We all know that there are amazing free educational resources on the Web, in fact that is what Topmarks is about, but every now and again I come across a site which has the WOW factor.... and Mrs Pancake is one such site.

Firstly Mrs Pancake is beautifully designed, as are the free downloadable 'Doodads' which are suitable for children across the age range from 4 to 11.

The high quality resources range from original ideas for things you can make with your class to fantastic items for classroom displays. What makes Mrs Pancake different is that the featured resources are professionally designed and don't just make use of clipart. So I recommend that if you are an early years or primary practitioner you take a peek and see what gems are on offer.

Here is a way to add some bright new books to your school shelves and for nothing! The Times and Sunday Times newspapers are about to launch the Books for Schools promotion. It is open to schools in the UK, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands and it will be running from January 2009 to November 2009.

There is a super collection of titles suitable for age groups from 3 to 14 years.

If you think your pupils' families are likely to be readers of either newspaper all you need to do is register your school for the scheme. From January you will be able to collect the cut-out tokens that will be appearing in the newspapers. What's more if you sign up before 12 December you will get 100 free tokens to get your collection underway.

Happy collecting!

Christmas Resources

As Christmas is almost upon us, Topmarks Christmas pages have been bustling with traffic. This year we have added instructions for making four new Christmas Cards designs that you could try in the classroom and a new page, featuring Christmas games and Advent Calendars for young children, which is proving to be one of the busiest on Topmarks already!

Parents' Articles

We have added two new parents' articles, 'Learning through Cooking' and 'Choosing a Primary or Secondary School'. We explain the many beneficial learning experiences that cooking activities provide, including developing mathematical vocabulary and give guidance to parents on how they can promote their child's learning. Early years practioners may like to tell parents about this.

Additions to Our Search Engine

As usual we have been adding lots of sites to our search engine and our interactive whiteboard pages. There are too many for me to mention here but I have selected some of my favourites from the latest additions to tell you about.

Early Years - Ages 3 - 6

Mr Tumble and the Minibeasts
A CBeebies story on the theme of minibeasts. Children need to help the character Mr Tumble on his way to find his missing juggling ball. By clicking on the minibeasts children can hear familiar songs. This is a delightful, animated story includes Makaton signs.

Maths - Key Stage 1, P2 - P3, Ages 6 - 7

Shark Numbers
A tens and units maths game. Children need to count carefully otherwise the shark will bite their boat.

Maths Key Stages 2, P6 - P7 Ages 9 - 11

Little Ernie's Daily Maths Tasks
Here you can create unlimited printable daily maths tasks for your pupils. Select the topics you want to cover, print it off and photocopy for your class. Good for SATs revision too.

Maths KS3, S1 - S2, Ages 11 - 12

Addition and Subtraction of Integers
Do your pupils have trouble with addition and subtraction of integers especially involving positive and negative numbers? This site will allow them to visually understand the concepts that are in place behind the scenes. It works well on an interactive whiteboard.

English KS3 KS4, S1-S5, Ages 11 - 16

Short Story
An animated, interactive teaching unit which looks at the elements of a short story and then provides a breakdown of three popular short stories. Students and teachers can use all or part of the resource. Includes teachers' notes.

English - Key Stage 3, S1- S3, Ages 11 - 14

What is a Clause?
This interactive animated tutorial explains the difference between independent and dependent clauses. There are activities where pupils need to identify types of clauses and to make sentences involving clauses. It is suitable for use on an interactive whiteboard.

Biology/Science - Key Stage 2, P4 - P7, Ages 8 - 11

Parts of a Flower and Pollination Activity
An animated matching activity about the parts of a flower which has a narrated explanation and a drag and drop matching activity. It also illustrates the pollination process.

Physics/Science - Key Stage 2, P3 - P7, Ages 7 - 11

Light and Shadows
A series of animations showing how light and shadows behave. A useful teaching aid particularly on an interactive whiteboard. It has teachers' notes.

Look out for more new additions next month in my Best of December post.