Harston and Newton CP School

1. Harston and Newton CP School Our Creative Curriculum ..

2. We discuss what to learn We discuss which way we learn How we work with our teacher Harston & Newton Topic Work! How we decide what to learn At the start of the year we are organized into project groups. This is done in different ways: our choice or random orders or selected children moving to other tables. Each project group (the groups change on a termly basis) gets the choice of what area of the topic they want to focus on. At the end of the term, the groups share what they have learned during the course of the term. How we say which way we learn In the first term, we completed questionnaires about how we learn in school, and our preferred ways of working. This included how we use our skills in listening, doing, talking, and seeing. At the beginning of our Egyptian topic we sat down on the field and decided where we wanted our topic to go, this lead us to all sorts of interesting ideas such as an Egyptian museum selling chocolate scarab beetles and a year 6 jumping out of a home-made Egyptian sarcophagus!!! Our role and the teacher�s role Our teacher helps us organize project groups and then suggests which specific area each group needs to cover in our topic work. We get about three weeks to complete the work. We can take these challenges in a variety of different directions, for example, when we did our Mountains and rivers project Our teacher assigned our groups to make a model of a river, showing how the water cycle works and then we finally watched our master pieces work! The questionnaires that we did helped our teacher understand how we like to learn and she plans lots of different sessions that allow us to do our work in different ways. During these sessions, Our teacher visits all the groups and checks how they are getting on. She gives suggestions about how they can improve their work. We find it easier to get help from our teacher when we work this way. Independence We are becoming more independent and learning how to learn and work things out for ourselves. We learn how to share ideas and equipment in school and how to find things out for ourselves. It gives us more ideas about how to approach a new piece of work. Our problem solving skills have got better. By a Year 6 childHarston & Newton Topic Work! How we decide what to learn At the start of the year we are organized into project groups. This is done in different ways: our choice or random orders or selected children moving to other tables. Each project group (the groups change on a termly basis) gets the choice of what area of the topic they want to focus on. At the end of the term, the groups share what they have learned during the course of the term. How we say which way we learn In the first term, we completed questionnaires about how we learn in school, and our preferred ways of working. This included how we use our skills in listening, doing, talking, and seeing. At the beginning of our Egyptian topic we sat down on the field and decided where we wanted our topic to go, this lead us to all sorts of interesting ideas such as an Egyptian museum selling chocolate scarab beetles and a year 6 jumping out of a home-made Egyptian sarcophagus!!! Our role and the teacher�s role Our teacher helps us organize project groups and then suggests which specific area each group needs to cover in our topic work. We get about three weeks to complete the work. We can take these challenges in a variety of different directions, for example, when we did our Mountains and rivers project Our teacher assigned our groups to make a model of a river, showing how the water cycle works and then we finally watched our master pieces work! The questionnaires that we did helped our teacher understand how we like to learn and she plans lots of different sessions that allow us to do our work in different ways. During these sessions, Our teacher visits all the groups and checks how they are getting on. She gives suggestions about how they can improve their work. We find it easier to get help from our teacher when we work this way. Independence We are becoming more independent and learning how to learn and work things out for ourselves. We learn how to share ideas and equipment in school and how to find things out for ourselves. It gives us more ideas about how to approach a new piece of work. Our problem solving skills have got better. By a Year 6 child

3. Task homework Homework As part of our homework we get task homework to complete. We have between 2 and 4 pieces a term to complete. These are related to our topic. These are good to do because they encourage us use different skills. I really like them because they give us a great way to explore our topic using different resources. When we are doing our task homework we can take it to the highest level we are working at. We can show our skills and knowledge. By Year 6 child Buddy Assemblies During the year we have our Buddy assemblies. The whole school is spilt into buddy groups and we get together once or twice a term. In our buddy groups we discuss tasks and important things like behaviour in school or our school logo In the buddy groups the Year 6 children make sure that all the children in the group have a chance to give their opinions and their ideas. By Year 6 child Homework As part of our homework we get task homework to complete. We have between 2 and 4 pieces a term to complete. These are related to our topic. These are good to do because they encourage us use different skills. I really like them because they give us a great way to explore our topic using different resources. When we are doing our task homework we can take it to the highest level we are working at. We can show our skills and knowledge. By Year 6 child Buddy Assemblies During the year we have our Buddy assemblies. The whole school is spilt into buddy groups and we get together once or twice a term. In our buddy groups we discuss tasks and important things like behaviour in school or our school logo In the buddy groups the Year 6 children make sure that all the children in the group have a chance to give their opinions and their ideas. By Year 6 child

4. How we start a lesson At the start of lesson we sit down on the carpet in our special spots and our teacher tells us what we will be thinking about that lesson. She also teaches us skills which she wants us to use. How we choose our work There�s normally an easy task, medium task and a hard task. Most people usually choose the task which stretches them most. We also get to choose how to do tasks using different resources. Where we work and who we work with We have a choice where we work and if it�s sunny we are normally allowed a choice to go outside or inside. We also get to chose whether we work in groups or on our own. What we use in lessons to learn We can use books, laptops or other people to find out things. We then use this information to write reports or stories, we choose which one we want to do. How we end lessons At the end of a lesson, we traffic light our work; red for � I found it hard�, yellow for �I need a bit more practice� and green for �that was a bit too easy�. Sometimes, we get to show our work to the class. How we know what we need to get better at When we get given our books, we are given the opportunity to look back at our work. Our teacher writes down feedback underneath our finished work. We can then look at our targets and check to see whether we have achieved any of them. By a Year 3 child How we start a lesson At the start of lesson we sit down on the carpet in our special spots and our teacher tells us what we will be thinking about that lesson. She also teaches us skills which she wants us to use. How we choose our work There�s normally an easy task, medium task and a hard task. Most people usually choose the task which stretches them most. We also get to choose how to do tasks using different resources. Where we work and who we work with We have a choice where we work and if it�s sunny we are normally allowed a choice to go outside or inside. We also get to chose whether we work in groups or on our own. What we use in lessons to learn We can use books, laptops or other people to find out things. We then use this information to write reports or stories, we choose which one we want to do.

5. So how does this help us learn? More confident Independent skills Purpose for learning ENJOYMENT Because we choose which piece of work to do and how hard the work is, we feel more confident about what we are learning. It helps that we can work with friends and we have found out who is good at different things. We help each other and explain to each other what to do if we are not sure. We work with lots of different people in class at different times. We are becoming more independent and learning how to learn and work things out for ourselves. We learn how to share ideas and equipment in school and how to find things out for ourselves. It gives us more ideas about how to approach a new piece of work. Our problem solving skills have got better. Our learning is linked across the curriculum and we are using specific skills to complete tasks so we can see why we need to learn different skills. It makes more sense to us than just having a lesson about how to write instructions, for example. We can see how to use the skills in different types of work. We look back at our progress books to see how much we have improved over the year. This helps us to see what we still need to focus on. We enjoy our work more because we are allowed to work with friends and work outside. We get more opportunity to learn from each other and not just the teacher. We think more schools should work this way A group of children from KS2 Because we choose which piece of work to do and how hard the work is, we feel more confident about what we are learning. It helps that we can work with friends and we have found out who is good at different things. We help each other and explain to each other what to do if we are not sure. We work with lots of different people in class at different times. We are becoming more independent and learning how to learn and work things out for ourselves. We learn how to share ideas and equipment in school and how to find things out for ourselves. It gives us more ideas about how to approach a new piece of work. Our problem solving skills have got better. Our learning is linked across the curriculum and we are using specific skills to complete tasks so we can see why we need to learn different skills. It makes more sense to us than just having a lesson about how to write instructions, for example. We can see how to use the skills in different types of work. We look back at our progress books to see how much we have improved over the year. This helps us to see what we still need to focus on. We enjoy our work more because we are allowed to work with friends and work outside. We get more opportunity to learn from each other and not just the teacher. We think more schools should work this way A group of children from KS2