Updated ICT Co-ordinators Training Materials

The ICT Co-ordinators Conference has been followed up by well-attended and very useful twilight session exploring 5 different themes from the confernce.

The twilight sessions have evolved and contain more information than was previously available - things like lesson resources, up-to-date national information and work created in the actual session.

Please click on links over on the right of the screen to get to these updated resources!

ICT Co-ordinators Conference 10 October 2012

This year's ICT Co-ordinators Conference is structured to complement the new ICT framework (EYFS to KS3) being promoted by NAACE. Third Millennium Learning NAACE.

The Conference will provide clear guidance on how teaching and learning in ICT is changing with practical guidance on how school ICT leaders can implement ideas in the classroom.

Book a place

£95 - Conference day only

£195 - Conference day and 5 follow-up twilight sessions

The conference features keynote speakers, who will inform us of current national priorities and identify opportunities for implementing these in school. There will be workshop sessions based on themes in NAACE's 'Five Areas of the ICT Framework'. All of the workshops will identify simple ways to structure teaching and learning in the five areas.

The Five Areas of the ICT Framework

• Digital literacy
• Skills
• Technology in the world
• Technological understanding
• Safe and responsible use

Follow-up twilight sessions will be held throughout the year at the e-Learning Centre in Top Valley. Each session will cover the five areas of the NAACE Framework in more detail. Anyone from your school may attend these follow-up sessions.

Try something new in your school

One of the most common questions I'm asked is...."How can I persuade other teachers in my school to try this out....." One answer might be to get your school involved in "RiskIT".
This is an opportunity to have a whole school initiative for 2 weeks in October to try something out within a culture that accepts that mistakes might happen and that experimentation can bring fantastic rewards.
the idea isn't to engage the ICT enthusiasts in your school but to encourage everyone to participate. Some of the stated goals are:

•Working in judgment-free environment


•Trying new things

•Experimenting

•Taking the fear out of technology

•Making teachers young again

•Mind over matter

•Taking control of the technology

•Learning new things

•Learning from students

•Not afraid of failure, but learn from it

Visit http://www.riskitweek.com/ for more details and to register

Robomind: a programming solution for your school?

If you are looking for another programming opportunity for your pupils you should take a look at Robomind. This is a free program that can be downloaded from www.robomind.net

In Robomind a robot is programmed to move around a map. It can be programmed either by using commands or, really easily, by using the “remote control”. The really nice feature is that when using the remote control the code generated is visible which creates a visual introduction to scripting.

A fun feature is the ability to pick up and put down an object as you carry it through a maze, making it possible to add a gaming or competitive aspect to tasks.

Nelc Wildlife Project News



Thrush nest on a security light!

It is almost a year now since we offered schools nestbox and feeder camera units and we have already had some successes. Many congratulations to Middleton Primary and Berridge Infants who have had birds nesting and fledging from the boxes as well as some upseting moments with other birds raiding their nests. But, as we know - that's nature for you!

To view some of the images from our school webcams, click on the image above to the Nelc Wildlife Project website.

A Big Thank You!

Thank you to all the schools and teams within the city who have bought into our services this year. This means we will continue to work at full strength, helping you develop the use of new technologies to improve educational opportunities for young people across the city. Over 30 schools have already committed to our programmes and we are taking on new schools on a weekly basis. If you haven't yet decided which way to go, please contact us sooner rather than later, as our capacity to deliver services is reaching full capacity.

For complete information on our services and pricing please visit Education Services Nottingham, your one stop shop for all schools and academies.

Re-organistation of the Nottingham e-Learning Centre

We recently closed our centre in Clifton, Nottingham, consolidating all our services into our centre in the north of the city at Top Valley.
It has been a very busy period, with a lot of kit and furniture being moved about, plus managing the de-commissioning of the centre and making a new home for Clifton staff at Top Valley.
We are now up and running, working with schools, students and staff across the region.
Our staff expertise, training opportunities and e-learning curriculum support remain unchanged.

Updated contact details:

Nottingham e-Learning Centre
Top Valley Drive
Top Valley
Nottingham
NG5 9AZ

Telephone: 0115 9159511

Administrator: Jennifer Myrie jennifer.myrie@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Head of Centre: Martin MacGillivray martin.macgillivray@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Other staff details are on the Contact Us page.

Scratch programming

For a number of years we have been using Scratch programming software in our learning activities. Class groups and even teachers on training courses have programmed interactive art, games and animations with music, voice recordings and sound effects. All done in an accessible building-block programming software.



Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is completely free and is particularly designed for younger people to get them started in programming - one of the key areas for developing ICT skills, knowledge and understanding. The government has named Scratch as a vehicle for  teaching and learning in a modern IT curriculum.

In the process of creating interactive stories, games, and animations with Scratch, young people can learn computational programming skills and concepts.

Here at the e-Learning Centre we offer support for teaching and learning Scratch programming:

• Leading the teaching of class groups in older Primary school classes in support of ICT and Control Technology, and with a bit of imagination - across the curriculum.
• Leading the teaching of classes across year groups in Secondary schools. Scratch can be taught within Art (interactive artworks), Design and Technology (systems and control), Maths (logic, numeracy) and ICT (programming) and in other curriculum areas for introducing different ways for students to be creative - how about interactive animations in French?
• INSET and CPD in learning to use Scratch and starting points for teachers in Primary and Secondary schools in half-day courses at our centre or in schools.
• Medium-term planning for implementing Scratch programming into curriculum areas, supported by Schemes of Learning, lesson plans, leading lessons, co-teaching and technical support.

Using Scratch with Lego WeDo

SCRATCH Sub from ryan wistort on Vimeo.

We can now offer Scratch sessions that incorporate Lego WeDo models. By connecting the Lego WeDo to a computer running Scratch, you can learn:

• How to control models you build, such as turning motors
• How to use the tilt sensors on  the models to interact with the software interactively (as the video above shows.

Scratch and WeDo

Please be in contact with Jamie at the e-Learning Centre for more information on booking classes, CPD or even if you just want to find out more about Scratch software and what we can offer to support your teaching and your students' learning.

Year 1 class with controllable robots and Lego.

Two short videos from an afternoon at St. Mary's Primary School in Hyson Green.

Year 1 pupils had fun (yes, fun!) with Lego Duplo making and testing mechanical models. They also programmed the controllable Bee Bots robots to extend their number bonds and get round a maze.

The pupils helped record the videos.