We are pleased that we have never fitted any given curriculum model. We have always had to be creative and make adaptations.
Having in depth knowledge and understanding of our pupils we are able to tailor the curriculum to respond to their individual needs and interests - To truly personalise learning.
In the teacher directed part of our curriculum we adapt our plans to follow our children’s interests. Pupils acquire skills, apply and evaluate them in open ended contexts. Giving pupils this ownership really motivates them and does not put a lid on what they can achieve.
The use of ICT is very powerful not only as a learning tool but also for facilitating networking both locally and world wide. We have all the advantages of the smallest of scale yet anywhere in the world is just a mouse click away.
This is an example from Design and Technology in the teacher directed curriculum. The project builds on previous learning about handling and preparing food in Reception and Year 1 and because I teach all of the children in school for DT I have secure knowledge of the starting point for each individual child.
Children’s learning in our sandwich snacks project is enriched and becomes deeper through close cooperation with our local village factory, a family run bakery business, which is involved throughout the project.
Initially children sample a range of sandwiches, wraps and rolls produced at the factory. They evaluate them giving scores for appearance, smell, taste and texture. Overall scores are totalled and graphs produced, which are shared with Phillip, MD of the factory.
Children also carry out bread evaluations and spread discrimination tests, having lots of fun learning about these two vital sandwich components.
We learn about hygiene rules and procedures involved in food handling techniques.
So with this background knowledge we are ready to visit the factory to see sandwich production first hand. Because of our size we are able to give all 20 of our Year 2 and 3 children this quality learning experience. The factory wouldn’t be able to spend time with or accommodate any larger group.
Phillip gives us a guided tour, starting in the boardroom, explaining how orders are placed. He talks about consumer preferences, discussing the graphs we sent him when we evaluated the factory’s sandwiches and highlighting the importance of identifying a target group when designing a sandwich.
He explains how the refrigerated vans operate and shows us the actual production area, really raising children’s awareness of the importance of following hygiene rules and safety guidelines. He shows them how sandwich ingredients are planned and measured, explaining how food groups are considered.
We see how production lines operate; learning how jobs are allocated and each line is produced by a team. Staff enjoy talking to children and answering their questions.
The factory visit gives our children quality first hand experience of sandwich production which they take back to school and apply to their own sandwich designs and planning their own production lines, each running a line of 4 to 6 of their own sandwiches.
They are able to identify their own design criteria based on their learning about healthy eating, target groups and sandwich production.
Production lines are planned and detailed shopping lists made, requiring the application of literacy and numeracy skills. They are able to apply learning from the factory visit, considering food groups and careful measurement of ingredients.
On the day of production all ingredients have to be calculated and prepared. Working out how many slices of cucumber for 4 lines of each child’s sandwich is fabulous purposeful maths problem solving which the children thoroughly enjoy.
Phillip comes to school on the day of production, providing wraps, rolls and breads, packaging, hats and feet covers for hygiene. His job is quality control and he takes it very seriously!
The production lines run and the sandwiches are packed and labelled, using labels created by the children in literacy applying persuasive language skills.
After lots of discussion the children produce well thought out high quality evaluations.
The business link we have enriches and extends whole learning experience for our children and our size makes it possible for them to experience the same design and production model for their own sandwich.
As well we give time each week for children to develop their own projects in child initiated independent learning time which is a fantastic time each week when children have complete ownership of their learning, they develop projects that they choose and they take their learning onto much higher levels.
Here is a quick example of how our 6, 7 and 8 years olds plan and evaluate their learning and an overview of the kind of things they do.
We find mixed age classes an advantage too. Peer to peer learning is very, very powerful. Our older children naturally model dispositions and attitudes as well as prior learning to younger children.
Our school is held in high esteem by its community. It is a valuable community resource. People from all backgrounds interact on different levels and provide a model of life long learning and positive citizenship for our pupils. Our smallness of scale makes this easier to manage.
We believe whether you are 3 or 93 you have expertise that you can share to enhance others learning.
Here is an example from our Virtual Learning Environment. This is a pass word protected private network within our community
We have a data base where skills and expertise can be shared and exchanged. For example; on this page we have pupils, ex pupils, parents, past parents, community members and even extended family living in Jakarta.
Also we have a forum where anyone can post a question and replies come from people of all ages or backgrounds at mutually convenient times. This example shows the range of responses to a question about team working. Replies came from pupils, a physiotherapist, police inspector, a family getting ready for school, the mountain rescue team, someone who works with race horses just to name a few.
People from different backgrounds and generations are sharing positive approaches to learning with each other and together we are creating a dynamic learning organisation. It is a model of Community cohesion aided by small scale.
To summarise we believe that it is these advantages of smallness of scale that have enabled our school to be successful. Everyone is somebody important at Armathwaite.
Schools like ours are small, yet we can access a huge workforce which results in great achievements. We all belong to a strong, caring community which has a wealth of expertise. Put these ingredients together and the result is massive reward for society.
Thank you for listening.