From September 2005, all Ofsted (UK) inspections were radically changed.

"Central to the new inspections is the self-evaluation form, which the inspectors use to determine which areas of school life to focus on. There's very little classroom observation, but just enough to determine whether the school's own assessments are accurate." .. inspectors give schools only 48 hours notice.

There is a free, easily digestible, 30 minute online video from (Teachers TV) "The 48 Hour Inspection" that can get you up to speed on this .... and could be useful with any staff discussion of this issue ... the video is focused on Primary but would have relevance to all age groups.

There are links to other relevant resources related to this (and other) aspects of School Inspection available on Shambles at www.shambles.net/pages/staff/Inspection
 

The Keys to ALL Learning : Brain-Based Research and more ......
A co-sponsored Scientific Learning International Brain Summit
May 17th, 2006 at the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, Bangkok

The purpose of this seminar is to bring together educators, parents, health care professionals and share the latest research and technology and ways to maximize the potential of children in their learning experience

"We have invited scientists and professionals from the US, Singapore, and Germany to speak about very interesting topics regarding the latest in Neuroscience Research, Sensory-Integration, Neurofeedback, and many other relevant topics that would give a deeper understanding of what is going on during a student's learning process and techniques to maximize this learning."

For more details visit the website or contact the organisers ...
Naresh Indhewat info@adbkk.com
 

OFSTED Report (UK): Good school libraries: making a difference to learning
published March 2006 http://tinyurl.com/qs8lh
This report identifies those factors which help to produce good libraries
in primary and secondary schools.
It emphasises the importance of .....
          - the commitment and support of headteachers;
          - the appointment of specialist library staff;
          - effective monitoring and evaluation; and
          - coherent programmes for developing pupils’ information literacy.
The report draws on inspection data collected from visits to 32 schools between September 2004 and July 2005. It includes case studies from some of the schools.

"Headteachers with vision bring about most significant improvements in libraries"

"Report confirms that effective school libraries
can have a positive impact on pupils' learning"

Another recent study in Ontario (Canada) "Kids at schools with librarians do better" also supports this outcome ... download pdf file/report from http://tinyurl.com/fg87k

SILCAsia Listserv has moved
In order to improve the online communication of SILCAsia members the listserv is now hosted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/silcasia/
.. you will need a Yahoo ID in order to join.
To post a message email silcasia@yahoogroups.com to subscribe email silcasia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
SILCAsia : " Library Media Specialists Serving American and International Overseas Schools in the Pacific Rim"
... old archives live at http://listserv.sc.edu/archives/silcasia.html

Google Librarians Third Issue Newsletter
Available at http://tinyurl.com/zpwf8 topics are :
| Google and Scholastic offer lesson plans | How Google Earth works | Taking a Virtual Field Trip with a Book | What's next for the Library Center |

Is a library blogger a "Liblogarian" ?
 

There is no doubt that Blogs are here to stay ....

.... Timothy Evans, Head of Performing Arts at Yokohama International School, Japan, has built one to support I.B. Theatre.

A place for IB Theatre students, teachers and theatre people.

Woodstock School (India) www.woodstock.ac.in
OK .. not a website but it does involve ICT.
The school had a particularly impressive write-up of their ICT capability in Digit Magazine in March 2006.
Digit is one of the two largest consumer computer magazines in India .
CLICK HERE to download the pdf file (780KB)
 

SEAMC : this year's contest (23-26 Feb. 2006, Hong Kong) was three days of
intense competition hosted by a group of seven international schools in Hong
Kong, it attracted 39 teams of 3 students each from across SE Asia.

The winners of the 'Warry Cup' (named after the founder of the contest) were KGV
School (KGV Roar), Hong Kong, closely followed by Singapore American School
(The Jocks) and Island School, Hong Kong (The BAD).
The individual contest was won by Eng Seng NG from Singapore American School who got an amazing 46 out of 50 (second got 41) in a very tough contest.
The contest included a guest presenter, Professor Marcus du Sautoy fellow of Wadham College, Oxford who gave the teachers some insight into the latest research on Prime Numbers and a hint of their importance to students in a talk entitled 'Why Does Beckham Wear Prime?'

SEAMC 2007 : information for your diaries is:
Feb. 1-4, 2007 to be held in Singapore at 2 different international schools.
Contact:
Jim Kett, Singapore American School jkett@sas.edu.sg
  

The number of Web 2.0 websites has grown considerably since the last newsletter and the page on Shambles has grown in proportion.

The Shambles page attempts to approach the idea of Web 2.0 from a teaching and learning perspective providing links to a number of relevant resources that can be used in the classroom and in virtual space.

The page also has an area related to "Library 2.0" which is an interesting concept being embraced by some schools .... although it's not yet completely clear what a school "Library 2.0" would look like .... but a very interesting debate.

Free downloadable publication
"Coming of Age: An introduction to the NEW worldwide web"
The main objectives of this new free publication are first to inspire teachers to want to try some of these "new tools" (web 2.0) for themselves and with their classes, and then to provide practical advice and guidance on how to do so.

The publication is a collaborative venture between
14 people from the USA, Canada, Thailand and the UK ...
more info plus pdf file downloadable from a link at
www.shambles.net/web2/comingofage/
 

Most, if not all, schools around the world are well experienced raising funds for good causes .... the "Fund Raising" area on Shambles has over forty ideas ...

One of my favourites is Wall (and Ceiling) Duck Tapings ... of people .... but take note of the advice at the 'ducktape guys' website as it could be dangerous.

... but what fun : duck taping the headteacher to the wall ;-)
If you do this then PLEASE send me a photo for the newsletter csmith@csmith.info