Every now and again people ask how I started the website.  The honest answer to that is "purely by chance".
In the winter of 2006 we had builders in for a couple of months building extensions to our existing house. It was a bit like living in a goldfish bowl so I hid in the study, closed the door and started to play around. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing but I thought I'd play at making a website.

The only way of making a website that I knew of was from a course I'd been on several years previously when I was ICT co-ordinator. Using Publisher to produce a website with children was the way to go in those days and, as I was familiar with Publisher and knew less than zilch about any other way of producing a website, I thought I'd give it a go.

I'd just given up my full time teaching job after more than 25 years and was dabbling with some supply work. Initially the idea of the site was literally to hide from the builders. Then I decided it might be a good idea to share all the worksheets and resources I'd been making ever since old BBC computers went on the scrap heap and proper computers arrived in school --not that they were ever all that reliable but they were 100% better than the BBCs!

Having added all the smaller resources to the new site, I came to my really big resources and decided to put them into a different section. This would be a new fundraising section so that I could raise money for Climb, a charity I'd been involved with for a long time. As a result, and three years later, more than £10,000 was raised for and sent to Climb--thanks to all those who liked and bought my resources.

Sadly all good things come to an end and the fundraising ended with the recession in January 2009. The website is still an ongoing project and  is an excuse to carry on doing what I always enjoyed--making teaching resources. The only regret I have was that there was only ever one Interactive Whiteboard in school while I was teaching.  As soon as I left, whiteboards appeared in all the classrooms. How I wish I'd had access to a whiteboard  during my many years in KS1. Then again, when I was teaching I never had access to PowerPoint or had time for making big resources!

Inspite of the archaic nature of a Publisher website (which drives me mad whenever I come to update it because it is so convoluted and has many unseen difficulties!!)  I keep it going in it's 'old fashioned faults and all' state because it is now so HUGE that I simply cannot face the prospect of redoing it all to make a modern super duper website--even if I knew where to begin! Neither can I afford to let professionals do it for me so, it plods on and it will be interesting to know just how big it can get before imploding!

Without the period of the builders KS1Resources may never have existed but I hope it's here to stay. Many, many of you have sent emails to say that it is a "wonderful site"  and I shouldn't even think of changing it. Well I've thought wistfully about changing it many times but have finally concluded that it would be a mammoth task which would be beyond me so, it will stay as it is,  archaic but working and I hope everyone who buys resources will continue to be happy with them.


On that note, I once again thank everyone who supported Climb for three years until I had to stop the fundraising side in January 2009.  I'd also like to thank everyone who sends such positive and much appreciated feedback. I am more than pleased that the resources are useful and find good homes.

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