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Designing the curriculum was my main responsbility and
it was a challenge and a joy to plan for!
The experiential learning model was creative and delivered through immersive experiences to support learning engagement and retention for students, staff and families.
Our learning was driven through film, the arts, technology and food & community so the majority of my time was spent collaborating with staff to drive them to think as big as possible so that learning would be exciting and memorable!
Whole School Immersion
Whole School Immersion
To relaunch our immersive model after returning from lockdown, I wanted to go big with a whole school experience to inspire and bring everyone together after so long apart.
As a leadership team, we planned a whole half term around Alice in Wonderland and kicked the term off with a CPD session with staff to immerse and inspire them first. This set expectations and common themes and made it very clear what our objectives were. We were going for it!
Then on the first day back, all students came in to an immersive experience with a Mad Hatter's Tea Party table in their class to reignite their passion for learning and their love of school. Each table was filled with artefacts that were clues linked to the learning that would take place that half term. We ended with the same experience so students could reflect on their learning and see if they could identify all the links and remember the learning.
Students also used our surplus kitchen ingredients to make meals for a local homless shelter. Using the time to not only learn about food hygiene and safety but to reflect on how they can be a positive force in their community and make a difference. They made over 300 meals a year, giving back to their community.
Community Experiences
Community Experiences
We saw the multicultural nature of our local community as a wonderful strength that we wanted to celebrate and immerse our learning in to make really meaningful connections between people from all over the world and with very different backgrounds.
Our community baking day saw families from 12 different countries come and share their methids, techniuqes and tools for baking the bread of their culture - a beautiful thing to see which ended in everyone literally breaking bread together and a new community bound created.
We understand that things could be tough for a lot of people in our local community. So all students made bread throughout the week which was added to our school community food bank offer on a Friday.
Local companies made generous donations and students and staff set up shop where people could give a donation of whatever they could and take as much as they needed.
This was a huge success and brought our community together as people could see that everyone was the same and everyone needs a little help sometimes.
Sustainability of Food and Fashion Insta.movRegenerative Agriculture & Sustainability
Regenerative Agriculture & Sustainability
The most fun part of designing a curriculum or unit of work is taking unusual or unfamiliar concepts and turning them into amazing learning experiences. Working with my deputy head, we designed a whole school unit of work across a whole term focused on teaching students about regenerative agriculture and sustainability through the lens of geography. We wanted our students to be able to make good choices when it came to food and, as the future custodians of the planet, be able to understand their place in the world and how they could have a positive impact on it now and in the future.
We explored different foods each week from different parts of the world which allowed us to target geography concepts in collaboration with the sustainbility focus. Students were able to learn about the dangers of monocropping, fair trade, carbon footprints and how the power of nature could be used to produce the same products in a way that was much better for the planet. The ultimate example of impact was when a parent jovially shared with me that they had been told off in the supermarket by their child for buying a steak from Argentina instead of Britain! Below are some examples of slides I created for the lessons.
Examples of Learning Outcomes
Examples of Learning Outcomes
Soil tests were carried out in the garden area using an iPad to mirror the action on the whiteboards back in class via Apple TV and they were able to have regular FaceTime sessions with a real farmer in their field in Cornwall to deepen their connection with the project. Students used iPads to record the data and compare them with other results across the year.
Whole School - Soil Project
Whole School - Soil Project
We created a whole school STEAM project designed with integrated tech to deepen student understanding of both scientific study and the environment. All of our students were involved along with any families who were inspired to engage, giving the whole school community agency over the impact of the project.
We began by testing our soil using various pieces of tech and having it professionally analysed so we could see the levels of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus etc along with its ability to store carbon and water. Over the year, our students carried out a series of tests to boost nitrogen and carbon storage and monitor the impact of what we are doing is having on the quality of what we grow.
Elmer Reception Assembly (Max 720p).mp4Reception - Reading & Story Telling
Reception - Reading & Story Telling
Our Reception class used the iPad to record this retelling of the story of Elmer the Elephant. They spent time learning all about elephants and where in the world they could find them. They read the story together, created the artwork, roll played the story and then used the iPad to provide a platform for them to retell the story themselves. This gave fantastic ownership and purpose over the outcome as they were shared with families.
Lockdown Writing
Lockdown Writing
During lockdown, designing a curriculum that would engage our students in the most difficult of circumstances was an incredible challenge and one that allowed technology to really shine through.
Here is an example of some slides I created for a project exploring the continents. Students were given Google Slides with embedded videos, links to other websites and a Google Expedition allowing them to explore famous North American landmarks in full 360 with their iPad from the comfort of their home!
Year 2 - Senses Immersive Experience
Year 2 - Senses Immersive Experience
Our Year 2 students went on a senses immersive experience to inspire their writing for their film Rio, which is mostly set in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
The experience included:
A virtual reality experience to the amazon rainforest where they could see the amazing sights of an actual rainsforest deep in the amazon.
A sound experience where students listened to the different animal and nature related sounds that could be heard in the rainforest, such as macaques howling through the treetops.
A 'blind' walk-through nature to recreate the different physical obstacles you might find going through the rainforest, like 'hopping over the river stones' or 'swinging through the vines' to develop their language.
These experiences were designed to inspire students to record lots of details to provide rich descriptive writing for their settings using different grammatical and vocabulary-specific devices.
Year 6 - Star Wars Green Screen
Year 6 - Star Wars Green Screen
Our Year 6 students went to a Galaxy Far, Far Away for their writing experience. Here, we used a green screen to put our students into an X-Wing Fighter and become Luke Skywalker trying to destroy the Death Star! They immersed themselves in the world of Star Wars and by becoming the pilot themselves, were able to write so passionately. They used iMovie to combine the green screen recording, background video and their audio recording - The Force is strong with these Padawans!
Star War - Cosy.movYear 4 - Pitch STEAM Project
Using the Arduino Science Journal app, Year 4 students worked together to measure the pitch in sound made by a straw.
In pairs, one student blew into their straws - cut like kazoos - while the other recorded the pitch it made on their iPad.
They cut the straws at different lengths, testing the difference in pitch each time. In their STEAM books, they recorded the data they collected on their iPad devices.
Finally, students shared their findings, analysing their data with their classmates by screen-mirroring their iPad devices using AirPlay on AppleTV.
Whole School STEAM Project - Greenside Grand Prix!
Whole School STEAM Project - Greenside Grand Prix!
This STEAM project brought the whole school together to build the best vehicle they could to win the 'Greenside Grand Prix!' We picked up the on the science strand of Forces. The iPads were used for students to time trial their vehicles, create promo iMovies and to film these Constructor Interviews, edited in iMovie. The engineering curriculum was the target area, with students having to build their own vehicle and consider the materials and design. Students brought their art skills to the project through initial design drawings and decorations for their vehilces whilst maths was integrated through various measuring and weighing of materials students needed to purchse working to a budget.
Greenside Primary School - Greenside Grand Prix Constructor Interviews 480p.mp4Changing Places Crew
Y3 & Y4 - Migration Stories.Final mp4For this Crew our theme was Changing Places. This was in response to the rising profile of the immigration issue, particularly those in 'The Jungle' in Calais that we had been reflecting on. One crew explored the idea of immigration stories, inspired by the Windrush generation.
We interviewed lots of people from our community who had experience of this in their family and by making this so real for them, their opinions became so poweful .The students created their own animations inspired by those stories.
A member of our staff, Mrs Allen, had her family come over from Barbados as part of the Windrush. The films were dedicated to them as you will see at the end.
The Aztec Tribute - Ebook Storyboards
During our history crew learning about the Aztecs, a key strand was exploring the historical concept of tax and what it looked like across different historical periods through to today.
Here, the students deepened their learning about the Aztec tribute tax as some decided to share that learning by creating storyboards using the Camera app, editing photos using Markup, taking screen shots and bringing it all together in Book Creator where they could use their artisitc ability to personalise the design.
This example is from Momen, a student who only recently joined the school from Syria and whose English was still developing. He was so inspired by the practical, dramatic approach and the technology helped him overcome the language barrier and really engage in a memorable experience.
Animation Crews
Copy of Copy of Animation Crew Full Version.mp4Y1 - Y6 iMotion Animations
Y1 - Y6 iMotion Animations
All year groups became animators by using their iPad devices and the iMotion app to create their own movies based around a number of key themes. This took incredible resiliance, artisitic ability, teamwork and critical reflection to produce the best outcomes. This process completely blew our students minds once they started to get a first hand understanding of the level of skill and time invested into real movies like Wallace & Gromit. They will never look at an animation in the same way again!
Shakespeare Crews - iMovies
Our Shakespeare crews not only immersed our students into all things Shakespearian but also immersed them into the world of film making. They used iMovie to make trailers for different Shakespeare plays and also had to storyboard their own film of a Shakespeare play.
Different groups of students were in charge of different sections of the play and had to storyboard how they wanted it to be filmed including camera angles, stage directions and any effects they might want such as transitions, titles, camera and sound effects.
We invited all our families in for a red carpet film screening at the end of term with popcorn and photos with the stars of the show!
The full film was over 20 mins so i've selected this scene to show you how the students beautifully choreographed the famous Brutus and Ceasar scene. 'Et tu, Brute?'
Julius Caesar Edited Version.mp4EAL Reading Project - Supporting Families
We utilised the mobility of the iPad devices to help support reading with our families, not just our students. With roughly 49% of our students coming from families with an EAL background, often they are the person with the most knowledge of the English language. Therefore, we wanted to help our families with English as well, making it a more inclusive experience. We put together a reading project involving students taking their iPad devices home to read ebooks, listen to audio books, read books in their first language and just have fun reading. Taking some photos and sharing was a key part of sharing the experience!
We also worked with families to help them understand how they could help their child with their reading at home even though they did not have a strong grasp of English themselves.
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