Dear TagTeacherNet Member,

With the issue of bullying rearing its head again, the TagTeacherNet focus section this week looks at the work of the Anti-bullying Alliance in tackling the issue and invites you to join our discussion on the Grapevine. We want to hear your view!

If you're in need of light relief then head for our breaktime section this week where you can build your very own virtual duck - and then see if it flies! And if that doesn't grab your tail feathers then you can always win yourself £50 Marks & Spencers vouchers in this week's competition.

Also don't miss our great special offer on our featured product this week, Twist. Not to be missed!

Best wishes,

Karim Derrick
editor@tagteacher.net

PS If for any reason you wish to cease receiving this newsletter - please read the opt-out instructions at the end of this letter - you simply have to send an email to optout@tagteacher.net (Make sure you send the email from the address that the email was sent to!)

Much of the press has been very negative about this topic focusing on the horror stories – obviously they believe this sells papers. I’m sure you would much rather we focus on the positive, highlighting ways that the culture of bullying can be changed.

The Anti-bullying Alliance at www.anti-bullyingalliance.org is trying to work with education establishments to stop bullying. They have produced a pack to support Anti-bullying Week which all schools should have received with resources and ideas. The pack includes:

• A letter from Al Aynsley Green, Children’s Commissioner for England
• Bullying factsheet, outlining recent research, legal issues and how they affect schools
• 50 ideas for Anti-bullying week 2005 for children of all ages
• An action checklist for schools and other youth establishments to use to question how they are dealing with the bullying issue
• A short questionnaire for schools to use to find out how their pupils feel about bullying and if school policies are working
• Posters for primary and secondary schools

There are many other resources on the website and all of the above can be downloaded - click here for more information.

The Children’s Commissioner gave an interview to the Observer in which he spoke about a huge leap in bullying and was worried that ‘children were being brought up in a society where violence is the norm’. He wants the government to compel schools to present every pupil in England with a termly questionnaire on bullying so that no school can deny its existence. For more information, click here.

FREE Site licence available for open ended cross curriculum creativity software
Thanks to our friends at LCSI in Canada we are able to offer a superb opportunity to take part in a pilot study for two TAG products, MicroWorlds EX and MicroWorlds JR. Successful schools will receive a site licence of one of the products plus one day’s training FREE of Charge.

For more information on participating click:
http://www.tagteacher.net/news/pilot_opportunity_micro.htm

Kevin’s Playroom – a great place for teaching and learning resources
Don’t be put off by the name, this site has resources for all curriculum areas for primary and secondary and everything is FREE. It highlights a top website of the week and top Interactive Whiteboard site. All have been tried and tested and are excellent recommendations
Click: http://www.kevinsplayroom.co.uk/

Planet 10 – solar system and beyond
Part of Planet Science/Science year website, this is a wonderful simulation site that allows you to take a virtual fly through the solar system to see the planets close-up and as the Earth can’t live forever you can build your own planet, using your knowledge of what makes a suitable planet for life to survive. Information and images from NASA so very well presented.
Click: http://www.scienceyear.com/planet10/solar_preload.html

Your opinion counts! You can help influence future interactive teaching resources by giving us your views in this short market research survey. Although the questionnaire should only take 5 minutes to fill out, to thank you for your valuable input we will enter you into a draw to win £50 Marks & Spencers vouchers.

Completed entries must be received by 16th December 2005.
The winner will be notified on 20th December 2005.

To enter, click: http://www.ultravioletdesign.co.uk/education/T4S/t4sMarketResearch.asp

This is a tool that could help scientists and mathematicians as well as ICT teachers. It is an easy to use vector drawing/graphical modelling program which allows pupils to:

Create diagrams to support the learning of scientific concepts and models. Investigate polygons and tessellation in maths Create logos for products in D and T Draw plans of areas – classrooms, gardens, river systems in ICT and geography

Tools within the software then enable the pupil to create their own polygons and change curves, resize and adjust gradients on these and a library of shapes included in the software. It’s easy to adjust the opacity of and fills, strokes and gradient colours and skew, rotate and scale objects. Text can be added and edited. The intuitive nature of this new program allows pupils to be imaginative and creative. It is aimed at upper KS2 and KS3 pupils.

For more information and to download 30 day free trial click here.

We are offering an exclusive deal to TAG TeacherNet members of 10% off any purchase of Twist, vector drawing made easy (See Product feature for more information)

Please quote ‘TTN Offer’ to claim your discount when you ring, fax, e-mail or post your order. At present, we cannot offer this discount to online orders.

Offer ends 30th November 2005

T: 01474 357 350
F: 01474 537 887
E: sales@taglearning.com
P: TAG Learning Ltd. 25 Pelham Road, Gravesend, DA11 0HU

Ask a question, get an answer! The TagTeacherNet Grapevine is the online discussion area for the teaching community.

In this week's Grapevine

Do you need help supporting a school in the developing world? Many new educational supplies available, also medical equipment and some costume jewellery (see Ray of Hope In this newsletter for more information).

To help answer these questions or to post your own, click: http://www.tagteacher.net/grapevine

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