We make and run school web sites. Teachers, children and parents love them and learn from them.

Just look at the list to the left for school weblogs that have "recently updated." Each link is a school's living, breathing school blog, whereas this site is where I draw these schools together into a community and write about our business of selling school blogs and whatever takes my fancy. I am a blogger who blogs the school blogs :-) Blogging, hosting and building these sort of sites, since 1999, for the UK government and non-profits.

Used by hundreds of thousands of people with many different hosters, from all over the world, our system is tried, well tested and extended. With an active development community. We're experienced, knowledgeable and committed to our school customers, plus we truly believe in the transforming power of this style of communication in education. Check out how children can use it and are using it. Read what our customers say!

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We're so confident that you'll actually enjoy updating your site you can even try one for free for 30 days! We have prices & packs, starting from just £3 per pupil on your roll—great for small schools and capped at £990 for large schools. Including everything you'll want: hosting, training, mentoring, monitoring and moderation. £1 per pupil up to £200/year hosting and support thereafter. (English schools can use their eLCs to purchase.)

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There are sound educational reasons for using blogs in the classroom. Their use as front of house communication, interaction and engagement, on a micro scale, draws regular readers from your off-line community into your on-line community.
 Fr, May 9, 2008
Robots and humans
Children being failed by progressive teaching, say Tories: "Generations of children have been let down by so-called progressive education policies which have taught skills and "empathy" instead of bodies of knowledge, the shadow education secretary, Michael Gove, said yesterday."
Michael Grove
Maybe it's because it's the Guardian, but this opening paragraph sounds absurd IMHO. Make all-round humans or regurgitating robots?

Grove went on, "if you come from a poorer household where you don't have your own bedroom, where the only printed material is the Daily Star, then school is the only place you learn, and progressive methods let you down."

Sounds like a snob. I wonder if Michael Grove was Eton educated? A quick look around Google draws a blank. Though, I have a feeling that he was privately educated.

Schools minister Jim Knight claimed the Tories were "out of touch" with reality. "This artificial distinction between trendy teaching and learning dates, events and places bears no relation to what actually happens in today's classrooms," he said.
# Posted by Steve Hooker at 9/5/08; 8:26:40 AM to the Education news dept.
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Robots and humans



 Tu, May 6, 2008
Happy new customer
Steve
Each time I have visited over the weekend it has been a revelation! I just wish I had found you a year ago!!!  

A FANTASTIC job and I am really looking forward to introducing the site to parents and pupils. I have decided that the way forward to start with is for me to get to know the site a little and then launch a school "Web club" then children will be able to get actively involved in the process. In the meantime, Gina and I will continue to post items.  

Once again many thanks. I look forward to a long and happy working relationship!

Woodside near The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, had an IK site but found it too limiting. I took the bulk of what they did there and their prospectus and created this new editable, bloggable, manageable site. Just awaiting some bigger pictures of their good looking school to complete the design. Then, they're off... Into the blogging world :-) With me, as big brother, watching over them.
# Posted by Steve Hooker at 6/5/08; 8:11:21 AM to the Walsall Schools business dept.
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Happy new customer



 Su, May 4, 2008
Quality earning
Good parents 'should be rewarded': "What I would like to see is a benefits system that would reward parents for engaging with schools - that could be linked in some way to the benefits they get.

Perhaps parents who spent time reading to their children, going to school parents evenings or helping out in their school, could get higher payments."

Perhaps also, contributing to the school's website? This could be easily recorded and tracked...
 # Posted by Steve Hooker at 4/5/08; 11:40:43 AM to the Psychology dept.
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Quality earning



 Tu, Apr 29, 2008
Just 'cos we eat worms
Playgroups 'cut leukaemia risk': "Children who attend daycare or playgroups cut their risk of the most common type of childhood leukaemia by around 30%, a study estimates."

Nobody likes me
Everybody hates me
Just because I eat worms

Short fat hairy ones
Long tall skinny ones
See how the little ones squirm

Bite all their heads off
Suck all the juice out
Throw the empty skins away.

It's the reverse of what you'd think. "Protect your children from coughs and sneezes..." It's wrong.

I sent my two to nursery. There, they caught some weird infections... Who'd heard of slapped cheek disease?  However, Brad, caught RSV, which is like a very bad cold, or flu in very young children. Blue lips and a dash to the hospital panicked me. All this made me feel awful for having to work, having to send them to nursery. Now... I can feel righteous. Oh dear :-)
Next, it tomatoes, tomatoes, everywhere! Oh dear--again :-(
# Posted by Steve Hooker at 29/4/08; 4:39:32 PM to the Psychology dept.
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Just 'cos we eat worms



 Mo, Apr 28, 2008
Less girls, better boys
Boys 'might do better in single-sex classes': "boys would benefit at all ages from being taught English in English schools with as small a proportion of girls as possible."

# Posted by Steve Hooker at 28/4/08; 9:49:08 AM to the Psychology dept.
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Less girls, better boys



 Th, Apr 24, 2008
Oops! Outage
Sorry! We were off line for 5 hours, from 5.15 till 10.15pm. It was the connection, not us.
# Posted by Steve Hooker at 24/4/08; 10:51:08 PM to the Walsall Schools business dept.
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Oops! Outage



Going to be quiet here today?
Teacher strike shuts out 1m children: "At least a million children at 8,000 schools will be barred from lessons today as striking teachers trigger acute shortages across the country.

Headteachers and teaching assistants have been drafted in to take the place of striking colleagues after school authorities failed to avert widespread school closures. A third of schools will be turning some pupils away and one in six will close entirely."

Think I'll go out and take the dog for a walk.

# Posted by Steve Hooker at 24/4/08; 10:01:14 AM to the Education news dept.
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Going to be quiet here today?



 We, Apr 23, 2008
Strike to disrupt 6,000 schools
BBC: Strike to disrupt 6,000 schools: "Warnings to parents from 88 local authorities - half of the total - show that 28% of schools are expected to face disruption.

The one-day pay strike is being staged on Thursday by members of the National Union of Teachers."

# Posted by Steve Hooker at 23/4/08; 9:21:48 AM to the Education news dept.
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Strike to disrupt 6,000 schools



 Sa, Apr 19, 2008
No more homework anymore
Homework for primary schoolchildren 'is complete waste of time', claims study "Researchers struggled to find a link between how well the children do in national tests and the amount of extra tasks they are set.

It is thought that young pupils tire too quickly, do not have the skills to study effectively, and are too easily distracted.

This is in contrast to secondary school students, who perform better academically if they regularly do homework."

# Posted by Steve Hooker at 19/4/08; 9:55:04 AM to the Education news dept.
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No more homework anymore



 Th, Apr 17, 2008
Double holidays?
Where is everybody? These Easter holidays have been strange. Our local schools started on Easter weekend, others will be back next Monday... That's 4 weeks of holidays.

# Posted by Steve Hooker at 17/4/08; 1:56:27 PM to the Community dept.
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Double holidays?







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