General
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A recent study compiled as part of the European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC) has found that English teenagers are the worst in Europe when it comes to foreign languages.
Pupils of 14 European countries were tested through reading, writing and listening tests on the first foreign language taught in schools, and within these tests English pupils came last with the language of French.
The study found that the French reading skills of 90% of English pupils were “basic” meaning they could only understand short, simplified tests, and in their listening skills, 93% of those studying French again had just “basic” use in that they could only comprehend simple expressions and phrases.
Of the report a Department for Education spokesman said: “We are addressing the chronic lack of attention paid to foreign languages in schools.
“It is vital young people start studying a language at an earlier age. That is why from next year we are ensuring that children learn a lan
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Long before we had access to so much in terms of digital media and technology, books were the source of imagination and the fuel of childhood fantasies. Research in 2012 recently showed growing concern from teachers that the stories children most widely recognise in the classroom are Disney stories (from films rather than books) and indicated that it is characters from television and celluloid that spark the interest of most kids in the classroom. This is such a sad state of affairs, given how valuable storytelling and reading are to the development of a child’s imagination and free thinking.
Storytelling is an important part of childhood for so many reasons. Many children love to read independently but storytelling provides a different dynamic, one of equal importance.
Listening to a Story…
Listening to a story helps develop different senses and fuels the imagination in different ways. Through listening to a story, either at bedtime or school stor
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Recent data from the Department of Education has revealed that more than one in seven boys can’t write their own name at the age of five, and figures indicate that 15 per cent of boys struggle to form simple words such as ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ from memory at the end of reception.
When it comes to basic writing, boys are twice as likely to fail as girls, and eight percent of boys cannot count up to ten, compared to five per cent of girls.
This data comes amid concerns that increasing numbers of boys are failing to get a good start to their education, with the Department of Education stating that “girls continue to achieve at a higher level than boys” in areas of development.
Further Figures
The data also revealed a number of other trends:
- 38% of boys were not of able to “attempt writing for a variety of purposes” compared with 19% of girls, this included a basic letter to Santa.
- 5% of boys wer
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National Short Story Week is an annual event designed to raise awareness of short stories, short story writers and publishers through a series of events and activities. This year’s National Short Story Week is being held between November 12th -18th2012.
The event was first created by Ian Skillicorn of Short Story Radio, where he had been producing and broadcasting short stories for many years. He then became Director of National Short Story Week, of which he has took responsibility for raising awareness of the event and encouraging members of the public to take part.
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Nearly a third of people in the UK own an e-reader, with a further 15% planning to buy one in the next six months, a survey by media law firm Wiggin has found.
The company conducted an online survey in March which found that many particupants anticipated taking up e-reading in the near future and a third of those currently reading e-books download them illegally.
A spokesperson for Wiggin said: “E-reading is one of the UK’s fastest rising leisure activities—four in ten of those surveyed (40%) currently read e-books and of these 39% plan to up their digital reading in the next 12 months.”
The survey also found 31% of people who read e-books download pirated copies. The spokesperson added: “Worryingly, 29% of existing e-book pirates intend to increase the amount of pirated e-books that they download over the next year.”
The research, taken from 2,500 consumers aged 15-64, representative of UK national demographics, was carried out for Wiggin’s 2012 Digital
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A young girl has earned herself a place in a national dance team less than a year after major surgery for a rare heart condition.
Talisha Cooper, eight, was born with a hole in her heart and was monitored with six-monthly scans until last year when paediatric cardiologists at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital advised surgery.
The South Wootton Junior School pupil joined Alison’s Street Dance Club, in South Lynn, when she was just four years old. And as a member of 10s Enigma team, she was still rehearsing for a charity concert three days before a five-and-a-half hour operation.
Talisha was under the care of Graham Derrick, consultant paediatric cardiologist, who greeted her and her parents, Gareth and Keeley, on arrival. He always encouraged Talisha to enjoy her dancing, a passion which probably contributed to her being fast-tracked through recovery after the operation.
The build up to surgery was far more harrowing for her parents who found themselves on
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Renowned author David Orme shares a day in the life of a school bound author….
“Off to Stoke Park Juniors to talk to year 6 about how to plan and write fiction – and not just because SATs are looming!
They were all well taught, and knew about the key elements of fiction: Who? (Characters) when and where? (Setting) and What? (Plot). At this point I asked them which of the three was the most difficult to do, knowing the answer I would get because it’s always the same – the plot!
My job is then to convince them that the plot is really the easy bit – because every story ever written has the same plot. Of course, at this point they look at me as if I’m mad!
Someone somewhere worked out that there are actually seven different plots for stories, but I boil it down to one.It goes something like this:
1. There is a problem.
2. A character or characters try and solve the problem.
3. They solve it (happy ending) or make it worse (sad e
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Welcome to the Badger Learning blog where we aim to provide you with helpful resources and information. Badger has been school books since 1989 and under our refreshed website and blog, we will continue to progress with supplying educational resources for both teachers and pupils to learn from.
