Alison Borthwick & Alan Cross in Primary Mathematics:

It™s great to see the 15 Minute STEM Book 2 following the super original 15 Minute STEM book. Emily Hunt™s second book follows on from her first excellent collection of 40 exciting, easy to resource STEM activities. Book 2 follows the great recipe from the first book including another 40 great ideas to get young hands and minds buzzing. The book very powerfully demonstrates again that simple starting points can lead to very purposeful action and inquiry. Emily claims that the resources needed are simple and that certainly is true, almost all the items needed could be found at home or on a quick trip to the supermarket.

Emily is quite right that STEM subjects will become more and more important and that many of our learners will, be employed in STEM businesses. She has stuck to her winning formula of no fuss, straightforward and yet exciting ideas which cover the full range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) content. Her short introduction to the book gives very helpful advice for adults keen to inspire interest and a love of learning through STEM subjects. Each project is very clearly laid out beginning each time with a question to investigate. What follows is a how to guide for the investigation including: equipment list, instructions, prompt for investigation and short summary of what science, technology or mathematics we will be learning about. Helpful icons suggest whether the activity can be done by an individual or is suitable or a group and whether the investigation is suited to indoors, outdoors or both. The clear and helpful colour photographs and diagrams give clues and often background to the topics. A helpful ˜What we are learning™ section summarises relevant subject knowledge and like the diagrams often reference real world applications. We particularly like the icons, which indicate the profession or occupation, which might employ ideas illustrated in each investigation. These are expanded in a very useful STEM jobs glossary, we even learned what a dendrologist is! This glossary alone would be a great basis for enquiry and discussion. Each member of a class could investigate one of these occupations and find out why more about it and why it is considered a STEM career. Incidentally we™d love to include another occupation - teaching! A final bonus is a page of fifteen further activity ideas, which we hope Emily might expand on in Book 3!

Find out more about 15-Minute STEM Book 2 here.

"Speak to anybody who has left the profession after a few years and, more often than not, they will cite a lack of support as one of the reasons they felt unable to continue as a teacher."

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In her new book Mentoring in Schools, Haili offers busy teachers a practical interpretation of how to work with the Early Career Framework, sharing practical guidance to help them in the vital role of supporting new teachers. She also shares insights from recent trainee teachers, as well as more established voices in education, to provide tried-and-tested transferable tips that can be used straight away. Find out more here.

‹Read the blog post which contains to the full white paper here.

Written by Barry Hymer and Peter Wells, Chess Improvement: It™s all in the mindset is an engaging and instructive guide that sets out how the application of growth mindset principles can accelerate chess improvement. Find out more here.

‹Find the full review here.

Writing in the practical, engaging style of the award-winning Making Every Lesson Count, Louise and Dawn provide teachers of religious education with the means to help their pupils unpick the big questions of religious belief and practice, and of morality and philosophy “ the things that make us human. Find out more about the book here.

The Ladder, by Andrew Bernard, has been reviewed by Midwest Book Review.

“Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, The Ladder contains everything classroom educators and school counselors need to know in order to be effective advocates for young people and their future aspirations, pathways and career aims.

It is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to school district, college and university libraries, jobs and careers education collections, and supplemental studies curriculum reading lists.”

Using the mantra ‘every adult is a careers teacher’, The Ladder will inspire teachers to explicitly link their subject area to students’ futures, both in school and outside its walls, and support them in doing so. Bernie draws upon his 30-year career in education and business development to bring clarity, focus and ideas to educators as to how they can best start students on their own ladders to success. Find out more about the book here.

In my experience, asking a British teenager aged 13-16 what they™re good at will get you an answer anywhere between an exaggerated shrug, an œI dunno, football? and an "absolutely nothing accompanied by a cheeky yet embarrassed grin. After years of being told to be quiet or to stop showing off, we generally don™t know how to express pride in our skills or characteristics in the UK. And this is a problem.

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With a foreword by Colonel Dame Kelly Holmes, Bernie™s new book The Ladder contains everything educators need to know in order to be effective advocates for young people and their future aspirations, pathways and career aims. Find out more here.

The book is also available in ebook format here.