Teachers TV: Customise your Curriculum Setting Sail

Summary

The video showcases a primary school, Headley Park, in Bristol, as it embraces a cross-curricular, themed approach to education. Teachers, like Alice Ballantyne, combine history, geography, and other subjects to create engaging projects, such as the Viking-themed 'What Floats Your Boat.' These units incorporate hands-on experiences, including workshops and field trips, making learning more dynamic and relevant. The school draws inspiration from others, testing smaller units before fully integrating them. The approach has proven successful, fostering student enthusiasm, teacher collaboration, and an enriching educational experience that blends creativity with academic rigor.

Takeaways

• 😀 Teachers are encouraged to take ownership of their curriculum by combining subjects into cross-curricular themed projects.
• 😀 Themed projects, like 'What Floats Your Boat?', integrate history, geography, and local resources to create a rich, engaging learning experience.
• 😀 Hands-on 'wow experiences' such as workshops, trips, and building Viking longships help students connect learning with real-world applications.
• 😀 Trialing themed units before full curriculum changes helps reduce concerns about workload and planning among staff.
• 😀 Collaboration among teachers is essential for planning and assessing complex cross-curricular units, sharing the workload across the school.
• 😀 The approach allows for a flexible timetable, enabling teachers to extend activities that require more time without disrupting the schedule.
• 😀 The program fosters independent learning and research skills in students, allowing them to take ownership of their learning.
• 😀 Local resources, such as the SS Great Britain and Bristol’s docks, provide valuable context for history lessons and enrich the project’s theme.
• 😀 Students are highly engaged in the learning process, with visible enthusiasm and motivation to participate in integrated lessons.
• 😀 Teachers find the approach fulfilling and liberating, despite the initial challenges and time-consuming planning.
• 😀 The feedback from staff and students suggests that the cross-curricular approach is working, with plans to refine and expand it in future terms.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the themed curriculum project 'What Floats Your Boat'?

The project focuses on teaching history and geography through the theme of boats, particularly Viking longships, inspired by Bristol's maritime heritage. It integrates learning objectives from both subjects into a single lesson.

How did the teachers at Headley Park Primary School decide to adopt a themed curriculum approach?

Teachers at Headley Park Primary School were inspired by visits to other schools, like Harwood Infant School, that were already implementing themed units. They observed the children's high level of engagement and decided to try this approach themselves.

What challenges did the staff face when implementing themed curriculum units?

The staff faced initial concerns about workload, planning, and assessing units that combine multiple subjects. Younger staff were especially cautious about integrating all subjects into a single theme, so they began by trialing smaller themed units.

How did the school address the issue of staff concerns regarding workload?

The school addressed workload concerns by trialing some themed units before making large-scale changes to the curriculum. This allowed teachers to get comfortable with the approach without feeling overwhelmed.

What role did 'wow experiences' play in the themed curriculum at Headley Park Primary?

'Wow experiences' are memorable events designed to engage students and bring the learning to life. For example, the 'What Floats Your Boat' project included a trip to the docks, a visit from a Viking, and a workshop where students built their own Viking longboat.

What skills did students develop during the Viking longboat workshop?

During the Viking longboat workshop, students developed a variety of skills including mathematics (for measurements and calculations), design and technology (building the boat), history (understanding Viking ships), geography (thinking about where Vikings sailed), and drama (role-playing as Vikings).

How did the children react to the themed curriculum and the 'What Floats Your Boat' project?

The children responded very positively to the project, showing enthusiasm and a high level of engagement. They appreciated the hands-on, integrated approach to learning, finding the projects more fun and enjoyable compared to traditional methods.

What feedback did Richard Martin, head teacher of Harwood Infant School, provide about the workshop?

Richard Martin praised the workshop for its ability to create a real learning experience for the children, allowing them to work together and understand what it might have been like to build and sail a Viking longboat, even if the boat itself wasn't designed to float.

What kind of flexibility does the themed curriculum provide for teachers like Alice Ballantyne?

The themed curriculum provides Alice Ballantyne with flexibility in her timetable, allowing her to adjust the pace of activities and expand on lessons that require more time without the constraints of a rigid schedule. This flexibility helps create a more dynamic and responsive learning environment.

How does the planning process for cross-curricular themed units work at Headley Park Primary?

Teachers at Headley Park Primary collaborate on planning cross-curricular themed units, sharing the workload. The planning process involves blocking out subject areas across different year groups to align subjects like history, geography, and science, ensuring a balanced approach to learning over the course of the term.