Please read on for the latest information from the LGfL Team on:
Highlights from Let's Assemble II LGfL Conference
RCT and LGfL Coronation Competition Winning Designs
Busy Things - NEW Interface
Just2Easy & Busy Things and Migration from USO
Adobe Updates
ReadingZone Live Author Events
FREE LGfL Training
Get 30 Micro:Bits for Free
Recent Curriculum Blogs
Highlights From Let's Celebrate II Conference
Thank you to all who attended the latest LGfL Conference; focussing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, as well as KCSIE, Cybersecurity, Inclusion and Safeguarding and important announcements regarding the future of LGfL and our products. We hope those who attended found the day motivating and informative.
If you did not manage to attend, you can watch recordings of the morning and afternoon sessions (keynotes and seminar sessions held in the main auditorium) See below:
Morning Session - ReWatch
Afternoon Session - ReWatch
RCT and LGfL Coronation Competition Winners Announced
Thank you to the schools who took the time to enter designs in our Coronation Art Competition; an opportunity for pupils to mark the King's Coronation in the form of an original art creation/design. The brief was to design a new Official State Mode of Transport; that should be “fit for the future” with the final judging completed by Will (Learning Manager at RCT) and Matt (Head Coachman at the Mews).
The winning designs with the first name and school of each winner can be seen here(but a screenshot is shown below too):
Busy Things *NEW* Interface
You may have noticed that Busy Things recently changed their 'Welcome screen' layout for teachers; you will see that the Resource Maker has been put alongside the age bands and setups. This is because it has grown so much over the last year or so and Busy Things feel that it’s value is equal to that of the activities and games. If you haven’t used the Resource Maker, now is the time to explore it. Teachers can make custom resources suitable for all Year Groups.
As more tablets and Chromebooks arrive in schools they have taken the decision to make the appearance of the activity screens more uniform. Smaller screens can now accommodate several columns of activities rather than a single list, this reduces the need to scroll on smaller screens. They think the screens look cleaner and clearer - they hope you agree!
Children who find the Busy Things graphics and colour scheme a bit overwhelming can now access Busy Things in a reduced colour mode (as shown in the image above). Whilst the game graphics remain unchanged, pupil menu screens, quizzes, labelling, classifying, timelines, demos, widgets and flashcards all present with reduced colours. There are four reduced colour themes to choose from. These can be found within 'Device settings' at the top of the 'Welcome screen'.
Your Login is Changing for Using Busy Things & J2e Toolsuite!
Eligible* Schools can now access these award-winning learning platforms with the Google, and Microsoft accounts you already have!
We suggest scheduling this swap over for the end of the school year or the start of the new academic year; that way you can warn teachers and pupils that their log-ins have changed ready for the start of the new academic year!
* Please note that only Primary and SEND schools are eligible for Busy Things and j2e tool suite licences.
Adobe is making some important changes to the Adobe admin consoles provided by LGfL for the provision of Adobe Creative Cloud licences. The change is planned for 19th August 2023. For some users, it may affect the login process, where they have to select a profile before continuing. We have arranged some drop-in sessions during July and August for anyone who would like to ask questions to the Adobe project team. Use the link below to book one of the sessions:
Please Note: LGfL provided Adobe Admin consoles are showing a message that licences will expire on 31st July 2023, schools can disregard this as they will continue to work after this date, and the message will eventually disappear.
15th September - Environmental Adventures with Natasha Farrant (Y5&6)
22nd September - Em Lynas for Fun with Rhymes (Rec & Yr1)
29th September - Sophie McKenzie introduces Secret Sister (Y7&8)
and more events in October!
LGfL Training
Online training events are free for all school staff to attend (*with the exception of the Designated Safeguarding Lead Training which we offer to LGfL customers only).
We also have free Adobe Express live lessons (whole class or just digital leaders).
If you are a UK primary school teacher, your school is entitled to 30 BBC micro:bit devices. This ambitious project is committed to equipping primary schools with the tools and resources to promote computational thinking, inspire digital creativity and enrich the curriculum with pioneering machine-learning lessons.
Find out more by registering here. (They will be collecting applications from May 15th to December 18th 2023).
Recent Curriculum Blogs
Click on the links below to read the most recently published Curriculum Blogs:
