No Pens Day Wednesday - The Communication Trust
No Pens Day Wednesday - The Communication Trust
No Pens Day Wednesday - The Communication Trust
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Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
Win £1,500 of<br />
resources by<br />
taking part<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
Your guide<br />
to running<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong>
Welcome to your<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
activity pack<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> is about encouraging schools to<br />
spend one day focusing on speaking and listening activities.<br />
Thank you for signing up and getting involved.<br />
Contents<br />
All about <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>______________ page 3<br />
How to make classroom talk more effective______ page 5<br />
Getting ready for the day______________________ page 9<br />
How to run your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>_______ page 10<br />
Outcomes__________________________________ page 15<br />
Spread the word_____________________________ page 16<br />
Next steps __________________________________ page 18
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
All about <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> is a<br />
national speaking and listening<br />
event from the Hello campaign,<br />
encouraging schools to organise<br />
a day where learning and<br />
assessment takes place through<br />
speaking and listening activities,<br />
rather than writing.<br />
Ofsted are increasingly highlighting<br />
the importance of speaking and<br />
listening for good teaching and<br />
attainment and as a common<br />
denominator in the most<br />
successful schools...<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
is being organised by <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong> as part of<br />
the Hello campaign, the national<br />
year of communication. <strong>The</strong><br />
initiative is backed by Jean Gross,<br />
<strong>Communication</strong> Champion, and<br />
has strong support from curriculum<br />
experts including Sir Jim Rose,<br />
Andrew Pollard and Mick Waters.<br />
<strong>The</strong> aim of the day is to see a<br />
positive impact on all pupils and<br />
enable speaking and listening to<br />
be used as a vehicle for learning<br />
across the curriculum.<br />
Just a note... If <strong>Wednesday</strong> 28<br />
September doesn’t work for your<br />
school, you can run your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong><br />
<strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> at another time<br />
that suits.<br />
‘A common feature of the most<br />
successful schools in the survey<br />
was the attention they gave to<br />
developing speaking and listening’<br />
Ofsted Removing Barriers to<br />
Literacy, 2010<br />
3
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
What is the Hello campaign?<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Hello is the 2011 national year of<br />
communication – a campaign to<br />
increase understanding of how<br />
important it is for all children and<br />
young people to develop good<br />
communication skills.<br />
It’s estimated that over a million<br />
children have some form of speech,<br />
language and communication<br />
need that requires them to have<br />
extra help to communicate. This<br />
can affect them severely and<br />
for life.<br />
Hello is helping to make children’s<br />
communication a priority in homes<br />
and schools across the country<br />
by providing information on<br />
typical communication<br />
development, how<br />
to spot if children<br />
are struggling and<br />
where to go for<br />
help and support.<br />
Visit www.hello.org.uk to find out<br />
more about the campaign and to<br />
sign up for regular updates.<br />
‘Where inspectors saw links<br />
between oral language, reading and<br />
writing in lessons with secondary<br />
school students, standards at GCSE<br />
English language were higher’<br />
Excellence in English<br />
Ofsted May 2011<br />
4
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
How to make classroom talk more effective<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Talk is at the heart of education<br />
- teachers use talk as the main<br />
tool of their trade. <strong>The</strong> amount<br />
and quality of talk that children<br />
experience in the early years is a<br />
good predictor of how well they’ll<br />
do in school. And we now know that<br />
teaching children and young people<br />
how to use talk to think together<br />
can improve their commitment to<br />
learning and to their educational<br />
attainment.<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> will enable<br />
teachers to give pupils opportunities<br />
throughout the day to develop their<br />
communication skills and use them<br />
to support their learning.<br />
We know from a range of research<br />
that pupils are more likely to get<br />
enthusiastically involved in their<br />
education, and learn best from it,<br />
when teachers support and enable<br />
effective use of speaking and<br />
listening to support learning.<br />
We have therefore suggested<br />
the following ten key principles<br />
for effective use of speaking and<br />
listening.<br />
>><br />
‘Open and challenging questions<br />
extend pupils’ reasoning and vocabulary<br />
and help them to become enthusiastic<br />
and self-motivated learners, eager to<br />
contribute and share their ideas. At its very<br />
best, such teaching generates an infectious<br />
enthusiasm for learning’<br />
Ofsted Annual report 2009/2010<br />
and yet...<br />
...‘recent research shows that<br />
the average length of a pupil’s<br />
contribution to a class discussion<br />
is just four words’<br />
National Literacy <strong>Trust</strong>, 2011<br />
5
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
10 key principles of effective talk<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
1. Allow pupils time to think<br />
about information given, refine<br />
what they want to say, express<br />
their thoughts and reveal their<br />
misunderstandings<br />
Use the 10 second<br />
rule – wait around 10<br />
seconds after asking a<br />
question before prompting<br />
pupils for an answer<br />
2. Give opportunities for pupils<br />
to talk to a partner or in a<br />
group, to encourage pupils to test<br />
understanding, put new knowledge<br />
into their own words and/or to<br />
clarify thoughts before they’re<br />
asked to produce a piece of writing<br />
3. Support vocabulary<br />
development by using strategies<br />
to explicitly teach the meaning and<br />
use of key words for learning (words<br />
like compare, analyse and define)<br />
and for subject specific vocabulary<br />
4. Model ways of using language<br />
so that children learn by example,<br />
use language that enables<br />
collaborative working, discussion,<br />
rational argument and negotiation.<br />
For example “I see your point,<br />
though let’s try this way too and we<br />
can decide which works best”<br />
5. Encourage thinking by asking<br />
open questions to explore pupils’<br />
ideas, supporting pupils to elaborate<br />
and justify their views, for example<br />
“How did you know that?”<br />
6. Listen as well as talk by<br />
holding back demonstrations or<br />
explanations until the ideas of<br />
some students have been heard,<br />
by allowing pupils’ comments to<br />
shift the direction of a discussion<br />
(and even, perhaps, of a lesson!)<br />
7. Set the context by using whole<br />
class discussions to help pupils<br />
see where their study of a topic is<br />
coming from and where it’s going,<br />
for example, using a learning<br />
journey model<br />
8. Support independent learning<br />
by asking pupils to think ‘how am<br />
I going to remember this?’ Give<br />
them opportunities to practise with<br />
a partner<br />
9. Use ground rules of dialogue<br />
for class or group discussions to<br />
support thinking and learning.<br />
A typical set of such ground rules<br />
might include:<br />
• Discuss things together<br />
• Ask everyone for their opinion<br />
• Ask for reasons why<br />
• Listen to people<br />
• Be prepared to change your mind<br />
• Think before you speak<br />
• Respect other people’s ideas –<br />
don’t just use your own<br />
• Share all the ideas and<br />
information you have<br />
• Make sure the group agrees after<br />
talking<br />
10. Encourage children and<br />
young people to say when<br />
they’ve not understood –<br />
acknowledge the importance of<br />
making mistakes and of seeking<br />
clarification when unsure<br />
6
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Following through with the ten<br />
principles overleaf may not be<br />
easy, so do prepare yourself for<br />
challenges along the way. As any<br />
teacher will testify, if you try asking<br />
open questions, or waiting for<br />
extended answers with a class who<br />
have had only a very traditional<br />
experience of classroom talk, you’ll<br />
probably only hear (at best) a<br />
suspicious silence. It all depends on<br />
the teacher establishing the right<br />
classroom climate for talk, and that<br />
takes time.<br />
Some teachers are naturally<br />
brilliant at doing this. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
students come to appreciate<br />
the educational value of talk<br />
themselves, and will not feel<br />
embarrassed to express tentative<br />
ideas or reasonable disagreements.<br />
Teachers need to be good models<br />
for children and young people on<br />
how to use talk for thinking.<br />
Research has shown that when<br />
children are helped to understand<br />
talk as a problem-solving and<br />
learning tool, and given guidance<br />
in developing skills in using it, the<br />
quality of their talk and group work<br />
improves and so do the individual<br />
learning outcomes.<br />
For children whose out-of-school<br />
lives give them little exposure to<br />
reasoned discussion, this can be a<br />
life-changing experience.<br />
‘Teaching pupils speaking<br />
and listening for learning has not<br />
just been of benefit to the standards<br />
of literacy but for the whole<br />
curriculum.’ Jan Baynham, Literacy<br />
Adviser, South Wales<br />
7
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
Win up to £1,500 of resources<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Schools taking part in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong><br />
<strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> could win up to<br />
£1,500 of resources to help embed<br />
speaking and listening activities.<br />
3 prizes of £500 are available and<br />
all participating schools will be<br />
eligible to win one or more of the<br />
following categories:<br />
1. Best lesson<br />
<strong>The</strong>n, in 500 words or less, tell us<br />
all about what you did and include<br />
any pictures, podcasts, film, links<br />
or anything else you feel shows<br />
off what you achieved on the day.<br />
You’ll need to send a separate<br />
e-mail for each category you’re<br />
entering and all participating<br />
schools can enter in all categories.<br />
Entrants can win more than one of<br />
the prizes on offer.<br />
Each prize will be £500 towards the<br />
cost of developing speaking and<br />
listening activities for your school.<br />
This could be in the form of ICT<br />
equipment, topic boxes, story bags,<br />
staff training or even consultancy<br />
from a speech and language<br />
expert. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong><br />
will work with the winning school<br />
or schools to create prize packages<br />
that meet their needs.<br />
All entries must be received by<br />
Friday 21 October 2011 and the<br />
winners will be notified by Friday<br />
2 December 2011. <strong>The</strong> names of<br />
winning schools will be promoted<br />
on the <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
pages of the Hello website, where<br />
you can find full terms and<br />
conditions of entry.<br />
2. Best activity<br />
3. Best way of recording<br />
learning<br />
To enter the competition,<br />
email competition@<br />
thecommunicationtrust.org.uk<br />
and include the name of the prize<br />
category you’re entering in the<br />
subject header.<br />
8
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
Getting ready for the day<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Here’s some information to help<br />
you prepare for <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong> or Monday, Tuesday,<br />
Thursday or Friday if another day<br />
suits you better!<br />
Staff meeting<br />
You may find it useful to have<br />
a brief staff meeting with your<br />
colleagues to share information<br />
about <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
and to provide an opportunity for<br />
staff to discuss what they see as<br />
the language and communication<br />
issues for pupils in your school.<br />
We’ve provided some slides to<br />
support this discussion, which can<br />
be used in its entirety or adapted for<br />
your own use.<br />
Download the content for the staff<br />
meeting at www.hello.org.uk/nopens-day-wednesday<br />
Lesson plans and activity<br />
templates<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> lesson<br />
plans and activity templates<br />
have been created by specialist<br />
teachers and speech and language<br />
therapists and quality assured by<br />
practising mainstream teachers.<br />
Lesson plans – these were<br />
developed by taking example plans<br />
for September from one school’s<br />
planning as a starting point. As all<br />
schools will be covering different<br />
topics and have different ways of<br />
planning, the lesson plans provide<br />
an example for schools to adapt.<br />
Plans are available for Key Stage 1<br />
and 2 curriculum, across the year<br />
groups. For secondary schools,<br />
lesson plans are available for year<br />
7 across all subject areas; this<br />
is not to limit your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong> to year 7 only, but<br />
to provide an example across all<br />
subject areas, which you can use<br />
and adapt for different year groups.<br />
Lesson plans are divided into<br />
primary and secondary and are<br />
available as a separate download to<br />
this pack for you to use on the day.<br />
Activity templates – in addition to<br />
lesson plans, we’ve provided activity<br />
templates, which are more generic<br />
and can be adapted to any lesson.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are a range of activities with<br />
information about each, including<br />
how it can be implemented,<br />
highlighting any resources / links<br />
that might be useful to support that<br />
activity. <strong>The</strong>se activities can be used<br />
within any element of a lesson - as a<br />
starter activity, main activity, plenary<br />
or as methods of recording learning.<br />
Download the plans and templates<br />
at www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday<br />
9
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
How to run your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Three weeks before your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>:<br />
Confirm who’ll lead on plans<br />
for the day<br />
Book in a staff meeting to<br />
inform other teachers about<br />
the <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
Download the activity<br />
pack and other supporting<br />
documents at www.hello.org.<br />
uk/no-pens-day-wednesday<br />
(Primary Lesson Plans and<br />
Templates if you work in a<br />
Primary School, Secondary<br />
Lesson Plans and Templates<br />
if you work in a Secondary<br />
School)<br />
Familiarise yourself with the<br />
documents and consider<br />
whether you want to use<br />
or adapt the lesson plans<br />
provided or plan your own<br />
lessons using the ideas on the<br />
templates<br />
Decide on who’ll run the<br />
assembly for pupils<br />
Consider entering our<br />
competition for:<br />
• <strong>The</strong> best lesson<br />
• <strong>The</strong> best activity<br />
• <strong>The</strong> best way of recording<br />
learning, for example best<br />
posters, podcasts, slideshows<br />
etc.<br />
Consider whether you’ll have<br />
competitions / presentations in<br />
school for best activities, ways<br />
of recording etc<br />
Plan in your local media<br />
activity to promote what<br />
you’re doing – <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong> press templates<br />
are available and you can find<br />
media advice in the Hello Bring<br />
the <strong>No</strong>ise toolkit available from<br />
www.hello.org.uk/resources<br />
Decide if you want to invite<br />
press along on the day, and if<br />
so which part of the day will be<br />
best for you to accommodate<br />
press and photographers<br />
Check if you have permissions<br />
from parents for children<br />
and young people to be<br />
photographed. If not, plan<br />
this in<br />
Identify your ‘spokesperson’<br />
for <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>.<br />
This is the person who’ll be<br />
quoted in the press releases<br />
and who’d speak on the day<br />
to any media<br />
Plan in reflection after the day<br />
/ lessons learned / next steps<br />
10
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Two weeks before your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>:<br />
One week before your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>:<br />
Ensure all teachers have<br />
discussed with their pupils the<br />
plans to participate in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong><br />
<strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>, including<br />
seeking their views on taking<br />
part and asking their ideas on<br />
how the day should be run<br />
Ensure all staff are aware of<br />
the day<br />
Identify ‘a budding<br />
photographer’ in your school<br />
or community who can take<br />
pictures of your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong> activity<br />
Send a letter to parents – use<br />
the template provided on<br />
page 16; you may decide to<br />
invite parents into the school<br />
assembly or to see what’s<br />
happening in the classrooms<br />
or the ways in which pupils<br />
have recorded their work<br />
Share with other local contacts<br />
your plans for <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong> and send out<br />
your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
photo-call to your local<br />
newspaper and radio<br />
Prepare your own certificates<br />
for the day (if using)<br />
Plan the lessons you’ll run<br />
using the examples provided,<br />
ensure any additional<br />
resources you need are<br />
prepared<br />
Call / email your local<br />
newspaper and radio to follow<br />
up on your photo-call notice<br />
and see if they’re interested in<br />
covering your day. Be prepared<br />
to send your information over<br />
again<br />
Put information in your<br />
newsletter for parents and<br />
in the news section of your<br />
website<br />
Consider ideas and options for<br />
recording learning, suggestions<br />
are available on www.<br />
hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday<br />
Plan where and when you’ll<br />
gather pupil views on the day;<br />
see our suggestions on how to<br />
do this on page 15<br />
11
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
On the day: After the day :<br />
Begin with the assembly<br />
explaining to pupils what will<br />
happen on the day; you can<br />
download this from www.<br />
hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday<br />
Use the materials provided<br />
to run a day of lessons with<br />
a focus on speaking and<br />
listening<br />
If the press are coming, have<br />
one person, who leads on<br />
liaising with local media, speak<br />
to them about what they<br />
need. For example, they may<br />
want to set up a specific photo<br />
with staff and children or talk<br />
to a child / teacher / parent<br />
about their views on the day<br />
<strong>No</strong>te the impact on pupils’<br />
engagement and learning<br />
Ask pupils’ views during the<br />
day; discuss the benefits of<br />
not using pens, alternative<br />
activities used and places<br />
where it would be useful to<br />
write things down<br />
Plan a follow up assembly<br />
/ sharing pupils’ work – you<br />
might chose to do this on<br />
another day / invite parents<br />
etc<br />
Present results / certificates at<br />
end of week in an assembly or<br />
relevant alternative<br />
Use a staff meeting to<br />
reflect on the best and most<br />
challenging elements of the<br />
day; see our suggestions on<br />
how to do this on page 15<br />
Share pupils’ views<br />
Decide on what you’ll continue<br />
with<br />
Send a press release with a<br />
couple of the best pictures<br />
(if you have them) to your<br />
local media and any other<br />
important contacts. It would<br />
be really helpful if you could<br />
also send it to us at media@<br />
thecommunicationtrust.org.uk<br />
as it will help us keep track of<br />
the media activity<br />
Share your story / experiences<br />
/ anecdotes with Hello by<br />
uploading your story onto the<br />
website at www.hello.org.uk/<br />
yourstories<br />
Visit the Hello website at<br />
www.hello.org.uk for further<br />
suggestions on how to support<br />
speaking and listening in<br />
schools<br />
12
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> Assembly<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
It’s obviously important that pupils<br />
understand what to expect from<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> and know<br />
why the school has decided to take<br />
part. We’ve included two options<br />
for assemblies so you can choose<br />
which you feel is best suited to<br />
your pupils and the way in which<br />
you carry out your assemblies.<br />
This example gives role play<br />
activities and the second option<br />
provides a simple Powerpoint<br />
with optional role play activities,<br />
one aimed at primary and one<br />
at secondary pupils, available at<br />
www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday<br />
Introduction<br />
Each pupil is given a pen as they<br />
enter the room before sitting down.<br />
Assembly leader<br />
Check if anyone knows what’s<br />
going to be different about the<br />
day i.e. <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
= no pens will be used. If no-one<br />
answers, explain pens won’t be<br />
used all day in the school and<br />
get pupils to get rid of their pen<br />
somehow e.g. pass a bin / bag<br />
along each row for pupils to put<br />
their pens into.<br />
So what will happen instead?<br />
Ask what pupils think they’ll do in<br />
lessons today (instead of writing)<br />
to help their learning and express<br />
their thoughts and ideas.<br />
Role-play 1 (assembly leader<br />
and teacher)<br />
• Have a silent written conversation<br />
for two or three turns<br />
• Ask the pupils if this is how we<br />
usually talk to each other?<br />
• Explain or reiterate that one main<br />
way of learning and expressing<br />
our thoughts and ideas is through<br />
talking to each other (depending<br />
on whether a pupil has already<br />
come up with this suggestion or<br />
not)<br />
Role-play 2 (assembly leader<br />
and pupil 1)<br />
• Pick a pupil to have a<br />
conversation with<br />
• Ask them to tell you about<br />
something that they could talk<br />
about for a long time e.g. about<br />
their family, what t hey did<br />
yesterday at school (pick a child<br />
who you’re aware would cope<br />
with this)<br />
• As they’re doing this, show poor<br />
listening skills such as looking<br />
away, fidgeting, turning your<br />
back to them, yawning, and<br />
interrupting them<br />
• Open it up to the pupils to give<br />
feedback and ask if they think<br />
you were communicating and<br />
listening well<br />
(Pupils may say ‘drawing’.<br />
Acknowledge that this is one other<br />
way of expressing thoughts but<br />
this still involves a pen/pencil which<br />
they’ll not have today).<br />
• How much do they think you<br />
learned about what the pupil<br />
was telling you?<br />
13
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Role-play 3 (assembly leader<br />
and pupil 2)<br />
• Do the same as role-play two,<br />
and correct your listening<br />
behaviour in light of the feedback<br />
and discussion about your poor<br />
listening skills, for example face<br />
the pupil, look interested, nod<br />
etc. This time however show poor<br />
talking skills such as responding<br />
to what they say on a non-related<br />
topic and speaking really fast and<br />
then too quietly and don’t let<br />
them have a turn<br />
• Again, open it up to the pupils<br />
to give feedback and highlight<br />
that you may have been showing<br />
good listening behaviours but<br />
you weren’t showing good talking<br />
behaviours<br />
• What do they think would be the<br />
impact on what you learned from<br />
the pupil?<br />
Role-play 4 (assembly leader<br />
to pupil 3)<br />
• <strong>The</strong>n do one more role-play<br />
with another child and have a<br />
conversation, showing good<br />
listening and speaking<br />
• Check if that was OK with the<br />
pupils and why<br />
• Ask if they think you would have<br />
learned more this way?<br />
How did it feel?<br />
Ask the three pupils involved how<br />
they felt when you were having<br />
a conversation with them to<br />
highlight the impact it can have<br />
when a person doesn’t listen, take<br />
turns or speak clearly.<br />
Summary<br />
Recap the skills you had to put into<br />
practice to make your conversation<br />
work well and for you to listen and<br />
learn and remember what your<br />
partner was telling you. Explain<br />
that writing is an important skill<br />
but that speaking and listening are<br />
also really important, for helping<br />
you think things through, to learn<br />
about other people as well as<br />
for making friends and working<br />
together. <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
is a chance to listen and speak to<br />
each other and put these skills into<br />
practice.<br />
Adapt for different ages<br />
Adapt the assembly to make<br />
it more age-appropriate – for<br />
example, when having the<br />
conversation role-plays, start<br />
looking at a mobile phone to<br />
indicate poor listening skills.<br />
Discuss how the internet and<br />
mobile phones are an important<br />
part of learning but mean we<br />
forget to interact, look at each<br />
other and listen to what other<br />
people are saying.<br />
14
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
Outcomes<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
One of the most important parts<br />
of the day is the reflection it will<br />
prompt, from both pupils and<br />
teachers, about what worked for<br />
them and what didn’t.<br />
For pupils, we suggest<br />
opportunities are built into the day<br />
to ask their views about different<br />
lessons and activities.<br />
You could use the questions<br />
here for discussion of the day, to<br />
evaluate practice and to enter our<br />
competition for best activities,<br />
lesson plans and learning on<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>.<br />
Pupil Voice<br />
1. Which were the best<br />
activities during <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong><br />
<strong>Day</strong> and why? You could use<br />
examples and traffic lights/<br />
smiley faces to encourage<br />
pupils to judge which were<br />
best.<br />
2. Which were the best<br />
lessons...and why?<br />
3. Were there times when<br />
you wanted to write things<br />
down? If so when would that<br />
have been useful?<br />
4. What do you think of this<br />
way of learning? Would you<br />
like your teachers to do more<br />
activities like this or less?<br />
Thumbs up or thumbs down?<br />
For teaching staff, we suggest<br />
some time is given after the day<br />
to work through the following<br />
questions, both to evaluate<br />
and support positive practice<br />
and to determine next steps for<br />
supporting speaking and listening<br />
in school.<br />
Reflections on the day<br />
1. What were the most challenging<br />
elements of the day?<br />
2. What worked well – what<br />
activities, principles, lessons?<br />
3. What were pupils’ views on the<br />
day?<br />
4. What was the impact on<br />
learning?<br />
5. Did the day give you any new<br />
insights into particular pupils?<br />
6. Any surprises?<br />
Choose elements of the day you’ll<br />
use again, for example<br />
1. Try one new activity from the<br />
activity templates per half term<br />
until it’s embedded in your<br />
teaching<br />
2. Support colleagues to do the<br />
same<br />
3. Include discussion on ‘speaking<br />
and listening’ across the<br />
curriculum in staff meetings to<br />
maintain momentum<br />
15
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
Spread the word<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
You may wish to share with parents<br />
that your school is participating in<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>.<br />
If so, you can download a template<br />
letter to let them know what’s<br />
happening from www.hello.org.uk/<br />
no-pens-day-wednesday<br />
Alternatively, you may want to<br />
send out a newsletter to parents<br />
and other local contacts.<br />
Dear Parent/Carer, <br />
(YOUR SCHOOL NAME) is taking part in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>, an initiative to help <br />
support children’s speech, language and communication development. <br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> is being run by the Hello campaign as part of the national <br />
year of communication. Find out more at www.hello.org.uk <br />
So what is <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>? <br />
<strong>The</strong> aim of the day is to encourage and develop speaking and listening skills, which is <br />
a part of the national curriculum. <br />
For one day, pupils in the school will put down their pens and all lessons will focus <br />
on speaking and listening rather than writing. Teachers will assess what children in <br />
their class have learnt and listen to what pupils say about learning through speaking <br />
and listening. <br />
Why are we taking part? <br />
Reading and writing are very important and valuable skills but people are often not <br />
aware of how important speaking and listening skills are. Schools that include <br />
speaking and listening in a planned and structured way for children in their lessons <br />
see improvement in their standards. Ofsted inspectors (who check standards in all <br />
schools in the country) are noticing more and more that speaking and listening is a <br />
really important factor for good teaching and learning in successful schools. <br />
How will your child benefit? <br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> gives your child a chance to practise their speaking and <br />
listening skills for a whole day. It also provides their teachers with new skills, <br />
confidence and ideas for how to include speaking and listening in their lesson plans. <br />
<strong>The</strong> day will allow all pupils in your child’s class to become involved in a whole school <br />
event, and to contribute to class activities, getting a chance to talk. <strong>The</strong> school will <br />
be able to continue what we learn from this day throughout the school year <br />
If you want to know more about this day, then speak to your child’s class teacher or <br />
form tutor. <br />
Yours sincerely, <br />
16
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Read all about it<br />
We hope you’ll join our efforts in<br />
getting media interest in your <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong><br />
<strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>. Here’s a template<br />
photo-call and press release you<br />
can download to send to local press<br />
from www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday<br />
For more advice on local media work<br />
including how to talk to journalists,<br />
tips on emailing them and how to take<br />
great pictures – download the Hello<br />
Bring the <strong>No</strong>ise toolkit available from<br />
www.hello.org.uk/resources<br />
PHOTOCALL NOTICE <br />
For Immediate Release – (Insert date) <br />
NO PENS FOR (Insert school name) <br />
(insert number) children/young people (delete as applicable) from (insert name of <br />
school/college/group) in (insert town/city) are taking part in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong> – a day where all children in the school will put down their pens and all <br />
lessons will focus on speaking and listening, rather than writing. <br />
(insert name/job title) from (insert school/college/group) says: 'Please come along <br />
and join us as we take part in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> in support of the Hello <br />
campaign. Reading and writing are very important skills but people are often not <br />
aware of the vital importance of speaking and listening skills. <strong>The</strong>y underpin <br />
everything. We are looking forwards to spending a day highlighting them to our <br />
pupils (amend as needed), their parents and are the sure school staff will learn a <br />
great deal too.' <br />
2011 is a special year as it is the National Year of <strong>Communication</strong> known as the Hello <br />
campaign. Our ability to communicate is fundamental, yet in the UK today over 1 <br />
million children and young people struggle with some form of speech, language and <br />
communication need. <br />
Speaking, listening and understanding skills are the bedrock skills needed for success <br />
at school. <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> encourages schools to place a strong emphasis <br />
on explicit and structured speaking and listening approaches. Evidence recognises <br />
these skills as key in supporting children’s thinking, learning and wellbeing. <br />
Hello exists to make children and young people’s communication development a <br />
priority during 2011 and beyond. <strong>The</strong> campaign is providing information on typical <br />
communication development, how to spot if children are struggling and where to go <br />
for help and support. <br />
Hello is run by <strong>The</strong> <strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong>, a consortium of over 40 voluntary <br />
organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, in partnership <br />
with the <strong>Communication</strong> Champion, Jean Gross [www.hello.org.uk]. For more <br />
information, please contact (Insert Name) at (Insert name of school/college/group) <br />
on (Insert number and/or email address). <br />
PRESS RELEASE <br />
For Immediate Release – (Insert date) <br />
NO PENS FOR (Insert school name) <br />
On 28th <strong>Wednesday</strong> September (amend date if necessary), children/young people <br />
(delete as applicable) aged (insert ages) from (insert school/college/group) in (insert <br />
region) took part in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>; a national speaking and listening <br />
event organised by <strong>The</strong> <strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong> as part of the Hello campaign (National <br />
Year of <strong>Communication</strong>) to encourage schools to put down their pens and pick up <br />
their language. <br />
By taking part in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>, (insert school/college/group) have <br />
successfully organised a day for (insert number) pupils where all lessons focused on <br />
speaking and listening rather than writing. <br />
(Insert name/job title) from (insert school/college/group) says: “We were delighted <br />
to take part in <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> in support of the Hello campaign. Reading <br />
and writing are very important skills but people are often not aware of the vital <br />
importance of speaking and listening skills. <strong>The</strong>y underpin everything. <strong>No</strong>t only have <br />
the children/young people (delete as applicable) loved it, teachers and parents have <br />
also benefitted as well.” <br />
Jean Gross, the Government’s <strong>Communication</strong> Champion – who is backing <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <br />
<strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> – says: "2011 is a special year as it is the National Year of <br />
<strong>Communication</strong> known as the Hello campaign. <strong>The</strong> ability to communicate is <br />
fundamental and we would like to thank (insert school name) for taking part in <strong>No</strong> <br />
<strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>. It is important that we recognise speaking, listening and <br />
understanding as bedrock skills for success at school. In the UK today, over 1 million <br />
children and young people struggle with some sort of speech, language and <br />
communication need." <br />
For information on Hello, please contact Laura Smith at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong> via <br />
lsmith@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk or 020 7843 2519. <br />
-Ends- <br />
Hello exists to make children and young people’s communication development a <br />
priority during 2011 and beyond. <strong>The</strong> campaign is providing information on typical <br />
communication development, how to spot if children are struggling and where to go <br />
for help and support. <br />
Hello is run by <strong>The</strong> <strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong>, a consortium of over 40 voluntary <br />
organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, in partnership <br />
with Jean Gross, <strong>Communication</strong> Champion. Visit www.hello.org.uk to find out more <br />
and for free resources. <br />
-‐Ends-‐ <br />
17
Teachers’ Activity Pack<br />
Next steps<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong><br />
<strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
28 September<br />
2011<br />
Tell us about your<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>!<br />
Thank you for taking part in <strong>No</strong><br />
<strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong>, we hope<br />
your pupils and colleagues enjoyed<br />
taking part and will plan lots more<br />
similar days. We’d love to hear how<br />
<strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> worked in<br />
your school.<br />
Please send any comments to<br />
hello@thecommunicationtrust.<br />
org.uk. And don’t forget to enter<br />
our <strong>No</strong> <strong>Pens</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
competition.<br />
Make this a core part of<br />
learning in your school<br />
To help with permanently<br />
embedding speaking and listening<br />
activities into the curriculum,<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong> is<br />
collating a range of good practice<br />
examples, which will be available<br />
from the end of September and<br />
further developed and extended<br />
throughout the academic year.<br />
We would value your thoughts,<br />
suggestions and contributions<br />
on this. Please email enquiries@<br />
thecommunicationtrust.org.uk<br />
18
Order your free copy of Universally Speaking<br />
Universally Speaking is a series of<br />
booklets for anyone who works with<br />
children and young people. <strong>The</strong> booklets<br />
show where children should be with<br />
their communication skills at any given<br />
age.<br />
You can use the booklets to find out whether<br />
the children you work with are on the right<br />
track, what helps them learn to talk and listen<br />
and what to do if you have concerns about<br />
any of their communication abilities.<br />
Available for those who work with 5-11 year olds<br />
and 11-18 year olds, you can order your free<br />
copy from www.hello.org.uk/resources*<br />
* When ordering Universally Speaking 5-11 please quote reference number US1<br />
* When ordering Universally Speaking 11-18 please quote reference number US2<br />
Orders will be sent within 10 working days<br />
Universally Speaking was produced by <strong>The</strong> <strong>Communication</strong> <strong>Trust</strong>, for the Hello<br />
campaign (the national year of communication), with the support of Pearson<br />
Assessment.
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