How can pupils observe learning?

What happens when you want to get the children involved in observing learning, so they can help design the curriculum in school?

We used the collective wisdom of the school council to produce a list of verbs they would hope to see in action in a happy classroom that was full of learning; this is what they produced:

This can be quickly coloured in to record what they have seen.

How do we do that?

I received this response to a previous post

Steve Philp said...

I'd love to hear more details about how you allocate your resources. I'm deputy at a primary in Birmingham and have led on curriculum change for 3 years, but staff don't have complete freedom in resource use - so how do you do that?

November 22, 2010 2:24 PM

We have tried to balance staff freedom with accountability.

We constantly repeat: "If we keep doing the same then we will only get the same, or worse, results"

This is one way we have encouraged staff freedom to innovate...

Each term we have a Standards Meeting; each year group present for around 7 minutes on how well (or otherwise) their year group are doing to the rest of the staff. Each year group make notes (for subject leaders this is their curriculum monitoring) and importantly highlight opportunities they think a given year group could take to develop their work.

As the staff share their strengths we all develop our practice- good ideas spread quickly- and, whilst its hard to believe staff share resources as well; last year Y6 gained use of a teaching assisstant in the Spring Term. This was offered by a different year  group and accepted. ICT and curriculum resources move quickly as well.

Each year group has a budget- this year just short of £2k. School provides some essential or day to day resources but the rest is used where staff prioritise.

Got an issue with boys writing? Spend more on nice pens, or post its, or e-books, or a visiting author.

Spend it where you see fit by all means; but staff know that the accountability for its wise deployment rests with them!

Looking back part 2

Last year we spent a great day with Chris Nash, he was kind enough to write this after his visit to the North East;

I was delighted recently to be invited to spend a day at Normanby Primary School in Middlesbrough seeing how they teach and learn with mobile technology. The first thing that struck me was the passion for developing teaching and learning that was evident throughout the staff, pupils and parents in the school. This was clearly far more than just a class pilot project; there was evidence of systemic embedding of the technology wherever I looked and pleasingly this included much of the beautifully developed outdoor spaces in the school to support extended learning opportunities.

What was really striking though was a rare recognition by the Head, Carl Faulkner of the power of portable, handheld technology to develop truly independent and personalised learning whereby the balance of control in child’s learning journey is gradually tipped towards the learner.

A personal access model to ICT is only really relevant if the students are given choice to develop their learning at a pace and style which benefits their individual learning needs. Normanby School is still in the early stages of this process where the pupils are very much in control of their technology, from assisting in the device of choice to managing charging, software installations, maintenance and resources. The long term vision from the Head and staff at the school is to see this responsibility develop a greater involvement from the pupils in their own learning development. This might start with them having more independence in choosing appropriate tools to capture, create and share their ideas and moving onto them identifying when they are confident they have mastered particular skills and what needs to be acquired next.

It is clear that the school is not looking for quick fixes – no rush to buy the latest gadget because boys are failing in Literacy etc.  Normanby, under the guidance of their dedicated Head, are looking at making a long term difference by embedding technology relevant to their pupils lives and embracing a shift towards creating passionate 24/7 learners who are not only aware of, but in control of their education.

Chris Nash 2009

Looking back I can really see how our curriculum, and its delivery went through a massive change in 2009. We recently looked at some old planning; the difference in just 18 months is immense. The school is now also organised differently, with resoucres allocated to staff to spend/ deploy/ save as they see fit.

In many ways it has made my life as Head easier. The challenge is now not starting the innovation, its keeping up with it!

Learning Without Frontiers

Learning Without Frontiers have asked me to present at this years Conference.

This is an outline of my talk:

Digital glue: helping to change your School through the careful use of technology.

I am firm believer that technology should be a lot more than the 'stuff' that doesn't work properly yet; although with over 200 handheld 'PDA' devices owned by students, and numerous Wiis, DS handhelds and SMARTboards in use everyday at Normanby making it work- and produce results- is a challenge. A big one!

I will talk about how innovation can be initiated and maintained in a school environment, and share my pupils views. I will draw upon my experiences both in school and on a windy rainswept Moor in the middle of the night!

This is the bio I had to write, how strange is it to describe yourself for others to read?

"Working as a Head teacher in the North East of England, Carl has developed his schools use of a range of technologies that support learners, their families and teachers.

The impact of his work with staff has been recognised through the presentation of several awards, including from the Guardian Newspaper, Hand Held Learning and the Northern Grid for Learning. Previously in his first Headship Carl led his school to be 'one of the top 12 most improved' schools in the country.

Carl has served as Team Leader in a Mountain Rescue Team, helping to coordinate and lead the response to a wide range of emergency situations."

One year on

Last year I was lucky enough to be nominated for, and then win, a Hand Held Learning Award: this is the website we produced.


Carls nomination