Project survival at Chapel Fields Junior School
Was sending pupils to a desert island the answer to a Solihull school’s behaviour problems?
Chapel Fields Junior School in Solihull, decided, for their 2009 Enquiry Schools project, to investigate ways of engaging and enthusing reluctant learners.
"Several children, boys and girls, across two year groups, were identified as displaying a reluctance to learn. We wanted to focus on learning styles to see if we could motivate and engage those who don’t necessarily misbehave but are often in the background when class and group learning takes place," said Helen Wallam, lead teacher at Chapel Fields.
Two groups of eight children from years 4 and 5, who were viewed by their teachers as often being 'in the background' when learning was taking place, were selected to take part in Project Survival. During Project Survival the children involved would design their own survival adventure and consciously develop skills for effective learning. The setting they agreed on was that of a desert island and, in discussion with those leading the group, they decided on the skills fundamental to being engaged and a good learner on which they would focus. These were:
- Speaking with confidence and listening to others
- Suggesting ideas and solving problems
- Encouraging others
- Being patient and persevering
- Showing imagination and being 'in-role'
The school wanted this group of children to be able to talk positively about their learning be able to communicate their experience with their peers, engage others in a learning experience and for the outcomes of the project to be shared by teachers to develop the school's creative teaching and learning strategies. As a broader objective, to address elements of the school improvement plan, Chapel Fields wanted to concentrate on curriculum design and developing more creative approaches to teaching and learning.
The project involved weekly in-school sessions for the pupils involved during the Autumn and Spring terms of 2009/10. During the Autumn term the groups worked with lead teacher Hellen Wallam on the theme of survival and outdoor skills, including a trip with a scout leader to a campsite. In the Spring term, filmmaker James Rowell, worked with the pupils to develop their ideas for a storyline, centred on their group being stranded on a desert island. Working through discussion and drama activities the Year 4 group developed a storyline in which the children were too clever for Chapel Fields and were sent to school overseas. En route their plane crashed on a desert island. In the Year 5 group the pupils worked on the idea of portals and wormholes, through which they could travel to reach their island.
In each year group the children chose the setting for the adventure, decided on roles, developed, delivered and helped record the story and then reflected on their learning and feelings at the end. For example, in one scenario, James, the creative practitioner became aggressive when he lost his memory after the plane crash. At that moment, when children were taken aback by his behaviour, one of them discovered the portal. Should they take James with them or would he be a liability?
The groups used a video diary room to record their progress with their stories and key episodes were filmed using a green screen and key locations in school, as well as a range of animation and 3D modeling techniques.
Throughout the project the children all got an opportunity to operate the video camera, understand different viewpoints and camera shots, view footage and get involved in editing. The finale of the project was a red carpet Oscar ceremony, in which the films were premiered to the whole school.
To encourage the children to become active and independent learners, a sharing event was planned with each of the Year 4 and 5 classes in which the Project Survival children planned and took the rest of their classes on a sensory trip around their islands. The children set up a circuit of objects that represented different places on the island, for example three cones representing three palm trees, a bowl of water in place of a lake and waterfall. The children then guided individual members of their class, blindfolded, around the island explaining where they were and what was happening. This was filmed by the creative practitioner and later used for staff training and feedback.
Throughout the project, the children had the opportunity to gain 'palm tree tokens', a concept they chose because of its link to the desert island theme, for showing one of the five agreed skills, which made them explicitly aware of the behaviours and attitudes they were encouraged to adopt. In order to win a token a child had to be voted the person who had best exhibited the skill in question by their peers. The ‘imagining’ token, however, was only awarded by the group leaders, and consequently highly prized.
While only the sixteen children took part in the project, a system was developed to cascade the learning in the workshops to the mainstream classes, so all teachers and pupils felt involved and benefited from the activities. One example of this activity was the sensory tour of the island the participating pupils gave to their classmates.
Impact
Each child was given a star rating out of five for engagement by their class teacher at the beginning of the project and again at the end. All were rated in the range 1 to 3 at the beginning and in the range 3 to 5 at the end.
In Year 4, six out of the eight participating children said they put their hands up in class more following the project.
In Year 5, seven out of the eight children said they are more confident in sharing their ideas now.
Quotes
"We have learnt what makes a good learner...it doesn't matter how smart you are, don't be distracted and stay focused...be patient, take turns...to use my imagination." Pupil
"The project has helped me to not make trouble on the playground. We worked as a group and now we're close to each other." Pupil
"My effort grades have gone up; they're now As and Bs." Pupil
"It's as if someone has switched the light on." Parent
"He used to be quite arrogant but is now much more mature and interactive. He now shows real leadership potential." Teacher
