welcome | acknowledgements | help

System requirements

  • Web browser: the content has been optimised for Internet Explorer 6 or later but will function correctly using most other browsers.
  • JavaScript: must be enabled to use the age range menus and certain other features of the site.
  • Java: must be installed and enabled to use the AfL and keyword search facilities, available free from www.java.com.
  • Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®: required to open PDF resource files, available free from www.adobe.com.
  • Microsoft Word 97: or later version required to open Word resource files.
  • PowerPoint 97 or PowerPoint Viewer: required to open PowerPoint resource files. PowerPoint Viewer is available free from www.microsoft.com/downloads - enter 'PowerPoint Viewer' in the Search box.

Navigating the site

Clicking home in the main toolbar at the top of the page returns to the welcome page, which also gives access to the help and acknowledgements sections.

Clicking contents in the main toolbar displays a complete list of all topics. This list may be narrowed down in one of three ways.

  • Checking one or more of the AfL category boxes.
  • Selecting an age range using the Ages menu.
  • Entering one or more keywords in the Keywords box and pressing Search (or hitting the Return key). A list of all topics associated with the keywords you enter is displayed. A topic number (eg '07' for 'What is the rock cycle?') may also be entered.

Clicking index displays a list of all the valid keywords together with the associated topics.

Clicking key features in the main toolbar displays a pop-up windows describing the key features of Assessment for Learning together with some practical tips and hints.

Using topics

Clicking a topic in the contents list displays the Teacher's notes for that topic, listing the Learning objectives and Sequence of activities together with an Assessment for learning commentary and any Safety notes relevant to the topic.

Also supplied are links to the resource documents needed for the topic. These may be opened as described below.

Opening resources

All resources are available in Portable Document Format (PDF). Almost all resources are also available in either Word or PowerPoint format. To open a resource document:

either:

  1. Click the , or icon to display the document in PDF, Word or PowerPoint format.
  2. To save a Word or PowerPoint document, choose Save As... from the File menu. Select the folder on your local disk you wish to save the document into, and then press OK.
    To save a PDF document, click the Save icon on the toolbar, and select the folder and filename as described above.

or:

  1. Click with the right mouse button on the , or icon, and choose Save Target As... from the pop-up menu.
  2. Select the folder on your local disk you wish to save the document into, and then press OK.

Which document format you choose to use will depend a number of factors summarised in the table below.

Format
Advantages
Disadvantages
PDF
  • File is small and quick to open.
  • Document may be used on any computer system with Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®.
  • Document may not be edited.
  • Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free from Adobe).
Word
  • Document may be edited and tailored for a particular application.
  • File is large and may be slow to open.
  • Requires Word 97 or later.
PowerPoint
  • Document may be edited and tailored for a particular application.
  • File is large and may be slow to open.
  • Requires PowerPoint 97 or later, or PowerPoint Viewer

Printing PDF documents

If you encounter a problem where the student sheets print out slightly smaller on the page than you expected, make sure that in earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat, the option for ‘Fit to page’ on the print dialogue box is unchecked. In more recent versions of Adobe Acrobat this option is found by first choosing the ‘Properties’ button in the print dialogue box and then the ‘Effects’ tab. Choose ‘Actual size’ not ‘Fit to page’.