<p>‘Closing the Gaps’ is a collection of tried and tested ideas to help advance the skills, enthusiasm, and achievements in academic and non-academic areas for the variety of disadvantaged students, but they also benefit through pushing all students to do even better, to really impact on their life chances. So it really does not matter where you are coming from, what matters is where you are going and how you are going to get there.</p> <p>The resources are rich points, allowing you to develop and reflect on your journey to success, keeping in mind that you will learn a lot from these resources about yourself, about your team and about the individuals in your classes, just as your students will be learning a lot about themselves and each other as they go on the journey to success.<br /> Suitable for all ages and abilities, there is something in here for everyone.</p> <p>These resources have been successfully used in pre-school lessons, elementary, junior, and primary schools, in secondary and high schools, in colleges and in higher education. They have been used in a wide variety of schools and in home schooling, and there is every expectation that you too will be remarkably successful with your students because of using these resources, paying diligence, these resources should easily and rapidly become embedded in your classroom practice.</p> <p>‘Closing the Gaps’ is not just about academic achievement it is more, much more than that as it is about enriching lives, yours, and your students, and improving their life chances.<br />  <br /> These resources can be successfully used in primary schools, secondary schools, high schools, free schools, academies, MATs, Charter schools, private and state schools, and colleges across the world. They can be used in various ways and here are some ideas from current users:</p> <ol> <li>For inclusion, extensions, differentiation</li> <li>One-to-one, in pairs, teams, and as a whole class</li> <li>With students of all ages and abilities</li> <li>With classes of all sizes, big or small, there is something in here for all</li> <li>To raise questions</li> <li>To ask for examples</li> <li>To give examples</li> <li>Get students to role play their answers not just write or say them</li> <li>To generate points for discussion</li> <li>In developing rich learning and communication skills e.g. Suppose you were…? What could be an example of…?</li> <li>Get others into your classes and your classes out of the school for good reasons!</li> <li>Do not try and do everything yourself</li> <li>Sometimes you can lead with these great resources</li> <li>Sometimes use them with another member of staff</li> <li>Sometimes team up with a couple of students and co-run the class</li> <li>Other times, let the students pick the page, the task and let them manage the activity</li> <li>Extremely exciting resources, as you will learn a lot about and from your students</li> </ol> <p>Each entry is important on its own, but become more important, and more powerful, when used in combinations.</p>

<p>Outstanding teachers are made: they are made by their environment, they are made by their opportunities, they are made by their decisions; they are made by their attitude; they are made by effort.</p> <p>There are many things you can do to become an outstanding teacher. So, here is a collection of over thirty things you can do to become an outstanding teacher, things that have worked time and time again in my schools, tried and trusted ideas that can help you become outstanding and encourage, by example, others to be so.</p> <p>In this collection, I have drawn from various sources over time and around the world such as my colleagues and my own experiences, as a student, a teacher, teacher trainer, a manager, a governor. I also draw on experiences and insights from teacher training course leaders, faculty leaders, head-teachers, school governors, government officials, inspectors, parents, and students.</p>

<p>Here is a quote from a recent buyer of these resources: "In the first year alone, using these resources has saved our school £50,000 and brought in £20,000 of extra income. This resource gives lots of ideas, practical, simple, engaging, easy to implement, and rewarding. Is this the best £2.50 we have ever spent? Absolutely ".</p> <p>Suitable for all ages and abilities, use these resources with individuals, pairs, teams, whole classes and at whole school level.</p> <p>Want to save money? Yes. Want to generate more income for your school? Yes. Then here is a collection of life skills and things for you to try, for you to work with others on, and to use as starting points in discussions and actions. Such as establishing a no food wasted at this school champion in each class, positive action against water waste, against food waste, against electricity waste, exercises, reading buddies in the library, renting out rooms, labs, lecture theatres, and sports halls, learning to mend that bike.</p> <p>Beneath each heading are some visuals to function as stimulants for debate, discussion, and action: a variety of things are there for you to deal with and to do.<br /> These resources are inclusive, wide ranging, and engaging as they offer practical things to do inside and around the school, inside and around your home, inside and around your community to help with the cost-of-living crises.</p>

<p>Ice-breaker’s can also be known as openers, starters, introductions, energisers, connectors, skill-developers, confidence boosters, community collectives, bonding sessions, joint-exercises…</p> <p>Getting off to a great start in any situation is increasingly important. Today, maybe more than ever, schools, and what you do early on in school, is really important.</p> <p>This ice-breaker game is suitable for all ages and abilities, and maybe best used in small groups in a whole class where the buzz and dynamics can be immense, the learning rich, the social skills plentiful, the resilience rises, the buoyancy and confidence grows from day one.</p> <p>Here’s what successful users said:<br /> Brilliant, just brilliant… our school is buzzing<br /> We used this in small groups in our new class every morning for a week, what a great start, everyone is still buzzing<br /> Builds a powerful sense of belonging to something special… your class<br /> Encourages differences and similarities to recognised and valued<br /> Hugely improves our efforts at inclusion<br /> The students quickly came out of their shells and are blossoming<br /> Reveals much of the nature of the students<br /> Gets us buzzing as a group<br /> Encourages participants to take part in their own game and go sand find things out from others… brilliant ice breaker game<br /> Helped to resolve a huge problem we had in getting students to gel<br /> Switches the students brains on from the moment go<br /> Helps to break down various barriers<br /> Gives a big boost to developing important life skills<br /> This gives a great insight and a fantastic array of examples, clues and hints as to the characters of and in each group<br /> Helps participants learn about themselves<br /> Helps participants learn things about others<br /> Helps you learn about the participants (you can be a player as well sometimes)<br /> Makes it easy to develop class rules of fairness and cooperation<br /> Builds a sense of purpose<br /> Creates a sense of community and togetherness.</p> <p>This ice-breaker game has been successfully used by hundreds of teachers, tutors and heads of years, in various countries, in various schools and educational settings, and in catch-up, revision, and summer schools.</p> <p>So enjoy, see, and feel the benefits of using this ice-breaker game, probably the coolest and most successful in the world.</p>

<p>Brilliant resources that can be used at the start of term and mid term. Can be used with individuals, pairs, groups, teams, whole class. Good for raising awareness of their surroundings, doing, talking, looking, reporting, reflecting. This resource has been found to positively encourage language skills, communication, spacial awareness, and responsibility. Enjoy.</p>

<p>There is good evidence that the better a student’s communication skills, the better are their life chances in and beyond school.</p> <p>Students can make significant gains with these resources. This wonderful collection of fantastic resources will help to get students learning to learn, talking, sharing, caring, and making sense of what is being said.</p> <p>Advantages of using these resources include: learning to learn, getting students more actively involved in their learning, developing deeper understanding, widening vocabulary and social interaction skills, improving presentation techniques in a safe environment, enhancing listening skills, developing student curiosity, questioning, reasoning, analysis, explaining, justifying, understanding, boosting their self-esteem, developing their confidence, giving them exposure and experience in being reflective, and cultivating a sense of joy of learning and a sense of purpose.</p> <p>Each task is suggestive and adaptive/flexible.<br /> Each task could be a starter, a plenary, a breakout session, a small group activity, an inclusion, enrichment, extended task, and they can be used across the curriculum and beyond for consolidation.<br /> Students learn about sounds and emphasis, word choices and word combinations, phonics, spoken content, talking construction, deconstruction, emphasis, imagery, what is missing from a line of reasoning, types of questioning, cooperation and through practice and reflection. They learn from each other and about themselves. You know students benefit if they are involved, so let them organise and lead on some activities whilst the teacher plays other roles such as facilitator, coach, or assistant.</p>

<p>Breaking the ice is so important, here are some great resources I and others have used in and outside class.</p> <p>This ice-breaker game is suitable for all ages and abilities, used in small groups in a class where the buzz and dynamics can be immense, the learning rich, social skills blossoming, resilience and confidence is nurtured.</p> <p>Transformational.</p>

<p>Popular dyslexia friendly resource with over 60 cool things to do this festive season in and outside school. suitable for all ages and abilities, these great resources can be used in singles, pairs, teams, groups, whole class, and outside school with family, friends, and community. Enjoy.</p>

<p>Fantastic set of ideas for all your students, all the class, all the family to try. Bring miles of smiles wherever you use these resources.</p> <p>Suitable for all ages and abilities. Dyslexic friendly version coming soon.</p> <p>Enjoy.</p>

<p>OFSTED is often in the news, and has been controversial ever since its gestation. Here are ways for it to improve.</p>

The Queen@90. Majestic. The Queen's Official birthday is coming soon... very soon... so grab these resources and rejoice, as with these resources, you too can celebrate in real style. This is a magnificent set of over 90 things to do to celebrate The Queen’s 90th birthday. Suitable for all ages and abilities, at schools, colleges, work, voluntary groups, community groups, care homes, clubs and cafes, here is a collection of fantastic ideas about 90th Birthday Cupcakes, design and build a brand new Royal Carriage, a new Palace fit for the Queen made from recycled materials, fly 90 colourful flags for 90 seconds, plant a beautiful 90th Birthday Celebration Garden.... WOW...this is a rich and rewarding collection for you to really enjoy, to show you can share and care. These resources will aid the development of really important life skills such as skills in thinking, communicating, organising, managing, motivating, reflecting, and enjoying. There is something for everyone in here, with rich activities drawing on, for example, elements of Geography, History, Citizenship, Maths, Science, English, Languages, Art, Drama, Music, Dance, Sports, Exercise, RE, PSHE, Design, Engineering and Technology, Reading, Writing and Royalty.

Fantastic and successful game used in pre-school, primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and FE, this icebreaker-board game can be printed off and laminated and used in class as many times as you like. There is an A4 size board included here and an A3 size board in another file for you. <br /> Why bother? Well, let’s share some views from people who have successfully used my ice-breaker games. The comments come from current Teachers, Teaching Assistants, SEND co-ordinators, heads of house, inclusion managers and Form Group Tutors.......: We used this in small groups in our new class every morning for a week, what a great start, everyone is still buzzing... Builds a strong sense of belonging to something special... your class...Encourages differences and similarities to recognised and valued...Hugely improves our efforts at inclusion...The students quickly came out of their shells and are blossoming...Reveals much of the nature of the students... Gets us buzzing as a group...Encourages participants to take part in their own game and go and find things out from others... brilliant ice breaker game...Helped to resolve a huge problem we had in getting students to gel...Switches the students brains on from the moment go...Helps to break down various barriers...Gives a big boost to developing important life skills...This gives a great insight and a fantastic array of examples, clues and hints as to the characters of each individual in the group...Helps participants learn some things about themselves...Helps participants learn some things about others...Helps you learn about the participants (you can be a player as well on some occasions)...Makes it easy to develop class rules of fairness and cooperation...Builds a sense of purpose...Creates a sense of community and togetherness...Brilliant, just brilliant... our school is buzzing...

<p>60 Great Things Do To Celebrate Prince Harry and Meghan’s Wedding.</p> <p>Suitable for all ages and abilities, with scope for differentiation and inclusion, mental and social welfare. Covering a wide range of school curricula, leadership and learning, these resources can improve creativity, cooperation, pair and team work, writing, spelling, reading, phonics, presentation, risk taking, critical appraisal and feedback skills. Enjoy.</p>

<p>From the outset, OFSTED has, and will continue to be, a controversial aspect of education in England. Now is the time to revisit and rethink what it should be looking for when it inspects and reports on a school. This resource gives some great ideas on how it can improve itself and help improve what it inspects. Doing these things will offer better value for money, a more complete and considered report, a more rounded and nuanced picture, a more sustainable education inspection system, and improvements in school life and achievements.</p> <p>Your Basic Principles Can Be: RATED<br /> Respect<br /> Accountability<br /> Transparency<br /> Equality &amp;<br /> Due Process</p>

This is a fantastic set of colourful resources about the 2016 Rio Olympics. Colleagues and I, and some parents, recently used it with classes in years 1-7 and they loved it and learnt a lot about themselves, phonics, and how they capture and phrase sentences; and how to reflect on what other people say and do and reason. You too can use these activities solo, in pairs, threes, teams, groups, as a whole class and at home. This pack includes material on the venues, maps and commentating challenges; questions about the venues and sports; writing frames and doodles and thoughts page...... there is also a word search game with....... wait for it......wait......with answers!... (on a separate page). A version of the flag of the Olympic Games and the flag of Brazil are included.

Part of a brilliant set of HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) resources, proven in practice to get significant and sustained results. This set is about Analysing. The more your students get the chance to think, to talk, to reflect, to question, to reason, to care and to share, the more they will make rich, broad and deep progress. <br /> <br /> Use these resources inside and outside the classroom on 1-1, in pairs, in groups, in teams, and as whole class activities. See the Guide for Seven great ideas on how to use the resources. Brilliant, just brilliant.

<p>Huge variety of creative, engaging, thoughtful things to do for the King’s Coronation including drama, puppetry, poetry, music, dance, fashion, community, writing, reflecting, imagining, role play, environment, etc. Suitable for all ages and abilities, inside and outside school. Enjoy.</p>

Use these resources inside and outside the classroom, one-to-one, in pairs, groups, teams, and as whole class activities. These resources have been used in the UK, India and Africa as rich starting points, starters, plenaries, breakouts, extensions, inclusion and differentiation.<br /> <br /> Proven in practice to boost confidence, increase resilience, securing significant and sustained results for a wide variety of students. Also proven to be beneficial for cover lessons, for Teaching Assistants and Trainee Teachers. Excellent for use in after-school clubs and at home as well.

Back to school in 2018: it is going to be a great year, so come on, get these great resources and get going. Excellent variety, fantastic inclusion and differentiation possibilities and great for building self esteem, life skills, co-operation, confidence and committment. Focussed, fun and user friendly: power your class for 2018. <br /> Views from successful users include: Great way to get people new to others doing things; Builds up a strong sense of belonging; Hugely improves efforts at inclusion; Encourages initiative and social confidence; Develops buoyancy – students recovering from set-backs (e.g. they mess up, reflect, learn from it and move on...); Draws out skills often hidden in class; Gets us buzzing as a group.

Due to popular demand, this is a dyslexia friendly version of Word Triples.<br /> <br /> Over 60 pages, with plenty of templates, Word Triples is suitable for: all ages and abilities; one-to-one, in pairs, small groups, teams and whole class; for short sessions and longer sessions; as a starter, plenary, breakout; as an extension; for inclusion and differentiation. <br /> <br /> Tried and tested, here are some comments from current teachers, TAs, SEND coordinators, tutors, in nursery, primary, secondary schools, in colleges, FE and home education.<br /> <br /> Excellent for developing students’ communications skills; Brilliant at getting everyone involved<br /> The best we’ve used to learn patterns in words; Makes students think talk listen reflect; Using these everyday for a term we saw that students writing confidence has grown; Fantastic for enriching vocabulary; Actually gets them excited about using and choosing words; Links well between rhyming and reading preparedness; My students’ oral and written language skills have improved in just one week; My students now enjoy reading and writing; Word Triples is student friendly and welcoming; Using Word Triples at the start of a lesson gets the class busy and buzzing; Students now seem to own their language and development; Students quickly detect the phonetic parts of words and are creating their own families of words... brilliant; Word Triple is a rich and rewarding activity as my pupils can see what’s the same and what’s different in the word families; Spelling grades have gone through the roof this term using Word Triples; The students listen more carefully to words and are making excellent progress this term; Pattern spotting in words is a real and important skill that my students are mastering on a daily basis with Word Triples.

Over 200 pages of ideas for less than the price of a good cup of coffee...so, this is a fantastic collection of resources under the &quot;Keep Calm&quot; theme to use solo, with friends and family, in clubs and cafes, and with colleagues at work and in the community. Tried and tested to improve life chances by working on your confidence, improving social skills, increasing resilience, enriching vocabulary, and encouraging engagement and excitement. <br /> <br /> But the proof of the pudding is in the eating so here is what some current users of this book are saying:<br /> Over two hundred pages of great ideas to use;<br /> For less than a penny a page these are wonderful resources;<br /> Got my students to pick the ones to give to a classmate and talk about it, really simple and powerful;<br /> Made cards out of these and used the cards in class teams to great effect;<br /> The headteacher bought all the staff a copy after seeing these used in another school;<br /> Everyone in our school has bought this ebook and it’s become a classroom favourite;<br /> As a home tutor these were great in developing strong professional relations with the children, and their families;<br /> For less than the price of a good cup of coffee, these really wake the brains up;<br /> Rich and stimulating discussions are being had when we use these in lessons;<br /> A great find, really helping improve the classroom climate;<br /> Every day, I’m dipping into these;<br /> The students love making inspiring feedback cards and messages with these resources;<br /> Our students use these as feedback report cards on what they think... first class;<br /> Enjoyable and rewarding, students eyes light up when I say we’re going to use these resources;<br /> Good quality resources at a bargain price;<br /> Brilliant as we use these resources as starters, breakouts, inclusion, differentiation, extensions... ;<br /> First rate resources I’m using them with primary school students of all ages and abilities;<br /> The sixth form students get a huge buzz when we use some of these resources... ;<br /> The class all of a sudden comes to life when we use these resources;<br /> Probably the easiest way to get students talking is to use these resources;<br /> As a parent and teacher I use these every week at home and in school.<br /> <br /> Also inside you will find a selection of current users' hints and tips about successfully using these resources.<br />