Category: Brilliant Learning

Autumn seemed to arrive very quickly this year and schools have swiftly got back in the rhythm of the new academic year.

Over the break Wandsworth City Learning Centre (CLC) were enthusiastically engaging with Apple’s Community Education Initiative (CEI) about the successful outcomes of the integration of iPad in two Battersea Primary schools – Sacred Heart and St Mary’s. With the support of CEI, the schools are tackling under-achievement through teaching digital skills to students and teachers, and have had a positive impact on skills and confidence.

The highly successful pilot technology programme has now been extended to reach additional schools this academic year. Each school will receive iPads with Apple Pencils and a storage cart, as well as engineer time to set up the new devices. These resources will help ensure that pupils and teachers can master the knowledge and understanding to become digital creatives and coders, and provide them with the skills needed to work in the technology industry.

Wandsworth City Learning Centre and Apple Distinguished Educators have been busily creating digital content and resources to support the schools throughout and beyond the programme. The team are preparing easy to use lesson plans and collaborative tasks to help teachers deliver their computing curriculum using iPad. Additionally, CLC tutors will be trained to deliver lessons and academic mentoring for staff and students.

Reaching beyond the classroom, the programme will also offer essential digital skills classes for adults and families to ensure the broader community has access to, and recognises the need and benefit of digital skills. These directed sessions can lead to volunteering and work experience opportunities in the technology field.

In September, Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson, visited St Marys and spoke with the staff and students whilst they were enjoying a morning of coding with Apples Swift Playgrounds application. The fantastic morning of programming allowed the enthusiastic learners to show-off their coding skills. The students displayed their knowledge and excitement of the use of technology through some challenging questions to Mr.Cook, who was clearly impressed by their enjoyment and fascination of the digital world, stating that he was, “Looking forward to seeing them and their fantastic ideas come to life with Apple!”

With the ending of a truly memorable experience, the positive message was that there was more opportunity and more partnerships emerging from this relationship. The success of this fantastic programme will be felt for many seasons to come, and will allow more schools and our wider community to celebrate the fruitfulness of technology in the classroom and in our Borough.

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Too often the service hears that schools are tied up with time consuming web searches and hours spent hunting for resources. Much more than a subscription, what schools say they benefit from the most is the access to a librarian’s mind. 

The benefit of a librarian run service is their ability to navigate over 120,000 items available. From picture books that challenge gender stereotypes to Asian characters in children’s fiction, a librarian’s mind will help pupils explore our world from new perspectives. And it’s much more than books – the service provides schools with artifacts which allow pupils to explore topics like history hands on.

visit resources.smartschool.services 

“It’s really important to belong to a service like the Wandsworth Learning Resources Service because class books are so expensive now. We really believe every child should be reading from their own copy. The librarians will send me a selection. I’ll take what I like and send the rest back. That’s really important, and it’s so easy. All you need to know is what you want to teach and ask their advice, and they’ll send it out to you. Every item comes with some notes on it, so you’re not left fumbling thinking, “What is that?” Every item comes with some background knowledge, so it’s really easy for everyone to use. 

As a professional, there’s no doubt that having the Learning Resources Service available to us is a great help. With our teaching hours already absolutely at the limit, we are not having to scurry around trying to find artifacts and books and class sets, which our budget wouldn’t necessarily allow us to do.

Jane Bunn, Literacy Lead, Ronal Ross Primary School

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At the end of September we uploaded Super School Profiles to the Research & Evaluation Unit (REU) website for all Wandsworth schools buying into Traded Services. Most schools will now be very familiar with these profiles – we originally launched them way back in 2010, though we continue to develop and improve each year. It’s our way of drawing together analysis from across the wide range of data we collect including attainment and progress, cohort analysis absence, exclusions, finance and workforce.

Each analysis section is visually presented with information on pupil groups, trends over time and comparisons to local authority and national averages. The profiles include analysis of Year 1, 3, 4 and 5 TA and NFER tests if you submitted them – note that schools providing data for Year 3, 4, 5 for a test other than NFER do not have analysis included in the Super School Profile as we were unable to calculate the percentage of pupils at expected or higher.

The profile this year followed the familiar format, but with some notable improvements including:

• The Vulnerable Groups Summary (Section 1j) has been updated this year and should be quicker and easier to understand. The values are still coloured vs pupils different to the England data, but we’ve moved away from using the dot to indicate cohort size, to showing the count of children in brackets. We think it really helps to pop out things like subject-specific good practices across the year groups!
• We’ve freshened up the IDACI and Absence maps – and also moved the latter to focus on persistent absentees, rather than all children.
• The Absence section now shows a five year trend – this is important as it shows how absence levels are still well above the levels pre-pandemic in Wandsworth and across England.
• The Workforce section show the ethnicity profile of your pupil cohort alongside the staff profile, so you can easily see how comparable they are

The new ethnicity comparison for school workforce:

The new vulnerable groups summary:

And remember, you will have more detailed analysis on the REU website that provides even more depth to the analysis in the profiles, for example contextual reports that break down achievement of pupil groups by individual subject, and question level analysis for year 3, 4 and 5 optional tests.

As always, please get in touch with the REU if you have any questions about the profiles or any other aspect of the REU service, and indeed if you have any suggestions for future developments – we are always keen to learn.

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As part of the Ravenstone Early Career Teachers professional learning, three new teachers, Lauren, Jack and Rory, were asked to help plan and organise a student Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Day. Some creative discussions and stimulating ideas workshops with the energetic ECT’s and consultants from the CLC ensued to plan an exciting day of interactive labs for staff and students at the Balham school.

Educators often search for professional learning experiences that explore how STEM concepts and tools can be embedded into the classroom in meaningful, intentional and academically engaging ways. Teachers know their students want more technology in their classrooms and so are always seeking to integrate STEM into learning opportunities, but sometimes suffer a lack of confidence, resources or time to experiment with innovative interactive tools. Partnership, collaboration and sharing are all in abundance through the CLC and their tutors are on hand to come into schools to support staff in delivering and embedding engaging digital transformation into the schools’ curriculum.

Ravenstone Lead Science teacher, and brainchild of the day, Richard Ingham enthused;

“STEM day was amazing! The children had a great time exploring the Virtual Reality world of NASA and taking a trip in a helicopter. Others had the chance to ‘touch coronavirus’ and look at other viruses up close and personal. The overwhelming response was of positivity and learning across both Key Stages. Dave, the facilitator from the CLC, was great, and the day went off with smiles and laughs.”

The stimulating activities included using Artificial Intelligence to allow students to explore a galaxy in the palm of their hand. Learners could hold a 3D object, explore a DNA molecule, enabling an entirely new way to learn and interact with the digital world. Using the fully integrated VR goggles provided students with virtual and augmented reality content to explore and investigate complex scientific topics in a safe and absorbing way.

Pupil engagement and excitement was clearly evident, with the activities triggering incredible discussions and motivation for further future workshops. “I enjoyed the lesson because I don’t get to do those things normally…it was fun to have the opportunity to do different things!” stated one learner, with another adding, “We looked inside a human body through an iPad, it was cool to see the body in a different way!”

The enjoyment and interest from the pupils was matched by the eagerness of other staff wanting to incorporate the digital tools in their own curriculum areas. The exhilarated ECTs, clearly pleased with their accomplishments, chimed about their learners “They loved it…they were fascinated by the technology but it was interesting to see how familiar the

students were with the terms and use of the devices, they were constantly engaged and it was lovely to see.”

Ravenstone skilfully harnessed the energy and enthusiasm of their new teachers Lauren, Jack and Rory to deliver an inspiring and refreshing day of creative practical sessions to promote STEM, and not only motivate pupils but re-energise staff into wanting to integrate tech into their subject areas!

Wandsworth City Learning Centre can deliver specific projects in your school to enhance teaching and learning, and introduce innovative digital tools to motivate and engage staff and students, making difficult topics exciting and fun. Please do get in touch via the form below to discuss how the CLC can bring subjects alive and challenge your learners in the classroom.

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If we have piqued your interest in Smart School Services, why not meet with our head team to see how we can work together. To arrange your Head to Head, or for any other enquiry, simply fill in the contact form and we’ll be in touch shortly.

A few weeks ago, I attended a webinar with Andy Jones. The author talked about his latest book ‘Bob vs the selfie zombie: a time -travel comedy adventure.’ The children were asked to travel in time, and it was interesting to hear that some pupils wanted to be transported to pre -technology era and others to Tudor times, for instance. If the children travelled back in time to the 16^th century, what would they miss the most? I am personally in favour of new technological developments and that what inspired me to investigate what technology is coming out in 2023 and link with the topic for KS2 ‘What price progress’. The list of tech inventions to kick off 2023 is impressive; green hydrogen, nuclear fusion, quantum computing and the artificial intelligence to get even smarter, just to mention a few. 

We live in a time filled with modern technologies and are excited about the novelties that global corporations provide us with and are still waiting for more. Your pupils will learn that many inventions that only yesterday seemed revolutionary and forward-looking, today are almost obsolete. However, there are also those that have changed our lives forever and become milestones in the history of the world. 

This IPC (International Primary Curriculum) unit gives you and your children the chance to explore lots of amazing developments that have changed the world. It is a great topic for children to develop their history skills and learn about different brilliant inventors and inventions. The resources will also help your children in developing critical thinking skills and build their knowledge about the effects that the inventions had on their lives. 

Kickstart a discussion by asking what earlier technologies and devices have been replaced today by computers and the Internet?

The dynamic development of the entire electronic and IT sector meant that the man was no longer required to perform many activities. The number of professions that have been dismissed thanks to this revolution is growing with each passing decade. The internet, on the other hand, has made it possible for everyone to have access to things that our ancestors would not have been able to imagine within a few clicks. Fax machines are now completely replaced by smartphones, for example.

Facilitate a discussion which inventions are the 5 greatest of all time? 

The wheel

Some people consider the wheel to be the greatest invention of all time.  The Sumerian people in Mesopotamia  are widely believed to have invented the wheel around 4200-400 BC. The wheel led to other innovations, including wheelbarrows and chariots, and changed the way people lived, worked, and travelled. Other advances such as mills, steamboats also owe their creation to the basic but incredible wheel.

The elevator 

Mechanisms for vertical transport date back thousands of years. In 236 BC, Greek mathematician Archimedes designed a rudimentary elevator operated with the use of ropes, pulleys, and a capstan. In ancient Rome, wild animals kept beneath the Colosseum were delivered to the arena through a series of up to 28 lifts — each one of which could carry 600 pounds and took as many as eight men to operate. The elevator as we know it was created in 1854, when Elisha Otis produced an elevator with a safety device. His company’s designs were ground-breaking at the time, and the Otis company continues to be the leader in the elevator industry today.

Printing press

Although Johannes Gutenberg is synonymous with the printing press, he was not the first to use a press to create printed material. The oldest known printed text was a Buddhist scroll made in China, using block printing. However, in 1436, Gutenberg refined printing in a way that forever changed history. His crowning achievement was using his press to produce 200 copies of the Bible within three years, which was astoundingly fast at that time. 

Vaccines

The concept of inoculation is an old idea. It goes back to Buddhist monks who drank snake venom and people in 17th century China who purposely exposed their skin to cowpox in an effort to protect against smallpox, a related but far deadlier disease. But it was British doctor Edward Jenner who pioneered the field of vaccinology with his development of the smallpox vaccine in 1796. From there, Louis Pasteur made advances in the field, developing cholera, anthrax, and rabies vaccines. By 1970, there were separate vaccines to address deadly measles, mumps, and rubella. The invention and evolution of vaccines have saved countless lives around the world. 

The Computer

It is hard to think of an aspect of modern society that has not been affected by the computer. Although many people contributed to what we call a computer, several great minds are especially noteworthy. The idea of an automatic digital computer dates to mathematical prodigy Charles Babbage. His idea, named the analytical engine encompassed elements of current computers. A huge leap forward came in 1946, thanks to John William Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert. These two scientists  created the first general-purpose computer — the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC).

Resources to borrow

The top ten Inventions that changed the world, by Chris Oxlade

In 1903, two brothers achieved the first controlled flight of a heavier than air machine. The Top Ten from thousands of inventions that have undoubtedly changed our world. The children will find out why have these ten made it and not others and what the other top nine inventions are that changed the world! 

Inventor’s secret scrapbook, by Chris Oxlade

Inside this book you and your pupils will find pages of scraps from the notebooks of some of the world’s greatest inventors. Your class will also discover how the inventors came up with their incredible ideas- from the humble light bulb to a fantastic flying machine. 

Machines and Inventions, by Ian Graham

Humans are clever creatures. For thousands of years, they have found ways to make life easier, from lighting fires to building robots. This book, with special acetate pages, will help you and your pupils to explore some of the most ingenious devices that the human mind has created. 

I wonder why Zips have teeth, by Barbara Taylor

Colourful and full of information book is the perfect introduction to inventions, featuring the first computers, robots on Mars, eBook readers and much more. The pupils will learn that the Inventors try to solve problems and they think about people’s needs, and then try to come up with an answer. 

Inventors who changed the world, by Angela Royston

Discover the amazing brains behind the inventions we could not live without! This book brings together fascinating facts and information, from how phones became mobile to the World Wide Web   made available on the Internet. 

Book your
Head to Head

If we have piqued your interest in Smart School Services, why not meet with our head team to see how we can work together. To arrange your Head to Head, or for any other enquiry, simply fill in the contact form and we’ll be in touch shortly.