From 1996 all schools will operate under a 4 term structure, unless they apply for a variation. Words of advice from a 4 term trial which will help schools prepare for the change and give pointers to those wishing to retain the status quo.

School computers can now provide very versatile and exciting ways for children to present cross-subject 'projects'. The learning, and what the teachers learnt too, was researched.

At a typical secondary school the researchers discovered how successful the presentation of the science curriculum in discrete separately assessed units of work is. And discovered the (unhappy) effects of the in-school assessment for a national examination.

The researchers had good reason to believe that teaching physics to young children would work best if children could rub their ideas against others. However, the ideas they are asked to investigate need to be in carefully designed work.

In four different countries, including our own, the same problems keep cropping up - children do not connect simple tasks, such as sharing, with the written fractions they meet in class. Research and good advice therefrom.

In 'A Day at the Races' in set No. 1 this year, it was shown that our ability to do complex mental tasks in real life does not depend on our IQ. But such knowledge does not transfer to strange situations until the similarities are shown to us.

In the 'salad bowl' of ethnic and cultural diversity of Hawai'i, there are attempts to make school work more relevant to all cultures, including involuntary minorities such as the indigenous Hawaiians. Teaching geometry in new ways is the focus of the research described here.

Many years of patient research have discovered how new ideas get formed, embedded, and remembered at the 8- to 12-year-old level. The conclusions are vital for all teaching.

Asking very young children to draw can reveal a great deal about how they are coping with school, what they are learning and what they regard as important. Better teaching can follow.