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Sparkle Box


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Hi just thought I'd mention about www.twinkl.co.uk which has pretty much provided me with all the things I used to use sparklebox for. I do tend to use some things that were already made and laminated though as it's such a waste and we can't afford the time or resources to replace them straight away although we will.

Deb

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Sparklebox has now been taken over by someone else now.

I haven't been able to verify this - do you know who is running it now, SazzJ?

 

For my part I removed every trace of Sparklebox from my laptop and pre-school. I guess it is down to a personal opinion really - unless of course your school or Local Authority still has a ban in place. Ours never has sought to prevent schools from using the resources, and so many classrooms have been 'sparkleboxed' to death so that everything looks exactly the same.

 

One positive aspect to come out of the 'ban' was that new suppliers came to the fore, so hopefully teachers practitioners now have access to a wider range of styles to choose from. Variety is the spice of life, and all that!

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I haven't been able to verify this - do you know who is running it now, SazzJ?

 

For my part I removed every trace of Sparklebox from my laptop and pre-school. I guess it is down to a personal opinion really - unless of course your school or Local Authority still has a ban in place. Ours never has sought to prevent schools from using the resources, and so many classrooms have been 'sparkleboxed' to death so that everything looks exactly the same.

 

One positive aspect to come out of the 'ban' was that new suppliers came to the fore, so hopefully teachers practitioners now have access to a wider range of styles to choose from. Variety is the spice of life, and all that!

 

Sure we've been here before lol. I remember at the time of it being in the paper and stating that it had been take over. Will see if I can find out

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I'm with you on this one happymaz. I've not heard anything about it being taken over and I'm not sure that I'd believe it anyway because surely noone would want to carry on with a copmany associated with a convicted peaodophile?! No matter what I hear about it I'll never use sparklebox again just in case he still has any profit from it

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It would be good to know for sure if someone has taken over. I would think that if that had been the case then they would have made some sort of announcement to that effect so that people felt happier using it. Personally I couldn't use it if it is putting money in that man's pocket, particularly as it is a site with resources for use with children.

I did look into TWINKL some time ago when this subject came up and couldn't find any link. They also say they have no links with other resource websites. I find it very sad that the actions of one man have put all these websites under suspicion.

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I'm not sure where/what I read but my understanding at the time was that it was being managed by someone other than Samuel but it didn't specifically state that he was no longer making money from the site. The fact that this was not explicit and there was no big announcement to that effect, led me to be a little suspicious that some link remained. For that reason alone I wouldn't want to use it.

 

If someone has some concrete evidence that he has absolutely no connection with it anymore I might revise my opinion.

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i am sure we had a letter through my last preschool saying it had been taken over and it was safe to use it was quite a while ago when it was sent

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i am sure we had a letter through my last preschool saying it had been taken over and it was safe to use it was quite a while ago when it was sent

 

 

Samuel Kinge is still the registered company director of Sparklebox Teacher Resources Ltd and the business is registered to his address. His accounts have fallen from almost half a million to £84000 last year

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Sure we've been here before lol. I remember at the time of it being in the paper and stating that it had been take over. Will see if I can find out

 

When he was convicted and imprisoned for the second time he stated that a relative would be running the site in his absence

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Samuel Kinge is still the registered company director of Sparklebox Teacher Resources Ltd and the business is registered to his address. His accounts have fallen from almost half a million to £84000 last year

Do you have a link to show this Marion - when I last did a search it didn't show the owner's name. £84,000 is still quite an income!

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i am sure we had a letter through my last preschool saying it had been taken over and it was safe to use it was quite a while ago when it was sent

 

Sammy, if that's the same letter we had it just meant that it was safe because they originally thought that there may have been viruses linked to the site (specifically the downloadable toolbar I think) and they checked it out and found that there wasn't. I think there had been some sort of anonymous message to say that if you used the site you would get a virus to stop people from using it following the conviction.

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Even if the site had been 'taken over' by someone else with nothing to do with him, he will have profited from the sale of the company, so I will still avoid using them. It would be good to know whether Twinkle is part of Sparklebox holding company - Teacher Resources Ltd.

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We destroyed everything we had that came from sparklebox.........................cost wasn't considered ( we'd laminated lots of things!), but it just felt wrong to keep them. we have found sites such as RSPCA for lovely photos of animals, bugs etc., all free of charge and safe

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Even if the site had been 'taken over' by someone else with nothing to do with him, he will have profited from the sale of the company, so I will still avoid using them. It would be good to know whether Twinkle is part of Sparklebox holding company - Teacher Resources Ltd.

 

There is a page or two on their website which are about them

http://www.twinkl.co.uk/page/meet-the-team

 

Plus I looked at the site Marion linked to earlier for twinkl and they are based in Sheffield

http://www.companycheck.co.uk/company/07201458

 

I have used twinkl for some time together with Mrs Pancake (although they haven't uploaded anything new recently). My only concern is the use of these toolbars that sites want you to download so you can access some particular resource - thankfully our LA seem to be tight on everything even the safe things! On the plus side it has made me make my own and get my creative juices flowing!

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