Cambridgeshire Education ICT Service Fortnightly Briefing

 

   Friday 9th May 2008

   

End of Key Stage - Importing Wizards - March Upgrade        

 

Purpose:     End of Key Stage Reminders 

 

Audience:  SIMS School Secretary / Assessment Co-ordinators

Don't leave it until the last minute. The End of Key Stage Wizards were a part of the Sims March Upgrade. If your Sims .net is version 7.102 or above, the Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 Wizards (Plus the new Foundation Stage Profile Wizard) are now present in the AMPA7 folder ready for import. Last year a number of schools did not import the Wizards until the day they wanted to start inputting their data, when the import failed due to problems with data already on their systems, pressure upon the school was unnecessarily increased as there was insufficient time to obtain a fix for their data problems.

Training for End of Key Stage - Importing and using the Wizards - using the reporting options - creating and uploading the results - has been arranged for 13th, 19th and 20th May at Godmanchester. Please book your places as soon as possible. 

Home Access to ICT - Online Survey

 

Purpose:    Request for Information 

 

Audience:  Heads and ICT staff

 

The Cambridge Housing Society, a housing association with residents across the whole of the county, is bidding for funds to make computers available in the homes of poorer families in Cambridgeshire. They are trying to make computers more available and provide computer skills to parents/carers and children through home tuition. It will help their application to have up-to-date information about the extent to which our children have access to ICT in their homes.

 

We would be very grateful if you could provide this information through a brief (9 questions) online survey at:

 

 

All responses will be entered in a draw and the Society is offering £50 worth of ICT equipment to the winner as a small incentive for schools to complete the survey.

 

Responses are needed by Friday 23rd May. 

 

  

E2BN Awards

  

Purpose:     Competitions for Pupils 

 

Audience:   ICT and English staff 

 

Would your school like to win an innovative prize or a cash award? Then enter the E2BN Awards 2008

 

You can do this by: 

  • Focusing on Current Issues, using Museum Box - this challenge will ask: What are the most important issues today?
  • The E2BN Story Writing Challenge, using the tools on the Myths and Legends site.

    The closing date will be the 23rd of May 2008. For full details go to http://www.e2bn.org/view.php?id=103

Starz News

Purpose: Updated Information  

Audience: Staff In Starz Schools

Cambridgeshire Young People's Film Festival

The date for submission of Films for the above festival is drawing near. Arrangements are well under way for the awards ceremony on 4th July, guest of honour has just been confirmed - Will Poulter, one of the young leading stars of the film, Son of Rambow, now showing in cinemas across the country.

All Starz schools who are submitting a film entry are now challenged to think about their publicity. The Starz team would like posters and fliers for your film, (digital format preferred). Posters may be submitted via the link supplied in the Starz project area, please look under 'Animation'. Submitted posters may well be used in the Corn Exchange on ceremony night.

Starz Detectives

The date has been set for the next Starz Detectives session - 15th May 2008. Although this is SATS week, we have arranged for the activity to take place from 1pm on the Thursday afternoon, a nice break after the Maths SATS taking place during the morning! Starz Detectives is an online role play programme where children, under the supervision of their teacher, become 'Starz detectives' using ICT to link with experts from outside agencies (Police, Fire Service, Road Safety) to solve real life scenarios. The focus of this particular session is 'Summer Safety'. To book a place, or find out further details please contact admin@starz.org.uk .

  

PUGS and SUGS: Primary and Secondary  SIMS User Groups  

 

Purpose:  Diary dates for strategic support and practical advice


Audience:   Headteachers, SLT and Business Managers (2 free places)

 

Primary Agenda

  • Central Hosting
  • Primary Curriculum
  • Attainment Grids including provision and progression mapping
  • ToPP update and enhancements
  • Raiseonline and data management
  • FSP
  • The Learning Gateway
  • New SIMS Teacher View
  • Behaviour
  • Bank Account - next generation

Secondary Agenda

  • Central hosting
  • Timetabling
  • Cover 7
  • Nova T4
  • Raiseonline and data management
  • The Learning Gateway
  • New SIMS Teacher View
  • Behaviour
  • Bank Account - next generation

Tuesday 3 June -  Oliver Cromwell, March

Secondary - 9.30 - 12.30

Primary - 1.00 - 4.00

 

Wednesday 4 June - CPDC, Cambridge

Primary - 9.30 - 12.30

Secondary - 1.00 - 4.00

 

Thursday 5 June - Buckden, Community Centre

Primary - 1.00 -4.00  

 

Please note we are unable to accept bookings over the phone. You may call to check course detail and space availability on telephone 01480 376670 or email: ict.courses@cambridgeshire.gov.uk , unfortunately no places can be provisionally booked. 

 

 Renewed Secondary Frameworks

Purpose: Update of National Strategy website

Audience: ICT Subject leaders and strategy managers in secondary and special schools

New online Frameworks for Secondary English, Mathematics, Science and ICT from the National Strategies are now accessible through the following link:

http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/secondary/frameworks

The Frameworks website provides for each subject:

·         lines of progression and a bank of learning objectives;

·         support for planning for increased pupil progress;

·         plenty of useful guidance - both on screen and materials that can be downloaded;

·         links to additional guidance, to key National Strategies materials, and to other useful websites.

From September 2008 the website will be enhanced with additional exemplification materials to support planning, classroom pedagogy, and effective Assessment for Learning.  

 Training Opportunities for May 

Purpose:    Spaces available on Training Courses

 

Audience:  Headteacher, Teachers and Administrative Staff in Schools

 

Course

Date & Time

Venue

Cost

 RAISEonline

 

14/05/08

9.30 - 12.00

or

13.00 - 15.30

 

ICT Service, Godmanchester

£50 

 

 End of Key Stage Data Collection

19/05/08 or 20/05/08

9.30 - 12.30

or

13.15 - 16.15 

 

 

ICT Service, Godmanchester

 

 

£50 

 Budget Submission Workshop 

20/05/08

9.30 - 12.30

or

13.30 - 16.00 

 

ICT Service, Godmanchester

£30 

 

 

Please note we are unable to accept bookings over the phone. You may call to check course detail and space availability on telephone 01480 376670 or email: ict.courses@cambridgeshire.gov.uk , unfortunately no places can be provisionally booked.

 

 

Cambridgeshire Online Training Search 

 

Cambridgeshire Online Training Search (COTS) is a database of training opportunities provided by the Local Authority.  It can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet without the need for a password: go to: COTS to access this service.  Its powerful search engine will help you to find suitable courses.  Eventually, all providers will be using this database, please check the Providers list for the services currently represented.  You will already find the complete listing of courses offered by CAS, CREDS, SLS, Education ICT Service, ISSIS, Cambridgeshire Youth Work and Connexions. 

 

 

ICT Service Blog and Helpline Blog

 

The information in this briefing is also available through our blog. This means that you do not have to wait for the fortnightly distribution; news items go online immediately. Other relevant information about ICT is posted there too.  It is also possible to use the blog to comment on items and to give us feedback.

 

There is a link to the blog from our website or you can visit it directly at http://educationictservice.blogspot.com/  If you use a newsreader such as Google Reader, you can subscribe to the blog using the link in the left-hand column; your news reader will automatically highlight new blog items for you. If you would like to learn how to do this, contact the Helpline.

 

For up to the minute Helpline information, please visit the ICT Service Helplines Blog by searching for Resource id: 3750 from the Education Portal or by using this link: ICT Service Helplines Blog. You can subscribe to this blog in exactly the same way.  

 

 

More ICT News on the Portal...

 

Do you regularly check the ICT News page on the Portal? It features all the latest ICT-related news of importance to Cambridgeshire's schools.

To take a look, simply search for resource ID: 584 from the Portal front page, or click on 'News' on the ICT Service home page (www.ict.ccceducation.net).

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