Time Detectives at Egremont Primary School - Wirral
Local history was brought to life in one North West school's Time Detectives Enquiry Schools project.
Staff, authors and theatre practitioners at Egrement Primary School in the Wirral worked with Key Stage 1 children to explore how personal, social and emotional experience could have a positive impact on standards in writing.
Working with theatre practitioner Sarah Hogarth, the children researched the history of wreckers, who used to work along the local coastline, luring in ships to the region's trecherous rocks. As part of the project the children dressed up in period costumes, created treasure boxes and explored beaches in the North West.
Author Hilary Keating built on these experiences by nurturing children's speaking and listening skills and their understanding of the use of narrative through group activities and games focused on the fun children could have while developing a narrative. Parents supported educational visits into the local community and were later invited to attend a performance that celebrated the children's new, enhanced skills.
Project objectives
Having - prior to their Enquiry School project - introduced the topic-based International Primary Curriculum, Egremont Primary felt the use of drama and the involvement of an author could enrich children's experiences and learning.
The school particularly wanted to focus on developing the children's confidence, enthusiasm and motivation to write independently.
Improvement in writing skills was a key area for development throughout the school, as highlighted in their Raising Attainment Plan and the school's Self Evaluation Form.
Impact
The school found there was a positive impact on Key Stage 1 SAT results for the children involved in the Time Detectives project and staff reported good progress has been made in other formal assessments the school had made.
In particular, children of all abilities exhibited a broader vocabulary and improved their ability to sustain writing for longer periods.
Children became more motivated, confident and enthusiastic about sharing their ideas.Teachers observed this in the increased willingness of less confident children to contribute.
Pupils' factual recall improved, demonstrated through improved retention of facts about history during open discussion and writing activities.
Teachers observed that a focus on process rather than end product encouraged pupils to make connections and transfer skills and knowledge between subjects.
Results
Children realized there is no 'right or wrong' way to prepare for a piece of writing and one commented "you can write if you believe in yourself".
Evidence from the project has convinced the school's Senior Leadership Team to promote creative learning across the whole school and staff have planned future work based on the outcomes of this project.
The teachers who took part went on to deliver CPD sessions to their peers in September 2010, with the aim of disseminating their learning across the whole school.
