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BETT, the Educational Technology Show takes place at between 11th and 14th January 2007. The show attracts some 28,000 visitors bringing together the global teaching and learning community. It really is the place to be. The show usually features a good mix between experienced exhibitors and presenters in the field of educational technology.

The feature stand this year is "Tomorrow's Learners Today" and is supported by DfES and Partnership for Schools amongst others. Our Chair of Trustees, Prof. Stephen Heppell, is responsible for the stand and will bring together some of the best examples of forward-thinking schools and people from around the UK.

When technology can do anything we wish, says Professor Stephen Heppell, the question becomes: What should we wish for?

The stand is divided into two. One half will showcase a school each day. Pupils on the stand will be surveying visitors and exhibitors about their ideas on future schooling. At the end of each day, the results from the surveys will be announced.

The schools attending are:

• Lampton School, Hounslow (on Wednesday)
• Homewood School, Kent (on Thursday)
• Castle Manor Business and Enterprise College, Haverhill (on Friday)
• Edensor Technology College, Longton Stoke (on Saturday)

The other half of the stand will feature BETT Brains - and will consist of leading experts on the design of future schools. Many Building Schools for the Future (BSF) case studies will be presented over the four days and the presenters include:

• Peter Wain, Becta,
• Mike Rumble, QCA,
• Hannah Jones, NCSL
• Kate Stewart, Learning Designer, TeamAgogo
• Carole Chapman, Notschool - Virtual Learning
• Dan Sutch, Futurelab
• Jonathan Furness, Stepping Stones School

... along with several representative from Partnership for Schools (PfS) and not forgetting Stephen Heppell presenting daily.

Jonathan will also be on the stand talking about his work with Stepping Stones School on Friday and Saturday, so please do come along and meet him on stand, D62 as he talks about why engaging pupils in the design and the day-to-day running of the school is crucial to their opportunity to learn.

 

   

 

You can read more about the feature stand.

If you've not been to a BETT show before and want to see what went on last year, take a look at the BETT 2006 Review movie

Stepping Stones have developed a successful partnership with Bohunt School in Hampshire.

Over this past term, we have been using the facilities at the school to conduct the practical science work. We have been made to feel very welcome and the pupils have not only enjoyed the experience but have benefited enormously.

In a recent experiment, we produced a timelapse video showing the growth of Copper Sulphate crystals.

Here is the video below:

left to right, Professor Stephen Heppell, Larry Sullivan, Sandy Seagrove, Jeremy Hunt and Robert Hancock

Last Friday saw the Shadow Minister for Disabled People and MP for South West Surrey, the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt, officially opening a new mezzanine floor of Stepping Stones School in Hindhead, Surrey. The mezzanine brings state of the art facilities to the school which was opened only two years ago in a stunning, converted church. The school caters for children with hemiplegia (a condition affecting one side of the body caused by some form of damage to the opposite side of the brain) and other mild learning or physical disabilities.

Stepping Stones School was set up by Churt couple, Larry Sullivan and Sandy Seagrove, whose daughter has hemiplegia. The couple realised that their daughter was not thriving in mainstream, inclusive education and recognised that other children with hemiplegia also needed to find a school where they could learn, in a safe, positive, environment that provided for their social, physical and educational needs.

Converting the disused church in Tower Road, Hindhead seemed an opportunity that was too good to miss and the couple were quick to marry the expertise provided by various individuals, such as educational specialist Professor Stephen Heppell, founder of Ultralab a world leading learning technology centre, disability expert and government advisor, Robert Hancock, with Larry’s own experience of cutting edge technology. The result was a state of the art, specialist school.

Two years on and Stepping Stones is now ready for the second phase of its development: a new mezzanine floor comprising state of the art IT, cinema and web based shared collaborative learning facilities. This enables children sitting in a classroom in Hindhead to either share their lessons with a classroom of children on the other side of the world, or undertake joint projects about life in other countries with the children who live there, all through the clever use of web cams and computers.

Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Minister for Disabled People stated: “I am delighted and privileged to be opening this mezzanine. I want to pay tribute to everybody who has been working so hard to successfully complete the project, particularly to Larry Sullivan whose drive and inspiration had made something possible that will transform the lives of the children. These facilities will make a fantastic addition to the wonderful learning environment that the pupils benefit from here, at Stepping Stones and I look forward to hearing how they make use of them.”

It is not just the technology, however, that makes this school so special, as Robert Hancock suggested "The school is creating a new form of education for students with additional needs which enables far greater skills development, social confidence and emotional stability. It is this quality of balanced input which will enable students to be personally and functionally independent when they move into the community from a school or college setting."

Stepping Stones is now looking to make more links with business sponsors who may be able to help pupils of the school. Larry takes his lead from America: “17 of the top 20 universities in the world are in the USA. They are dominant because commerce is engaged and supporting as is the case with Stepping Stones. We are ‘not for profit’ and seek to work co-operatively with educational authorities, so enhancing their ability to do a better job with students with special needs.” Robert added: "The advantage of a school setting such as this, is that it will provide the high level support required for targeted groups of students which local authorities can, sadly, no longer afford.”

If you would like to know more about the school, please contact Michael Lohan on 01428 609083.

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To view photographs of the building work, choose from three stages of development.

Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4

Daniel, a pupil at Stepping Stones School has just posted part one of a tutorial helping people learn Photoshop, on his blog site.

Photoshop is a graphics application and is available for both Windows and Apple Macintosh systems. Part One of this tutorial explains how to make a basic signature graphic, which you might use on a website of your own, or at the bottom of your emails. Daniel has produced some fantastic artwork, which is also available from his blog site.

Read part one of Daniel's Photoshop tutorial

The new mezzanine floor teeters on the edge of completion, with only the fitting of the balcony rail and fascia remaining. In only two months, this building project has provided the school with three new learning spaces, which vary in size and characteristics. We have documented the stages of construction.

Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3