Cue Jude trundling down the M62 to meet Clare Lynch and the gang, BrainPOP subscribers since 2009.

The centre offers additional support to kids at a time they might need it and helps  them continue back into mainstream education. The small but well-formed teaching team delivers subjects across the curriculum up to KS4, as well as optional ASDAN and Environmental Qualifications. Here’s how Jude got on…

A staffroom session with Jude

The staffroom was busy but I managed to squeeze in a word with quite a few members of staff.

It turns out the Science department are the biggest BrainPOP fans in the school. This is often the case at schools – Science is our largest subject area and topics are abundant – but after discussions with some of the other staff we found that BrainPOP movies are particularly useful for subjects like PSHE too.

A good example was the 999 movie. Class teacher, Adele, said she had just been covering the topic with her class. We both learned something new too! I didn’t know that if you are unable to speak to the operator, you can dial “5″ twice to let them know you’re there. You’ll have to watch the movie for more information.

I also grabbed a word with Alan, the Music and Art teacher. He admitted he would like to see more Arts topics on BrainPOP to which I replied, “They’re on the way!” If you’re thirsting for more like Alan, keep an eye on our new movies section as we’re always adding new content to the site.

Alan also wasn’t aware that we always like to hear your topic suggestions too. Remember, if there’s a topic you’d like to see on BrainPOP just Ask Tim & Moby.

We can’t promise to answer every question but, who knows? One day you might check in to the new movies page to see Tim and Moby tackling your specialist chosen subject!

So, was using BrainPOP in a pupil support unit any different to a traditional school setting?

In short, not at all. Due to the small teaching team at the centre, teachers often have to teach outside their subject area, and BrainPOP is particularly helpful when teaching unfamiliar subjects.  Also, the movies succeed in engaging learners who can be difficult to impress at times.

Apart from that, the story was the same as most other BrainPOP schools: some people love Moby, some people love Tim, and some people aren’t willing to admit they love either so have to be BrainPOP fans on the sly.

It’s okay though, your secret’s safe with us

How do we decide what movies to make? Well, thanks for asking, Chris. Believe it or not, all our movies are sourced from inquisitive people like you.

At the start of every movie Tim reads out a letter that has come to us from a child or teacher somewhere in the world. We get 1000′s of these emails and letters every year.

Some geniune real life examples:

• “Dear Tim & Moby, I think you should show a video on myspace. A lot of people use it and it is sometimes dangerous. Can you teach me a little bit more about it please?”
• “Dear Tim & Moby, How do you make and design toys and remote control cars?”
• “Dear Tim & Moby, Why do alligator mums and dads eat their babies when they’re little?”
• “Dear Tim & Moby, Hi there, I’m going to be teaching year 2 children about making an emergency call to 999. Can I suggest that you make a video clip about what the procedure would be, what questions they would be asked when they call and what constitutes an emergency? Your site is great and I will be signing up when my trial is up. Thanks!”
• “Dear Tim & Moby, Can you make a film about polymer?”
• “Dear Tim and Moby, what is anime or manga? I have heard its some kind of Japanese art form.”
• “Dear Tim & Moby, Cheese: I love cheese, I can’t get enough of the stuff, so how do you make it and where does it come from?”

What happens to my suggestion after I send it in?

Tim and Moby write back to everyone who writes in to request a movie (assuming you include your contact details).

All movie suggestions go into a queue where they are regularly discussed and, if we think it’s a topic we want to explore or enough people ask for it (or someone really goes the extra mile to suggest a movie) then we’ll likely go ahead and do it.

What movies we do is up to Tim and Moby, so there’s no guarantees. But you never know if you don’t try, right?

We LOVE getting suggestions from BrainPOPpers. So why not get your class to submit Tim and Moby letters on topics that interest them?

Wouldn’t you like to claim “that’s me!” in a Tim and Moby movie?

So if you have a topic you’d like to see BrainPOP UK explaining then you could send us “Dear_Tim_and_Moby”_letter and email it to timandmoby@brainpop.co.uk or post it into us:

BrainPOP UK
Office 47, 3rd Floor Prama House
267 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 7HT

We’d especially like to see UK specific movie ideas – history, geography, famous British figures, culture and so on.

Remember, the foundation of BrainPOP UK is YOU. So keep your movie ideas coming!