Cracking Ideas!

Cracking IdeasThe Intellectual Property Office are celebrating the 40th birthday of the world-famous Aardman studios with their Cracking Ideas Competition 2016. I was delighted to work on the development of the curriculum-linked classroom resources for ages 4-11, designed to generate competition entries and support wider learning.

Intellectual Property is a difficult topic for young children to understand, but it is an important one. We created the ‘My ideas have value’ assembly for use by schools to launch the competition. The assembly helps develop their understanding that creativity has a value called intellectual property, which can be protected to help ensure that the unique ideas, creations or work of an individual or group cannot be copied or reused without crediting or benefiting the creator. Continue reading “Cracking Ideas!”

A busy start to 2016…

It’s busy here at HQ! Lots of new things soon to be launched and more in the pipeline . I am delighted to have won a tender from the Intellectual Property Office back in January – watch out for the new resources and competition for Cracking Ideas 2016 launching very soon!

This year I am also working with Greyhounds in Need to extend their support for education in Spanish schools, with the launch of a dedicated website and new teaching materials.

There is lots going on with the education team at Dogs Trust, PLUS I am working with another national charity to develop a brand new education programme this year (another watch this space!).

 

SpyBirthday.co.uk

 

Spy Birthday

The team at spybirthday.co.uk deliver fantastic spy themed birthday parties. However, English is not their first language and whilst they know what they want to say, they sometimes need some help saying it.  It’s not just checking grammar and punctuation, it’s reworking sentences and making appropriate word choices as well. I help them write great content for their English target audience and hopefully get more clients too!

Transferable Skills

Transferable Skills
Copyright: iqoncept / 123RF Stock Photo

I was delighted recently to work with Lewisham and Southwark college in the development of a brilliant idea to engage secondary school pupils. Rather than going in and presenting their usual ‘this is why you should come to our college’  talk to potential students – they thought outside of the box.Continue reading “Transferable Skills”

Children’s activity booklets

cat detectivesI love creating activity booklets for kids, especially when there are other lessons to be learned at the same time.  Whether it is coming up with a wordsearch, a quiz or a practical crafty activity they can all come together in a booklet that engages kids and also entertains them.Continue reading “Children’s activity booklets”

Back to school mailings

Dogs Trust Youth Trainer PostcardIt’s a debate I often have with clients, whether we should mail schools at the end of the summer term or at the start of the autumn? After years and years of trying out both approaches I can conclude it makes little difference. If you truly want to be effective then mail twice, once at the start of July and then again mid-September. It doesn’t matter if it is email or postal, the same rule applies.Continue reading “Back to school mailings”

Doogies – Business Support

DoogiesIt’s really great when you get to work on things that you really care about. I’m delighted to be working with Niccy at Doogie’s to help her build her business.

There is no specific job description – whatever Doogies’ need is whatever I provide. Whether that is creating forms and documents, managing clients or assisting with website development, my job is to help Doogies grow as a business and help Niccy bring her ideas to life.

www.doogies.info

Marketing to schools

Army STEM promo
Promoting STEM workshops. Created for The British Army during my time at Education Connections.

Creating great resources and products for schools is one thing, making teachers and educators aware of it is a completely different ball game. Over the years the methods have changed with postal mailings making way for email campaigns and social media, but one thing definitely hasn’t – getting the messaging right.Continue reading “Marketing to schools”

It’s time for ‘The Big Scoop’ June 15-21st

The Big Scoop‘The Big Scoop’ is Dogs Trust’s annual campaign to encourage dog owners to clean up after their dogs. To help children understand why scooping the poop is important I worked with a digital marketing agency to develop ‘Jimmy’s Scoop the Poop’ game. Continue reading “It’s time for ‘The Big Scoop’ June 15-21st”