Tag: Sharing Practice

December 18, 2014

Deanburn Primary 6F learn about the Jacobites

On Friday 12^th December, Yvonne McBlain visited primary 6F at Deanburn PS to find out about their Jacobites interdisciplinary learning. Robyn, Findlay, Cara, and Aiden volunteered to write the rest of this blog post to show everyone how much they have learned.

We started learning about the British Royal family tree. We discovered that this went down and down to James II of England and VII of Scotland. He got exiled to France and was the grandad of Charles Edward Stewart – also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie (the young pretender). 6F made up a Jacobite character called Angus Ferguson (see our photo of Angus with the prince).

Angus, our made up character was good friends with the Macdonalds, and went to the massacre of Glencoe.

Findlay and Aiden got to become Angus – they got asked questions by the rest of the class and had to think on their feet to answer the questions. Robyn really liked it when Aiden was pretending to be Angus and described how he fought back. We all liked it when we got to pretend to be talking in Gaelic as Angus. He had 3 children and a wife. Cara learned “Angus was in danger because he kept some Jacobites in his house with his wife and his kids so he might have got caught.

We have also learned the Robert Burns song “Ye Jacobites by Name” which we think is an anti-war song. We think Robert Burns sympathised with the Jacobites but thought that they should stop fighting.

We learned that the final battle on British soil was the battle of Culloden and after this Bonnie Prince Charlie left Scotland forever. We made targes, Highland sheep and pictures of Highland cows.” The Jacobites was a great topic because we got to learn about wars in history and we got to make targes, highland sheep and Highland cows pictures in art.”

Findlay “I feel I learned that the Jacobites were intelligent at some points – not all points.”

Aiden “The Earl of Mar wasn’t very bright – he tried to get inside a castle but the ropes he brought were too short!”

Robyn liked when we learned about the old and young pretender trying to come back to Scotland – the old pretender got no support but the young pretender’s army grew from 7 men to thousands. And I really liked how it was the last battle and he was like we can do it again but he didn’t. I liked making the targes too.”

Yvonne McBlain was impressed by the pupils’ knowledge of these important Scottish historical events, and was bowled over by their enthusiasm for their learning. It is clear that their teacher made powerful use of Angus the storyline character to deepen the children’s understanding of the impact of these events on real people at the time. By using drama conventions and building in skill development in technology and expressive arts, learning has obviously been very engaging for these primary 6 pupils.

December 16, 2014

Our Crop, our Land Storyline at Wallacestone PS

All four Primary 1 classes at Wallacestone Primary School shared and celebrated their Our crop, Our land storyline at the end of November 2014.

The photo on the left shows the farming community frieze created by the children during their global citizenship storyline. Each child took on the role of a villager in the farming community.

They helped create a new crop called the Super Berry plant and learned all about the processes and stages involved in growing, harvesting and selling it. Even at early level, class teacher Jennifer Main and her colleagues have noticed the impact of this project on pupil understanding of fair trade and global commerce.

The children shared their learning with the many parents and guests who came along to their open afternoon. Jennifer is one of the teachers from Falkirk schools who are making excellent use of their Global Citizenship Storyline training delivered in partnership with WOSDEC over sessions 2013/14 and 2014/15.

So far everyone involved has been very positive about the impact of this interdisciplinary work. The combination of the drama, social studies, science/HWB and literacy seems particularly engaging for pupils when taught through the storyline approach.

October 8, 2014

S2 IDL at Braes High School

Fiona Malcolm, Faculty Head of Social Subjects and RMPS at Braes HS worked with a range of colleagues to create an interdisciplinary unit of work entitled Braes Anatomy. Over the course of last session, all S2 pupils experienced connected learning across science, history and religious, moral and philosophical education. The theme which connected this learning was vaccination and its impact on society past and present. In science, pupils discovered how vaccination works with the body’s immune system, and in RMPS they explored the ethics of the ways in which vaccines are produced and used. During history lessons, pupils explored the pioneering role of Edward Jenner and his discovery of the first “vaccinations” as the cure for smallpox.

The overarching learning intentions for this connected learning were:

By the end of these courses, I will:

Be able to develop an understanding of medical knowledge and innovation in the past and present

Be able to develop an understanding of social, moral and ethical views on medical discoveries, past and present.

The project was launched during a history lesson, then each teacher taught their subject content discretely. Click here to see the introductory teaching presentation and here to see the final one for pupils. Pupils then used the 2 weeks leading up to their Easter holiday in their RMPS lessons to begin the task below – they completed this as a homework task. Click here to see the overall IDL homework task.

You are part of the original scientific team that discovered HPV. This is the most important scientific discovery on cancer research in the past 5 years. As such, your evidence is in demand. To keep your funding, you have to produce an article for Medical News Today sharing your findings on HPV.

You must consider the social, moral and ethical implications of your research, including the historical background.

One challenging element of the collaboration for staff was their shared responsibility for marking the pupils’ work. To help with this, each department prepared assessment guidance on their subject content – click here for science, here for history, and here for RMPS key learning points. Fiona and colleagues are still working on how best to manage the joint assessment and maintain their focus on teaching for deep understanding and higher order thinking in line with Curriculum for Excellence ideals.

Staff involved in the project are keen to develop it further this session because it obviously engaged pupils’ interest in all 3 subjects. By making the overlap between subjects evident to the pupils, staff increased the coherence and relevance of learning. Pupils have responded positively and enthusiastically, and can better appreciate how curricular learning in school is actually used and applied in an interconnected way in the workplace and by society. Despite the challenges of finding time to communicate and co-ordinate their work, Fiona and her colleagues have designed connected learning which uses an interesting theme to integrate effective assessment, and develop a shared set of skills, knowledge and understanding for their pupils.

March 28, 2014

Deanburn Nursery Developing Interdisciplinary Planning

Deanburn Primary School nursery staff have been developing their approach to planning interdisciplinary learning with Yvonne McBlain, curriculum support teacher from Falkirk Education Services. They took an enquiring approach to exploring how their planning procedures could help them to identify and select related “bundles” of experiences and outcomes which were relevant for their learners. Caroline McKay, principal teacher with nursery responsibility, and Karen Stewart, senior early years officer, took an innovative approach to integrating learning through the storyline approach. During the project, Yvonne worked with the team for half a day once a week with a working lunch evaluation/planning meeting straight afterwards. The team used the storyline approach to explore how the children would engage with an initial stimulus story linked to winter and Jack Frost. Click here to read the stimulus story.

In this way, planning for next steps responded to the children’s interest and engagement with the characters and the story. Click here to see the initial simple daily plan which was trialled for use in the floor book. As suspected, this proved unsustainable as a planning procedure in the long term, but has helped the team explore exactly where and how they met the essential elements of the NAR planning flow chart – they are still tweaking their planning formats to maximise impact, but minimise unnecessary workload. The project included an opportunity for parents to take part in the storyline and was very positively evaluated – click here to see some parental evaluation. Clicking here will allow you to see the results of the assessment activity designed to guage impact on the pupils – lots to consider from a sample assessment! Everyone involved was fascinated to observe the degree to which each child opted in and out of the storyline context while still fulfilling the learning intentions and success criteria during free play, outdoor time and group time.

As a result of the project, the team are now consolidatng the children’s knowledge of the seasons through relevant development of specific skills, understanding and attitudes across the curriculum. Click here to see the floor book page gathering the children’s existing knowledge of spring. Karen and the early years officers have developed their use of the floor book as a record of all of the learning taking place across nursery. They now feel that their ability to evidence and track progression in learning is enhanced by the changes they have made. As can be seen from the photo at the start of the post, the team are also developing their use of a learning wall in the waiting area to try to inform and engage parents as much as possible in their child’s learning processes. The experience as a whole has supported the team in reviewing their systems to meet the requirements of the NAR planning flowchart and improve their application of the principles of curriculum design – both for discrete and interdisciplinary learning.

February 18, 2014

Interdisciplinary Learning at Head of Muir PS

Yvonne McBlain from Falkirk Education Service Support and Improvement team gathered some good interdisciplinary learning practice during a validation visit at Head of Muir Primary School on 10th and 11th February 2014.

Alan McNab’s primary 6/7 class were learning about WWII – click here and here to see their fantastic classroom displays. Alan is using the storyline approach – click here to see a family biography and find out whether the pupils decided to evacuate the children in their household. Alan had carefully planned opportunitites for his pupils to develop and apply their literacy skills within this context. Click to see posters and war leaflets where his pupils develop their note taking, writing and reading comprehension skills. Click here and here to see how Alan enabled pupils to apply numeracy and technology skills within the WWII context. Alan is very effectively linking small numbers of experiences and outcomes to make learning relevant and coherent for his pupils. He is also making sure that his pupils are aware of which skills are being developed within interdisciplinary learning and showing pupils that these skills can be transferred to many tasks.

Nicola Taylor, primary 3 teacher, took a very creative and responsive approach to planning learning within the Vikings context. She initially used a collection of stimulus objects to encourage pupils to come up with questions about the Vikings (click to view a KWL Viking Shield). She was then able to plan learning intentions, success criteria and learning experiences which would enable pupils to evidence progression in their learning linked to SOC 1-02a & 1-04a, and LIT 1-01a. Click here and here to see some of the tasks she designed to help answer the questions her pupils had. They were particularly interested in what the Vikings ate – click here & here to view specific literacy tasks. Click to see another example of a text created by a pupil which allows the application of literacy skills within the Viking context. As can be seen from the photo below, Nicola and her pupils had turned their classroom entrance into the exterior of a Viking home, and pupils are now A Viking in their longships (click to view).

February 13, 2014

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.

January 31, 2014

Kinneil Nursery Class Try Storyline

Clare Doherty and the nursery team at Kinneil Primary used the storyline approach during January 2014 to explore aspects of Health and Well-Being, Literacy and Technology. This project began in response to some reading about dinosaurs and their eggs. The children were obviously interested in creatures which came from eggs and the team explored how their storyline might work. Yvonne McBlain provided some advice and a storyline plan based around a dragon’s egg, which Clare and the team adapted for their purposes. The children “discovered” a large egg in the nursery one day – click here to see some of the “egg” research they then did. They couldn’t decide whether their egg needed to be kept warm or cold, so built one nest indoors, and another outdoors just in case. The staff used a series of letters from the “mother” of the egg, to direct the children towards their research and HWB skill and knowledge development. Activities around the nursery were linked to the context throughout and enabled the children to develop small motor skills using a range of materials. When the egg finally hatched, and the children were able to see the creature, they decided he looked like the character from the book they were reading during their Scottish studies. He therefore became Hamish McHaggis and staff were then able to link him effectively to Burns teaching and learning. Clare felt that one of the benefits of the storyline was to make these Hamish books more accessible to the children.

In order to bring the storyline to a satisfactory conclusion for the children, staff delivered a letter from Hamish’s mum explaining that just after Chinese New Year, Hamish had to join her in Hong Kong. Click here to take a look at the children’s mind map of what he would need to pack for the journey. On 31st January, the storyline finished with a celebration where the children waved goodbye to Hamish.

This storyline engaged most pupils by choice and linked very well into literacy week. Click here and here to see writing by some of the afternoon children who were keen to complete their booklets so Hamish could take them with him on his journey. The storyline provided an interdisciplinary learning context which proved to be very responsive to the children’s interests and to the seasonal learning often delivered at this time of year. It also motivated and engaged the children’s interest really well. Click here to see the storyline plan used by the team.

January 22, 2014

Bonnybridge Primary 6/7 Debate the Commonwealth

Michelle Cairns and her primary 6/7 pupils at Bonnybridge Primary School have been able to apply their debating, listening and talking skills by taking part in the BBC Commonwealth project. This project also offered some breadth and challenge for pupils because of the issues they had to consider while preparing for their debate. They considered homelessness as an issue in this country and other Commonwealth countries. They had to analyse their thinking and communicate their ideas using a range of technology including “Skyping” pupils in other countries. Visit http://glo.li/1fZfGyo for more detail and to link to the television and radio broadcasts which the children took part in.