because it has been so hot this summer. Once we had everything in place, the water level kept going down, signaling a leak (or two) somewhere. We have redone the stream/pond numerous times. Even though the de…
New Cyberbullying CampaignThe DCSF has launched a new campaign to tackle the problem of cyberbullying. The homepage for the campaign can be viewed here, while a full set of guidance entitled Safe To Learn has been issued for use by teachers and other school staff. Advice for these members of staff is also available from the …
RSS FeedsIf you use this site regularly, you should notice that the news headlines at the right of the page are changed daily. While I’d like to claim that this is the result of my hard work, in actual fact this information is updated automatically through the use of an RSS feed.RSS Feeds are actually quite …
Education At A GlanceContinuing the international theme from last week's post, the OECD has just published the latest annual edition of Education At A Glance, which compares performance at all levels of education between countries around the world.Among the findings that may interest our students is the statistic that s…
Language & CommunicationLast week the DCSF announced that it was launching a review into the support services that are currently available for children with speech, language and communication difficulties. The review is scheduled to be published next summer, and will tackle a range of issues that affect the 89,000 school-a…
International ResourcesThere's a global flavour to today's post, as we take a look around some of the internet resources which contain information on childcare and education issues around the world.Most people know about UNICEF and the work that they do, but if you need 'academic' material then it's worth visiting the web…
HLTA StaffStudents on our HLTA courses may be interested in a new report from the NFER. Research into the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff who have Achieved HLTA Status is possibly the first published piece of research to take an in-depth look at the effectiveness of Higher Level Teaching Assistants sin…
Child Poverty & EducationFollowing the trend of several recent posts, another new report dealing with the issues surrounding poverty has just been released. Chicken and Egg: Child Poverty and Educational Inequalities is a new publication from the Child Poverty Action Group which explores how children from poor backgrounds c…
New Research from OnTheWebThe latest issue of OnTheWeb (see this previous post for details of the service) is up to its usual high standard, with links to dozens of new pieces of research from the UK and abroad. Highlights from this month's edition include reports such as Children’s Views and Experiences of Parenting, Unders…
ConferencesAs part of your professional development, it's necessary to stay on top of your subject by extensive reading of items such as journal articles, reports or relevant newspaper articles (or even resources such as this blog!). However, if possible it is also worth attending academic conferences; these a…
NAEYC VisitI had the opportunity to briefly visit the NAEYC headquarters in Washington DC this past week. I was part of a discussion about what are the most crucial issues in early childhood. It was refreshing and enlightening to talk with experts who have donated so many hours to the cause of children. I thin…
Chavs and Chav-notsHot on the heels of yesterday's post, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation seems to be attempting some sort of record by today publishing eight (!) individual reports on different aspects of child poverty. Obviously that's a lot of reading for even the most passionate followers of this subject, so the JRF…
Child PovertyBarnardo's has just published a new report on child poverty. It Doesn't Happen Here: The Reality of Child Poverty in the UK is a piece of research which is based on interviews with children from 40 poor families. At the same time, Barnardo's had commissioned a YouGov poll of 2000 adults, which gauge…
Ready To Read: New Phonics ResearchNew research from the Civitas thinktank suggests that primary school pupils who receive intensive "synthetic phonics" lessons can see significant progress in their reading abilities in a short space of time. The report, entitled Ready to Read, comes in the week that synphetic phonics has been adopte…
Nutrition & School MealsThis week there have been some confusing stories in the news on how well children are eating. Most of the headlines have focused on new figures which show that since the drive to introduce healthier school food began, the number of pupils actually eating school meals has fallen by over 400,000. Yet …