It was back in May 2013, at the SSAT’s Achievement Show, that I met Alan Frame, a headteacher from Downlands Community School in Dorset. We talked about our digital leaders and the impact they were having on our schools. He also mentioned that he was holding a “KidsMeet”, something that I had heard of but didn’t know too much about. Before long we had agreed to find a date to hold our own KidsMeets, and link up via Skype. This was the beginning of a fantastic journey.
In November, children from five Wirral primary schools (St Andrews CE, Poulton Lancelyn, Heygarth, The Priory Parish CE, and Hillside) joined us for a whole day. Our original plan was to run the event in a similar way to a TeachMeet, one presenter at a time, sharing their work, a website, an app, or a particular style of learning that they enjoy or which helps them to learn.
However, after hosting an SSAT Speed Learning event, we realised that the Speed Learning format works far better and would mean that the children would be more active in their learning and could choose topics that were relevant or which interested them.
Speed Learning works on three principles: that the entire experience is discussion-based so you are actively involved in learning about every idea; that every idea focuses on its impact on children’s learning; that you have choice throughout, so you can pick and choose the ideas most relevant to you.
So our day would be made up of...
...“Get to know you” activities; two Speed Learning sessions; linking up with another school via Skype; a “Genius bar” (see later); and a project to create an advert for our next event!
Last year we appointed our first digital leaders in years 4 to 6. This would be a chance for them to share their skills with other children and would be the next step in their journey. Our four year 6 Digi-Champs met at lunchtimes to plan the day and discuss what they would say, as they would be responsible for organising everybody and leading activities. They were daunted by this at first, but soon began to relish the opportunity to shape the day to how they wanted it to look.
Our other Digi-Champs would help out during the day and had been planning their Speed Learning presentations. They did this at lunchtimes and at home, after choosing their own topics. It was encouraging to see the children talking about the websites we subscribe to and how they use them, and our school blogs, so well. Their focus was the impact on their learning, not just the activities that they were engaging with.
On the day
The day came and children from the participating schools arrived and were greeted by our Digi-Champs. They took part in some “get to know you” activities and prepared for the first Speed Learning session. There was no fixed theme for the presentations, it was up to the children to choose a topic or website or app that they were familiar and passionate about and able to share.
It soon became clear that we had a great selection of topics: Ancient Greece, Children in Need, the 100-word challenge, Bug Club, a favourite sport, and so on. Some of the children chose to present using PowerPoint, others opted to bring along “Top Trump” cards, or share posters they had created. We wanted to ensure that the children were making real decisions about the content and format themselves.
One of the children chose to share how the 100-word challenge has had an impact on her writing, especially when her work is “showcased” and people from all over the world leave a comment on it. To make her presentation interactive, she set all those visiting her table a 50-word challenge (there wasn’t enough time to write 100 words!) and ensured that they blogged the entries before they moved on. She even made sure that our headteacher completed a post!
Standing back and looking around the room, it was incredible to see how children from different schools, backgrounds and abilities can come together so well and share their learning as articulately as they did. It is testament to the work that goes on in our schools. Children were thriving in an environment where they were focusing on learning and making real decisions about what, how and where they shared the impact that these ideas had had on them.
Further afield
As part of our day we also linked up with Downlands. This gave the children a greater and wider audience and a more diverse range of ideas to share and receive. The children had a chance to discuss what they had been doing and found out a little more about each other’s local areas. This was a great opportunity for the children (and staff) to see the great work going on around the country. We have found that the SSAT’s Primary Network helps us to identify new schools and partners to link up with so that we can connect to schools that share the same priorities and interests as us.
The Genius Bar
One of the other features of our day was our “Genius Bar”, where children demonstrated websites, apps and software to one another and suggested ways these could be used back at school. Lots of great ideas were shared and again, it was inspiring to see so many imaginative and creative learning ideas happening in our schools.
Finally, the children had to create an advert for our next event, using iPads. They had to sum up what they had got out of the day and make a video that was sure to attract others to take part next time. We all watched the adverts and were astounded at how good they were!
When signing up for this project, schools had to pledge to dedicate staff meeting time for their children to share what they had learned and any useful websites and apps that others were using that they thought their school should adopt.
So far, we have heard of children sharing their experiences back at their schools in assemblies, staff meetings and with governors, as well as in their own classrooms and with their families and friends. When the children take over, that’s when the magic really happens.
- Matt Brooks is online and mobile learning leader at Bidston Avenue Primary School in The Wirral.
SSAT Speed Learning
With budgets limiting the opportunities for getting out of school, teachers are finding more creative ways to discover and try out new classroom ideas. The popular SSAT Speed Learning series has just travelled the country for the second term, with more than 2,000 teachers having been involved already in sharing practical, free classroom ideas, resources and strategies.
If you would like to connect with other schools across the country to share ideas, inspiration and innovation – between teachers, leaders and children – get in touch with SSAT’s networks or come along to the SSAT Speed Learning free-to-attend twilights near to you. Visit www.ssatuk.co.uk/speedlearning