Welcome to Sunderland Learning is a space for teachers to find and share lessons and curriculum ideas.
The aim of the site is to act as a resource we can all use to help us to make our lessons more effective.
Like any site of this nature it's value comes from the contributions the members contribute so if you have a resource you have used to good effect in your teaching why not add it to the lesson resources section.
If you have a great website please add it to the links section.
Facebook for teachers
We also have a social networking feature called the Educator's Network so you can have an online space to share and collaborate with other members of the site. Here you can also set up interest groups these could be totally online or the online space for organising physical groups of you to meet like the IT Coordinators network that meets at the CLCs
Download teaching resources
The Lesson resources section allows you to search our bank of lesson resources.
Naturally if you take something we would love you to leave something too.
How do I join?
Sign up to the site here to access advanced features and don't hesitate to give us your feedback on the site.
|
The UK government announced last year that they were selling off the frequency bands used for radio microphones and moving the frequencies for this use. This was set to happen at the end of September this year, the latest news is that a short reprieve has been given and the switchover will now happen at the end of December 2012.
This is going to effect a great many people, including Schools, Pubs, Clubs, Churches, in fact almost everybody who owns a radio microphone. You will need to check your equipment operating frequency ranges, which can normally be found printed on the transmitter and receiver, against the legal frequency bands If your equipment is able to operate in the licence free spectrum (863MHz - 865MHz) you will be able to continue using it, providing you tune your system to one of the legal frequencies. However if your equipment is not able to operate in this range you may need to replace your equipment. The best plan is to check with the website of your equipment manufacturer to find out whether your devices can be operated after the changeover. The good news is if you own Sennheiser G2 evolution equipment, as many of you do. It can still be used, provided you retune your systems to use one of the legal frequencies.
These are:- Channel 1 - 863.100MHz Channel 2 - 863.500MHz Channel 3 - 864.300MHz Channel 4 - 864.900MHz
I have made a label you can attach to your equipment to remind users of the frequencies that can be used after December 2012 - see download below. If your equipment is not compatible it will have to be replaced by the end of the year. The government were operating a compensation scheme for users who have to change their equipment but sadly this has now ended. There is some really useful guidance on the Shure website here Animated art club in the heart of glass
Released: Wednesday 11th January 2012 at 15:34 A new art club which will help inspire children aged seven to fifteen launches at Sunderland's National Glass Centre this Saturday (January 14) giving an introduction to animation and puppetry. Two new art clubs, The Cre:ART Club and the SPECTRUM Digital Art Club will give young people hands-on experience with staff and students from the University of Sunderland in these two exciting crafts. The Cre:ART Club runs every Saturday from 10.30am-12.30pm at the National Glass Centre. The 12 week project, for ages 7 to 14 years, will give children the chance to design and make their own puppets, while gaining hands-on experience of contemporary art. The course costs £4 per session or £3.50 per session, for a block booking of 6 or more sessions. To register, simply come along to the club at 10.15am on the day. More information here: RTS awards put North East's young filmmakers in the spotlight
Released: Monday 9th January 2012 at 09:35 Budding young Spielbergs with a passion for TV and filmmaking are being invited to showcase their talents at one of the region’s most prestigious media festivals. The Royal Television Society (RTS) North East and Borders Centre is calling on schools, colleges and film clubs throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Borders for entries to its annual Young Peoples’ Media Festival (YPMF), which is being staged next spring in Sunderland. This showcase event for young filmmakers has been running in the region for more than two decades and has proved an important stepping stone for would-be producers and directors in the 14 to 19 age group. The awards are split into three festivals: the Junior Festival (five to 13), which is a showcase for the youngest entrants; the Senior Festival; and the Senior Professionally Supported Festival, which is for young people who have been supported by media organisations to develop media skills. The Senior Festivals are competitive events for those aged 14 to 19 and will be judged across categories in drama, documentary and entertainment. The most outstanding work from the entries will be recognised and may be awarded a Royal Television Society Certificate. All entries are judged by media professionals who will be looking for originality, scripting, creativity, visual flair, awareness of the target audience, use of resources and professionalism. The Young Peoples’ Media Festival 2012 will be held at the University of Sunderland on 16 May and 23 May, in the prestigious David Puttnam Media Centre on the banks of the River Wear. More informantion here: The anti bullying strategy in collaboration with Sunderland CLC and No Limits Theatre Company toured schools recently presenting a series of anti-bullying conferences.
NEWS UPDATE The competition has been won by a student from Southmoor School and a student from Newbottle Primary - check out our coverage of the competition on Tyne Tees news above.
Further information about the scheme can be viewed here Don't miss out on the chance to celebrate your school's use of ICT and win a prize. Go to www.northerngrid.org/awards for details of the categories, entry forms, and to view entries by previous winners. Closing date 10th Feb 2012 If you REALLY don’t have time to read this – you can keep up to date with the Microsoft Schools team on the BLOG or via TWITTER I hope that you all had a good summer, and are feeling refreshed and ready for the new Academic year – or am I 4 weeks late for that wave of enthusiasm? I’m writing with an update from the Microsoft Education team, to invite you to some upcoming events, and to ask for your feedback about all things Microsoft in schools. Please feel free to forward this email to your colleagues and contacts. Oh, no – not CLIPPY! If you’re one of the thousands of schools who rolled out Office 2010 this summer, here is a great little game to help students and staff learn their way around. We understand that upgrading versions of Office causes a mix of excitement, discovery, stress and support calls - so the Microsoft labs team have come up with Ribbon Hero. It’s an interactive game which challenges you to earn points by performing tasks in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. It also features the “welcome” return of CLIPPY - you know, that annoying guy who we fired after Office 2003. Turns out he is a resilient little chap, and as you move through the game your students can help him get his job back J Do you know an Innovative Teacher? We are currently looking for nominations for the Microsoft Partners in Learning Teacher Awards. Every year, teachers submit projects that demonstrate an innovative use of technology in the classroom. We then hold a national event to choose our winners, who go on to compete in the Worldwide finals. In addition to it being great for career development, last year the winners were all flown to Moscow and won an xBox for their school! You can read more and sign up here – please do encourage teachers in your school, your Local Authority, or among your customers, to get involved. Upcoming events Fancy a day out of the office? Here are some free events from Microsoft and our partners, to help you stay connected and learn new things:
20 Years of Microsoft Research Whether you have no idea what Microsoft Research is, or are a devoted computer science expert interested in where the world of computing is going, read this interview with Peter Lee – MD of Microsoft Research at our HQ in Redmond. Was 1991 really 20 years ago? Help! Low cost computers, for families who need them most As part of the Race Online initiative, Microsoft is running a project called GetOnline@Home which is aimed at the 9 million UK citizens who still do not have regular access to a PC. Families who receive government benefits can buy a fully working PC with flat screen monitor for just £95. This blog post explains more and the website is up and running - but if you want help promoting this campaign in your school or your area, please get in touch with our new intern Jack Gaylor on t-jackg@microsoft.com Animation12 - The UK Schools Computer Animation Competition - is now open! Animation12 is a free-to-enter, not-for-profit competition run by The University of Manchester, designed to enthuse young people about Computer Science and ICT. For full details, and to register to enter (and receive a free poster!), please visit: www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/Animation The competition is open to all UK schoolchildren aged between 7 and 19. Entrants can create their animations (maximum duration: 1 minute) using any of the following programs: Alice, Scratch, Adobe Flash, Serif DrawPlus, Blender, KoolMoves and SWiSH Max. There are great prizes, and the Animation Festival and Inspirational Computer Science Day will be held at The University of Manchester in July 2012. Read more...
|



Radio Microphone frequencies will change at the end of 2012
The Council has purchased a licence for Microsoft Office that extends to home use by employees. If you work for Sunderland council and have a sunderland schools email address you are entitled to a copy at a reduced rate of £10