Hi all, I teach in a small residential school in Edinburgh, we are currently looking for ideas on how to create the best learning experience possible for our pupils. Current ideas floated are wider achievement afternoons and using more technology. Both of these are very broad and, in my experience the broader an idea is the less chance there is of it actually happening. Management have basically opened the floor to any suggestion, no matter how strange. To help with this discussion I’d love to hear what everyone on here thinks would be in their dream school, everything can be changed! Imagine you we’re starting from scratch, how would you set up your timetable, classes, anything to encourage learning….
I’m looking forward to reading and passing on ideas!
Hi,
Great opportunity to try something completely different. I heard of a school in East Dumbartonshire who chose one afternoon a week for specialisation. The children signed up for a class that interested them personally but they moved teachers snd worked with kids with similar interests across the levels. Classes were things like: photography, animation, blogging, gardening and Eco, financial management, team sport, enterprise etc.
I thought this sounded really interesting and the children documented their experiences with diaries setting their own targets and next steps. Liinking to real life situations and the world of work etc.
See what your staff feel they cold offer as a specialism as see what you can do.
I’d love to try something like this in my school and we kind of are this term with Fitness. Whole school signing up for either: running, dance, military stations.
Hope this is helpful. Think the school is called Mosshead Primary School, Bearsden.
Forest School. Allows confidence building and a great personal assessment of risk by the children. Practical skills- using tools.
Also a tea room / cafe for members of the public to enjoy. The children organise, bake,serve and collate the takings and keep the books ( no keep not cook,).
Just a wee precise of what we do in the Glen.
It works and is enjoyed by all involved.
No individual subject area classes but a curriculum created by all teachers together, real cross curricular learning — project based learned which covers all the E’s and O’s. Enough technological equipment for each pupil to have access to a computer/camera whenever necessary. Round tables and comfortable chairs where pupils can truly collaborate. Resources available for all…. in an ideal world.
Hi Peter
No sarcasm meant in this comment but… ask the pupils. We worry a great deal about how we can creatively shape our lessons when we might just be better asking the “customers” what would make an ideal school.
Cheers
G
Have a look at tinkering schools – Gever Tulley – I think this has a lot of scope for making learning really relevant and enabling kids to find and follow their ambitions.