The article (Education Business Links Boost Basic Skills, August 2000) described a number of ways that schools are linking with businesses. One of these was the ‘Big Books’ initiative in which activities on business premises are put into a resource for continuing use within school literacy and numeracy lessons. A detailed guide to this activity is provided here.

• Introduction
  
  
• Step by step guide to making your own Big Book with Business
  
  
  • Step 1 Planning and Preparation
    
    
  • Step 2 Making the Book
    • Taking photographs
    • Layout and presentation
    • Writing the text
      
      
  • Step 3 The Final Stages
    • Copying and laminating
      
      
  • Step 4 What Next?
    • Ideas for further development
      
      
• Examples of fonts and page numbers to photocopy

Careers and Education Business Partnership (CEBP) is working with over 200 nursery and primary schools and 100 secondary, including special schools across Birmingham.
With the introduction of the National Literacy Hour and Numeracy Strategy, we responded to a need for different and relevant resources in the National Primary Curriculum and adapted the “Big Book” commonly used in schools for group reading in Key Stage 1 and 2.
Education Business Advisers from CEBP are currently working in partnership with teachers (from nursery, primary and secondary special schools) and local employers to produce our own Big Books with Business.

Over 80 books have been created so far and their popularity is increasing. Many employers and teachers approach CEBP to be involved in this project.

Benefits for pupils

• The pupils visit businesses to meet local employees and their place of work.
• Children develop skills in interviewing and recording information.
• Big Books with Business promote discussion about the world of work and the pupils learn the skills and qualities that are needed for different jobs.
• There are opportunities to use Information and Communication Technology. Pupils and teachers can use digital cameras and associated software to create the content of the Big Books. They may also communicate with their business partner via fax and email.

Benefits for teachers

• Big Books with Business have proved to be particularly valuable, from a teacher’s perspective in advancing under resourced and less popular areas of the curriculum such as Design Technology and Science.
• It is a unique way of incorporating the world of work into the rest of the curriculum. The activities with business could involve all sizes of groups, from a small number of pupils to a whole school project and the children can be responsible for the creation at all stages of production.
• Big Books with Business have received praise and approval from Ofsted inspectors.
• Long term partnerships are formed between the business and school. Employers sometimes return as reading volunteers and use the books in the classroom with the children.
• The books are cheap to produce using the school laminator. The result is a wipeable long lasting, adaptable resource.

Benefits for local businesses

• Businesses are able to give teachers and pupils an insight into their industry and feel as though they are putting something back into their community.
• Big Books with Business attract publicity for the business and many are displayed in the workplace.
• As with any education business project, Big Books with Business are a useful staff development tool. Working with schools increases motivation and enthusiasm and develops communication and planning skills.
• There is no real financial cost to working with a school on a Big Book project.

A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO MAKING YOUR OWN BIG BOOK WITH BUSINESS

Decide on the focus that you want for your book.

• Will it involve a selected class, one year group or the whole school?
• Do you need to support a specific topic area such as electricity, environment or to enhance the Literacy Hour or the Numeracy Strategy?
• Will the children be creating the book themselves or will it be written by a teacher?

Identify an employer/business partner suited to your focus.

• Do you have a contact name and telephone number for the company?
• Do you need to contact your local Education Business Partnership for ideas, support or contacts. For contact details of your local Education Business Partnership visit www.nationalebp.org

Contact the business partner and arrange a face–to-face meeting

Have an outline of your plan in writing and if possible take
an example of a Big Book with you.
Your local Education Business Partnership may be
able to support you at this initial meeting.

Things to find out from your business partner.

• Can you take photographs? Do you need permission? Are there any restrictions on photography?
• Can the company supply any existing photographs – from leaflets, calendars, adverts, posters etc?
• Will the company give permission for use of its logo in your Big Book?
• Can you bring children to the workplace - if so, how many?
• Is the business partner willing to visit the school before the visit to talk to the children and/or respond to communication from the children via fax or email?
• Is the business partner willing to attend/take part in a celebration event when the Big Book is completed?
• Is the business partner willing to visit the class as a reading or numeracy volunteer in school?
• Will the business be able to offer any financial or other support for the production the Big Book?

Name of Business Partner:

Address:

Telephone Number:

Fax:

Email:

Contact Name:

Planning Notes:

Taking photographs

• Decide if you or the children will be taking the photographs.
• Will they be using a disposable, digital or standard camera?
• Do you think a supporting video would be useful?

Photography Tips

• Take plenty of film with you and practice loading and operating the camera beforehand. Check that your batteries are fully charged.
• Remember the theme for your book and try to think creatively. If it is literacy, take wide and close up shots of signage.

• If your book is to support numeracy, take photographs of numbers, groups of objects, patterns with symmetry.

• Take photographs of people at work, in uniform, and always seek permission from them first. Check if you can use their name in your Big Book.

• If possible, take pictures of the children and/or yourself to make the book more interesting.
• Shop around for processing deals – at least 7x5 inch photographs (available from most photo processing shops) work well in the A3 sized Big Books. Some teachers prefer to use 9x6 inch photographs.
• When taking a shot using a standard camera, try to frame your photographs sensitively and be prepared to take more of the same shots from different angles. You never know which will turn out best to enhance your learning point!

METHOD 1 – Creating your Big Book directly on to A3 paper
Layout and Presentation

You will need: PC with word processing and printer photographs and pictures white and coloured A3 paper scissors glue laminating pouches page numbers school logo business logo hole punch (preferably 4 hole) laminator book rings

Writing the text

• Look at the photographs that you have taken and focus on the learning outcomes that you would like to achieve.
• Place your photographs on the blank white A3 sheets in the correct sequence to tell your “story” most effectively. You may need to return to the company to take further shots if necessary.
• Identify where your text is needed.
• You may wish to add additional materials that you’ve picked up from your visit to the business e.g. tickets, receipts, timetables, menus and glossy company promotion materials.
• Create your text using an appropriate font and size. Be consistent with these throughout your book. There are examples of common fonts at the end of this kit.

• Don’t forget that coloured paper can be used as a border for your photographs, pictures or text.
• When you are happy with the layout, glue your text and photographs/pictures into place. Remember to leave a 1cm margin around your pages to allow for colour copying, laminating and binding.
• Add the page numbers. Photocopy the page at the end of this kit or design your own.

Producing your Big Book on the computer in A4

The Front Page
Remember to add the title, logos for your school and business(es), authors and appropriate photographs. Check with your business partner that you have used the correct logo and name of the business.

Other pages
Give thanks to all participants including pupils, staff and business partners on the acknowledgements page. If you have worked with several companies to produce your Big Book, such as a high street or shopping centre, you could display all their business cards on the page.

You can also add a contents page, a glossary and index page. Remember to highlight the words that will appear in the glossary.

• Ask a colleague to check the book for clerical errors.
• When you are happy with the final draft, arrange for the pages to be colour copied at a local printer (charges are usually from 80p per sheet).
• Keep your original as you may want to make another copy or need to update it in the future.
• Laminate the A3 colour copies and don’t forget that most pages will need to be laminated back to back. You could use your standard school laminator with A3 lamination pockets. Local printers charge about £1.00 per laminate.
  It is worth using thicker laminating pouches so that the book is sturdy.
  Some printers can “encapsulate” the pages which gives a more professional finish.
• Use a 4 hole punch and insert 4 book rings to bind your book. These rings can be supplied by most major stationers. Big Books with Business can also be spiral or comb bound but this makes it difficult to amend or separate the pages for display at a later date.
• After reading the book in the classroom, celebrate its success with a special assembly and invite your business partner and the local press. Don’t forget to publicise the book in your school newsletter.

• New pages can be added to keep your book up to date. For example, you may wish to add an activity or careers section.
• Group readers can be reproduced quite easily and cheaply by reducing A3 sheets to A4 on the photocopier and spiral binding. Add a colour sheet for the front page to add visual interest.
• Supplementary worksheets for literacy and numeracy can be developed alongside the Big Book.
• Include your book on your school’s website. Create a link to your business partner’s website and include a supporting video clip of the workplace.
• Make your books more interactive by using velcro. Foundation/Early Years teachers have used velcro in their Big Books for word search, sequencing, matching and opposites work. Some books have been designed so that the children can write in them with fibre pens.
• Collect “props” that will support your Big Book e.g. small toys, leaflets, taped interviews, tools, uniforms and hats.
• Produce a display for the school by using the laminated pages.
• Make the most of ICT by using a digital camera with a short recording facility. The Big Books, complete with moving images, can be shown to the children via the computer.
• Set up a Big Book club at your school to encourage the children to make their own books.

The following file contains two pages of typeface examples and a list of page numbers for you to cut out. Click the file to download it nad then print it out. The file requires Adobe Acrobat reader.

Typefaces.pdf