Primary Teacher UK

The Prostate Cancer Charity Competition

The Tour of Britain (the British version of Tour De France) and The Prostate Cancer Charity have created a competition for school children to design the official t-shirt for the Tour of Britain.  The winning pupil will receive a top of the range bike and £1000 worth of sports equipment for their school, and the t-shirts will be printed by Marks and Spencer and sold with all profits going to the Prostate Cancer Charity, so it's a lovely competition to get involved with.

Details can be found at http://wwwunitebycycling.org.uk/?p=14

Qatar Foundation launches the first ever WISE AWARDS to recognise outstanding innovation in education

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, initiator of the first ever World Innovation Summit for Education - WISE dedicated to monitoring the specific impact of 21^st century challenges on education, announces today the launch of one of the key highlights of the WISE summit to be held next November in Doha Qatar with the inaugural WISE Awards 2009 - Innovative Education Practice Awards.

Highlighting the importance of the Awards initiative of the WISE summit, Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Chairman of WISE and Vice President of Education, Qatar Foundation, explained: “For the first edition, the WISE Awards 2009 will honour innovative, education-related projects and initiatives - tools, practices or processes - that have fostered distinctive cross-educational collaboration.” 

The WISE Awards are focussed on rewarding a total of six concrete achievements from around the world across three categories aligned with the Forum’s main themes of Pluralism, Sustainability and Innovation.”

§  Pluralism: “Educational activities that explicitly generate greater respect and understanding between communities, enhance diversity, or increase access and equality to education.”

§  Sustainability: “Initiatives that offer new approaches to educational sustainability (through appropriate funding mechanisms, good governance, suitable accreditation and quality control structure) thereby contributing to the creation of sustainable global societies.”

§  Innovation: “Educational activities that use information and communication technologies and other innovative means to generate new and exciting opportunities for access and delivery of learning content that better enabled people to face the diversity of today’s challenges.”

From May 1^st to July 15^th, 2009, online submissions from both individuals and teams are invited, and must be endorsed by a senior officer of a relevant organisation. All applications - to be submitted in English - are welcome from all sectors of education and all types of organisations located anywhere in the world. WISE Awards submissions are now open online at www.wise-qatar.org/en/awards.

45 short-listed applications (15 in each category) will be reviewed by an International Jury, consisting of 10 of the world’s leading experts in pluralism, sustainability and innovation in education, drawn from public institutions, civil society, the private sector, international organisations, universities and social entrepreneurs.

An official awards ceremony to be held on November 17 during the WISE Summit will officially announce the six WISE Awards. Each recipient will receive a grant of $20,000 and the WISE Award winning projects will be showcased during the World Innovation Summit for Education organized by Qatar Foundation to be held in Doha, Qatar from November 16^th  to 18^th 2009.

Application forms and further details on the Innovative Education Practice Awards are now available from http://www.wise-qatar.org/en/awards. Deadline for applications is July 15^th 2009.

National Filmmaking Competition

The Daily Mirror and The Life Channel are looking for young people to enter their national filmmaking competition!

Young people across the UK, aged 11-21, are being given the opportunity to have their say in the fight against knife crime through an open access film competition with a difference: The Life Channel Young Filmmakers’ Competition 2009.

The competition is run in association with the Daily Mirror’s national Stop Knives Save Lives campaign, which aims to ‘end knife crime and make the streets of our towns and cities safe once again’ through a five point blueprint.

The best 12 entrants will be judged by a high profile panel including king of the I’m a Celebrity jungle Joe Swash, Hollywood star Ray Winstone, former So Solid Crew member and actor Ashley Walters, Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland and Phil Austin, Chief Executive of The Life Channel.

Films will be judged at regional level, with awards designed to assist top entrants in their future filmmaking activities. The top 12 will win a Flip Ultra digital camcorder; the winner from the 11-13 age group will win film merchandise; the 14-17 winner will get a tour of Pinewood Studios; the 18-21 winner will get to work in the production team on the set of the UK’s first 3D movie, Vertigo Films’ Street Dance, for one week in September and a group of their friends will be invited to spend a day on set.

The application page can be found here: http://film.stopknivessavelives.co.uk/about/

SunSmart Primary School competition

Cancer Research UK have recently launched their SunSmart Primary School competition, a creative competition aiming to highlight the importance of enjoying the sun safely. The competition is open to primary school pupils in England and Scotland giving children the chance to win one of twelve shade canopies, worth over £3,000 each, for their schools, and has been funded by both the English and Scottish Health Departments.

The competition ties in with the 'encouraging good health' principles of the Healthy Schools programme and they have also tried to support teachers by creating free resources to help them run the competition and educate their pupils about sun safety in class.  These are all available on their website: http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/sunsmart/schools/competition/

Tomorrow’s Teacher - a new competition for you and your class

Teachers TV in association with ESRC (the Economic and Social Research Council) is launching an exciting, cross curriculum project for you and your class called Tomorrow’s Teacher. The aim is to inspire you and your students to imagine the future: to consider how today's rapid pace of change will impact upon the educational needs of the next generation, and to think about how best to deliver that education. How will tomorrow’s teacher differ from today? This is your chance to have your say and tell us how you think the role of teachers in the future will change.

Tomorrow's Teacher provides you with an engaging set of resources; inspirational programmes, lesson plans, worksheets, and related video content from Teachers TV. In addition, there are two competitions for you to enter, offering the chance to win some fantastic prizes.

Think-piece competition
Teachers and all those working in education, including trainee teachers, are invited to research and submit a short (1500 word) think-piece/essay on teaching and the role of the teacher in the future. The winner will receive a £250 Amazon voucher and four runners up will receive £100 worth of Amazon vouchers each. All winners will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges (The winning entries will also be published online at www.teachers.tv

Classroom competition
To enter you need to run a lesson or activity (or a series of lessons) linked to the theme of Tomorrow’s Teacher and send us three examples of the best of your student’s work on the subject.  You could win up £250 of Amazon vouchers for your school, and have the opportunity to be filmed for a special Teachers TV programme.   To support you Teachers TV has developed a fantastic set of resources for Key Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4, to help you deliver an engaging cross-curricular lesson on the future of teaching, with links to the National Curriculum in Science and other subjects too.   It’s a great idea for National Science and Engineering week on 6-15 March 09! 

For full details of these competitions and how to get involved, please visit www.teachers.tv/tomorrow

Pound a Poem

Schools across the country are taking part in ‘Pound a Poem’, a poetry competition for children aged 5 to 11, in aid of the charity Rays of Sunshine.

At a time of growing concern about healthy eating habits among children, the scheme aims to educate children about healthy food whilst also teaching them about the value of giving back to their community. The aim is for children to write a poem about their favourite fruit and vegetables and submit it along with £1 of their pocket money which will benefit Rays of Sunshine, a leading charity turning wishes into happy memories for children with serious or life-limiting illnesses in the UK.

Final poems are due to be judged by a famous panel, including Jacqueline Wilson, Annabel Karmel, Dom Wood, James Campbell, Dan Freedman and Tracy Ann Oberman and the winning entries will be published in the Pound a Poem book alongside poetry from celebrities also taking part in the competition. The overall winner will go on a week’s holiday for four to Barbados, with their school receiving £1000 to spend on equipment thanks to third party sponsors.

Tim Shaw, CEO Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity commented:  "The ‘Pound a Poem’ scheme not only encourages children to be creative and turn everyday fruits and vegetables into poetry but also encourages healthy eating habits whilst teaching them the importance of doing good in their communities in a fun way.    It is great to see that so many schools are taking part in this which will raise awareness of these issues amongst today’s children. "

Gullivers World Christmas Card Competition

Gulliver's theme parks is launching a nationwide search to find the UK's most artistic youngster to design its 2008 Christmas card. The winning designer will be awarded with a computer and printer for their school.

The competition is open to individuals and schools across the country. Individuals can enter by downloading the template and sending it back to us, or teachers can download copies of the template to distribute to their pupils, then return to us.

To download the template, you can visit www.gulliversfun.co.uk/pdf/xmascard2008.pdf

Entries must be sent to Gulliver's World, Old Hall, Warrington, WA5 9YZ by 28 November, when they will be judged.  For more information about what's on for Christmas at Gulliver's, visit www.gulliversfun.co.uk

Storytelling Key To Child Development

Celebrity mum Gail Porter is supporting calls for a 21st Century makeover of the art of storytelling as a new report shows it is an essential part of child development.  The study by kids’ yogurt brand Munch Bunch and child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson, reveals that 75% of the nation’s mums and dads believe they must tell stories to children to help their development, with 65% saying it helps fuel youngsters creative imagination and 51% see it as a way to calm them.

However, despite a fifth of today’s parents claiming that they are creative storytellers because they were read to when they were younger, figures show that more than half struggle to stay awake when reading to their own children at bedtime.  The affects of a demanding working day are clearly impacting on the amount of time parents are setting aside to story time, so Munch Bunch is going back to its roots , by encouraging parents to get creative and think beyond bedtime stories to ensure kids don’t miss out.

Storytelling is an important part of growing up, according to child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson:

“There’s something special about the creative moment of storytelling. It’s an integral part of a child’s development on so many levels; it involves creativity, an exchange of information, an emotional connection and has a calming influence on children.”

Together with Gail Porter, Munch Bunch - a brand inspired by the iconic Munch Bunch stories and TV series of the 70s and 80s – is launching a nationwide search for budding authors to help reinvent storytelling.

Going back to its storytelling roots the initiative will see six winning stories for children published online as audio podcasts for families to enjoy any time of day. The podcasts will be read by celebrity mum Gail Porter, as the voice of Munch Bunch’s newest character, Munch the Cow, and will then be made available for parents across the country to download and listen to with their children.  The campaign aims to create that unique moment, where parents can take time to enjoy storytelling with their children so the stories will also be available to print out from the Munch Bunch website.  Gail Porter said:

“The Munch Bunch story search is a fantastic way to get more mums and dads involved in telling stories.  As a parent myself, I know there is nothing more pleasing than capturing the imagination of little ones through something you have created yourself.  You don’t need to be a literary scholar, all that’s required is a bit of imagination and the desire to inspire young minds!”

To enter the competition and find out more about the new Munch Bunch range, please log on to: http://www.munchbunch.co.uk/parents/win/

Storytelling Key To Child Development

Celebrity mum Gail Porter is supporting calls for a 21st Century makeover of the art of storytelling as a new report shows it is an essential part of child development.  The study by kids’ yogurt brand Munch Bunch and child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson, reveals that 75% of the nation’s mums and dads believe they must tell stories to children to help their development, with 65% saying it helps fuel youngsters creative imagination and 51% see it as a way to calm them.

However, despite a fifth of today’s parents claiming that they are creative storytellers because they were read to when they were younger, figures show that more than half struggle to stay awake when reading to their own children at bedtime.  The affects of a demanding working day are clearly impacting on the amount of time parents are setting aside to story time, so Munch Bunch is going back to its roots , by encouraging parents to get creative and think beyond bedtime stories to ensure kids don’t miss out.

Storytelling is an important part of growing up, according to child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson:

“There’s something special about the creative moment of storytelling. It’s an integral part of a child’s development on so many levels; it involves creativity, an exchange of information, an emotional connection and has a calming influence on children.”

Together with Gail Porter, Munch Bunch - a brand inspired by the iconic Munch Bunch stories and TV series of the 70s and 80s – is launching a nationwide search for budding authors to help reinvent storytelling.

Going back to its storytelling roots the initiative will see six winning stories for children published online as audio podcasts for families to enjoy any time of day. The podcasts will be read by celebrity mum Gail Porter, as the voice of Munch Bunch’s newest character, Munch the Cow, and will then be made available for parents across the country to download and listen to with their children.  The campaign aims to create that unique moment, where parents can take time to enjoy storytelling with their children so the stories will also be available to print out from the Munch Bunch website.  Gail Porter said:

“The Munch Bunch story search is a fantastic way to get more mums and dads involved in telling stories.  As a parent myself, I know there is nothing more pleasing than capturing the imagination of little ones through something you have created yourself.  You don’t need to be a literary scholar, all that’s required is a bit of imagination and the desire to inspire young minds!”

To enter the competition and find out more about the new Munch Bunch range, please log on to: http://www.munchbunch.co.uk/parents/win/

Mosaic Competition

The British Association for Modern Mosaic (BAMM) is running a mosaic competition which is open to primary school aged children.
   
The competition is called MEGA MOSAIC MAKERS 2008 and it is nationwide. They are aiming to raise the profile of mosaic art in schools, with the principle of getting children interested at a young age. It is  open to groups/organisations/workshops who work with children under the age of eleven. Both teachers and students are awarded prizes, which have been provided by the sponsor, Topps Tiles. There is a group and an individual category. 

This year's entry is open from now until 7th Nov 2008, and work can have been completed anytime in the last three years.

Link: http://www.bamm.org.uk/portal/content.asp?ContentId=1103