Have a great holiday!

Just a quick message from all the staff at SERC, Newbridge, and AIM
We are saying a sad goodbye to Nicky who leaves us after several years to take up a full time post in Essex- we would like to wish her every success with her new job and hopefully less travelling time!
We would also like to say 'goodbye' to the SENCOs who are leaving to retire or to take up posts elsewhere - you can still follow our blog but if you are retiring we would hope that your Internet time is spent elsewhere ...holidays, allotments etc!

Have a great holiday and see you all next year
Clair

on behalf of SERC, Newbridge and AIM

A motivating way to introduce tally charts - use Smarties!!

http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/mathcatch/data_manage/data_a/smarties/pictograph.html#
A nice visually clear way of introducing tally charts in a fun way !

Free 'look, cover, write' online game

http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html
Need a new way to practice spellings? take a look at this free game

British Council - Brit Lit

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/britlit/primary-learners
Some great work here- scroll down and on the right hand side there are a list of books. Each book has a huge range of activities and work prepared to support the story. If you are studying any of these stories next year- take a look here as lots of your planing will be done for you!

Maths games link for early years -> KS 2

http://jenny.myzen.co.uk/games.htm
Need some ideas to reinforce maths concepts and understanding - a very easy and clear site
Useful links to give to parents as it explains the links to different areas of the curriculum their child could be working on

New precision teaching resource

At Newbridge we are a big fan of precision teaching for some pupils who need lots of repetition and a visual clue to their rate of progress. We have a pack prepared to explain how to do this technique and we can deliver training to schools. However I found this link to make visually clear and simple precision sheets - well worth a look
http://www.worksheetgenius.com/html/precision_teaching.php

Worksheet generator - huge free resource

http://www.worksheetgenius.com/html/word_lists_2.php?wordlist=picture+noun+e
Never a fan of worksheets and pen and paper in general- this site is quite a find as you can generate a whole range of sheets and games from a huge list of prepared words or you can easily add you own.
I clicked on 'Word Lists' and then using my own list I was able to easily make acrostics worksheets, bingo cards, code breaker sheets, flash cards, handwriting practice sheet, slideshow, precision teaching sheets, spelling practice worksheets, spelling test reminders and a word search !!!

There are also links for Maths, English, Clip Art, Clip art etc - take a look - may save you hours next term or provide you with 10 more ways to present the same words to a student who needs help to generalise skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwZLFTW4OGY

I have been doing some new training in Redbridge this year looking at using simulated activities to highlight and increase general awareness for a whole range of disabilities and learning profiles. I have a list complied but to see the sort of thing I have been using, take a look at this link - great way to start some training in your school or explain to other family members why some people struggle with literacy acquisition.

An interesting article discussing dyslexia and spellings

http://penelopeelse.com/2011/04/dyslexia-a-remarkably-simple-cure/

This is some light reading but a very interesting article about spelling and our ability to spell effectively or not!
Are you looking upwards when you try to spell a difficult word?

Got a new budget - have a look at this site great sensory, language and coordination resources

http://www.sencostuff.co.uk/
A very easy to navigate site with targeted resources for sensory, communication, coordination, comprehension etc
These type of resources are often on sale at SEN shows, but are often hard to find the rest of the year or are very highly priced.
This site has a good collection at reasonable prices.