School

This video can be downloaded here: http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/eastchurch Eastchurch Primary School won an Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy in 2006. To find out more visit the link above and check out the Ashden Awards Blog http://ashdenawards.blogspot.com

Eastchurch Primary School has developed a culture of ‘Good Energy Housekeeping’; led by classroom Energy Monitors, and an ‘E-team’ of Year 4 pupils who monitor classrooms during the lunch hour.

Eastchurch Primary serves Eastchurch and two other villages on the Isle of Sheppey. Employment at the docks is declining, and though there is seasonal employment in holiday businesses, this is a relatively poor area with a high percentage of pupils receiving free school meals.

Since 1998, the school has had a programme of improving the efficiency of the fabric of the school: including the use of low-energy lighting; installation of covered areas to reduce heat loss from doors; and the replacement of old kitchen equipment with energy-efficient devices. After considerable time and effort, a 3 kWp photovoltaic (PV) array was installed in 2005, linked to a prominent display outside the canteen which shows current and cumulative energy generation and CO2 savings.

The major focus of the school is on careful use of energy, with a strong culture of switching off lights and appliances, and closing doors. Each class has an Energy Monitor to encourage this, and there are pupil-made posters and notices around the school. A group of the oldest pupils (eight- and nine-year-olds in Year 4) is selected to join the E-team, and visit each classroom every lunchtime to check lights, appliances and doors, and record their observations in a book. At the end of each week they report their findings to the whole school and award a certificate to the best-performing class. The E-team also records the output of the PV array each day, and reads the school’s utility meters each week with the caretaker. These findings are documented and reported to the School Council, staff and governors. The E-team has given presentations to other schools in the areas. Joining the E-team is seen by children as a great privilege, and parents are impressed by the confidence which this responsibility gives to their children. Pupils develop the attitude that “everyone can do their bit” and take home an individual list of five targets for their own homes.

Sustainable energy is integrated into many aspects of the Eastchurch curriculum. Data from the PV array is used in maths teaching and problem solving, and Year 4 children learn about energy-saving techniques and make leaflets which are copied and sent home to parents. Less obvious aspects of sustainable energy, like transport and food miles, are also discussed in class.

Many people in the Eastchurch school community are engaged with the sustainable energy ethos. Paula Owens, the Deputy Head Teacher and Geography Coordinator has particularly championed this work, and is responsible for the energy-saving fund which contributed to the PV array; but all curriculum coordinators incorporate energy in their particular disciplines. Kent County Council has provided advice and regular support to teaching. All pupils are expected to act responsibly over energy use.

What is most replicable about the work of Eastchurch is the tremendous emphasis on caring for the environment and personal responsibility. It is this ethos which set up the E-team, and which has made it so successful and popular among pupils. The approach does not rely on capital equipment, although the recent installation of the PV array has certainly given an added interest.

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Meet Christine Hart, who’s been banned from a primary school after confronting a bully who used her five-year-old son as a ‘human punch bag’

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I am looking for any books on Islam that would be used in a Primary setting. Can anyone suggest any that are used in school or could be?

Islam in the Classroom: what the textbooks tell us samples ten widely adopted junior and senior high school history textbooks.

The review asks:
•How do today’s history textbooks characterize Islam’s foundations and creeds?
•What changes have occurred in textbook material written before 2001? What additions have been made?
•What do textbooks say about terrorism? What do they say about the September 11 air attack on the United States? About weapons of mass destruction? Do textbooks outline Islamic challenges to global security? Do they describe and explain looming dangers to the United States and world?
The review concludes:

•Many political and religious groups try to use the textbook process to their advantage, but the deficiencies in Islam-related lessons are uniquely disturbing. History textbooks present an incomplete and confected view of Islam that misrepresents its foundations and challenges to international security.
•Misinformation about Islam is more pronounced in junior high school textbooks than high school textbooks.
•Outright textbook errors about Islam are not the main problem. The more serious failure is the presence of disputed definitions and claims that are presented as established facts.
•Deficiencies about Islam in textbooks copyrighted before 2001 persist and in some cases have grown worse. Instead of making corrections or adjusting contested facts, publishers and editors defend misinformation and content evasions against the record. Biases persist. Silences are profound and intentional.
•Islamist activists use multiculturalism and ready-made American political movements, especially those on campus, to advance and justify uncritical Islam-related content makeover in history textbooks.
•Particular fault rests with the publishing corporations, the boards of directors, and executives who decide what editorial policies their companies will pursue.
Publishers have developed new world and U.S. history textbooks at three different grade levels. Errors about Islam that occurred in older textbooks have not been corrected but reiterated. Publishers have learned of contested facts and have had the time to correct imbalances. But instead of making changes, they have sustained errors or, in deliberate acts of self-censorship, have removed controversial material.

I am 15 years old and living in England.

I am currently trying to decide on my A Levels and my future career.
I am leaning towards child psycology/primary school teacher.

How do i become either of them?

Im stuck.

If you want to move to the USA, you need a college degree and a teacher certification in the state you want to live in. If you want to stay in England and teach, you should follow the sound advice of the first answer, lazlouz2. Good luck, Ta.

In the United Kingdom.

Hi, I am planning to do French and Spanish degree which lasts for 3/4 years at Liverpool university. But I would like a career in primary school teaching.

Is it possible to do my French and Spanish degree first and then go on to do a course to train to become a primary school teacher?

If not, why not?

Thanks.

Yes and it would virtually guarantee you a job as primary schools are now teaching languages.

You would need to complete your degree, have GCSE maths, English and science and then take a PGCE course to qualify you as a teacher.

I’m thinking about helping out in my child’s future primary school, but I am not confident in my ability to ‘manage’ groups of children, having never done this before.

As a teaching assistant i started out as a parent helping out with my kids class i then took courses to develop my skills and the more time you spend with the children the more confident you get and you learn to manage groups,it is one of the most rewarding jobs that i have ever had

My son was a certfied bully in preschool. He was the biggest in class then. But now that he’s in a primary school in a multi-level class, he’s mixed with bigger boys. And while he likes hanging out with the bigger boys than kids his age, i think he’s getting bullied. I desperately want him to be a bully again!!!

Help him to start a gang, but them some tough-looking clothes, and show him how to intimidate the weaker kids. He’ll soon regain the respect of his classmates.

I really would like to be a primary school teacher for the grades preschool – 1st grade how many years would i have to go to college for and what are the best colleges to go to?
Thank you.

4 year degree. LOTS of great colleges for Elementary Education. I would start your search with the colleges nearest your home.

I’m picking my options in March and I want to be a primary school teacher. I have to pick the core subjects but I can pick the usual subjects along with childcare, animal care, catering, health and beauty etc. Any ideas?

You need to get good grades in Maths, Science and English, and then choose a specialist subject, like maybe languages or history. So one you’re good at, to get into college with.

Could somebody tell me what Qualifications I need to become a Primary school treacher or teaching assistant. I have GCSE grade C in English, English Literature, Maths, Science, ICT and Textiles.
If anyone could give me any websites that would be very useful, thank you.

The two jobs are are on completely different levels. If you want to be a teaching assistant then there are specific NVQs but you can start the job without them. If you want to be a teacher then all info and advice starts at
www.tda.gov.uk/recruit.aspx
It would help you a lot if you were to arrange some time volunteering in a local primary school where they will be able to explain the difference between the two jobs.