Sage at School is a combination of teaching resource and student’s packs. Developed by Sage UK, a market leader in  accountacy software, it is a real opportunity for children in secondary school to enhance their CV with a foundation qualification in business finance and book keeping. Aimed at Head Teachers, business curriculum and maths leaders in school there are no reasons to stop parents providing the same tuition at home. Alistair Owens, managing director at keen2learn explained “In addition to children and graduates wanting to get a good job – around 77 per cent dream of running their own business.” He added “In this increasingly competitive world giving young people a head start is foremost in the minds of most educational leaders and parents. A sound knowledge in business finance is crucial to help those dreams become a reality.”

Keen2learn have been promoting educational games and teaching resource to parents, schools, colleges and universities since 2006. The recent tie up with Sage is a very natural development. “When we set up the award winning keen2learn website getting the finance right was vital. We used a Sage accountancy program which gave us a clear insight in handling the cash for the company,” said Alistair Owens. “The current economy has meant money is becoming ever tighter and a young person’s understanding of finance in business –whatever their job description will be a real asset to their employer and themselves. Sage at School will be a tremendous start.”

Although the Sage at School certificate was originally designed as a teaching resource in schools any parent with an understanding of numeracy will be able to support their child at home. Holding the Sage at home certificate could make the world of difference in their future career.

Thinking Dice Educational Games from Keen2learn

After a multitude of delays due to the relocation of manufacture Thinking Dice are due in stock from 16th May 2012. These much sought after educational games get children to think laterally and develop a higher order evaluation and creative thinking through their use as an English game teaching resource.

The Thinking Dice are available in a single pack of five dice, and budget saving class-pack comprising of five packs of five dice and a class-pack of 30 packs of five dice. The larger packs giving a considerable saving on the single pack.

The dice are 5cm foam cubes with a different question on each face. The set comprises of six dice in three colours to break the question into areas of higher thinking to  let children develop ideas on the following topics:

Remembering and recalling information,
Understanding ideas and concepts,
Applying information in order to explore and understand relationships
Evaluating situations and creativity.

The dice can be used in a huge  range of subject areas and age ranges. They can be used in the classroom as a teaching resource or at home at any point in a lesson to get students to use their thinking skills:

Introduction of lessons.
Throughout an entire lesson.
Plenary and reflection of learning.
Managing differentiation of thinking skills.
Circle Time and Hot seating
Assessment of thinking skills (Informal teacher assessment)

The popularity of the games has been huge with many teachers seeing the benefits of the fun approach to learning paying dividends in a short space of time. The students look forward to “playing the game” which is helping them delve into greater depths in understanding a subject area. Educational games are after all “Learning in Disguise” – the  adopted  theme of www.keen2learn.co.uk which follows the advice of Plato 2000 year ago ”

Get teenagers talking with Fink cards educational game

One of the greatest assets we can teach our children is the art of conversation. The educational value of expressing a viewpoint or concern that can be achieved  through an educational game called Fink Cards is immeasurable in school, higher education and at work. At the moment it would also help to rationally express an opinion once you get to the front of the border agency check-in at Heathrow. And the process can start at home around the meal table or mid point in a Wii game.

Teenagers are notorious for an indifferent approach to talking to or mosty at  parents. We all tend to take the easy route and avoid conflict by saying nothing. And so the vicious circle continues. But help is at hand through  a simple  and ingenious approach to get children talking  and speaking  through  a PSHE  game. A random card is drawn from the deck of Fink Cards and the player has to discuss their thoughts on the topic. An example is the question

“If you were to win the lottery, how would it change your life?”

You may be amazed by the answer. And the whole family can join in answering the same question or pulling a new card

Teachers and parents can support children in Sage@School

The Sage@School certificate can be gained by students through 10-15 hours study in a new course developed by accounts software specialist Sage UK. The course is available through www.keen2learn.co.uk in two packages; the Sage@School Teachers Pack provides all the background notes and manuals to allow teachers to coach school children to complete the Sage@School Students Pack in class and at home. But if your child is in a school which is      not running the course any parent with a business mind can run the course at home. Any  child’s successful completion of the online exam will be awarded a Sage certificate  in    business finance and accountancy

Sage@School certificate is an essential addition to a child's school CV

Having a business certificate in your child’s school CV could open that critical door in employment and higher education. Around 67 per cent of all school children dream of starting their own business, Sage@School provides the essential awareness of business finance if they do.

Bill Whiting, formerly Chief Executive B&Q during their significant growth in the UK, Europe and the Far East said “The Sage at School introductory business training packs are more than just welcome – they are desperately needed.”

“Too few children are leaving school without much interest in or knowledge of business – and yet that is precisely where the majority will have to make their lifetime’s living. We need to do more not only to provide them with this basic knowledge, but also to spark greater enthusiasm for a business career.”

“I know from experience that very many children in the fast developing countries, especially in the Far East, are now leaving school far better equipped and motivated to pursue a business career than our own children are in the UK. This needs to be rectified urgently or our economy will pay a very heavy price. Like it or not our children will have to be able to hold their own against increasingly fierce global competition.”

“The Sage Student Pack provides children with an excellent start and the Teacher Pack provides an ideal mechanism to ensure it can be delivered quickly and well. I hope it is widely used – and that more will follow!”

The number of NEET (not in education, employment or training) young adults is alarming. At a time of Ofqual’s admission that GCSE and A level exams have been made too easy, severely depleting their relevance in business, it is perhaps time that schools and parents take a closer look at some alternatives.

School GCSE and A level results too easy

A further revelation by Ofqual the school exam regulator has repercussions with parents, schools, universities and employers. Most importantly it will demoralise the children involved. For years the flood of criticism over falling standards that emerged each year as the exam results were published were quashed by Ofqual. Now, suddenly, they have issued a statement saying that the exams had become “less taxing.”

We all like to pass exams and if they are made easier most candidates would welcome the accolade of a pass rather than queering the structure. But the past can catch up. Many students entering higher education are struggling with the increase in academic standard required. Employers have stated the standards are too low to be viable in industry and many new recruits need retraining to catch up. But most important of all we operate in a global market. The recession in the UK could take years to resolve. Young adults could be forced to seek employment overseas and consequently realise that their qualifications are like junk bonds with little or no value.

Ofqual has clearly failed in their remit to maintain examination quality. Not only have they let countless thousands of children down who must now reflect on the true worth of their certificates, there is another time bomb waiting to explode. The government has just announced the potential to pay teachers’ differential salaries based on results. Already school league tables are the subject of some concern but the fact they are reliant on suspect data now presents a whole new mess to resolve, and hopefully, not by the body that created it or failed to own up to their mistake.

A Level Exams to be Redesigned

The quest to improve educational exam results and avoid manipulation, which is ultimately self-defeating, has focused on A levels content. Universities have revealed that the improvement in A levels pass rates has not been evident in the ability of first year students on degree courses.

Glenys Stacey, chief executive of the exam regulator Ofqual has said that the current format for A levels which divides the course into four modules should be scrapped. Instead they would be replaced by the conventional approach of examining a student’s understanding of the content through end of course exams.

This move would avoid the current trend to skimp on the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of a subject matter that occurs when the course is more homogeneous. Ofqual also believes the end of course approach avoids the enticement of exam resits to improve a grade. There is a further benefit of restructuring the content of the exams that will allow them to match the requirements of university degree course.

The average students’ knowledge in a subject area has been shown to have grown wider but shallower over the past 15 years. A level exam results also reflect a growing influence by teachers who have become more skilled in grooming students to pass exams. The changes in the academic structure are designed to better match the needs of universities and also those students who leave education to enter employment. Michael Gove, secretary of state for education has requested that Ofqual redesign A levels with the involvement acof universities from 2014. All we need now is for the same approach to be taken for SAT’s and GCSE’s which could both benefit from the involvement of the institutions that are about to receive the student.

The National Trust’s director general, Dame Fiona Reynolds, launched the Trust’s report entitled “Natural Childhood” which urges parents to reconnect children with outdoors. “We need to help children experience nature as fun again,” she said. “We have let the outdoors become daunting, full of risk. In fact it holds boundless opportunities: to create, to learn, to walk and run and to spend precious time with friends and family.”

The report shows that children’s ability to roam freely without supervision has shrunk by 90 per cent since 1970. It also shows 67 per cent of 10 year old children have never been to the shops or to a park on their own and that 10 per cent never play regularly in the countryside. This deficiency has led to a lost in learning and induced health problems such as obesity, rickets and asthma.

Whilst many grandparents can relate to the time when they as children regularly enjoyed greater outdoors freedom there are new ills spawned by modern society. Personal freedom has extended as travel boundaries are breached that exposes children to a combination of greater opportunity and risk. The ability to deal with real world issues needs to be brought into general education. Only from personal experience can we truly learn and retain such learning.

Experiencing the outdoor life is the foundation all children need. The combination of risk, self-preservation, self-reliance and awareness of our environment and social skills can be incorporated into fun play. The skills gained will be essential as children grow. The opportunity to travel extensively is now within the reach of most people. The grounding that can be instilled in children to open their eyes to observe local customs and history whilst absorbing the sights, sound and smells is a huge boost to enrich their lives. And it all starts with visits to the great outdoors.

Growing children with access to modern technology are learning to communicate remotely. Text, mobile phones and social networks have conspired to absorb the focus for children. Instead of buying the next phone app they should be re-introduced to the real world before it becomes a homogenised mass existing primarily on Google and Wikipedia. Something you can read and see but cannot touch.

Teaching resources at universities have been warned to raise their game. The relaxed style of some university lecturers who overuse the independent study allocation to students to offload some of their teaching duties has to end. David Willets, the universities minister warned that university lecturers would be the focus of a greater priority on high-quality teaching to undergraduates and subjected to a much higher level of scrutiny. Speaking at the annual conference of Higher Education Funding Council for England Mr Willets accepted that degree students should not be spoon fed “But that cannot be an excuse for low levels of academic engagement or feedback, or just plain inaccessibility,” he said.

It seems that even universities have been caught in the educational malaise. Criticism over the quality and relevance of SAT’s GCSE and A level exams has now reached universities. UK educational policy must be radically redesigned to survive. Ironically a recent survey revealed concern by universities that many first year under graduates do not have the relevant depth of education that their A levels results claim. Seems some lecturers need to remove the beam from their own eye and improve their own teaching commitment.

image credit

Secondary schools complain the ability of students from primary school is overstated in SAT assessments.  Employers noticed school leavers with GCSE were ill prepared for employment. Universities commented that improvements in A levels results were not reflected by any improvement in the ability of first year under graduates.

In all areas the receiving institutions bore the burden of re-educating students to bring them up to the required standard. And this rectification is on the increase. Successive Secretary of State for Education have had a crack, educational quangos, schools, exam boards have all failed to deal with the problem effectively. The annual exam results have been greeted by a mixture of elation, deception and dejection. And little has changed over the years apart from the UK gradually slipping down the world league table for educational standards.

The criticism, although vociferous and extensive, has achieved little in effect. Successive Secretaries of State for Education have come and gone leaving a trail of initiatives that have cost a fortune yet achieved little. Head Teachers have learnt how to exist in a highly charged environment. Some have excelled but many have suffered from poor results and questionable exam standards. Omnipotent targets that have driven our teaching resources have generally failed to benefit children educational achievement.

What is needed is a comprehensive root and branch overhaul of education. Incorporating the feedback from schools, exam boards, higher education and industry the plan needs to overcome the pitfalls of the short term thinking of the politician. We need to provide society and industry with educated children that can aspire to developing the UK in the face of growing competition from the world stage. We also need to groom a future Secretary of State for Education who can develop and oversee a world-class system that will be the pride of the UK, not its downfall.

Image

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net