Everton
Enquiry Question
Can engaging pupils in exciting, creative activities based around a sporting theme help Hill View Primary in Halton raise standards in literacy and other subjects for all pupils, but especially boys?
There was a great deal of interest amongst Hill View Primary School pupils in football - both playing and watching - so it made an ideal focus for developing Literacy. The school planned to explore not only the impact on National Curriculum writing levels, but also on literacy skills in the broadest sense, exploring and promoting confidence when speaking, the enjoyment of reading and writing, and social interaction. Although the school was particularly concerned to develop literacy skills of boys, it was felt the project could have a positive impact on both genders and pupils of differing ability.
The children researched Everton Football Club. They visited the football ground and recorded their responses in a range of different ways. They wrote about their experiences and made visual and sound recordings to capture key aspects.
The school engaged four creative practitioners who led dance, writing, film and visual arts activities around the theme of football. A highlight of the project was when everyone worked together to create a performance of the television programme Match of The Day. Utilising a film recording suite at their local City Learning Centre, pupils created a short film that included an interview with one of Everton's first team players, Jack Rodwell.
The project attracted a lot of interest in the local and national press, featuring in local newspapers and the national children's TV programme Newsround. Parents were engaged through their children's work. They were given a DVD showcasing the pupils' Match of the Day programme, dance peformances and the national news coverage. Pupils' work was also presented on the school's Virtual Learning Platform.
Who was involved?
Gaynor La Rocca (Creative Agent)
Patrick Graham
Andy Leigh
Gaynor McHugh
Laurence Payot
Everton Football Club
Impact
- Class teachers reported increased co-operation, participation and enthusiasm among boys during the lessons that focused on football. Pupils were able to communicate ideas in groups, contribute valid suggestions to the processes of creative work and were willing to take risks in putting ideas forward.
- All pupils expressed pride at featuring in the media.
- All but one of the boys reached or exceeded their predicted level in Optional SATs in writing.
- Teachers gained valuable experience of working collaboratively with creative practitioners.
- In relation to Every Child Matters, the project involved pupils in a variety of physical activities including football and dance, thus promoting 'Being Healthy'.
- The project effectively engaged pupils’ families in their learning and the life of the school.
Results
Hill View Primary will continue to develop theme based projects, and have formulated a potential enquiry question they would like to explore in 2010/11: 'Can you teach and learn cultural diversity or do you have to live it?' This fits in with the school’s target of making children more aware of the diverse nature of British society.
At a Parents Evening, parents spoke about how much the children had enjoyed the project and that they had come home 'raving'. Example quotes from parents included: "They didn’t do that when I was in school!" and "Wish I was back at school!"
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