de Ferrers Specialist Technology College – Frog Blog

Since our last blog update, we have been setting up some new web pages.

Here is an overview of the new web pages and details of where you can find them on the VLE:

Creative Arts Website

The Creative Arts curriculum area website is now live and a link can be found in the subjects area.

The website is being updated with resources, news and photo galleries for Art, Drama and Music.

General Election 2010

We have also set up an Election 2010 mini-site. Thanks to Paul Evason from Haybridge High School & 6th Form for creating this resource and making it available via the Frog Exchange. (You can read their blog Here).

The website provides general information by linking directly to BBC web pages and also allows students to share their thoughts and views about the General Election.

We have adapted Paul’s version slightly to include our own Frog Box voting system. A link to the Election website can be found at the foot of the student homepage.

Revision Zone

Last, but not least, is our Revision Zone. This web page provides links to external websites that will help with revision, these are split into the following categories – KS3, GCSE, A Level, IBDP, General Advice Tips & Preparation and Revision Timetables.

There is a forum which can be used to share your own revision tips and links to revision websites with other students.

The Sign Language Club & Choir website has now been launched on the VLE. You can access the website it through the “Subjects” area of the main menu. The website contains lots of information the club and the events that they put on, along with resources, a gallery and forums.

There is also a “Day of Silence” page which has been set up for the event which is taking place next week. Here you can find information about the Day of Silence and there is also a Sign Language Video Dictionary specifically designed for the Day of Silence.

We have recently posted about a couple of new VLE sections, but there is more..!

Design & Technology now have their curriculum area website up and running. The website has resources, a gallery and forums. You can access this website through the “Subjects” area on the main menu.

In a recent post we mentioned the new IAG Portal. If you enter the IAG Portal and go to the Careers/Connexions section, there is a survey about the Careers Exhibition which took place last week on the 6th January. Please take a minute or two to complete the survey and give us feedback about this event.

Finally, the latest Frog Box vote is active within the Student Voice area. The topic this week is about the recent weather in the UK… head on over and get voting!

More updates soon…

The Young Designer competition takes place every 10 weeks for all students in Year 8 and Year 9. At the end of each module, each Design and Technology teacher nominates someone in each class to be the Young Designer and that could be for any reason, it won’t necessarily be the piece of work with the highest level. When all the nominees are chosen, two from each year are selected and their work is shown to everyone else.

It’s up to the students to decide who deserves to be the Young Designer, so get voting. You can access the voting centre by going into the VLE and following the button under the “Subjects” section.

The IAG Portal is now “live”!  IAG stands for “Information, Advice and Guidance”, on anything from work experience to careers, to personal health issues, bullying, exam stress etc…  It’s far from complete yet but there are already lots of really useful features

In the “crystal slider” section at the top of the page is “Subjects”.  If you click on this link, one of the buttons you’ll see is IAG PORTAL.  From here you can access a menu of three different options:

WORK EXPERIENCE is where you will find important information about vacancies, as well as reminders, downloadable forms like CV’s, and other useful stuff.  Keep checking this as Work Experience week approaches.

CAREERS / CONNEXIONS is where you’ll find lots of useful links, downloads and other information about careers, pathways and options for post 14, post 16 and post 18.  Plus, you can now contact your Connexions PA’s directly by filling in the webform with your name, email address and tutor group, as well as your question.  If you need some help from, or an interview with a Connexions PA, this is for you!

ONE STOP SHOP:  This is not yet complete but we will be adding a wealth of useful telephone numbers and websites on all aspects of keeping yourself safe and well. Watch this space!