GA Annual Conference2007

Lecture Plus :

Cross-curricular InitiativesChair

Professor Simon CatlingOxford Brookes

Contributors:

Helen Martin –Shelley Primary SchoolRachel Bowles – Register of Research

Jane Whittle :Edwalton Primary School

Cross-Curricular InitiativesA Multitude of variations

• Helen has given a very clear picture of how developing a cross curricular initiative works in her school and the results are shown in the Primary Exhibition on the gallery

• Also shown are the children’s work from schools beginning to follow a similar journey

Other Ways• Importing technical and creative help such as the

Creative Partnerships scheme run by the Arts Council

http://www.creative-partnerships.com/• Using the Curriculum Partnerships Primary Project

Box http://www.subjectassociation.org.uk/content.asp?ID=108

• Using the whole school initiative in becoming an Eco or a Healthy School http://www.eco-schools.org.uk/

• http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/health/healthyschools/

• Using the Geography Teaching Today CPD seminars online or face to face. http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/images/text/KS1-3CrossCuttingThemes.pdfI

• Think about your discussions with your neighbour

• Think about what to discuss with your colleagues in school

• Consider the next slide – what kind of variations would you need for your school?

• Remember you are taking the National Curriculum guidance for your learning journey

Getting started

Cross-Curricular Initiative RoutesEnglish and Mathematics with :

Environmental StudiesScience, Geography, Art, PE,

FieldworkHistory, Geography, Science, D&T, PE, RE

Thematic WorkArt; Mu; DT; Sc; PL; RE;,PE; ICT; Hi; Gg

Creativity Art; Mu; DT; Sc; PL; RE;,PE; ICT; Hi; Gg

CitizenshipArt; Mu; DT; Sc; PL; RE;,PE; ICT; Hi; Gg

SustainabilityArt; Mu; DT; Sc; PL; RE;,PE; ICT; Hi; Gg

Eco-SchoolsArt; Mu; DT; Sc; PL; RE;,PE; ICT; Hi; Gg

Templates for Action

Helen and the routes diagram have shown that to be cross curricular you are actually ensuring :

• Core subject and thinking skills are used to bring clarity and understanding to a large body of other subject information

• Science and Foundation subjects bring their own skills to develop understanding of the principles and concepts in Mathematics and English

• All the subjects are required to understand the concepts of citizenship, sustainability and environmental care.

Logistics• You need to set aside staff meeting time at least

at the beginning of each term to organise the whole school medium term plan

• One successful school I know met in year groups each week and allocated preparation round the groups ( students included) – and at this point the coordinators, moving between years, could cover for progression.

• It is possible to have teachers following individual subject activities but incorporating the theme at appropriate points across a few subjects. This happened at Jubilee School next

Another look at the Creative project ‘You are Here’

History, Geography and Art

• Jubilee Primary School ,Stoke Newington develops thinking skills and mental/mind maps in each class and with each project

in conjunction with the principles of Howard Gardner's ‘7 intelligences’. • They regularly work with artists from Creative

Partnerships• In Spring 2006 Year 1, 3, 4 and 5 used

geographical mapping skills and art materials to make creative works of art

Year One : Stick Man walked from landmark to land mark

Year 3 Mental Symbol Map and Felt map based on an aerial view

of Hackney

Year 4 Used Wilmington Man and grid mapped a skeleton

Year 5 Lungs = leaves and were mapped using acetate gel

See http://www.jubilee.hackney.sch.uk/

Jubilee School Summer 2006 1

• Jubilee were awarded a Frederick Soddy Trust Travel grant at the Annual Conference 2006

• This enabled classes to visit the National Maritime Museum ( Tudor maps and navigators)

• the Royal Geographical Society (Role play as new trainees (boffins) for using photographs and maps to prepare maps for a Northern France landing ( D-Day)

Jubilee School Summer 2006 2

• AND the Epping Forest FSC Centre where they were taught survival skills as well as mapping skills

• The grease

paint helps

Resources to help

• Case studies on the Creative Partnership site http://www.creative-partnerships.com/ which gives examples and case studies

• Global Dimension case studies http://www.globaldimension.org.uk/default.aspx?id=97

• Citizenship http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/resource.php?y18

• AND

Subject Associations Curriculum Partnership

http://www.subjectassociation.org.uk/content.asp?ID=108• http://www.subjectassociation.org.uk/image/download/

PPB%20flyer%20(lo-res).pdf

Primary Project Box

• Written by teachers for teachers, the

Primary Project Box contains five themed

teaching units in booklet form, each with its own multimedia CD and web pages on the Subject Association website

www.subjectassociation.org.uk. With links to individual association web pages

PPB Contents 1

• The theme, ‘Our School/Our World’, develops subject knowledge and skills within the coherence of children’s experience.

• The lessons focus on Art, English, Geography,

History, Mathematics, Music, PE, Primary

Languages and RE. • Design and Technology and ICT are covered in

detail in the teachers’ guide Teaching out of the box.

PPB Contents 2

Pack contents:

• Unit 1: Our classroom and our school

• Unit 2: Inside, outside

• Unit 3: Our wider world

• Unit 4: Our changing world

• Unit 5: Our future world

• Teachers’ guide: Teaching out of the box

Whole School Approaches

• The Eco School site has many case studies

• http://www.eco-schools.org.uk/ explains the whole project

• http://www.ecoschoolsscotland.org/home/index.asp?linkID=6 clarifies much of the intentions with Scottish case studies

• http://www.eco-schoolswales.org/English/home.htm similarly for Welsh schools

Eco Schools – Two examples • Stifford Primary school has a long tradition of

taking weeks ‘off-timetable’ i.e. weeks where the skills and knowledge of each subject area are subsumed to a common theme. E.g.

• an Enterprise Week to improve the school grounds, • a Creative Arts Week looking at different

continents,• a Millennium Week and • a World of Work Week. • These weeks provide opportunities for creative

planning, for involving the community and for giving impetus to whole school initiatives.

• All of these had a strong geographical bias;

• Stifford used these weeks over two years

to develop a programme which led to the highest , Green Flag level at the first attempt – which they have retained

There was a short and medium term Action Plan of small actionsThe long term plan involved curriculum development of a full range of sustainable topics

Investigate the packaging issue.Science, Geography, History , D&T, Maths Literacy

Investigate use of local artist to construct sculptures based upon continents fauna and flora.

Geography, Science, History, Art, RE,

Consider a raised pond.D&T, Science, Geography,

Also Create a meadow area. and log pile habitat

Monitor water and energy usage and reduce wasteScience, Geography, Mathematics, PSHE, History.

Research the possibilities of using renewable forms of energy -wind turbines -solar energy.'...

D&T, Science, Geography, History, Mathematics

Action Plan : Long Term Curriculum

Links with Government policy

• Stifford's ideas were developing

• in 2002 – 4

• The diagram below came out in 2006

• See http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/sustainableschools/

• Eastchurch School had implemented in all zones in the diagram and has been a Green Flag school for over 6 years

Themes or ‘doorways’3

East Church , SheppeyMaths, Science and Geography

Using data from their own solar panels

Geography Teaching Today 1• http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/images/

text/KS1-3CrossCuttingThemes.pdfI

• In the classroom, there are three bundles of energy or ‘resources’: the teacher, the learners and the subject.

• Each brings something different. We use these three in combination literally to ‘make the curriculum’ experience.

• Each of our own circumstances is unique in certain ways, so we often create our own local solutions to the curriculum.

• Here you can learn about some of the materials and approaches to topics that teachers have developed including cross-curricular approaches

Geography Teaching Today 2Three CPD units

1. Primary Geography and ICT• exploit your school’s ICT facilities to:• bring the world into your classroom?• access images of people, places and

environments?• explore the spatial dimension through on-line

mapping?• raise your pupils’ awareness of the impact of

ICT on our changing world?.

Geography Teaching Today 3

• Primary Geography and Citizenship

• How can geography in your school:

• develop pupils’ understanding of their place?

• help pupils to voice their views on improvements to their place?

• develop a sense of being a part of the global as well as the local?

Geography Teaching Today 4

• Primary Geography and Sustainable Development

• How can we:

• educate for the future through real world issues?

• develop through the geography curriculum the idea of living sustainably?

• enhance understanding of our everyday lives through geographical understanding?

Other possibilitiesAllocate pairs or more of subjects

• With your neighbours decide what could be done in your school area to bring home the following points about an Olympic Games based in the UK

1. Practice areas –swimming, football, gymnastics and so on.

Do you have a velodrome near you?? 1. Tourist places2. Open space 3. New housing – where do you put displaced

people? Long term residents? Immigrants? Travellers?

Activities What could your school do for Olympic inspired activities

1. Re. using and making maps

2. Investigating transport access and green transport

3. Consequences of using existing sport venues e.g. Football stadia 4 Consequences of converting venues e.g. Greenwich Park, Horse Guards Parade -

5 Consequences of creating new stadia and Halls Consider • local possibilities first and implications • Role Play /De Bono Thinking skills• Spectator and Athletes needs.

Olympic maps

• What kind of map skills can you do with the map resources on the Olympic site ?

• Think of combining with Art to produce a legible, understandable map

• Use aerial views and maps for inspiration but art materials for construction

• Could the official maps be improved?

The 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London will be based on an Olympic zone around Stratford in east London

Olympic maps 1http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/3241188.stm

Image removed for copyright reasons

http://www.london2012.com/en/news/press+room/Images/maps.htm

Olympic maps 2

Image removed for copyright reasons

http://www.london2012.com/en/news/press+room/Images/maps.htm

Olympic maps 3

Image removed for copyright reasons

http://www.london2012.com/en/news/press+room/Images/maps.htm

Olympic maps 4Image removed for copyright reasons

Hampden ParkGlasgowFootball

Millennium StadiumCardiffFootball

WeymouthPortlandSailing

St James's ParkNewcastleFootbvall

Old TraffordManchesterFootball

Villa ParkBirminghamFootball

Weald CountryPark , EssexMountain Biking

Further possibilities

• Green transport and its implications

1. For school

2. For the local Area

3. For those adjacent to Olympic stadia

4. For those travelling to the Olympic venues

Think about the resources needed and research into a range of modes of transport.

Whole School Possibilities • You may be an eco school and already do

much – could this be increased- what are the implications

• You may be a healthy school – can you grow your own vegetables - what are the implications

• Move from local implications to national global implications – i.e. Olympic Green

Thinking up an Eco - Code

• We love our planet

• We protect living things

• We re-cycle what we can

• We are water watchers

• We put litter in the bin

• We respect others

• Add at least three more actions

What do children want to buy for their school? Do they have a real say in improving their environment?

This School Council voted to spend money on plants. Their treasurer was still smiling after paying for this lot.

School Councils should have their own budget!The three slides above are from a slide show by Paula Owen on the GTT site

Vol 1 Table 5.5 Environmental management

Towards a One Planet Olympics

Sport Environment Commmunity

• Promoting healthier lifestyles• Fostering excellence• Engaging young people• Increasing participation

• Low carbon games• Zero waste games• Conserving biodiversity• Promoting environmentalawareness and partnerships

• Celebrating culture and diversity• Improving skill levels• Boosting enterprise andeconomic development• Improving quality of life

Source http://www.london2012.com/en/news/publications/Candidatefile/Candidatefile.htm

Vol 1

Creating ownership and Fun

Towards a One Planet School

Sport Environment Community 1._______________________________________________________

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