Mind Mapping is a fantastic learning and study tool and is therefore a key part of the ‘Your Amazing Brain’ section in Boomerang’s 2009/10 Innovation Diaries. To help schools teach students to Mind Map, Boomerang ran a ‘Mind Map Yourself’ competition open to students aged 7-15 years. The competition saw hundreds of entries from around the country with winners announced this week and excited students receiving their STABILO art packs as well as special Creativity Awards from Tony Buzan, the creator of Mind Maps.

“We were bowled over by the quality and creativeness of the many hundreds of entries we received” says Astrid Fulker, General Manager at Boomerang Ed. “Leading on from the Mind Map step-by-step guide included in the ‘Your Amazing Brain’ section of our diaries, children were asked to create a Mind Map about themselves: their families, friends, hobbies, school life and ambitions, and the results were spectacular. Scores of gorgeously created, colourful, thoughtful and entertaining entries from more than a hundred schools were received all of which were scrutinised by Tony Buzan, a task which he thoroughly enjoyed. He was highly impressed with the superb efforts everyone had made.”

The Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in each age group were as follows:

Category One (aged 7-11)
Gold – Aishia Mahmood (age 11) Fox Hill Primary School
Silver – Henry Barton (age 10) Dorridge Junior School
Bronze – Olivia Ryan (age 11) Ellesmere Port Catholic School

Category Two (aged 12-15)
Gold - Natalie Schofield (age 13) Eastwood Comprehensive School
Silver – Kathryn Speed (age 12) Bishop Fox’s Community School
Bronze (joint) – Danielle Green (age 12) St Anne’s catholic School
Bronze (joint) – Sarah Dodsley (age 14) Eastwood Comprehensive School

Primary School winner Aishia Mahmood (11), who lives in Bracknell, Berkshire is rightly proud of her elegant creation which sets out what she considers to be all the relevant influences in her life at present. “I planned out everything I was going to put on the Mind Map first, then followed the rules in my diary and laid it all out so it fitted the page and looked nice” she says. “I included everything I could think of, including our dog Tommy, and on the Holidays branch I showed I’d really love to go to Paris some time. I enjoyed Mind Mapping, and expect I will be able to use them later – I want to be a scientist or an artist.”

Secondary School winner Natalie Schofield (13) lives in Nottingham. Her Mind Map is enormous, measuring around two metres across. “I used 16 sheets of A3 paper” she says. “It took up all my spare time for nearly a fortnight. I’m very interested in art and IT, and I designed and colour-schemed the various sections very carefully. I stuck pictures on the Mind Map to make it look a bit different. I use a sort of Mind Map for my French lessons, but will develop my skill properly now – and who knows, Mind Maps may be useful in my future career, too. Right now I am thinking I might go into physiotherapy, or be a midwife.”

“Developing the ‘Your Amazing Brain’ concept alongside the creatives at Boomerang was a lot of fun” says Tony Buzan. “Mind Maps are a very versatile tool which fitted perfectly into the narrative we jointly developed. They can be used for taking notes in class or from books, for solving problems, for brainstorming with friends, and for reviewing and revising for exams. Their uses are endless! Children find them invaluable for planning essays, for coursework and exams. The Mind Map is also a memory technique, using all the techniques described in ‘Your Amazing Brain’ to help children develop their ‘Memory Muscles’. Add a dash of colour, rhythm, imagination – and the whole note-taking process becomes much more fun, uses more of your brain’s potential, and improves your recall and understanding.”

‘Your Amazing Brain’ is again featured in the 2010/11 diaries.

Contact Boomerang on 01252 368 328 or info@boomerang-ed.com for a sample or further information.

Boomerang Ed is proud to be shortlisted in two categories of the Education Resource Awards (ERAs) 2010, organised by BESA and Affinity Media. The Innovation Diary Range, which includes academic diaries packed with classroom learning tools for all students from primary school through to the high education level as well as free diaries for teachers, has been announced as a finalist for the Innovation Award and the Educational Book Award. Learn more about the ERAs

Congratulations to all the winners from this year's Teaching Awards. The ceremony on Sunday 25th October hosted by Christine Bleakley and Jeremy Vine was an inspiring occasion and Boomerang was proud to be part of an event giving due recognition to the great work done by teachers, teaching assistants and governors in our schools.

Click here to send a message of congratulations to one of this year's winners.

www.teachingawards.com/winners/

Boomerang’s new range of leavers' clothing has launched just in time to help you celebrate the end of the school year. Leavers Apparel is the easy way for students to kit out their year group in commemorative Hoodies, Sweatshirts, Tees, Polo Shirts and Caps that are personalised to your school.

Boomerang Leavers Apparel boasts unique print designs that can not be found anywhere else, with the ‘Festival’ and ‘Class of’ designs already proving hugely popular with students.

To get arrange your Leavers Apparel, all you need to do is select which garments, colours and sizes you want and then supply us with a list of names to be included in the design. It really is that easy. For full details click here or call us on 01252 368 328.

Health and wellbeing are hot topics these days and it is important for young people to understand why and how they should look after themselves. Each 2009/2010 Boomerang student diary from our Innovation Range contains Your Brilliant Body, a section designed to educate, inspire and motivate students on how they can eat right and get active.

Featuring:

•  A guide to the body

•  The 5 Steps to Fitness with the Fitness Industry Association

•  Love Your Heart with the British Heart Foundation

•  School programmes with London 2012

•  The School Food Trust

Boomerang Ed are proud supporters of the 2009 Teaching Awards.

We believe that recognition of the work teachers do is essential and are proud to be a committed supporter of the Teaching Awards. If you would like to say thank you to a teacher, teaching assistant, governor or school with an award visit www.teachingawards.com to make a nomination.

As part of the 2009/2010 Innovation Range of academic diaries, Boomerang Ed is proud to launch 'Your Amazing Brain', an exciting initiative in partnership with the world-leading mental literacy expert Tony Buzan. 'Your Amazing Brain' is a 16-page supplement FREE with all Innovation diaries. This inspirational content allows students to explore the incredible capacity of their brains using techniques developed by Tony Buzan, such as Mind Maps®, the power of colour, speed reading, and image & association. Understanding the power of the brain and how we can use this knowledge to optimise learning is an important subject in education.

We constantly seek feedback from those who use our products so that we can continue to develop the best possible tools for those in education.

Every year we visit schools and colleges to hold focus groups with students and teachers, giving you the chance to put forward your experiences, thoughts and ideas of how we can improve and develop our products to further meet your needs. The informal sessions are a great opportunity for students to speak up and engage with our design and production team directly, providing invaluable information.

Most focus groups are held between October and December when we begin our development cycle: listening to customers, creating new products, delivering for the new school year… then back to the start. However, we are happy to arrange sessions at a time that suits you.

If you are interested in hosting a Boomerang Ed focus group or would just like to voice your thoughts, good or bad, we’d love to hear from you.

Simply email us on yourvoice@boomerang-ed.com

In an increasingly eco-conscious world, Boomerang Ed takes its responsibilities seriously. Building on our previous commitment to environmental issues by becoming the first company to supply UK schools with academic diaries printed on recycled paper, all Boomerang printed products now use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper certified as recycled or sourced from sustainable forests.

All our printed products carry the FSC logo which is something your school can be proud of!

FSC certification code: CU-COC-807342

Boomerang Ed Teacher Diaries are designed to support the work of teachers and are provided FREE to all Innovation Diary customers ordering for the 2009/10 academic year. These diaries are a handy daily planning tool for meetings and lessons, as well as being an important reference resource packed with industry-relevant information.

FREE Teacher Diaries also include a teaching guide to ‘Your Amazing Brain’, an exciting new Boomerang initiative in partnership with Tony Buzan. The teaching guide focuses on Buzan’s Mind Map® technique, a tool which helps students maximise memory, recall and creativity.