An Inspiring Dinosaur Day

A day of teaching about dinosaurs and fossils with Foundation Stage pupils as well as Key Stage 1 children and a class of Year 3 at a primary school in Lancashire this week.  The dinosaur workshops that we delivered went down very well with the eager and enthusiastic young palaeontologists.  The teaching team also had a great time too.

Dinosaurs and Fossils

The visitor from Everything Dinosaur was given a tour of the school and at lunchtime, he was able to view some of the amazing dinosaurs the children had designed – all part of an extension activity that he had set them during their workshop.  A special section of the school had been turned into an “Explorers Area”, lots of arts and craft activities were underway and members of the teaching team explained their plans about creating a “Dinosaur Museum” for the duration of the term topic.

Lots of Dinosaur Themed Artwork on Display in the “Explorers Area”

The children created lots of colourful dinosaur stencil drawings.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view dinosaur themed creative arts and crafts: Dinosaur Themed Arts and Crafts.

Inspiring Teachers and Teaching Assistants

The staff at the school are dedicated to continuous improvement and life-long learning.  As part of a teacher training initiative, the school administrators had been exploring what it takes to be “world class”.  There were lots of pictures of inspirational people as well several inspiring quotations in the well-appointed and tidy staffroom.

Committed to “World Class” Teaching

Dinosaurs in school. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

We look forward to hearing more about how the school’s “Dinosaur Museum” develops.  It is bound to prove inspiring for the pupils.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Great Dinosaur Workshop Venue at Rykneld Primary

The magnificent, recently built sports hall at Rykneld Primary (Burton-on-Trent), was home to Everything Dinosaur for the day as it provided the venue for a series of dinosaur workshops with Key Stage 1.  The sports hall was very spacious.  It permitted the three form cohorts making up Year 1 and Year 2, plenty of space to conduct the physical activities to help reinforce learning about fossils and life in the past in a dinosaur workshop.

A Wonderful Resource for a Primary School

A wonderful venue for a dinosaur workshop. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A Dinosaur Workshop

One of the teaching assistants informed the Everything Dinosaur staff member that one of the children who had taken part had confided with her and exclaimed “it’s my best day ever”! 

Team members at Everything Dinosaur are very adaptable and they can conduct their fossil and dinosaur themed workshops in a variety of locations from outdoor marquees, classrooms, school halls to magnificent buildings such as the new sports hall at Rykneld Primary.

A spokesperson from the Cheshire-based company stated:

“When you see some of the facilities in primary schools these days, it makes you feel very jealous of all the children.  What fantastic facilities and we know how much the pupils and the teachers appreciate them.”

For dinosaur themed prehistoric animals: Dinosaur Gifts and Toys.

The sports hall at this school is certainly well used, no sooner had the day of dinosaur themed workshops ended all the fossils had to be packed up in readiness for this building’s use by the after-school club.

The sports hall at Rykneld Primary school certainly made a magnificent venue for a Key Stage 1 dinosaur workshop.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

Sir David Attenborough Inspires Children

Spotted in the hall of an academy school in the north-west of England, an inspirational poster of Sir David Attenborough helping to motivate and enthuse the next generation of scientists.  The school has set up six houses for the children and each one is fronted by a well-known personality representing virtues such as, in the case of Sir David Attenborough, respect for ourselves, others and the world around us.  Good behaviour and excellent schoolwork can earn the children house-points and at the end of each term the best performing house wins a prize.

Sir David Attenborough

Naturalist and broadcaster Sir David is celebrating his 91st birthday later this year.  He remains an inspiring figure to people of all ages.

Sir David Attenborough Helping to Inspire Children

Life Stories, just one of Sir David Attenborough’s many media projects.

Picture credit: BBC

 The other house leaders are Sir Lenny Henry, J. K. Rowling, Sir Richard Branson, Baroness “Tanni” Grey-Thompson and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, without whose pioneering work you wouldn’t be reading this short blog post.

We pay tribute to all those inspirational people who help inspire the next generation.

Everything Dinosaur team members in their own small way help to inspire the next generation of scientists.

The Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Happy New Year to All Educationalists

Wishing all teachers, teaching assistants, higher learning assistants, school staff, home schoolers and educationalists a happy 2017.  Let’s get ready for the next term and make it a wonderful teaching term, engaging and enthusing children and helping to make them life-long learners.

Happy New Year!

Visit the amazing Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

A Happy New Year from Every One at Everything Dinosaur

Happy New Year 2017. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Can you spot the flying reptile?  Can you find the Everything Dinosaur logo?

After the holidays, it is time to get down to completing the planning for the next scheme of work, finishing off learning objectives and preparing to engage with young minds keen to absorb new ideas and to have new experiences.  Happy New Year!

For prehistoric animal models and figures of extinct animals: Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

Dinosaurs “Power for Good” Anti-Bullying Week

This week sees the start of Anti-Bullying Week in the United Kingdom.  This annual event, aimed at raising awareness about bullying is organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance and to coincide with the start of a week-long of activities.

Everything Dinosaur is making parents and teachers aware that the company has produced a series of free, dinosaur themed anti-bullying posters.  Bullying in schools is being tackled in proactive ways by many schools, but sadly incidents of bullying do still occur.  Cyber or on-line bullying is also becoming a serious problem, with a report from the NSPCC’s Childline service stating that it counselled more than 4,500 children in the last twelve months, an increase of 88% compared to 2011-2012.

Everything Dinosaur’s Free to Download Anti-Bullying Posters

Stop the Bullies!  Make your school a bully free school.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Themed Anti-Bullying Posters

Aided by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, a number of country-wide events and activities are planned.   These will help to raise awareness over the issue of bullying and the consequences of having been bullied and Everything Dinosaur team members have been doing their bit to help primary school teachers and educationalists to get the anti-bullying message across.

Everything Dinosaur provides teachers, teaching assistants and other educationalists, such as those who home educate, with lots of free teaching resources.  Amongst this extensive set of resources, several anti-bullying posters have been prepared, we encourage all interested parties to download these resources.

To email Everything Dinosaur team members: Contact Everything Dinosaur Team Members.

Everything Dinosaur Supporting Teachers and Schools

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“Bullying blights lives and we support the great work done by many organisations to raise awareness about the problem.  It is essential that we get the message across to school children that bullying is simply not going to be tolerated.  We have seen some tremendous initiatives launched by schools with regards to anti-bullying strategies and we hope our free dinosaur themed anti-bullying posters will help to get this important message across.”

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s child-friendly and award-winning website: Take a look at Everything Dinosaur.

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2016

For those teachers, teaching assistants and members of the educational profession, the recent Frankfurt Book Fair provided an ideal opportunity to meet up and discuss the latest ideas in teaching literacy.  At this five-day event, a total of 277,000 people attended, but there was still plenty of room available to sit down and discuss learning aims and objectives in a convivial atmosphere.

The Frankfurter Buchmesse

A Chance to Network and Exchange Ideas

Tens of thousands of visitors attended the Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

With so many developments in literacy teaching at the moment, this annual event provided an important opportunity for teaching professionals to catch up with the latest trends and teaching ideas.  There were so many books to peruse, both fiction and non-fiction and our team members particularly enjoyed discussing ideas in phonics teaching with a number of the publishing house professionals on the trade stands.

Everything Dinosaur team members recognise the importance of trade shows.  The Frankfurter Buchmesse provides plenty of networking opportunities. Trade fairs provide plenty of contacts and allow the exchange of ideas.

To learn more about Everything Dinosaur team members: About Everything Dinosaur Team Members.

Dinosaurs Helping to Inspire Young Readers

At the Frankfurter Buchmesse, it was pleasing to see the number of dinosaur and prehistoric animal themed titles aimed specifically at young readers that were available.  Dinosaurs, as a teaching theme certainly enthuses and motivates young minds.  Children seem to have a remarkable level of pre-knowledge when it comes to the Dinosauria.

Inspirational Dinosaurs at the Frankfurt Book Fair

A dinosaur book spotted at the Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Team Members Preparing for More Science Outreach Work

As team members at Everything Dinosaur prepare for the next set of dinosaur themed workshops in schools, it is great to know that there are some excellent literary resources to help support teaching teams as they strive to develop a lifelong passion for learning within their young charges.

The Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur Website.

The Frankfurter Buchmesse (19th to 23rd October)

For many teachers, the half-term holiday provides an opportunity to review the scheme of work undertaken in the first part of the autumn term as well as to fine tune plans for the second part of the term and the build up to Christmas.  However, for members of the teaching team at Everything Dinosaur, the pause in their programme of dinosaur and fossil themed workshops for schools, provides an opportunity to visit the forthcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.

The Frankfurt Book Fair

Final Preparations Underway for a Visit to the Frankfurter Buchmesse

Frankfurt Book Fair logo (2016).

Picture credit: Frankfurt Book Fair Press

For inspiring ideas about dinosaurs and prehistoric animal gifts: Educational Prehistoric Animal Themed Gifts and Toys.

Providing Inspiration for Teachers and Education Professionals

This annual five-day event, held in southern central Germany, attracts visitors from all over the world.  It is the ideal venue for teachers, school administrators, educationalists and librarians to catch up on the latest trends in educational publishing.

Since Everything Dinosaur team members focus mainly on working with Key Stage One and Key Stage Two pupils, we appreciate the tremendous focus placed on the development of reading by teachers and teaching assistants.  We may specialise in delivering fossil and dinosaur themed workshops in support of the science curriculum, but our teaching team also strives to ensure that they build in extension exercises that involves reading both non-fiction and fiction texts.

More than 250,000 Visitors are Expected at the 2016 Frankfurter Buchmesse

Visitors enjoy cosplay at the Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Picture credit: Frankfurt Book Fair Press

Developing a Passion for Reading

Developing confidence with reading is a fundamental element of the new English national curriculum for schools.  In the Department of Education outline, the focus on providing children with a rich and stimulating learning environment is stressed and the school library can often provide a focal point for a coordinated effort across the school to improve reading.  Many young boys become disillusioned with reading, however, if given the opportunity to read and then write about a Tyrannosaurus rex most jump at the opportunity.

As the world’s largest book fair (in terms of the number of publishers attending and exhibitors), the annual Frankfurter Buchmesse can inspire teachers, home educationalists and education professionals, allowing them to keep up to date with the fast moving world of educational publishing.

A Lively Atmosphere at the Frankfurter Buchmesse

Time for browsing at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Picture credit: Frankfurt Book Fair Press

Getting Ready for World Book Day

For those teachers working on their plans for World Book Day 2017 (a date for your diaries – Thursday 2nd March 2017), the cosplay at the Frankfurt Book Fair could be just the thing to help inspire them and their scheme of work.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website for more inspiration: Everything Dinosaur.