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Sites for teachers

Over 170 useful Web sites selected, categorised and summarised for teachers

Money

Unlike many Web sites, RS infotech has no pecuniary or editorial interest in any of the external links anywhere on our site.

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AmusingSite Categories

Light relief for hard-working staff
Despair.com Demotivating posters and calendars for the staff room.  Their FAQ is subtitled "There are no stupid questions.  But there are lots of inquisitive idiots". www.despair.com Added 14.Jan.04
Jacky Fleming A (feminist?) cartoonist from Leeds who really knows how you feel.  Especially if you hate computers and men. www.jackyfleming.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03
NiceCupofTeaAndaSitDown.com Exactly what it says on the biscuit packet.  Includes official policy and mission statement.  Pythonesque. www.NiceCupofTeaAndaSitDown.com Added 13.Jun.03
Windows Annoyances The humour section of a site so popular there are at least 6 books based on it.  Includes "Upgrading to Wife 1.0" and poetry. www.annoyances.org/exec/show/category09 Added 18.Oct.03

Broadcast MediaSite Categories

Radio and TV related sites
BBC - Schools One of the biggest and (arguably) best sites, partly due to shed-loads of state funding. www.bbc.co.uk/schools Added 15.Oct.02
GridClub (NGfL/Channel 4) "an exciting initiative based on the National curriculum for KS2, which provides a safe, fun online learning environment for 7-11 year olds" www.gridclub.com/ Added 10.Feb.04
Homework High Channel 4's site for children. www.homeworkhigh.com Added 15.Oct.02

Dictionaries & EncyclopaediasSite Categories

A world of information at your fingertips
Die.Net Very comprehensive online dictionary with a sophisticated "wildcard" lookup facility for crossword enthusiasts. http://dict.die.net/ Added 1.Sep.03
Encyclopedia.com A free encyclopaedia with a child-friendly interface. encyclopedia.com Added 13.Jun.03
HowStuffWorks Everything from how the Atkins Diet works to how money counterfeiting works.  No connection, obviously. www.howstuffworks.com Added 13.Jun.03
HyperDictionary English, Computer, Medical and Dream dictionaries, and a Thesaurus.  Part of an educatioanl project. www.hyperdictionary.com/ Added 1.Sep.03
WhatIs.com Encyclopaedia of mainly computer and communication technology terms. www.whatis.com Added 20.Feb.04
Wikipedia A huge, searchable, detailed, general encyclopaedia, also includes lots of technical terms.  A public collaborative project. www.wikipedia.org Added 31.Aug.03

Curriculum ResourcesSite Categories

Curriculum-related resources

Resources for pupil use

Schoolsnet Has some on-line lessons for Key Stages 3, 4 and GCSE revision. www.schoolsnet.com Added 30.Aug.03
SOS Teacher (BBC) Interactive help from online teachers for Key Stages 2 upwards. www.bbc.co.uk/sosteacher Added 15.Oct.02
Spiny Software CurriculumOnline 'Registered Content Provider' publisher of nature reference CDs. www.spinysoft.co.uk Added 27.Oct.03

Resources for staff use

Curriculum online (DfES) Modestly describes itself as: "the definitive catalogue of digital learning resources linked to the National Curriculum for England." www.curriculumonline.gov.uk/ Added 27.Aug.03
DfES Standards DfES Standards Site www.standards.dfes.gov.uk Added 13.Jun.03
e-schools Free lesson plans, but very flaky site. www.e-schools.co.uk/ Added 30.Aug.03
ICT Advice for Teachers BECTa site, seems to be aimed at technologically more advanced users and schools. www.ictadvice.org.uk Added 15.Sep.03
ICTeachers Commercial enterprise set up by a group of teachers.  Lots of free resources for teachers. www.icteachers.co.uk/ Added 14.Mar.04
National Curriculum online (QCA) "This site links every National Curriculum programme of study requirement to resources on the Curriculum Online" www.nc.uk.net/ Added 27.Aug.03
National Geographic Society Has a large educational section including lesson plans. www.nationalgeographic.com Added 13.Jun.03
QCA Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, as if you didn't know. www.qca.org.uk/ Added 27.Aug.03

Education-Related GeneralSite Categories

Education-related general information
The BETT Show Major UK ICT in education show (January): "thousands of educational software, hardware, online, multimedia and IT support products and services on display". www.bettshow.co.uk Added 27.Aug.03
CLA Copyright Licensing Agency www.cla.co.uk Added 15.Oct.02
European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) All teachers should have ECDL-level ICT proficiency.  If only!  This site includes a self-test and a test centre finder.  The ECDL is international; the UK awarding body is the British Computer Society (BCS). www.ecdl.co.uk Added 14.Apr.04
F.A.C.T. (Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers) Campaigning and support group for its namesakes in the UK, particularly concerned with allegations of child sexual abuse. www.factuk.org Added 15.Oct.02
Independent Schools Inspectorate Inspection reports and information for independent schools. www.isinspect.org.uk Added 10.Oct.03
IEE School Site The Institution of Electrical Engineer's school site www.iee.org.uk/schools Added 15.Oct.02
ISCis Independent Schools Council information service - "the only official website for the 1,300 UK schools accredited by the Independent Schools Council" www.iscis.uk.net Added 10.Oct.03
Lancashire Association of School Governing Bodies "an organisation for Governing Bodies which enables Lancashire Governors to work together in partnership, with head teachers, school staff, parents, the LEA and the wider community" www.lasgb.org.uk Added 31.Mar.04
SchoolZone Lots of sections including for classroom helpers and articles on parenting. www.schoolzone.co.uk Added 30.Aug.03
TEN The Education Network - "an independent body set up to support LEAs in their work of raising education standards".  Lancashire CC is a subscriber. www.ten.info Added 13.Jun.03
TES Schools Directory A basic database of UK schools. www.schoolsdirectory.com/ Added 3.Apr.04

EnvironmentalSite Categories

Organisations affecting or protecting the environment, including recycling
Birds of Britain Ornithologocal site. www.birdsofbritain.co.uk Added 27.Oct.03
BNFL British Nuclear Fuels Ltd's site www.bnfl.com Added 13.Jun.03
Energy Institute The main site of the Energy Institute (previously the Institute of Petroleum). www.petroleum.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03
Energy Institute - Discover Petroleum Energy Institute's school site. www.schoolscience.co.uk/petroleum/index.html Added 27.Oct.03
Environment Agency The Government's Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk Added 15.Oct.02
Gift 92 We cheated on this one because we actively support Gift 92 - they haven't got a real Web site yet.  Gift 92 is a charity that redistributes furniture and household items to needy people, so they are always on the lookout for good quality furniture and working appliances that would otherwise go to landfill.  They collect and deliver in the Preston area.  Tel: 01772  716 572  E-mail: mail@gift92.com www.gift92.com Added 5.Apr.04
Greenpeace Probably the world's largest and most successful environmental lobbying organisation.  Has an international site and lots of country-specific sites with news and articles about its activities. www.greenpeace.org.uk Added 15.Oct.02
London Wildlife Trust Site has strong children/educational sections. www.wildlondon.org.uk Added 27.Oct.03
Preston Recycling A local scrap metal merchant that has recently added computer recycling to its activities. www.recycling.co.uk Added 4.Apr.04
Spiny Software Includes seasonal nature guide from British publisher of nature reference CDs. www.spinysoft.co.uk Added 27.Oct.03
Sprints (Eurosource) Recycling business with schemes for schools. www.sprints.org.uk/ Added 25.Mar.04
WWF - Go Wild World Wildlife Fund's site for children. www.wwf.org.uk Added 15.Oct.02

Extra-CurriculumSite Categories

Resources for after-school clubs and the like - this section is looking a bit thin so please recommend your favourites
Breakfast Club Information needed to set up and run a successful breakfast club, including financial awards. www.breakfast-club.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03
Chess Class Site by teacher sharing experience of running after-school chess club. www.edmarimba.co.uk/chessclass/index.html Added 15.Aug.03

FeaturesSite Categories

Links to transient features of interest to teachers
That'll Teach 'em (Channel 4) Pupils subjected to the grammar school rigours of 50 years ago. www.channel4.com/teachem Added 25.Aug.03

InternetSite Categories

Sites concerning the Internet including DOs and DON'Ts

Safety Advice

BBC ChatGuide Safety advice on using chat rooms, from the BBC. www.bbc.co.uk/chatguide/ Added 15.Sep.03
BT Safer Surfing BT's site with information for concerned parents. www.btsafersurfing.com Added 27.Oct.03
Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) ICRA is an international, independent organisation that aims make it possible for the public, especially parents, to control what type of content they and/or their dependents are subjected to via electronic media, primarily through promoting their objective content-labelling system (which is used by this site). www.icra.org Added 6.Apr.04
Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) The IWF "works in partnership with ISPs, Telcos, Mobile Operators, Software Providers, Police and Government, to minimise the availability of illegal Internet content particularly child abuse images" and it has a hotline for reporting abuse. www.iwf.org.uk Added 6.Apr.04
Sophos Anti-Virus Guidelines for schools Basic virus information from LGfL's anti-virus supplier. www.sophos.com/virusinfo/explained/schools.html Added 3.Sep.03
Superhighway Safety NGfL advice on Internet safety. http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools Added 27.Aug.03
Superhighway Safety Information Pack NGfL advice on Internet safety. http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/print.php3?A=1 Added 27.Aug.03

Technical

Experts Exchange If you want to ask a technical computer question, try this; it's a top-rated online community of altruistic computer experts. www.experts-exchange.com Added 12.Oct.03
InterNIC Registry for ".com" and ".org" domains - use to check whether a name is available. www.internic.net Added 27.Aug.03
Introduction to HTML 4 W3C's Introduction to HTML - recommended reading if you are writing a Web site in HTML. www.w3.org/TR/html4/intro/intro.html Added 15.Mar.04
Nominet UK Registry for ".uk" domains - use to check whether a name is available. www.nominet.org.uk/ Added 27.Aug.03
W3C Validator World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) tools to check your Web pages for standards-conformance.  Good place to start if your Web page doesn't work properly - check your HTML is valid. validator.w3.org Added 10.Oct.03
W3Schools A site full of tutorials and learning materials for Web technologies such as HTML et al. www.w3schools.com/ Added 22.Feb.04
Web 3D Consortium Home of the Open Source 3D file format, X3D. www.web3d.org Added 1.Sep.03
The Web Standards Project A good place to start learning about the whys and wherefores of Web standards. www.webstandards.org Added 22.Feb.04
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) A model of website excellence, a very BIG site, and the horse's mouth as far as Web technical standards are concerned. www.w3.org Added 10.Oct.03

Local HistorySite Categories

Information on local Preston and Lancashire history - contributions for inclusion here gratefully accepted
Follow The Yarn CLEO / Harris Museum - The story of cotton in Preston. www.cleo.net.uk/followtheyarn Added 13.Jun.03
Tulketh Hall The history of Tulketh Hall, Preston. www.lancshalls.co.uk/Preston/tulkethhall.htm Added 15.Aug.03

Official (state-sponsored) SitesSite Categories

Education, General, Government

Education

BECTa British Educational Communications and Technology Agency - ICT Advice for Teachers and the educational world. www.becta.org.uk/index.cfm Added 27.Aug.03
BECTa ICT Advice Information on Accredited ICT Service Suppliers www.ictchoice.org.uk/ Added 29.Sep.03
CLEO Cumbria & Lancashire Education OnLine "is a regional LEA partnership delivering... appropriate pedagogic practice in line with unfolding resource access" and "believes that it is in schools interests to be opened up as resources for Lifelong Learning and that the work of schools is enriched by Community involvement."  Basically, CLEO provides broadband Internet access to schools, plus some content such as discussion forums. www.cleo.net.uk Added 3.Apr.04
DfES Department for Education and Skills www.dfes.gov.uk Added 13.Jun.03
EduBase A DfES site: "The up to date database of educational establishments across England and Wales."  Includes a useful glossary of establishment types.  Database contains mainly statutory information such as parliamentary ward, rather than educational information. www.edubase.gov.uk Updated 10.May.04
getconnected Another one of Becta's sites: "getconnected is designed to enable those interested in implementing ICT within education to make informed decisions about networking technologies and content delivery".  Includes a glossary of terms, but it's not as teacher-friendly as our Jargon Encyclopaedia! getconnected.ngfl.gov.uk/ Added 3.Apr.04
GTC General Teaching Council www.gtce.org.uk/ Added 13.Jun.03
ICT Centre LancsNGfL's ICT headquarters for education, as opposed to technology (see Westfield Centre).  A useful site for all Lancashire schools, especially since its recent much-needed overhaul.  Contains lots of useful information and some excellent advice. www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/ictservices/ictcentre Added 3.Apr.04
LancsNGfL Not the most up-to-date site on the Web (think 2001) but some useful stuff. www.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 13.Jun.03
NGfL National Grid for Learning. www.ngfl.gov.uk Added 27.Aug.03
Ofsted Office for Standards in Education.  Inspection reports and other publications, even has detailed location maps of schools. www.ofsted.gov.uk/ Added 27.Aug.03
TeacherNet Government site for teachers. www.teachernet.gov.uk Added 13.Jun.03
Westfield Centre LancsNGfL's ICT headquarters for technology, as opposed to education (see ICT Centre).  A useful site for Lancashire schools, and it has recently had a much-needed overhaul. www.westfield.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 3.Apr.04

General

BBFC British Board of Film Classification www.bbfc.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03
British Library The British Library's site www.britishlibrary.net Added 13.Jun.03
British Museum The British Museum's main site www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk Added 13.Jun.03
NOF New Opportunities Fund - lottery spendings. www.nof.org.uk Added 13.Jun.03
Sport England "the strategic lead for sport in England, responsible for delivering the Government's sporting objectives". www.sportengland.org Added 13.Jun.03

Government

Data Protection Register The Register, and information about Notification under the Data Protection Act. www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk Added 13.Jun.03
DEFRA Department for Employment, Food and Rural Affairs www.defra.gov.uk Added 13.Jun.03
DFID Department for International Development www.dfid.gov.uk Added 13.Jun.03
Lancashire County Council Quite a big site. www.lancashire.gov.uk/ Added 13.Jun.03
Preston City Council Not as big as LCC. www.preston.gov.uk Added 13.Jun.03

PublicationsSite Categories

SubTitle
Education Marketplace EMAP site supporting various education shows including BETT. www.education-show.com/ Added 27.Aug.03
Education-Quest Questions Publishing's site - education-related magazines. www.education-quest.com/main/default.asp Added 27.Aug.03
Lancashire Evening Post The paper's site. www.prestontoday.net/ Added 21.Sep.03
New Scientist The magazine's site. www.newscientist.com Added 13.Jun.03
Primary Maths and Science The magazine's site. www.education-quest.com/ Added 27.Aug.03
The Teacher The NUT's site. www.teachers.org.uk/ Added 27.Aug.03
TES (Times Educational Supplement) The paper's site. www.tes.co.uk/ Added 27.Aug.03
TSL Education Publishers of TES, Nursery World et al. www.learnfree.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03

RecreationalSite Categories

Various sites to wind down with

Pupils

Cadbury Chocolate everything. www.cadbury.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03

Staff

Arachnoid (in the intellectual sense) All sorts.  If you like pithy quotes, you'll like this.  "You will find many kinds of resources here -- programs, applications, articles and books." www.arachnoid.com/ Added 19.Feb.04

School Web SitesSite Categories

Tell us if yours isn't here...

Advice

SuperhighwaySafety Safe and effective school Web sites - NGfL advice on producing a school site.  At least two of the following school sites flout the government safety guidelines...  Have you checked yours? http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/index.php3?S=4 Added 27.Aug.03

Lancashire Schools on LancsNGfL

All Districts on LancsNGfL Check your school's details and tell LGfL if they are wrong - Last time we looked (March 2004), much of the information such as Head Teacher's name was seriously (i.e several years) out of date and many current Web sites and e-mail addresses are not listed or are incorrect. www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/school_links/schoollinksite.php Added 13.Jun.03
District 6 (Preston) Preston Schools on LancsNGfL. www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/school_links/schoollinksite.php?distNumber=6 Added 13.Jun.03
District 7 (South Ribble) South Ribble (Leyland, Penwortham) Schools on LancsNGfL. www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/school_links/schoollinksite.php?distNumber=7 Added 13.Jun.03

Local Primary

Cottam Primary School A very unusual Flash-based Web site.  Slow to load, but worth the wait for the novelty.  Has lots of useful and interesting content but no pupils' work. www.cottamprimaryschool.co.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Leyland St James' C of E Primary School One of the best primary school Web sites we have seen.  There is lots of pupils' work, it is clear and simple, it works properly, it is up-to-date and it has all the useful information that people expect.  A model school Web site! www.st-james23.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 14.Mar.04

Local Secondary

Archbishop Temple School Preston's "Church of England Technology College".  Unfortunately this site is most definitely not a paragon of Information, Communication, Technology or accessibility.  Non-broadband users beware - the pages and downloads are huge (many of the links are unmarked PDF downloads). www.archtemple.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Brownedge St. Mary's Roman Catholic High School A straightforward site with lots of useful information but no pupils' work. www.st-marys-high.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Corpus Christi Catholic High School An easy to use site that is reasonably up-to-date.  No pupil content, but some interesting links to resources of use to all ages. www.cchs.lancs.sch.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Fulwood High School Preston's Performing Arts College.  Unfortunately this site appears to have been abandoned about three years ago. www.fulwood-high.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Tulketh Community Sports College The fledgling site of a small up-and-coming High School with recently-awarded Sports College status.  Previously Tulketh High School. www.tulketh.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Ribbleton Hall High Ribbleton Hall has amongst the most plentiful and sophisticated ICT facilities in the county.  The site has lots of information about the school but no pupils' work. www.ribbleton-hall.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Wellfield High School A school aiming to be a Business & Enterprise Specialist College. www.wellfield-high.lancsngfl.ac.uk Added 31.Mar.04
Worden Sports College Leyland's Sports College has been on the Web longer than most schools.  This sophisticated site is an example of an extranet.  NB: Use the link shown here - the Web address on their home page (.../wordensports) is incorrect! www.worden.lancsngfl.ac.uk Updated 9.Apr.04

Other

AngliaCampus Links to over 1700 UK school Web sites, but last updated in 2000. www.angliacampus.com/schools Added 15.Jan.04
Educate Online An eclectic mixture of content, including a large list of links to school Web sites.  Appears to be run by an individual. www.educate.co.uk/ Added 30.Aug.03
Fulwood Schools on fulwood.com Selection of OfSTED and LCC reports, but nothing newer than 2001. www.fulwood.com/fulwood/fulwood_schools.htm Added 13.Jun.03
The King John School (Essex) A Mathematics and Computing Specialist College.  This site is a paragon of ICT, particularly its KS4/AS/A-level resources for secondary schools.  A minor fault - its browser detection insists that Internet Explorer is needed (boo, hiss), but not true - it works fine in Opera. www.thekjs.essex.sch.uk Added 30.Mar.04
NGfL Schools Search facility and lots of information relating to schools and school Web sites www.ngfl.gov.uk/schoolsites Added 30.Mar.04
St Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst (Lancashire prep school) How not to write a Web site - Flash may be a de facto standard and ubiquitous, but it is probably not a good idea to make every page of your entire site dependent on lengthy Flash downloads (unless you are sure all your users have broadband...).  For literary historians: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was an alumnus of Stonyhurst and J R R Tolkien was a frequent visitor to "SMH" while writing "Lord of the Rings". www.saintmaryshall.com Added 6.Apr.04
Arguably the most important sites on the Internet

Child-Friendly

Google - Safe Search Google's "safe" option that filters out porn etc. www.google.com/search?safe=vss Added 25.Mar.04
SurfSafely.com A Web directory that requires all listed sites to have industry-standard content-rating labels (e.g. ICRA) so that content-filtering software will work properly.  Doesn't necessarily mean that the content is "child-safe", but does guarantee that your filter will detect any unsuitable pages that are rated as such. www.surfsafely.com Added 6.Apr.04

General Purpose

Alta Vista Was one of the pioneering search engines, good reputation for scientific relevance.  Now copies look and feel of Google. www.altavista.com Added 15.Jul.03
Ask Jeeves Accepts plain English questions.  Popular with beginners, not with experienced Web users.  We strongly recommend clicking "Remove this frame" when viewing a result.  Has a "Family Filter" option. www.ask.co.uk Added 15.Jul.03
dmoz Open Directory Project No ads, volunteer editors working in their own areas, "over 3.8 million sites - 57,238 editors - over 460,000 categories". www.dmoz.org Added 15.Jul.03
euroseek.com A not-too-garish search engine cum directory that uses the Google engine. www.euroseek.com Added 15.Jul.03
Excite Easy to use search engine and directory. search.excite.com Added 15.Jul.03
Google Probably the biggest, best known and best for general purpose searches.  Has a "safe" option that tries to filter out porn etc, and many other options and services. www.google.com Added 15.Jul.03
Local Life - Preston Lots of addresses of local clubs, groups and organisations. www.locallife.co.uk/preston/ Added 21.Sep.03
Lycos A long-established engine and directory, but very commercial www.lycos.com Added 13.Jun.03
Search God's Word Search the bible, choice of more than 20 translations, for specific text. www.searchgodsword.org Added 10.Oct.03
Teoma Search engine that attempts to offer useful suggestions to refine your search.  Part of "Ask Jeeves". www.teoma.com Added 15.Jul.03
WSAB - The Web Site Address Book Also distributed to school libraries as a printed booklet. www.websiteaddressbook.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03

Meta-Search (Multiple Engines)

Dogpile Searches Google, Overture, Ask Jeeves, Espotting, Teoma, About, Fast, Mirago, Turbo 10, Thomson WebFinder, Open Directory. search.dogpile.com Added 18.Sep.03
Dogpile - UK UK-only option of dogpile.com.  Searches other search engines for you. www.dogpile.co.uk Added 15.Jul.03
EasySearcher Searches other search engines for you. www.easysearcher.com Added 20.Feb.04
IXQuick Shows you top 10 results from up to 14 search engines, significantly reducing overlap.  Also has a "highlighter" feature similar to Google's cached page view. www.ixquick.com Added 6.Apr.04
KartOO KartOO creates an interesting pictorial map-like representation of its results. www.kartoo.com Added 6.Apr.04
MetaCrawler Searches other search engines for you. www.metacrawler.com Added 15.Jul.03
search.com Primarily searches the Infoseek index first but also lets you search the other major search engines as well. search.com Added 20.Feb.04
Turbo 10 Claims to search 3081 deep net search engines - i.e. it searches for content that is available on Web servers but not accessible via published Web pages. turbo10.com Added 6.Apr.04
Yahoo! One of the earliest and gaudiest, not so gaudy now but still with a very commercial look and feel. www.yahoo.com Added 15.Jul.03

Newsgroups

CyberFiber Newsgroups Directory/search for list-based resources.  Claims to be "the most comprehensive directory to USENET"; should help you to locate Newsgroups and mailing lists. www.cyberfiber.com Added 3.Oct.03

SENSite Categories

Special Educational Needs
Inclusive Technology A major supplier of SEN hardware and software. www.inclusive.co.uk Added 25.Mar.04

SoftwareSite Categories

Please tell us your favourites to include here

Educational

2Simple Software Produce award-winning range of infant-oriented adaptable software including Music Toolkit and Video Toolkit. www.2simple.com Added 13.Jun.03
AVP Educational Software Apple specialists, but on a PC their site seems to break in anything other than Microsoft IE; strange. www.avp.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03
Learning Grids Grids for the popular Clicker program (by Crick) www.learninggrids.com/uk/ Added 22.Sep.03
NetSupport Suppliers of the classroom networking software NetSupport School. www.netsupportsoftware.com Added 25.Mar.04
Sun StarOffice Sun Systems, one of the industry heavyweights, is offering its "StarOffice" suite free to UK schools.  StarOffice directly competes with Microsoft Office, it looks similar and it can read and write Word, Excel and PowerPoint files including 2000/XP/2003 versions.  StarOffice has two major features not found in any version of MS Office - it can save any document in PDF (Acrobat) format, and it can save presentations in Flash format, and all for free! uk.sun.com/markets/education Added 25.Mar.04
TEEM - Teachers Evaluating Educational Multimedia "Free access to 1722 evaluations of the 747 products..., and details of eLearning credit eligibility."  TEEM also distributes free booklets to LEAs. www.teem.org.uk Added 27.Oct.03
TEP - Technology Enhancement Programme "provides help and support for teachers and students of Design and Technology".  Also publishes CAD software for schools. www.tep.org.uk Added 13.Jun.03

General

IrfanView Superb free (for educational use) graphics and multimedia viewer/player  Handles virtually any multimedia, even MP3 and MPEG.  Has some useful graphics editing facilities including conversions between all supported formats.  Also does photocopying and screen grabbing.  And - very easy to install. www.irfanview.com Added 4.Sep.03
Opera Homepage of the Opera browser.  RS infotech's browser of choice for heavy-duty browsing and/or downloading.  Opera 7 is far better than Internet Explorer at most things, much more standards-compliant and it can even pretend to be IE or Netscape for those stupid sites that insist on a specific browser.  Only Gecko-based browsers are (slightly) more standards-compliant, but they are much less power-user-friendly. www.opera.com Added 27.Aug.03
PDF Zone A site dedicated to the handling of PDFs, including a tool finder.  Every Internet user should know about and use PDF. www.pdfzone.com Added 3.Sep.03
Sophos Updates Sophos Anti-Virus update downloads - there's no excuse not to!  LancsNGfL schools with a curriculum server can have automatic and free daily updates. www.sophos.com/downloads/ide/ Added 27.Aug.03
Topstyle Pro Comprehensive standards-based XHTML/CSS Editor, as used by RS infotech.  TopStyle Lite is a free cut-down version that is also included with Dreamweaver. www.bradsoft.com Added 13.Jun.03
tucows An Internet classic - massive library of freeware and shareware software. www.tucows.com/ Added 27.Aug.03

Technical Support

Clicker Support Very useful FAQ and troubleshooting database. www.cricksoft.com/support/ Added 14.Nov.03
Microsoft Help and Support Access to various Microsoft help facilities, including their massive Knowledge Base of articles on known bugs and other problems.  Access to everything you wished you didn't need to know.  Well, not quite everything. support.microsoft.com Added 31.Mar.04
Microsoft Knowledge Base Advanced Search Advanced search page of their massive Knowledge Base of articles on known bugs and other problems. support.microsoft.com Added 31.Mar.04

Suppliers - ComputerSite Categories

Local, Online UK

Local (Preston Area)

1st Direct Computers Friargate, Preston.  Very friendly and helpful shop with reasonable prices. www.1st-direct.co.uk Added 27.Aug.03
Cartridge World Water Lane, Preston and other franchised branches across the UK.  Inkjet printer cartridges refilled and guaranteed.  Regularly used by our clients. www.cartridgeworld.co.uk/ Added 27.Aug.03

Online UK

Clarity.it Broadband cabling specialists - the only place we know that sells Linebox microfilters.  Lots of useful info on ADSL for DIYers.  Also stocks some toys for boys. www.clarity.it/ Added 29.Apr.04
River Pro Audio Specialists in audio and CD duplication, also good for Minolta colour laser printers.  Excellent service in our experience. www.riverproaudio.co.uk Added 28.Mar.03
Scan Bolton-based mail order.  Limited range but very competitive pricing and good service in our experience.  "Today Only" offers do change every day. www.scan.co.uk Added 13.Sep.03

Suppliers - EducationalSite Categories

Online procurement of educational supplies
BESA British Education Suppliers Association www.besanet.org.uk Added 13.Jun.03
The Consortium The Consortium for Purchasing and Distribution www.theconsortium.co.uk Added 13.Jun.03
IPAS NGfL's ICT Procurement Advisory Service for schools.  "This website is the schools' guide to purchasing ICT products and services.  It contains lots of advice, guidance, interactive learning resources and template documents to help you." ipas.ngfl.gov.uk Added 29.Sep.03
Pugh Computers Specialises in cheap educational licences for expensive software such as Macromedia and Adobe products. www.pugh.co.uk Added 29.Sep.03
Western Business Systems Major ICT hardware and cabling suppliers to Lancashire schools.  Not a pretty site, but their educational prices for top-brand computers are usually good value. www.ngfl-western.co.uk 8.Apr.04

UnionsSite Categories

Trade Unions with significant school staff membership - please tell us if yours is missing
ATL Association of Teachers and Lecturers www.atl.org.uk/ Added 13.Jun.03
NAS/UWT National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers www.teachersunion.org.uk/ Added 13.Jun.03
NUT National Union of Teachers www.teachers.org.uk/ Added 13.Jun.03
Unison Unison www.unison.org.uk Added 13.Jun.03

Web HostingSite Categories

Hosting services to host your domain names, Web site, e-mail etc.
Me 2 U Web As used by RS infotech.  Full-featured and good value UK-based hosting packages.  Free domain parking and free domain transfer in/out (unusual). www.me2uweb.com/hosting.htm Added 27.Aug.03
Sausage Hosting From the publishers of HotDog HTML Editor - a range of well-specified hosting packages. www.sausagehosting.com/hostingplans.php Added 27.Aug.03

Web Site DesignersSite Categories

Please tell us about yours if you can recommend them

Local (Preston Area)

Athernet Solutions Preston-based Web design. www.athernet.com/ Added 25.Mar.04
Bluefish Graphics Preston-based Web design. www.bluefishgraphics.co.uk/ Added 25.Mar.04
Conception Design Preston-based Web design. www.conceptiondesign.co.uk/ Added 25.Mar.04
edmarimba Based on Tulketh Brow, Preston. www.edmarimba.co.uk Added 15.Aug.03
hypersight Preston-based Web design.  Be patient - their site is written in Flash and without broadband it is very slow to load. www.hypersight.biz Added 25.Mar.04
Regency Web Design Preston-based Web design.  Unfortunately their own site does not work in standards-compliant browsers such as Mozilla. www.regencywebdesign.eu.com Added 25.Mar.04
RS infotech You are already on our site!  We are planning to launch a range of Web site templates specially for primary schools in Summer 2004.  We are based in Preston but we are happy to work online with any UK primary school. www.rs-infotech.com Added 1.Jan.04

Online, UK

ICTeachers Commercial enterprise set up by a group of teachers. www.icteachers.co.uk/ Added 14.Mar.04
schools.ik.com "Create your own easy-to-edit, school website in just 5 minutes!"  Claims to be the largest provider of easy-to-edit school Web sites. www.schools.ik.com Added 15.Jul.03