“ The staff ’ s support in welcoming more than half the new intake with stimulating learning activities , was inspirational [...] ”
“ The staff ’ s support in welcoming more than half the new intake with stimulating learning activities , was inspirational [...] ”
DRAGONS SHOW WAY TO TACKLE ‘ CROSS PHASE ’ AT SHIRELAND
If only the former promise to trust teachers and schools had been held on to . Because there ’ s plenty of evidence to show that they are perfectly capable of ensuring that we discover just how good our children might be , and that successful policy works best when it comes from proven practice . A visit to Shireland Collegiate Academy this year as a dragon for the ‘ Digital Dragons Den ’ culmination of their annual Summer School showed duty of care taken to new levels .
Given that research shows that most children ’ s progress stalls in the move from primary to secondary ( known as ‘ cross phase ’), the staff ’ s support in welcoming more than half the new intake with stimulating learning activities , was inspirational for this particular visitor . Just as it clearly was for the new students who even got a taste of the ‘ flipped learning ’ that Shireland is pioneering ( and with its local primary schools for a major national research study with the Education Endowment Foundation – see also European Schoolnet ’ s “ Enhancing learning through the Flipped Classroom : Shireland Collegiate Academy ”).
BROADCLYST TAKES ENTERPRISE GLOBAL - AND SECONDARIES JOIN IN
Then there is Broadclyst Community Primary School in Devon , another of those schools that defies the boxes that people try to place them in . Yes it ’ s a Microsoft showcase school ( like Shireland ), but schools like this are always going to achieve the best for their students with or without technology partners .
Of course the partnership makes it work better . And Microsoft and Broadclyst learn from each other .
Take Broadclyst ’ s Global Education Challenge which , in its second year , reached 700 students aged 9-12 in 200 teams across 20 countries .
The 2016-17 event has been extended to involve secondary students ( aged 12-15 ). Schools from the Dominican Republic , Spain , Jordan , the Netherlands , USA and Albania have already signed up ( see “ Devon primary ’ s global enterprise reels in secondaries ”).
This also has huge implications for cross-phase work as both primary and secondary will collaborate on similar enterprise projects that entail real-life tasks , international collaboration , sharing with external audiences .
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