Available via Discovery Education’s award-winning DoodleLearning app and daily learning platform Espresso, , the tools and resources include special features to engage and support pupils with dyslexia – while raising awareness of neurodiversity and how it affects young people.

Dyslexia Awareness Week is an annual event organised by the British Dyslexia Association. The 2024 theme, ‘What’s Your Story?’, invites people to share their experiences of dyslexia – to raise awareness and challenge misconceptions.

Discovery Education has provided primary schools with a range of high-quality resources within Espresso, including:

• New Dyslexia Awareness Week Lessons: exploring how dyslexia affects young people
• Classroom Activities: helping children see dyslexia differently
• Discussion Prompts: deepening pupils’ understanding of dyslexia

Additional high-quality digital resources from Discovery Education that support learners with dyslexia include:

• DoodleLearning by Discovery Education, with a range of features to remove barriers to learning. The award-winning apps use visual explanations to explore topics in Maths and English. They also have a built-in audio dictation tool to enable pupils to listen to questions and concept explanations and learn at their own pace. Supporting visual, auditory and kinaesthetic approaches to learning, DoodleLearning gives each child a personalised programme of work, perfectly pitched to their individual needs.
• Espresso by Discovery Education, with multiple accessibility features, including an immersive reader tool. Bite-sized video content helps pupils access learning in different ways, while audio dictation lifts learning off the page for learners with dyslexia.

Lizzy Lambley, Discovery Education’s UK Head of Production said: “Discovery Education is proud to provide these tools and resources to support primary schools during Dyslexia Awareness Week and beyond. With this high-quality content, teachers are empowered to engage all pupils, opening doorways to learning for every child.”

This initiative provides invaluable assistance to schools across the country, donating essential products to help create and maintain vibrant learning environments.

In a time when school budgets are increasingly strained due to rising staffing and utility costs, many schools are relying heavily on donations from companies like Wickes and fundraising efforts by Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) to provide necessary extras for playgrounds and outdoor spaces.

According to the National Curriculum, “Learning outside the classroom can provide opportunities to develop and practice skills involving communication, collaboration, numeracy, leadership, creativity, and innovation” (Source: National Curriculum, January 2023). This underscores the importance of creating engaging and functional outdoor and additional learning spaces in schools.

Among the most popular requests from schools are sheds repurposed as quiet reading spaces and classroom kitchens. These enhancements have proven to be transformative. Zoe Watson, a reception teacher at Deanshanger Primary School, expressed her gratitude, saying: “This new space is transformational and will enhance learning in many ways. Following a recipe helps children read for a purpose and follow instructions; cooking is very sensory and develops awareness as they prepare and taste new foods; mixing, stirring, and chopping improves motor development; weighing and measuring support mathematical development, and most excitingly, it provides a great sense of accomplishment.”

The Wickes Community Programme is open to all charities and community organisations seeking to transform or maintain their spaces. By providing free Wickes products, the programme aims to support the creation of enriching environments that foster learning and community engagement.

Climate Change: It’s In Our Hands is a classroom-based game, aimed at children aged from ten years old and designed to make the often-complex subject of climate change accessible and engaging in a meaningful way.

It has already been given the seal of approval by pupils at New York Primary School, in North Tyneside, who worked with environmental scientists, graphic designers and outreach practitioners to design the game.

Climate Change: It’s In Our Hands is now available for other schools to download and use for free, with New York Primary School STEM Leader, Julia Bourne, saying the children involved were proud and excited to know the game they helped create would be played by children all over the country.

She added: “By being involved in the development of the board game, the children have had the opportunity to have some fantastic discussions about climate change and how they are able to work together to make a positive impact on their world.

“The game can support these vital conversations and allow children to discuss this hugely important topic in a way that is interesting to them.

“It also shows them that trying to make changes alone isn’t effective but, by working together, you can make a difference. This is such a key message for our young people to hear.”

Speaking about the collaboration with Northumbria University, Julia added: “These types of projects are so important as they bring new and innovative ideas into the primary classroom. The expertise and funding from the university means that children can be involved in something that will have impact far beyond their own school.”

Climate Change: It’s in Our Hands consists of four rounds, during which groups of children play collaboratively to take actions that will have an impact on our climate. As they play, their choices affect the outcome of the game, and they need to work together to put into action strategies that will limit global temperature rises.

The idea for the game came from environmental scientists and the NUSTEM outreach group at Northumbria University, with funding from the Natural Environment Research Council enabling the ideas to come to life. The NUSTEM group work with schools across the region to provide activities and opportunities for children to engage with the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Environmental scientist Dr Emma Hocking, of Northumbria’s Department of Georgraphy and Environmental Sciences; and Joe Shimwell and Annie Padwick from NUSTEM have all been involved in the Climate Change: It’s in Our Hands project and hope the final game will be used by schools across the UK, and even further afield, to teach children about climate change.

Speaking about the project, Emma said: “Climate change can often seem like a bit of a vague and scary topic for children, so we wanted to create something which would make it more relevant to young people and enable them to think positively about actions they can take to make a difference.

“Thanks to the feedback from the children we were able to design and then refine the game, ensuring it really appeals to the target age group.

“The game is available online and can be downloaded and printed by schools for free, and we really hope it will be a useful resource for schools when teaching children about environmental issues.”

The game was designed with the help of non-profit design company Roots and Wings – who specialise in projects with social or environmental objectives.
Director of Roots and Wings Alan Ramsay added: “Overhearing the discussion the children were having was fascinating and ultimately they came to the conclusion that the only way to improve the current situation is by everybody working together.”

Climate Change: It’s in Our Hands can be downloaded for free at nustem.uk/in-our-hands/

Since the publication of the book in 2019, and the 2022 animated film adaptation, Charlie has received messages, pictures, hand-made books and drawing from teachers and children who have engaged with the story in classrooms and online platforms. In response, a collection of resources has been produced to assist teachers with their lesson plans, assemblies, and performances providing an opportunity for children to explore the messages of the book.

Together with writer and musician Charlotte Freud, Charlie has produced a musical for schools adapted from the Oscar winning animated short film currently available on BBC iPlayer. Written to be performed in schools by children from Years 1-6. A playscript, sheet music, sing-along learning videos, performance tracks and backdrop artworks will all be available for free on the BBC Teach platform from 3 November 2023. The musical play has six easy-to-learn new songs for children to perform both as soloists and ensembles – allowing groups of all sizes and ages to take part. The performance-based resource pack engages children in the book’s messages through interactive sessions.

Charlie Mackesy says “I hope perhaps it opens up the world a bit more to children, giving them a deeper understanding of the messages of the book. I hope learning the lines as simple mantras will allow them to repeat them all their lives, and stay in their hearts. I hope it gives teachers and children alike, permission to explore – feel free to do what they like – perform every word faithfully; or change some lines as they see best; leave out whole scenes or just rehearse and perform one of them; workshop it, make it different or even find themselves creating a while new play all of their own. I hope they enjoy it.”

In partnership with the National Literacy Trust and Penguin Random House UK, a resource pack including Assembly Plans and Activity Packs for KS1 and KS2 has been made available in celebration of World Kindness Day (13th November). These resources link directly to the National Curriculum, in particular the PSHE Association’s programme of study, and explore ways we can show kindness to one another and invite children to think about their own wellbeing.

Partner and publisher of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Penguin Random House UK, will also donate books to over 64 primary schools for a World Kindness Day “kindness drive”. A gesture followed by Puffin’s World of Stories team, who will be gifting over 450 copies of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: The Animated Story (published to accompany the animated short film) to teachers and librarians attending their regional networking sessions during November.

Created by media literacy charity, The Student View, and funded by the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF), and developed in partnership with award-winning investigative journalism group Bellingcat, education experts the PSHE Association, and the cross-party think tank Demos, the free programme is now available to secondary school teachers across the country. Teachers who register will also gain unrestricted access to lesson plans and guidance from the PSHE Association and a teacher handbook developed by Bellingcat and The Student View, alongside support from a journalist to help them set up a pop-up newsroom in their school.

Aiming to fill the gaps of support available to schools, the free ‘Media Literacy Champions Programme’ which was developed by investigative journalism group, Bellingcat, will provide education professionals with the most up-to-date resources, tools and techniques to help students find trusted information online to inform their personal, employment and democratic decisions; challenge mis and disinformation; and understand context and influence.

Despite the majority (68%) of teenagers saying they use social media for news, research by Ofcom in 2022 found that only one in ten (11%) were able to tell what’s real or fake online[1]. Further research by the communications regulator found that more than a third (36%) of children aged 8-17 said they had seen something ‘worrying or nasty’ online in the past 12 months.

Additionally, a survey commissioned by The Student View, discovered that nine in ten (90%) UK teachers want media literacy to be included specifically in their curriculum, and according to The National Literacy Trust over half (53.5%) believe that the curriculum does not equip children with the literacy skills they need to identify fake news[2].

Designed to change this narrative and improve students’ knowledge on deep-fakes and AI, unregulated influencers, and misinformation, the free training programme is delivered in three modules by expert trainers. Teachers must complete all three modules to become a verified ‘Media Literacy Champion’, and to fit around teachers busy schedules the interactive modules – delivered LIVE via Zoom – can be taken over a couple of months and do not require any pre or post ‘homework’.

The course modules will cover a range of topics on media literacy including; navigating mis-disinformation, fact checking, deep fake images/AI, targeted advertising, and being a critical consumer of news.

As part of the programme, secondary school teachers will be offered fully-funded training to deliver workshops to students and coach them as ‘junior news reporters’ to improve their critical thinking and media literacy skills. Researchers and investigators from Bellingcat will share their innovative approaches to open-source data, including social media, to enable students and teachers to spot misinformation and generate original investigations about their local community.

The opportunity is currently open to secondary school teachers across the country, with training sessions running up until January 2024. Professionals who are interested in taking part can sign up to the free media literacy training programme here: https://thestudentview.org/teacher-training/

Last year the National Memorial Arboretum welcomed 296 learning visits, offering 12,750 students the opportunity to explore the 150-acres of memorials, gardens, and woodlands, helping young people to discover incredible stories of service and sacrifice. From interactive Explorer Days, to tailored tours of our grounds or participation in an Act of Remembrance, the inspiring landscape at the National Memorial Arboretum and multi-functional classroom spaces is a perfect setting for workshops and activities for students in Key Stages 2-4.

“Our specialist on-site learning team has developed a wide range of cross-curricular activities for learning groups to discover inspirational stories about the people who have served the Nation, each with specific learning outcomes,” explains Rachel Smith, Head of Learning and Participation at the Arboretum. “We offer students activities and workshops that use our 150-acre site, rich natural landscape, breathtaking memorials, and multi-functional classroom spaces to develop an understanding of Remembrance and explore other subjects including science, literacy, and geography. The Arboretum really is a truly inspirational place to visit with your class.”

Free activity days taking place at the Arboretum this academic year include:

• National Poetry Day, 5 October 2023 (KS3-4) – working with the Arboretum’s poet in residence, students will draw upon inspiration from the Arboretum as well as the year’s chosen theme of ‘Refuge’ to create their own poetry masterpiece
• RAF STEAM takeover day, 17 October 2023 (upper KS2) – the Royal Air Force youth engagement team returns to the Arboretum with three different STEAM activities
• Black History Month activity day, 19 October 2023 (KS3-4) – students can take part in a selection of participatory activities exploring the Arboretum’s new exhibitions, exploring inter-generational stories and experiences through textiles and audio
• Remembrance activity week, 6-10 November 2023 (KS2) – giving students the opportunity to reflect on those who have served their country through arts-based workshops at the Arboretum and in schools
• Holocaust Memorial Day activity day, 26 January 2024 (Upper KS2) – students take part in workshops to learn more about the Holocaust, visit memorials and explore the importance of Remembrance
• World Book Day, 7 March 2024 (reception and lower KS1) – using Julia Donaldson’s ‘Stick Man’ as inspiration, younger students can explore the Stick Man trail around the Arboretum grounds and use natural materials to make their own stick characters
• International Women’s Day, 8 March 2024 (Years 6 and 7) – Students learn about some remarkable women by delving into the stories behind the memorials. Hands-on workshops and engaging discussions explore the attributes and aptitudes that defined these women and enabled them to identify their own skills and qualities.
• Earth Day, 22 April 2024 (KS2) – students discover the importance of protecting the natural world, create seedballs and bug hotels to increase biodiversity on their own green spaces
• Teaching Remembrance days, 2-3 July 2024 (KS2&3) – Together with the Royal British Legion, students will take part in a series of interactive indoor and outdoor activities before ending the day with a collective Act of Remembrance.

The Arboretum’s school’s activity days are free. There is a cost for other facilitated activities with the learning team and bursaries are available to help with transport costs, thanks to the Arboretum’s involvement in ‘The Great British School Trip’ initiative.

To book a school trip call, teachers can call 01283 245133 or email education@thenma.org.uk.

For more information about the school activity days, visit https://www.thenma.org.uk/visit-us/plan-your-visit/visiting-for-learning-and-training/learning-activity-days

Additionally, from the multi Academy® and BAFTA award-winning Aardman (Creature Comforts, Wallace & Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep), and Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated director Sam Fell (ParaNorman and Flushed Away, respectively), Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the sequel to the highest-grossing stop motion animated film of all time, Chicken Run, will close the Into Film Festival on November 24th with special preview screening events across the UK. The Into Film Festival bookings will go live, free to all UK educators, on Thursday, 7th September: www.intofilm.org/festival.

Sean Clarke, Managing Director at Aardman, said: “Aardman has a rich history of world class talent working seamlessly together to create award-winning productions that entertain millions of people across the globe. It is only fitting that as we approach the release of the studio’s most anticipated films, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, that we partner with Netflix and Into Film to engage and encourage the next generation of creatives into our industry.”

Paul Reeve, CEO, Into Film, said “We’re thrilled to be building further on our long-standing relationship with Aardman, having made many of their films, and educational resources linked to them, available to schools for a number of years. This new partnership initiative will enable teachers and their pupils to become creators themselves and help to inspire a new generation of animators.”

Animate! With Aardman, delivered in partnership with Into Film and supported by Netflix, brings the magic of stop motion filmmaking to the classroom, with experts from the studio behind animation classics, Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep providing a video-led step-by-step guide to creating simple, stop motion masterpieces with young people. The course, launching 19th September, has been designed to help young people produce achievable animated projects using everyday equipment and free motion apps. Each video is complemented with educational resources and guidance to support teachers through the process, plus, there’s an opportunity to attend a live webinar with an Aardman Director.

For enrolment and more information as to how animation can support learning across the curriculum: https://intofilm.org/animate

Into Film has been awarded new funding as part of the BFI’s National Lottery Funding Strategy 2023-2033 to ensure screen culture will have the greatest positive impact on educational outcomes for UK children and young people aged 5-18.

The Hub features a host of engaging resources varying from videos to lesson guides, assembly plans and handbooks, organised under six categories: ‘the journey of waste’, ‘food’, ‘clothing’, ‘plastic’, ‘composting’, and ‘take action for the environment’.

The Hub was launched in response to NLWA’s research project in 2022 with Keep Britain Tidy which set out to identify priority areas of interest and gaps relating to waste prevention education in north London. Users are invited to share their feedback about the Hub online, to help NLWA keep pace with schools’ needs and resource gaps.

To celebrate the launch of the Education Hub, NLWA is inviting schools to submit posters around the theme ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’. The top 30 entries will be professionally printed to form part of the construction fencing leading up to the brand new Reuse and Recycling Centre at the redeveloped Eco Park in Edmonton. Schools will also be entered into a prize draw with a chance to win either a £200 voucher or an interactive assembly and Q&A on what happens to north London’s rubbish and recycling once it’s been collected. Details on how to take part in the competition can be found on NLWA’s Schools Competition page.

Councillor Clyde Loakes, NLWA Chair, said: “There’s great opportunity to teach children about their community and how the waste we produce impacts climate change – the objective of the Education Hub is to support local teachers and make waste reduction behaviours part of every north London school’s bread and butter, from a young age.

“The Hub is a fantastic directory that brings together some of the best educational resources out there and promotes interactivity. If every north London school integrated consumption and waste prevention into their curriculum, we’d be looking at a generation who see this as the norm and is empowered by their potential to mitigate climate impacts.”

Resources on the Hub have links to the national curriculum, including English, Science, Geography, Citizenship, and Art and Design, making it easy for teachers and home school tutors to integrate environmental and waste prevention education into the syllabus.

For further information about the Hub, please go to the North London Waste Education Hub.

Please note: the competition is only open to primary schools in the seven member boroughs of the North London Waste Authority: Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest.