Teacher Support

CPD Sessions

New Ideas?
This session consists of 19 ideas that are either new or re-workings of an old gem. The session can take on a variety of forms: lecture, workshop or a mixture. All the apparatus is contained in a suitcase that the co-ordinator will bring with them. Experienced teachers will probably be happy with an hour’s duration whereas NQT or PGCE students may want to sit and do the experiments which may take about 2 or 3 hours. Participants receive a hand-out containing further details about the ideas and where to get the apparatus. The age range for which the ideas would be suitable for using in the classroom varies but the majority would be KS4 and KS5. Mode of delivery also varies, some ideas are for demonstrations, some are suitable for coursework etc.

This workshop has been described as “Awesome” and one participant described the session as; “…the most useful inset I have attended in 10 years!”

Son of New Ideas?
Another 19 ideas that are either new or re-workings of old gems, just like ‘New Ideas?’. The session can take on a variety of forms: lecture, workshop or a mixture. All the apparatus is contained in a suitcase that the co-ordinator will bring with them. Experienced teachers will probably be happy with an hour’s duration whereas NQT or PGCE students may want to sit and do the experiments which may take about 2 or 3 hours. Participants receive a hand-out containing further details about the ideas and where to get the apparatus. The age range for which the ideas would be suitable for using in the classroom varies but the majority would be KS3 and KS4. Mode of delivery also varies, some ideas are for demonstrations, some are suitable for coursework etc.

Software for Skint Schools
21 bits of free software that you could use in school to enliven your teaching while saving your budget. Schools are often bombarded with adverts for software by companies that have the money to invest in advertising. People who produce free software are, of course, unlikely to be able to publicise their products to the same extent. Software for Skint Schools is a session that can consist of:

• a half hour PowerPoint presentation very quickly mentioning each of the 21 bits of software and what they do.
• a demonstration of some of the packages.
• with prior arrangement 5 or 6 teachers can be sent one of the software packages in advance and they can then describe it to the other workshop participants.

At the end of the session the participants get a CD with all 21 pieces of software on (installation files, internet shortcuts and copies of the home pages where the software came from).

We have permission from all the authors of the software to be able to distribute the material in this way and also for participants to go back to their school, deliver the PowerPoint (which is also included on the CD) and copy the CD for other teachers attending their session.

Please note: All the software is freely available on the web.

Rocket Launchers – Make and Take
Not strictly speaking rockets, actually projectiles. Make a compressed air rocket launcher from plumbing parts. The rockets are made from paper and sellotape and easy and cheap to make in class. Amongst other things, you can change the weighting; position of fins, number of fins, shape and size of nosecone on the projectile and the pressure and angle of firing can be changed on the launcher. Participants get to take the completed launcher back to school.

Shocked and Stunned – the Van de Graaff generator
The aims of this workshop are to get those people who haven’t used a Van de Graaff before confident enough to have a go back in school and to improve people’s knowledge of how the Van de Graaff works. While primarily aimed at those teaching physics from a non-physics background even experienced physics teachers should get something from it. Ideally suited to no more than 12 people at a time we have 4 portable Van de Graaffs with accessories that we will bring to the session. Participants will leave with a CD of resources.

Games Laboratory
Playing games can be another way to get children to learn often without them even noticing it's happening. There are a wide variety of games available from board games to card games to computer games. This workshop will present a variety of games and participants will be able to access all the necessary files to play these games with their classes. You will have the opportunity to judge for yourself whether the games are suitable for your students and hopefully get an overview of some of the variety of games available. To download some of the available files for this workshop click here.

To book any of the above sessions please contact your regional Network Coordinator.

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