Is your classroom technology safe from damage & theft?
Whilst classroom technology continues to transform the learning environment and empower students with the tools that they need to succeed, it also puts schools under additional pressure, due to the financial investment that is involved. As the use of devices increases in our classrooms, so does the risk of damage and theft, so what can schools do to ensure the technology they are investing thousands of pounds in is secure? James Symons, CEO, LocknCharge offers some advice. Technology comes at a price, and with many schools working with limited, and in some cases shrinking, budgets, it’s more important than ever that they are taking measures to prevent the risk of damage and theft. Of course, there are simple steps that can be taken, using high-quality cases and screen protectors on tablets, and keeping them locked away when they’re not in use, for example, but these things are no longer enough. Protecting devices from accidental damage Encourage students to take responsibility for classroom resources! It doesn’t harm children to know the value of the technology that they are using, as it helps them to understand why it’s so important that they take care of it. If they are taught that it’s a privilege to have tablets in their classroom, they’re more likely to treat them with respect. Creating a set of rules for students, which outlines clearly how the devices are intended to be used, works for lots of schools. Explain to them that by following the rules, they are helping to lower the risk of accidental damage and therefore saving the school money that can be used for new technology in the future. Of course, accidents can (and do) happen, but by putting a policy in place and reminding students that the technology they are handling is expensive, they couldbe prevented. It could be as simple as explaining to students that unlike traditional learning resources, such as textbooks, mobile devices can’t just be left in a pile in the corner at the end of each day. Explain that they need to be locked away securely and charged, or they won’t be ready to be used the following day; there’s no reason why students can’t be responsible for making sure that happens! Expecting children to keep a large number of devices charged and ready-for-use can of course be a tedious task, which is why many schools now install charging carts in their classrooms, for up to 40 tablets at one time. By selecting top loading ones with baskets, the collection and deployment of devices is simplified for the students and staff. Devices can be distributed in half of the time compared to cabinet style carts – saving 70 hours of instruction each year per 30 unit cart. Containing devices in a cart or charging station also protects the cables for the devices, which can easily go missing. Using a cart with a power management system removes the problem of there not being enough plug sockets to charge lots of devices at once and assures circuits aren’t overloaded. Delegating small positions of authority to students teaches them to accept responsibility; it also creates a team-work mentality and will teach them to appreciate the technology they are being given access to. Even better, handing over the responsibility to students means valuable teaching time isn’t impacted by the implementation of technology; it is supposed to be a positive addition to the classroom after all! Securing devices to prevent theft We know that kitting out classrooms with learning technology is beneficial where educational outcomes are concerned, and it’s great to see that schools are investing their budgets in the technology that is proven to enhance creativity and increase engagement. The bit that remains a challenge is getting schools to recognise the importance of protecting these products and devices so that they are safe from theft, which continues to be a problem in schools. So many schools now have classrooms filled with tablets and other ICT equipment, and it’s exactly that which, unfortunately, makes them more attractive to thieves. These schools that rely so heavily on technology could find themselves at a serious disadvantage if they were to be left without it. So, what can they do? As negative as it sounds, schools must prepare for the worst case scenario. A school that uses tablets every single day, for example, would be faced with a real problem if the tablets were suddenly stolen; budgets are tight and simply replacing them isn’t likely to be an option. Here are a few examples of recent school burglaries that prove the seriousness of the issue: * More than £5000 worth of iPad Minis have been stolen from a number of high schools in Edinburgh over the past two years. Laptops costing four-figure sums were also stolen from primary and secondary schools across the Scottish capital, putting additional pressure on schools that are already struggling with budgets. The figures were released by the city council under freedom of information legislation. Many of the schools that were victims of the break-ins and thefts have had to be reimbursed from the city council’s central budget, because they aren’t able to replace the equipment from their own individual funds. * A large quantity of tablets were also stolen from Witton Church Walk CE Aided Primary School in Northwich back in March. This burglary was the second in the space of a month at this particular school; the combined value of the technology stolen from both break-ins totaled around £10,000. * Back in May, at Grange Primary in Kettering, thieves broke into one of the classrooms and removed a cabinet containing ten iPads. All three of these cases confirm why piling devices into a standard cabinet and locking it is no longer safe enough. They demonstrate why no matter how strategic an investment or policy on the particular technologies or devices, there’s no use having them if they aren’t secure. It’s for this reason that so many schools are now investing in security solutions just as they are in the technology itself; but what
Visionary educator develops pastoral care evidence and improvement tool
Bag your school a complimentary 14-day trial of Pastoral Auditor during February! The brain child of a visionary deputy headteacher from Telford, Pastoral Auditor is the industry’s first secure online pastoral effectiveness tool for secondary schools & academies. Developed by safeguarding specialist SSS Learning, Pastoral Auditor enables educators to deliver detailed evidence of different year and gender groups’ knowledge and understanding in PSHE, Citizenship, Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development and Personal Development and Welfare to improve strategy planning. Using Pastoral Auditor, teachers can audit the consensus of pupil groups over time, building a secure, centralised ‘hub’ of evidence for Ofsted and demonstrations of ongoing strategies to support vulnerable young people. To celebrate its launch, SSS Learning is offering a complimentary 14-day trial of the tool. The Ofsted School Inspection Handbook (Handbook for inspecting schools in England under section 5 of the Education Act 2005, August 2016) clearly identifies key areas that inspectors look for including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and personal development, behaviour and welfare. “For pastoral care to promote positive relationships for learning, it is vital that educators listen to learner perspectives and communicate regularly. Once key areas of focus are profiled using Pastoral Auditor, pupils can ask pertinent questions promoting reflection or embedding prior learning. Boyle adds: “Pastoral support relies on a high level of attentiveness so we have created Pastoral Auditor to prompt appropriate discussions amongst teachers and tutors with their student groups. This new solution should feature in every headteacher’s toolkit!” Pastoral Auditor features surveys covering the breadth of pastoral issues, including Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education; Citizenship; Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development including British Values; Personal Development, Behaviour & Welfare and General Pupil Opinion. At key points in the audit, engaging animation clarifies areas relating to a series of questions. To claim your complimentary trial, please visit the web site at www.ssslearning.co.uk.
Schools are making the recruitment crisis worse
• 40% of teachers cited off-putting application processes prevent them applying for jobs • 50% of teachers reported applications taking far too long to complete • 34% would prefer to submit a CV Complicated application forms and arduous recruitment processes are deterring teachers from applying for jobs according to 3,000 teachers surveyed as part of new research published today. A radical overhaul to the teaching recruitment processes employed by most schools is needed if we are to stem the flow of teachers leaving the profession, reports Eteach, the UK’s leading education recruitment providers. They found that 40% of education professionals felt the most off-putting factor in applying for jobs was the time it takes and the laborious process they are forced through just to apply for each role. More than half of them drop out of the application process as a result. The latest findings follow a year of stark headlines highlighting the ongoing teacher shortage facing UK schools, with 37% of education institutes across England’s maintained schools already facing a teacher shortage. The new research also revealed that most teachers find applying for a role too onerous; even a simple expression of interest via lengthy application form often takes more than two hours. Forty percent of those surveyed cited lengthy application processes as the second biggest turn off facing them when looking for a new job, coming close behind location of the school. Eteach founder and CEO, Paul Howells, a former teacher himself, said: “Schools have not adapted their processes to account for the current shortages. In fact they may well be making the situation worse by asking a scarce resource to jump through unnecessary hoops in order to find their next role and to further their career. Our research also shows that schools are, in some instances, making it very difficult for already hardworking teachers to apply for new roles at a time when they should be making it easier. This may well make the teachers feel undervalued and it’s then that they choose to leave the profession altogether. Schools are unwittingly exacerbating their own recruitment crisis. “Imagine you are looking for a new Maths teacher for your school knowing that this type of professional is in scarce supply. You then proceed to make it difficult for them to a) find the application form online and b) submit the forms and documents efficiently. You then add the imposition of pre-application referencing, psychometric testing and audition style demonstration lessons. This makes the candidate experience far more stressful and difficult than it needs to be. “What about safeguarding I hear you say? This should in no way be compromised but should be incorporated into a structured and well thought-through application process with the candidates’ needs very much in mind. “It is essential we wake up to the life balance, professional and technical expectations oftoday’s teachers by making the process much more welcoming and more efficient. Byreviewing and overhauling antiquated processes, we can make the whole candidate experience a positive one, especially during this turbulent period.” The Education Landscape report is a combination of independent data and third party insights for school leaders and is free to access at Eteach.com. Other issues covered within the report include the impact of workload and working hours on our already “flat out” teachers.
Teaching teenagers with SPD
Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is most often spoken about in relation to toddlers and young children, but it’s a condition that affects teenagers as well. However, much of the treatment information and advice available on SPD is targeted at a younger age bracket, and isn’t always helpful when it comes to knowing how to help a teenager cope in an educational setting. Teenagers are more conscious of what their peers will think than a small child might be, and won’t necessarily respond in the same way to techniques designed to help them cope in the classroom. Understanding SPD as it affects each teen individually is the key to helping them succeed in secondary education. Overview of SPD SPD is not a fixed set of symptoms. It is a broad category used to describe several related disorders that affect a child’s sensory processing in different ways. Sensory modulation disorder makes children respond differently to sensory stimuli, as they will normally be over- or under-sensitive to a range of things. If a child struggles with processing sensory information from specific things, such as the speed of an object, they have sensory discrimination disorder. And sensory-based motor disorder is where the child’s processing problems are centred around organisation, motor-skills, and balance. General advice Even within those three sub-categories of SPD there are variations and individual symptoms. It should never be assumed that one child’s experience of SPD is the same as another’s. As such, one of the most important things that a teacher of a teenager with SPD can do is talk to their parents or guardians and any therapists that are involved in their treatment to understand the child’s SPD as best they can. Time spent understanding the behaviour of a teenager with SPD is never going to be wasted. It does no good to punish a pupil for behaviour that arises as a result of their SPD. Understanding why they behave the way they do, and doing what you can to help them in the future, is much more productive. If teachers work with family and therapists to help the child cope with their SPD, then there is no reason why that child can’t succeed in secondary education. In the rest of this article, we’ll look at some broad methods of helping a teenager to cope with specific aspects of SPD. I just want to stress that these are guidelines and suggestions, and should never be prioritised above advice from those close to the child. Coping with touch and motor issues Teenagers who struggle with over- or under-sensitivity to touch can experience a variety of problems in the classroom, from constantly fidgeting, to being unable to concentrate when sitting down for a long period, to being overly tactile with other pupils. These behaviours can lead to them not taking in anything that you’re saying to them, and to them distracting others around them. Of the three areas we’re looking at in this article, touch and motor issues probably require the most creativity to work with. There are some simple things that can be done for many teenagers, such as allowing them to have a fidget toy in class (something subtle that won’t prove too distracting for others), but other methods of helping them involve a little more work. Incorporating physical activities into lessons – anything from getting them up and moving around to more creative, craft activities – can be really helpful for keeping them engaged. In a secondary school environment these kinds of activities aren’t always easy, but it’s worth considering if any of them might work. Coping with sound issues Coping with sound issues should be fairly easy in most secondary school environments, but there are still situations, such as fire drills, that can be stressful for a child with SPD. In the case of a child being oversensitive to sound, the best thing that you can do is plan strategies that help them to deal with loud noises. As a baseline, make sure they have a good amount of warning before something planned happens that might be stressful. You can also give them ways to remove themselves from stressful situations, such as seating them near a door. These strategies can be planned with family and therapists in advance to make them as effective as possible. For teenagers who are under-sensitive, try encouraging them to look for visual signals to tell them what’s going on if they’re confused. You can also assign a friend of theirs or a responsible member of the class to stick with them when something’s happening to make sure they know what’s going on and are able to cope with it. Coping with sight issues Sight issues are probably the easiest to deal with in a way that isn’t disruptive to other things going on in the classroom. Issues like glare can be dealt with simply by seating the child in a shaded area of the classroom, and it may be the case that they need to wear sunglasses of some kind to make them more comfortable. As with auditory issues, giving the child advance warning of anything that might be stressful will always be helpful, and you as a teacher can be sensitive about the kinds of things you do with the class in order to minimise stress. With a bit of thought and flexibility on their teacher’s part, teenagers with SPD can have a great experience in school. This article was brought to you by Patrick Tonks, senior creative director at Great Bean Bags, who create bespoke bean bags for children with SPD for use in both the home and in the classroom.
Apprenticeships ‘on the menu’ as Mitchells & Butlers launch new video series at The Skills Show 2016
Mitchells & Butlers plc, the company behind leading pub and restaurant brands such as All Bar One, Harvester, Miller & Carter, Toby Carvery, Browns and Sizzling Pubs inspired school leavers at last week’s Skills Show, giving future school leavers an interactive experience and showcasing the opportunities that a career in hospitality can offer. During The Skills Show, the UK’s largest careers show which took place at Birmingham’s NEC on 17-19 November, the pub and restaurant operator also premiered its series of ‘Apprentice v Graduate’ and Ever wondered what the benefits of an Mitchells & Butlers Apprenticeship are? videos across social media, highlighting the benefits of an apprenticeship against the option of going to college or university. The two videos demonstrate why there may be practical and financial benefits to an apprenticeship for someone looking to begin a career in hospitality, and how it can be an alternative stepping stone by gaining valuable practical experience alongside a qualification. As the cost of university and further education continues to rise and earning power of graduates drop, Mitchells & Butlers is committed to opening the doors to 1,700 apprenticeships within the next year. The Skills Show is a great opportunity to not only premiere the series, but also get talking and help inspire the next generation of chefs and managers. Leading Teenologist Sarah Newton, also joined the team to capture imaginations with fun food, creative mocktails and a prize giveaway selfie competition. Sarah Newton, one of the UK’s leading youth experts specialising in the emergence of Generation Z comments; “Teaming up with Mitchells & Butlers at The Skills Show was a fantastic opportunity to talk to our next generation of talent and their parents. We all want the best for our children and their futures, but we need to make sure we’re not leading them down a path that might not be right for them. Jan Smallbone, Director of Learning & Talent Development, Mitchells & Butlers comments: “Starting as an apprentice gives young people a genuine alternative to academic study, and a real path to a long term career in hospitality. We are dedicated to working with our teams to nurture this raw talent and develop them into the future managers across our businesses – and The Skills Show is a fantastic platform for us to talk to these possible leaders and showcase what we have to offer. “Apprentices that join the Mitchells & Butlers team will work across our renowned portfolio of brands, learn from our experienced teams, gain a professional qualification and have a real opportunity to progress up the ladder. Your career really can start with us and help us harness a pipeline of future leaders.” There are currently four different apprenticeships open to all school leavers, the company’s Bar & Waiting Apprenticeship and Chef/Culinary Apprenticeships see young people gain a Level Two qualification within their chosen field within the first 12 months. Mitchells & Butlers Hospitality Management Development Apprenticeship is a three-year programme designed to FastTrack apprentices into supervisory and management roles. It is also one of the first schemes in the industry to offer a combined programme that ensures apprentices gain experience working in customer facing roles alongside learning in the kitchen. Apprentices can then decide which roles best suit them, whilst being provided with the opportunity to take on new challenges. Mitchells & Butlers was a Feature Exhibitor in the Hospitality and Lifestyle sector at the NEC Arena in Birmingham. For more information on the Mitchells & Butlers Apprentice Scheme, how to apply and variety of roles available visit www.mbapprenticeships.co.uk. For more information on the Skills Show visit www.worldskillsuk.org.
Schools battling negative & offensive comments from parents online
In the run-up to Anti-Bullying Week, new data shows that at least 11,300[1] <#_ftn1> school leaders across the country have received negative or offensive comments on social media against themselves, their school or their staff. While cyberbullying among pupils remains a significant concern[2] <#_ftn2> , findings released today by The Key, the organisation that provides leadership and management support to schools, reveal that school leaders are facing their own set of issues on social media – often at the hands of pupils’ parents. Leaders in more than half (56%) of mainstream schools across England said they had encountered negative or offensive comments on social media from children’s parents over the past year, and almost two in 10 (15%) said they’d been the victim of cyberbullying during their career. Personal insults, grievances and potentially libellous remarks are among the types of comments[3] <#_ftn3> that school staff reportedly face from parents via social media sites, like Facebook. One primary headteacher told The Key: “Social media is a massive concern for schools to deal with. Negative and inaccurate comments that would never be said face-to-face are often posted by parents online, and most of the time the school is unaware of these.” Similarly, another school leader said: “Most of the posting occurs outside of school, making it difficult to police or control.” The Key’s survey of more than 1,000 school leaders found that issues were more prevalent at a primary level, with almost six in 10 (59%) saying they’ve had to deal with parents’ negative posts on social media, in comparison to almost half (46%) of secondary school leaders. Speaking about the findings, Fergal Roche, CEO of The Key, said: “Social media is becoming a more and more prominent and influential part of everyday life, and schools are having to adapt quickly to the many new challenges, and opportunities, it brings. “Inaccurate or offensive comments are not only upsetting for those individuals involved, but at a time when schools are increasingly having to market themselves to attract pupils and staff, such public and negative remarks can have a detrimental impact on their reputation.” Schools are using a variety of approaches to support and manage engagement with parents and their wider communities online. Some, for example, are incorporating parent/carer codes of conduct into school policies to set expectations around the use of social media.Others ask parents and carers to refrain from discussing the business of school or children attending school in any public forum, while many request that complaints are made via official school channels rather than social networking sites. Fergal Roche continues: “Schools take complaints seriously, and have formal processes to ensure that any issues are resolved quickly and with pupils’ interests at the fore. Nevertheless, it’s important that schools recognise the potential risks of social media. Building strong, two-way relationships with parents and carers, and having procedures that are clear and mutually beneficial, helps to ensure that everyone feels part of an inclusive community where concerns are aired constructively.” Dr Kathryn Weston, Director at Keystone Aspire and parental engagement expert, said: “The best research evidence tells us that if schools engage with parents in an effective and meaningful way, the benefits for children and their learning outcomes can be substantial. Good two-way communication between parents and schools is fundamental to developing positive relationships. Social media can play a significant role in nurturing this relationship.” One headteacher who has seen the rewards of using social media as a way to engage with parents, explained: “Social media has been an overwhelming force for good in our school. We use it to broadcast all the exciting activities that are going on in a moment-to-moment way – meaning parents are able to connect with school activities far more easily than in the past. “Parents think that it has contributed to a feel-good atmosphere throughout the school and report that they enjoy having something they can ask children about when they get home.” To view the online release follow: www.thekeysupport.com/parents_online_comments-release For more guidance on how schools can respond to negative comments online, please follow: http://key.sc/dealing_with_parents_online_comments For information on how to engage and communicate with parents effectively, please see: https://cpd.thekeysupport.com/parental-engagement
Make handwashing part of the daily school routine
If schools are to avoid the spread of germs and bacteria, handwashing is crucial. Paul Jakeway, Marketing Director at skin care expert Deb, explains. Children are naturally curious. They like to explore things – and for this they often use their hands. At school, this comes with a risk. Hands can become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria – and the main vehicle for their transfer. Illnesses such as colds and the flu can be the result. On average, children have 3 to 8 colds a year as their immune system is more vulnerable to infection. Illness is the largest contributor to absenteeism from school, constituting almost 60% of all absences across schools in England. This can massively impact children’s learning and class performance. Absenteeism also affects parents, who are forced to take time off to look after their ill children. The simplest way for schools and parents to help avoid illnesses at school is that age-old mantra of effective handwashing. It is important to note that water alone does not clean hands effectively. Over 75% of people either don’t wash their hands at all or don’t use soap to clean their hands properly. This lack of education about the importance of soap when washing their hands could be contributing heavily to the spread of infectious diseases in school. A survey by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine unearthed that only 63.8% of primary school pupils regularly washed their hands with soap at school, a figure which dropped to 39% for secondary school pupils. Every primary school in the UK is obliged to teach pupils how to maintain personal hygiene and improve their health and wellbeing as part of the National Curriculum. Schools must adhere to this and value effective hand washing as a priority within schools to improve attendance and reduce illnesses, and one way this can be done is by informing school children of the generally accepted technique for hand washing. The correct technique is to wet, lather, rub, rinse and dry, however this aspect of hygiene education isn’t being effectively taught in school. Many school children are unaware of the importance of correct and thorough hand washing, or the impact it may have on their health. If schools were to make the hand washing procedure fun, engaging and memorable for schoolchildren, then it is likely to increase overall hand hygiene compliance. Teachers and parents also have a responsibility to promote hand hygiene awareness and compliance to school children. Both should be leading by example and be seen to wash their own hands frequently throughout the day, using the proper techniques. In order to reduce germ transfer, it is advisable that primary schools set up a sealed cartridge soap dispensing system, a far more hygienic, economical and environmentally-friendly option than bar soap or bulk fill systems. These dispensing systems are easy to operate for children, and maintenance costs are minimal for schools. To further encourage hand hygiene compliance and reduce the transfer of bacteria, schools must also understand the value of investing in brightly coloured and attractive dispensers to help engage children in the hand washing process. In addition to these visually enticing dispensers, schools should also ensure that education materials are in plentiful supply throughout the school. Posters for children on how and why they should wash their hands with soap are crucial to reinforce the message, as is providing teachers with well thought-out lesson plans and activities on the topic. Effectively conveying the importance of hand hygiene compliancy from an early age and getting children into the habit of washing their hands as part of a daily routine at school and at home will help to ensure that this practise becomes part of their lifelong routine.
Make hand washing part of the daily school routine
If schools are to avoid the spread of germs and bacteria, hand hygiene is crucial. Paul Jakeway, Marketing Director at skin care expert Deb, explains. Children are naturally curious. They like to explore things – and for this they often use their hands. At school, this comes with a risk. Hands can become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria – and the main vehicle for their transfer. Illnesses such as colds and the flu can be the result. On average, children have 3 to 8 colds a year as their immune system is more vulnerable to infection. Illness is the largest contributor to absenteeism from school, constituting almost 60% of all absences across schools in England. This can massively impact children’s learning and class performance. Absenteeism also affects parents, who are forced to take time off to look after their ill children. The simplest way for schools and parents to help avoid illnesses at school is that age-old mantra of effective hand washing. It is important to note that water alone does not clean hands effectively. Over 75% of people either don’t wash their hands at all or don’t use soap to clean their hands properly. This lack of education about the importance of soap when washing their hands could be contributing heavily to the spread of infectious diseases in school. A survey by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine unearthed that only 63.8% of primary school pupils regularly washed their hands with soap at school, a figure which dropped to 39% for secondary school pupils. Every primary school in the UK is obliged to teach pupils how to maintain personal hygiene and improve their health and wellbeing as part of the National Curriculum. Schools must adhere to this and value effective hand washing as a priority within schools to improve attendance and reduce illnesses, and one way this can be done is by informing school children of the generally accepted technique for hand washing. The correct technique is to wet, lather, rub, rinse and dry, however this aspect of hygiene education isn’t being effectively taught in school. Many school children are unaware of the importance of correct and thorough hand washing, or the impact it may have on their health. If schools were to make the hand washing procedure fun, engaging and memorable for schoolchildren, then it is likely to increase overall hand hygiene compliance. Teachers and parents also have a responsibility to promote hand hygiene awareness and compliance to school children. Both should be leading by example and be seen to wash their own hands frequently throughout the day, using the proper techniques. In order to reduce germ transfer, it is advisable that primary schools set up a sealed cartridge soap dispensing system, a far more hygienic, economical and environmentally-friendly option than bar soap or bulk fill systems. These dispensing systems are easy to operate for children, and maintenance costs are minimal for schools. To further encourage hand hygiene compliance and reduce the transfer of bacteria, schools must also understand the value of investing in brightly coloured and attractive dispensers to help engage children in the hand washing process. In addition to these visually enticing dispensers, schools should also ensure that education materials are in plentiful supply throughout the school. Posters for children on how and why they should wash their hands with soap are crucial to reinforce the message, as is providing teachers with well thought-out lesson plans and activities on the topic. Effectively conveying the importance of hand hygiene compliancy from an early age and getting children into the habit of washing their hands as part of a daily routine at school and at home will help to ensure that this practise becomes part of their lifelong routine.
The Importance of Hands on Learning in Schools
Alex Dalton, Managing Director of woodworking machinery specialists Daltons Wadkin, takes a look at the importance of hands on learning, and why subjects such as Design and Technology are important. I think the best example to outline why hands on learning is hugely important is when trying to teach someone to ride a bicycle. You can try and teach them in a classroom, but to actually learn, they should go out and actually ride it. There is the argument that learning from books or academics is the best way to learn, however you can’t ride a bike from reading a book, no matter the number of books you read about cycling, you are still likely to fall off the first time you try! So it is clear that certain situations that hands on learning is vital. It is often hard to properly understand something you have never experienced. This is why hands-on learning is so important in education – there are now more vocational courses that provide more work based experiences than ever before. Hands-on learning allows students to directly take on board and understand what is happening, or how to do something. This is a particularly successful way to teach kinestheticlearners, who learn best by example. However, classes such as art, music, woodworking and mechanics are few and far between these days, which is a shame. This types of classes provide important avenues for both education and career success, not to mention they motivate kids who love hands-on activities to remain interested in coming to school and learning. They also teach practical problem solving, and introduce students to highly skilled trades. Subjects such as Design and Technology (D&T) incorporate many aspects of hands on learning, and give children the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and making functional products. D&T is often a misunderstood and misrepresented subject. For many people, including employers and parents, it is still perceived as the subject they probably studied when they were at school, i.e. woodwork or metalwork. But it is vital that pupils develop an understanding of aesthetics and its role in the design of everyday items and architecture, as well as developing communication skills through designing and group work. In reality, it helps to put the T and E into STEM, and does so within school curriculum time, not as part of extra-curricular, enhancement and enrichment activities. We feel it is vital to nurture creativity and innovation through design, and by exploring the world in which we all live and work. The design process is central to project work and as a method of problem solving. It is the act of generating, developing and communicating ideas for products, services, systems andenvironments. Hugely important in responding to user needs and wants and/or market opportunities. Both digital and traditional design tools may be used. Addressing needs though this problem-solving, creativity bounded by constraints and combined with hands-on practical manufacture are the fundamental skills of an industrial economy. Lastly, there is a huge shortage in this country of people to fill jobs in the highly skilled trades. There are many high paying jobs for auto mechanics, certified welders for the oil industry, electricians, and so on. These are jobs that are intellectually challenging, and offergreat job security. Long live Design and Technology!