Useful Teaching Resources

TSR Wiki > Careers > Career Options > Teaching > Useful Teaching Resources

The web has a huge range of really useful teaching resources which can aid both teachers and trainees a like in preparing their lessons and developing as a teacher. As a trainee teacher however you might not know where to find all the great things out there. Doing an online search can lead to hundreds of thousands of results, making it difficult to sort out the best resources from the long list.

So here we have a list of useful teaching links submitted by teachers and trainee teachers. Please fell free to add to the list if you make use of a website or online resource that we don't link to here. We'd also like little reviews of each site on here saying what you can expect to find at each link and how good/useful it is.

Thanks need to be given to santogold for originally creating this list on the forums.

General

• Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)
• Qualifications and Curriculum Authority -Good place for ordering publications.
• National Curriculum
• Ofsted
• GTCE
• DCSF
• Every Child Matters

• Teacher Support
• TES: The Teacher's Survival Guide
• TES: Classroom Management
• Bullying
• Bullying online

• Creative Partnerships
• Centre for Development and Learning - creative teaching
• Future Lab

• NCRTEC Lesson Planner Use this to help you find your way if you're still feeling a bit shaky with your lesson planning skills.

Getting jobs

• TES preparation for interviews page
• TES CV masterclass

General Resources

• BBC Bitesize - KS1, 2, 3, 4
• Teaching Resources - Resources for teachers of KS1, 2 and 3.
• TeacherNet - Click on 'teaching and learning' for resources for all ages.
• Skoool.ie - Interactive Learning
• TES - Times Educational Supplement website. As well as news, it has discussion fora and is jampacked full of resources for all ages and subjects.
• 4Teachers - Great resource site (but it's in German!)
• BLEN Resources for KS2/KS3.
• Sparkle Box - Great site for classroom displays.
• Teachers' TV
• National Grid for Learning
• Top Marks
• Channel 4 Website
• BBC Learning Zone clips
• Rising Stars Educational Software and Book Publishers (FS-KS4)
• My E Book
• Scratch Create and share your own interactive stories, games, music and art
• Xtra Normal Make your own films online
• Link Bunch Put a load of links in one small link
• Voki Make your own speaking avatar

Mathematics Resources

• National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics
• Association of Teachers of Mathematics
• NRich Maths

English Resources

• Web English Teacher - help with all aspects of English from drama to poetry.
• Folger Shakespeare Library -
• Literacy Trust UK
• UKLA
• Everybody Writes

Science

• Day Light Map Shows where it is day/night in the world
• Earth view from the sun
• Planet Science

Arts Subjects Resources

• Technology Student - 'Information sheets and exercises to enhance the study, understanding and teaching of DESIGN and TECHNOLOGY'.
• Design and Technology Association
• Technology Enhancement Project (TEP)
• Valiant Technology Ltd.
• Technology Teaching Systems Ltd (TTS)
• National Society for Education in Art and Design
• The Africa Centre
• On-line art encyclopaedia - excellent for finding out about artists and locating images of their work
• The Arts Council of England
• Engage - National Association for Gallery Education
• Hayward Gallery
• Horniman’s Museum
• National Gallery
• National Portrait Gallery
• Tate Gallery
• Offscreen Education Programme - publishes free materials for schools
• Networking site for all involved in music education
• National Association of Music Educators

Humanities Subjects Resources

• National Centre for Languages
• RE in teacher education
• BBC Religion website
• National Society for Promoting Religious Education
• The RE Site
• Articles of Faith - Suppliers of RE artefacts for schools
• RE Today
• Geographical Association
• Staffordhire County Council geography website
• The British Museum
• The British Library
• Museum of London
• The Metropolitan Archives
• Map MSG
• Webcams from all over the world

Other Subjects Resources

• BECTA - UK ICT education agency
• Teach PE
• Olympics
• Sport Engliand
• BUPA - health information on effect of exercise on the body
• UEA Street Law Resources for Primary and Secondary

• Scoil.ie - Portal for Irish Education
• Welsh Baccalaureate and Essential Skills Wales tracker- Great resource for the Welsh Bacc

EAL/SEN

• Global Dimension -
• Multiverse -
• Teachit World EFL resources
• Everything ESL
• Total ESL
• ESL Kids Stuff Primary resources for those learning English as a foreign language.
• MRC Ltd - Excellent site full of resources for those learning English as a foreign language.
• EMAS

• SEN Teacher - Site for those working with special needs children
• DCSF pages on inclusion, with publications

Teaching and Learning Theory

• Theories of Learning - Site looking at the different ways people learn.
• Learning Theory - Site looking at how people learn.

Other

• Teach Meet

Teacher Training

• GTTR - for information and applying for postgrad courses
• TTRCD - trainee teacher resource (inc. links to Ofsted reports, location and website links for your placement school
• TTRB - Teacher Training Resource Bank
• A trainee teacher blog

Primary

Government Documentation

• Primary National Strategy
• Every Child Matters
• Jim Rose's 'Simple View of Reading' on DCSF website
• Jim Rose's Review of the Primary National Curriculum on DCSF website
• Alexander's Review of the Primary National Curriculum (the Cambridge Review)
• Assessing Pupil Progress (APP)
• Assessment for Learning (AfL)
• Sure Start
• EYFS
• EYFSP
• Early Education

General Resources

• Primary Resources -
• Coxhoe Primary School - Primary schools resources linked to the NC.
• Woodlands Junior School - KS2 resources
• Teaching Ideas Comprehensive site containing tons of free resources for KS1 and KS2.
• Up To Ten KS1 resources
• Pencil Street
• Instant Displays - charges
• Primary Plan Primary resources. Some are free but the rest you have to pay for (albeit at a very nominal rate).
• LessonSense - contains games, links and news relevant to primary education. US-based site.
• Curriculum Online - now closed
• Communication 4 All Inclusion related resources (some charges)
• Primary Games Arena

• Kids Soup Preschool and kindergarten activities.

English/Literacy Resources

• Literacy Matters - Framework for teaching literacy in primary schools.
• Children's Books Forever Allows you to download and print full colour PDFs of a limited number of children's books.
• Poetry Archive - allows you to play poets reading out their own poems
• Primary Pad for collaborative writing

Phonics and Spelling Resources

• Focus on Phonics - Phonics resources
• PhonicsPlay
• Words and Pictures BBC site for the popular children's television programme. Great for teaching phonics/letters/spelling etc to KS1, whether native speakers or EFL learners.

Numeracy Resources

• The Standards Site -Primary school numeracy information
• Numeracy World - Free photocopiable maths worksheets and resources, mostly aimed at KS2.
• Beam
• Maths Frame - free resources for Block A

Science Resources

• Primary School Science
• BBC Science Clips
• UEA Creative Partnerships
• Nature Grid

Arts Subjects Resources

• Primary D&T -
• DTLK Kids Crafts site.
• Turner Contemporary – gallery which publishes cross curricular resources on line
• Music Manifesto - Details of an important government initiative
• Sing Up [ National initiative to promote singing in primary schools
• Arts Alive - Good practice with the arts

Humanities Subjects Resources

• Primary Languages
• National Advisory Centre on Early Language Learning - Primary school language teaching help
• Ordnance Survery Children's Website
• Primary History

Secondary

• Secondary Design and Technology
• Design inSite - Design and Technology site on 'materials'
• Ordnance Survey
• Tutor 2 U - Economics, Buisness Studies, Law, History, Politics & Sociology A level materials :)
• Teach ict Award winning site for teaching ICT

News Sites

There are a number of news websites which have education sections. These are useful for teachers to keep up with the latest things affecting teachers and for you to hear about anything really useful you might be able to use in your lessons:

• BBC Education News
• Education Guardian
• Times Educational Supplement
• Times Higher Educational Supplement

Also See

Got postgrad questions which aren't covered above? Then visit the Postgraduate Forum to get your answers.

Other articles:

• Postgraduate Education
• Postgraduate Student Profiles:
  • Law, Politics and Social Sciences
  • English, History and Linguistics
  • Science and Engineering
  • A Day in the life of a Postgraduate
• Types of Postgraduate Course
• Application tips and advice for:
  • PhD courses
  • Research Masters courses
  • Taught Masters courses
  • Second Undergraduate Degrees
• Funding Postgraduate Study
  • Postgraduate Funding in the Social Sciences
  • Postgraduate Funding in the Arts
• Getting into Oxbridge for Postgraduate Study
• Pros and cons of pursuing Postgraduate study
• Routes into Teaching
  • Postgraduate Certificate of Education
  • Useful Teaching Resources
• Postgraduate and Teaching Personal Statements

Discussion Forums

• Teaching Forum - for teaching questions - get ideas for lessons and share ideas with others.