Tag: partnership working

S5 Interdisciplinary Maths at Falkirk High School

Martin Opgaard and Stuart Pearson, maths teachers at Falkirk HS are developing maths and numeracy across learning in various ways with colleagues in their school.

In session 2013-14, they collaborated with the modern languages department and involved S5 Higher Maths pupils in the Mathematiques sans Frontiere competition run by Heriot Watt University. Pupils had one afternoon to solve 10 fiendishly difficult maths problems and provide their answers in French or Spanish. These involved creative and critical thinking, problem solving and offered pupils an opportunity to apply their maths and modern language skills in a very unusual context. The Falkirk HS team did this so well, that they reached the top 10 across the whole of Scotland, and were invited to the award ceremony at the university.

Pupils were obviously thrilled with their achievement and gained valuable insight into university life through their visit and attendance at a maths lecture there. Stuart and Martin felt that this experience complemented their pupils’ preparations for their exams really well, and built pupil confidence and understanding. Consequently they intend to make FHS participation in Mathematiques Sans Frontieres and annual occurrence.

Global Storyline develops at Carron PS

Heather Nicol and her primary 6 class at Carron PS in Falkirk, are working on the Global Storyline project “Our Crop, Our Land” created by WOSDEC. Click here to learn more about this excellent global citizenship resource.

Heather’s pupils created the community of Springfield where most of the villagers rely on farming the crop Berryblush to earn their living. Each pupil has a Springfield persona which they pop in and out of during the storyline to help them understand complex global citizenship and sustainability issues. Click here to see how pupils shared their existing knowledge of farming, and here to see the daily diary of Olivia Spriengeer, one of the Springfield farmers.

Within the drama, it is harvest time and the people of Springfield are preparing to sell this year’s crop of berryblush to the highest bidder at market. (See their marvellous harvesting machines on the right). Outside the drama they have been learning about farming and global commerce and how the cost of real life crops is appropriated to each party who helps to get it to our shops. Click here  and here to see how pupil thinking has been affected by a learning experience called Banana Split, and explore pupil thoughts on why people are hungry by clicking here.

These are some of the learning activities integrated within the storyline to develop real and deep understanding of global commerce, rights, fair trade and social responsiblity and help pupils to become responsible citizens and effective contributors.

Heather’s class are really enjoying this connected learning experience which links experiences & outcomes in social studies, expressive arts and health and well-being. The storyline approach develops empathy and genuine understanding of global issues, as well as making the learning coherent and relevant to the pupils. Heather has applied her global storyline training and context building so well, that pupils asked to take some of their learning experiences home to work on them with their parents. They feel outraged that most farmers get so little payment compared to the other parties involved in getting food to us, and want to make sure others get to know about this too. Heather and her pupils will soon discover just how volatile this market can be, and how that volatility impacts on food producers around the world.

This is an excellent example of type 2 interdisciplinary learning where pupil skills and understanding are broadened and challenged through the cross-cutting themes of global citizenship and sustainability. The storyline approach and integration of drama and art and design ensure that pupils are consistently engaging in higher order thinking and reflection, which results in real progression.

Senior Interdisciplinary Learning Partnership

In early September 2014, Yvonne McBlain of Falkirk Council Education Services met  with Alan Christie, Community Engagement Manager and his colleague David Love of Falkirk Council Housing Services to explore potential partnership working. Alan and David had noticed links between the pupil entitlements of our education services policy Learning to Achieve, and their Housing Services’ Tenants’ & Residents Participation Strategy 2013-16. They hope to involve Falkirk young people from S5 & 6 in a Stepping up to Scrutiny Course (click to view) they intend to run between February and March 2015. The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Housing – level 3 (GCSE equivalent) Award in Resident Scrutiny http://glo.li/Z6MOgx . The course  takes around 5 days over 8-12 weeks and pupils will work with politicians, senior managers, residents and employment training unit participants. This would therefore be a very diverse working group which could significantly enrich the experience of the young people involved.

Initial discussion between Alan, David and Yvonne suggested that this opportunity might enhance and enrich existing course work in Modern Studies. Yvonne will also consult school pupil council representatives about the opportunity  and alert colleagues in a pastoral or careers advice role. Participation in this course offers valuable chances to challenge and apply a range of transferable and higher order skills such as: development of text analysis, interpersonal skills, team working, and a culminating task which will require pupils to collaboratively evaluate a range of data and apply systems thinking to their suggested action plan.

Bonnybridge PS Commonwealth Games Legacy runners up

Sarah Ritchie and colleagues from Bonnybridge PS worked with pupils to create a range of learning experiences linked to the Commonwealth Games and building on their Olympic Games legacy. Their plan helped children learn about citizenship at a local and global level, and resulted in the school being nominated for the Legacy Award at the Scottish Education Awards. Although they did not win, everyone involved was proud of the difference this interdisciplinary learning has made to pupils this session, as this extract from their Facebook page explains:

So, we never won the Legacy Award but we had a brilliant time at the ceremony!! We were the only primary school to make the final so that’s a massive achievement and a big well done to our pupils, staff and parents. We got a nice £250 voucher and other goodies to take away.

For a more detailed understanding of the learning involved, click  http://t.co/wGfHrzXBbD

Deanburn Primary School Global Storyline Celebration

On Friday 30th May, Liz Stephen and Laura Beattie of Deanburn PS celebrated the conclusion of their Giant of Thistle Mountain global citizenship storyline. They have both been part of the first cohort of  Falkirk teachers being trained by the West of Scotland Development in  Education Centre (WOSDEC) to deliver their global citizenship storylines.

All of the teachers who have taken part in this interdisciplinary learning have reported very valuable impact on their pupils. This includes development of pupil understanding of social justice and equality (Why is the giant so unhappy? What can we do to help?), their respect for diversity (Don’t assume the giant is bad because he is loud and scary-looking), and their critical thinking and ability to understand the importance of communities.

The pupils in Liz Stephen’s primary 1 class greeted fellow pupils, parents and other guests by miming their character role in their imaginary village of Thistle Mountain. They then took their guests on a guided tour of their work throughout the storyline and the frieze and model village they had created. Both classes had created their own giant too.

This storyline bundles a small number of experiences and outcomes from Religious and Moral Education, Health and Well Being and Social Subjects. It skillfully combines active learning experiences with drama interludes where the children are in role and have to deal with very difficult questions and issues. They are taken on a journey which effectively supports them in forming their social attitudes and emotional development. There was lots of evidence of deep understanding of the dangers of stereotyping and the value of co-operation and collaboration to build a succesful community. It was clear from the children’s readiness to take on their character role, that they thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. (Click here to view a video compilation of the work displayed)

 Laura effectively built opportunities for pupils to apply their literacy knowledge and understanding through a before and after “role on the wall” activity. Each class created their own giant and village using their chosen media.

Liz and her class used a flip chart to capture their developing ideas throughout the project, and this was available for parents to view during their visit. It can be very difficult to capture evidence of developing learning during discussion with groups of children, and Liz found this flip chart method worked really well.

Bo’ness Schools contribute to new Kinneil Museum

On 20th May 2014, pupils from every Bo’ness school worked together to create a giant Bo’ness historical timeline. Lyndsay Lennie and Hanneke Scott van Wel facilitated sessions which allowed the primary 5, 6 & 7 pupils to demonstrate their understanding &  appreciation of “the history, heritage and culture of their local area.” Another main objective was to give pupils the opportunity to show how they personally related to local history – why does the heritage of their home town matter to them?

This experience is part of wider community involvement in the re-design of exhibition space in Kinneil Museum and has proven to be a rich multi-partnership including Falkirk Community Trust and The Friends of Kinneil. 

Pupils taking part broadened their research and information handling skills and deepened their knowledge of their particular aspect of local heritage. Click here to see Blackness Primary pupils busy at their research, and click the image on the right  to view one of their presentations. Pupils were also challenged to present their findings to a wider audience than usual and to contribute to a collaborative display. They were required to analyse and evaluate the timeline and decide which events they felt had a positive impact on their community and which had a negative impact. Click on the timeline photo below to view a short video tour.

Falkirk Global Citizenship Showcase

Teachers and pupils from a range of Falkirk establishments showcased their Global Citizenship work at an event in Larbert Village Primary School on 15th May 2014.

Bo’ness Academy shared International Education and Commenius projects worked on by their S2 & 3 pupils. This work targeted a range of skills and there was great evidence of pupil research and information handling capabilities. Larbert High School pupils confidently shared a range of Global Citizenship and Sustainability work. It was obvious that they have worked in a really effective way with partner organisations like Communities on the Carron to change their local environment. The school captains have also driven the Captain’s challenge initiative which is motivating  pupils to really push their own personal achievements out with their academic studies. Click here to see a flyer or use this link  http://youtu.be/SMmsECVH3zE  to get more information about this inspirational project.

 Inchlair Nursery children spoke confidently to visitors about all of the Commonwealth Games learning they have gained over the last few months. Click http://glo.li/1idQWh7 to read more about this work. They have been really engaged by the story of Captain Bristle’s Thistles and wore their special Inchlair Commonwealth T-shirts.  Larbert Day Nursery staff shared the learning their children have  gained about the Commonwealth and the games using their floor book and examples of children’s work.

There was also lots of good primary school practice on show, linked to the Commonwealth Games theme. Teachers in Falkirk schools have been creative in their planning and delivery of lessons within the cross-cutting theme of global citizenship. They have used the Commonwealth context to make their teaching relevant and coherent for their pupils. The examples displayed showed that pupil skills, knowledge and understanding were being broadened and deepened through this work – sometimes to develop new skills, sometimes to offer a new way to apply existing skills.

Pupils have also been developing their attitudes and ability to challenge their thinking about global citizenship issues. Teachers taking part in Global Storyline training shared their development of The Giant of Thistle Mountain. These teachers have adapted this storyline for their pupils and were able to evidence extremely valuable teaching and learning around issues like stereotyping, racism, needs and wants. Pupils from Limerigg PS and Carron PS shared their learning experiences with guests. Each class involved in these storylines has created their own visualisation of the “giant” character – see some of these in the photo above. 

Isabel Ross from Scotdec attended the event and shared valuable resources and training opportunities with people who attended. The showcase was organised by Megan Farr of Falkirk Service Support and Improvement Team in conjunction with Laura Willox and her Global Citizenship strategy group colleagues. Jane Jackson and Yvonne McBlain of Falkirk Service Support and Improvement Team hope to work with this group and other colleagues to support our authority implementation of the recommendations in the Learning for Sustainability report. Click here to link to this report http://glo.li/1nIWaZW .

Primary Art and Design Exhibition

The Falkirk Primary Schools Art & Design exhibition took place in the second week of March and was a stunning show. It was expertly hung by the art & design specialist teachers to showcase the range of teaching and learning taking place within their subject. As can be seen from the exhibits shown, pupils have developed a plethora of skills using 2 and 3 dimensional media and techniques. Therefore, the discrete learning which has taken place is securely linked to the experiences and outcomes for art and design and provides a “presentation” opportunity for the wider expressive arts principles and practices.  In addition, the exhibition  demonstrates how  specialist teachers delivered type 1 interdisciplinary learning by linking effectively to another areas of the curriculum. This is often termed “learning through” and is a great strength of expressive arts subjects.

The exhibition showed examples of art work which had been creatively planned to be done co-operatively by groups of pupils. Click here to view.

     Art work exploring Katie Morag, Robert Burns, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and the local area showed very clearly how art & design teaching supported pupil learning about the culture and heritage of Scotland. The comments book at the exhibition was full of appreciative statements from visitors.

Bo’ness Public PS staff develop IDL linked to local area

In March 2010, Gill Genoe, head teacher at Bo’ness Public PS, invited Yvonne McBlain, curriculum support teacher to work with her staff towards the following outcomes:

  1. All pupils in school will gain insight, knowledge and understanding of their local environment and the community they live in.
  2. All pupils will have opportunities to take learning outdoors linked to their topic.
  3. Members of the local community will be invited into school to share their experiences and expertise.

Yvonne visited in late February 2014 to see how staff have continued to develop interdisciplinary learning linked to their local area context. As can be seen from the above photo of the nursery field trip, early years practitioners have taken the children around the town while developing mapping skills, and gathering prior knowledge of the local area. When the children recognised and were able to name a particular building or place, they took a photo of “their” place, and EY staff recorded what they said. Click here to look at one of the mind maps which informed this nursery planning.

Primary 1 and primary 2/1 are developing knowledge & understanding within social studies, & applying a range of literacy & art & design skills. Click here & here to see their Bo’ness Pottery displays, and here to see some of the animal “ornaments” which they have made. Callum in P1 enjoyed “making the animal…I made a hedgehog” best, and Asher in P 2/1 liked “going down the shore to find pottery.” Pupils from Bo’ness Academy have been working alongside these two classes to support learning in their senior courses too.

Primary 2 have only just started learning about the huge role that coal mining used to play in Bo’ness – click here to see the beginnings of their storyline frieze. Their teacher is linking their literacy & social studies knowledge & understanding, while developing pupil ability to interpret a variety of sources, and identify & use persuasive language.

Primary 3/2 are developing their mapping skills & learning about significant local landmarks and buildings. They have worked with a parent helper to make a model/map of the immediate surroundings of the school, click here & here to see some individual pupil development of research & construction skills.

Primary 3 are using the storyline approach to link learning in social studies, RME & Numeracy. Click here to view their developing storyline frieze & here to see the families of characters the pupils have created to help them understand how Bo’ness harbour & trade was central to the development of the local area.

Primary 4 are working on a rich task collaboration with Friends of Kinneil. Click here & here to see some of their planned layout pages for the new Kinneil House Museum information booklet they are designing. This work enables the pupils to develop their chronological awareness, their understanding of the lives of people in the past, and their mapping skills. All of this work is enriched through direct involvement with partner organisations like Friends of Kinneil.

Primary 5/4 and primary 5 have just started learning about the buildings of local architect Matthew Steele. They will take walking tours of Bo’ness to study the variety of buildings designed by this architect and will both focus on the Hippodrome which is an historic local cinema and one of Falkirk’s main tourist attractions. While developing their knowledge, both classes will consolidate their HWB risk management skills during learning outside the classroom. They will also apply & progress their grid reference, and reading for information capabilities. P5/4 will focus specifically on the Hippodrome connection and consolidate their higher order reading skills using films as texts. P5 will make a comparative study betweeen the architectural style of Matthew Steele & other buildings of the period.

Click http://www.boness.falkirk.sch.uk/ to view the primary 6 blog which documents how they are linking their local area study to their studies for the SEPA Sustainability Award. P6 pupils will therefore develop knowledge of the environmental impact of the way Bo’ness people live, but will also extend their ability to form and express reasoned points of view, & be able to apply a range of map reading skills.

Primary 7 are developing their understanding of the history, heritage & culture of Bo’ness by studying local graveyards. By treating the information gathered during their field trips, including what they find on the gravestones, as primary sources, pupils are encouraged to interpret a range of texts very deeply. Their information handling and comprehension skills are further developed when using the national census and other official sources to build up their own interpretation of a typical Bo’ness family in the past. Click here to view an example of pupil work from the 1911 census. Through this and other work, they will develop their ability to analyse information and synthesise it through elements of storyline.

The local area context has proven to be a rich, valuable and sustainable context for learning which is open to a range of interdisciplinary connections across the curriculum. Teachers have developed the initial concept with confidence and creativity to enhance the knowledge, skills and understanding of their pupils and involve parents, grandparents and members of the local community very effectively. Pupils now show interest and pride in their local area and classes now sometimes meet and share their learning while out on their various field trips.

The Global Storylines are happening now!

Fourteen Falkirk teachers are currently putting their Global Storyline training into practice by delivering their Giant of Thistle Mountain storyline. This training was delivered by colleagues from WOSDEC (get more info at www.globalstoryline.org.uk ), and will run this session and next. Diana Ellis, Marie-Jeanne McNaughton and Lynn Baxendale from WOSDEC, and Yvonne McBlain, curriculum support teacher with Falkirk Education Services, caught up with our teachers on Wednesday 12th February, to find out how the storylines were developing. The teachers shared where they had reached in the storyline plan, and described the impact it was having on their pupils. Gemma Douglas at Kinnaird is delivering her storyline with her own class, and supporting primary 1 & 2 colleagues so that they can take part in the storyline too – it’s going really well and having very specific impact on the skills of certain pupils. Jenny Deacon at Carron PS is finding that her pupils have “totally embraced” the storyline and are demonstrating very sophisticated levels of thinking (click here to see some of Jenny’s documentation). Angelique Watt, and Emma-Jame Williamson are adapting the storyline for their enhanced provision pupils at Larbert Village PS, who are engaging really well with the characters and progressing their social skills too. Holly Keenan at Bonnybridge PS has used the storyline to develop her primary 2 pupils’ understanding that it is people who make a community. Jennifer Main at Wallacestone PS can already see how her pupils are applying and developing their awareness of rights and responsibilities through the storyline, and Liz Stephen and Laura Beattie are finding that their pupils are better at co-operating while in role during the storyline at Deanburn PS. Click here to see a photo of the “floor book” record which Laura is using to document the project, and note Liz’s class frieze of Thistle Mountain below. Gillian Cain at Comely Park PS found that her pupils are also developing their understanding of communities through the context, and are so enthusiastic about it that they choose to draw Thistle Mountain during golden time.

WOSDEC have adapted the Giant of Thistle Mountain for second level pupils, and the teachers involved with this plan were really pleased with the degree of impact already on their pupils. Click here to see some of the extended and creative writing done by primary 5/6/7 composite pupils at Limerigg PS with their teacher Ashley Thomson. Pupils at Limerigg are very engaged in the storyline and are sad that other pupils in the authority are not able to take part – they thought everyone should be doing this topic! Katrina Lucas at Comely Park PS, and Heather Nicol at Carron PS both have pupils who are responding really well to the storyline (see Heather’s class Thistle Mountain frieze at the start of this post), and developing their creative and critical thinking during the drama and other activities. Brenda Bennie at Kinnaird PS and Nicola Kemp at Bantaskin PS have been “blown away” by the improvement in their pupils’ understanding of stereotypes and citizenship in general. Their pupils have really got the message that you “shouldn’t judge things you don’t know about”.

It was evident from these updates from the teachers, that the global storyline is already having a huge impact on Falkirk pupils. Marie-Jeanne, Diana and Lynn were also hugely impressed by the degree of reflection, professional enquiry skills and creativity of the teachers involved. Yvonne has suggested that some teachers may want to share their work at the Global Citizenship Showcase event which will take place at Larbert Village PS on 15th May 2014.