Teaching resources

There are many resources available for teachers to use in the classroom. Make time to find out what resources your school has already that you can use, both in the physical classroom environment and through the school’s online subscriptions.

You can borrow items from the library’s Curriculum Resources collection, located in Augustine House, to use with children in school or to give you teaching ideas and inspiration. This includes a wide range of Picture Fiction, Junior Fiction and Senior Fiction books, plus Big Books for whole-class reading. There are also non-fiction books arranged by curriculum subject and a range of creative resources and artefacts including musical instruments, archaeology boxes, story sacks, puppets, RE collections and maths and science equipment. These are all discoverable on LibrarySearch; you can search for a topic (e.g. rivers) and use the left-hand column to filter to “Curriculum Resources” under the heading “Location”.

OverDrive is an ebook and audiobook platform available via LibrarySearch/Find Databases. See the specially curated “Children’s Fiction” collection or Browse by Subject to see Juvenile Fiction (which includes recent prizewinning titles). You can download the Libby app to Apple and Android devices to read these online.

Many companies produce online teaching resources that you have to pay a subscription for, but there are lots that you can access online for free. Always use your critical and professional judgement to ensure that any resource you use is factually accurate, relevant to your purpose and at the right level for the needs of the learner. For instance, a teaching resource from an American website may use different terminology from the UK National Curriculum so it may not be relevant for your purpose. Be wary of sites full of adverts, trying to sell you products; always check where a resource has come from and who has made it.

Start with resources and websites recommended on your subject Blackboards that your tutors have selected.