Diane Plenderleith – Art and Design
I decided to select Hat/Headgear design in order to enable pupils to apply the techniques and use the materials I had learned how to manipulate through my CPD. The results produced were fantastic and I feel pupils achieved better results and enjoyed studying hat/headgear design as a result. Included are examples of Headgear from 4 pupils who have added comments in support of their learning and achievements. Continue reading Felting CPD
Dermot Doherty – Social Subjects
Following the Inter disciplinary learning (IDL) review I began to think about my practice and look for lessons that may be IDL.
As part of the first year social studies course pupils create a 60 second news brief (Modern studies section). I teach 3 groups of 1st years and did this lesson a few weeks ago with one set, it went well and pupils really enjoyed it.
I realised this lesson could be IDL with English as pupils are practising their extended writing skills, and after speaking to Mrs Neild in English she informed me pupils cover the 5w’s (Who, when, where, what, and why) when they do their own news reports. This link to English was strengthened by also covering the 5w’s as part of our task.
Continue reading 60 Seconds News Brief (IDL – Social Studies)
Alanna Petrie – English Department
Last year, as a probationer teacher, I often encountered the difficulty of making group work effective. When planning group activities I had imagined a class full of interrogative youngsters working together to achieve their lesson aim. This was not quite the reality. The problems I encountered were that the work was being done by only one or two of the group while the others sat back or, that pupils would quickly seize the opportunity to socialise rather than learn.
After trying a variety of group work strategies, I was introduced to co-operative learning.
The aim of co-operative learning is to ensure that when pupils are working in groups they are all focused on achieving their learning goal. It works because the strategies rely on every member of the group fulfilling their role to ensure the success of the team. Not only are these strategies a good way of making lessons active and enjoyable but they also help to develop two of the four capacities: successful learners and effective contributors. Continue reading Co-operative Learning Strategies
Gerry Burns, Physics/Science Department
My recent CPD activities included taking 18 pupils to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose of this trip was to allow pupils to investigate particle physics at the biggest experiment on the planet. As I hadn’t taken pupils on a trip abroad before, there was great value in understanding how to organise the event in a way that the pupils got the maximum benefit while ensuring all the health and safety needs of the group were met.
Continue reading Planning a school trip abroad – CERN Geneva
Catherine Kerr Faculty Leader Science
My recent CPD activities have included starting an MSc in Leadership at Stirling University, attending SQA workshops for national qualifications, attending the Secondary Science Education Research Centre and becoming a writer for a Biology eTextbook. In addition to this I am completing a course in Coaching & Mentoring and trialling the online Edmodo resource with my Higher classes. This invaluable professional learning journey has had a positive impact not only on my own practice but also on colleagues and pupils within my faculty.
Continue reading Stirling, SQA and SSERC CPD Supporting Science Improvements
Gillian Lucas Physics/Science Department
I attended the SSERC physics residential in September where I was given a wide range of FREE materials including a flip cam, race car sets with ramps and cars, a DIY radio and a wide variety of optics equipment. I was also taught how to use a variety of software including Tracker and Windows Movie Maker. I am going back to SSERC soon to give a presentation on how I have used my freebies as well as the knowledge I gained to enhance the learning experience of my physics classes.
November witnessed the first meeting of the PE working group at St Margaret’s Academy. The group is made up of primary and secondary PE specialists, school staff members and senior management and has been tasked with reflecting on the second and third level PE provision across the St Margaret’s cluster. The inaugural meeting was attended by 19 members of primary and secondary staff who discussed the PE provision currently on offer to P6 and P7 pupils across the associated primaries and S1 and S2 pupils within St Margaret’s.
Laura Watson Biology/Science Department
Variation is one of the topics which has been introduced into our S2 Science course. This unit of work involves the pupils learning about cells, DNA, genes and PGD. One of the activities that is carried out is the Wizard Gene experiment which I was introduced to on a SSERC CPD event.
This activity gives the pupils the opportunity to carry out work using gel electrophoresis which simulates DNA profiling. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the experiement which is shown in these pictures.
Catherine Kerr Faculty Leader Science
We have introduced SSERC novel materials into our S1 Materials unit. The resources are simple to use and the pupils enjoyed discovering their unusual properties. The photographs and video illustrate pupils working. Pupils said that they found the materials ‘interesting’ the thermochromic sheet ‘awesome’ and ‘loved’ the spring! Let us know what you think!
Catherine Kerr Faculty Leader Science
A ‘USB microscope’ can be an interesting and fun tool for pupils in school. It can be used in a variety of ways including; children working in groups or individually, or simply something being demonstrated by a teacher on a large screen in front of the class. Equally as effective, the scope could be taken out doors with the use of a laptop. I have used this with my class to view very small seeds, fabric and materials and they loved guessing the object.
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