education

Jack Russell and students on North to South Dartmoor Challenge

South West coach warns of glaring gap in back to school plan

Children in England will return to schools on 8 March, and the government has pledged £700 million in funding to ensure "no child is left behind" due to the pandemic. But a South West personal development coach warns that the long-term impact on children's mental health is not being addressed.

Jack Russell , a personal development coach with over 30 years' experience supporting young people, urges the government and schools to focus beyond academic catch-up when children return to the classroom.

Jack said: "It is welcome news that schools are reopening and will have...

South Devon UTC set to launch new Healthcare curriculum at virtual Open Evening

Marking the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11th February 2021), South Devon University Technical College (UTC) is inviting prospective students to find out more about its new Healthcare curriculum at its next virtual Open Evening.

Newton Abbot’s pioneering technical college is hosting the evening via Microsoft Teams on Thursday 11th February 2021 from 6pm to 7pm. Young people who have a keen interest in Healthcare and Engineering are urged to sign up for the event to explore what a career path in these key employment sectors could look like.

Throughout the...

Sparx at use in the classroom

Local company gets top marks for its maths learning technology at Tech South West Awards

Authored by AmySutton
Posted: Fri, 12/11/2020 - 11:28am

Sparx, the Exeter-based socially focused learning technology company, has been named ‘Best Education Initiative’ at this year’s Tech South West Awards, while also being shortlisted for ‘Education Business of the Year’ at this year’s Education Investor Awards.

The annual Tech South West Awards recognise and celebrate the region’s most innovative businesses, and at this year’s virtual ceremony Sparx was awarded for its approach to maths learning and its focus on evidence-based technologies.

The Sparx Family provides a range of maths-related solutions that support schools and...

International engineering firm signs up to official partnership with South Devon UTC

Even more employment opportunities have been made available to Newton Abbot’s young engineers as a pioneering technical college has announced a new partnership with Babcock International.

South Devon University Technical College (UTC) has announced Babcock as its latest employer partner. The Aerospace and Defence company, which serves highly regulated markets such as defence, emergency services and civil nuclear, will now help shape the curriculum, provide Challenge Projects and offer work experience to ensure South Devon UTC students are ready for work when they finish Year 13....

Nick Gibb MP

Demonstrator Schools and Colleges Network - EdTech Week Summit 2020

The Minister of State for School Standards, Nick Gibb, gave the closing keynote speech at the EdTech Week hosted by Broadclyst Community Primary School on Friday 13 November, streaming via the TV studio at the school in East Devon. This was in advance of the final event, the EdTech Summit, on Saturday. He spoke about the importance of delivering high-quality curriculum despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, specifically through online learning platforms and digital strategy training and coaching. He extended his gratitude and applauded the work of the 50 EdTech schools and...

Edtech Week 2020 logo

East Devon school at the heart of UK virtual education event

A Devon primary school will be at the heart of a national initiative to help schools and colleges in England to develop their use of technology in education when it hosts EdTech Week 2020 from 9 to 14 November.

Broadclyst Community Primary School, founding school of the Cornerstone Academy Trust (TCAT), has an international reputation for its use of IT and digital media in both teaching and learning. It is one of a network of schools and colleges, all selected by the Department for Education (DfE) as EdTech Demonstrator Schools with the aim of providing professional development for...

New app could help schools and colleges stay open amidst Covid-19 infections

The University of Exeter, working with Petroc College and the Association of Colleges and supported by City and Guilds, have produced an online tool for forecasting the spread of Covid-19 in colleges and helping to keep buildings open for as many students as possible.

While still in its beta edition, after a successful trial period with several colleges, the app is now available to every further education setting in the country. It allows colleges to input their setting’s data under different control systems, including class-based bubbles, larger year group bubbles and attendance...

Sparx' technology in use in an Exeter classroom

Sparx funds University of Bristol PhD student investigating personalised maths learning

Authored by AmySutton
Posted: Fri, 10/02/2020 - 12:15pm

The University of Bristol is today announcing a new supporter of Compass – the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Computational Statistics and Data Science. South West based learning technology company Sparx, has agreed to sponsor a PhD student’s research project which will investigate new approaches to longitudinal statistical modelling within school-based mathematics education.

Sparx, which is located in Exeter, develops maths learning tools to support teaching and learning in secondary education. As an evidence-led company, Sparx has invested heavily in researching how...

Elizabeth McCallum, who is a family barrister and co-founder of Children in the Middle.

Education and wellbeing of children remains as important as ever after lockdown

Authored by Reporters
Posted: Mon, 09/07/2020 - 12:25pm

A WESTCOUNTRY legal practice which specialises in child-focused family law says a youngster’s education and wellbeing is now more important than ever after the COVID-19 lockdown (September 2020).

It was recently revealed by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) that children from wealthier families were spending more time studying during the pandemic than poorer children.

Family barrister, Elizabeth McCallum, who co-founded the legal service, Children in the Middle®, with fellow Exeter barrister Sarah Evans, says: “Understandably, parents have had a lot to worry about...

Colin Hegarty, as Education and Schools Director at Sparx

Award-winning maths teacher, Colin Hegarty to take a leading role at Exeter edtech Sparx

Authored by AmySutton
Posted: Wed, 08/26/2020 - 11:36am

Sparx, the socially focused learning technology company focused on improving numeracy around the world, has today announced the appointment of Colin Hegarty as Education and Schools Director.

As Education and Schools Director, Colin will spearhead the Sparx Family’s UK schools strategy, working closely with individual schools and groups of schools to understand their needs, as well as collaborating with educators to deliver maths learning technologies that generate measurable impact.

As an award-winning maths teacher and founder of HegartyMaths, which became a part of the...

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