School in Focus - celebrating success in schools
 |
Carpenters Primary School |
 |
Should London win the race to host the Olympics in 2012, Carpenters school in Stratford will be at the heart of the action: from its playground, children will be able to see the flags flying in the proposed Olympic Park and hear the roar of the crowd at the main, 80,000-seat stadium.
Work has already started on the world-class Aquatics Centre, just a few hundred yards from the school, which will include two 50m swimming pools and a diving pool — facilities previously undreamt of in this, one of the most deprived areas of the capital.
Little wonder, then, that Olympic fever has taken hold at the school and the local community on the Carpenters Estate, with a host of Games-related curricular and extra-curricular activities helping to raise awareness of the potential benefits — for pupils, staff, parents — of playing host to such a historic event.
As deputy head Jan Bless, who has planned and coordinated the programme of Olympic-themed work at the school, says: "If a helicopter lands in your school playground, you don't draw the curtains and tell the children to get on with their work. You make sure that big, local events become part of their learning — and you can't get much bigger than having the Olympics on your doorstep."
The programme, sparked by the school's interest in local regeneration projects, was launched last November with a week of cross-curricular work devoted to the Olympics — from sports and science teaching based around athletes' performances to history and art work on the ancient Greek roots of the Games.
Topics-based teaching
Mr Bless says: "I saw this as an opportunity to develop cross-curricular topic-based teaching and motivate teachers and children who have been constrained by the tightness of the national strategies."
No extra funding was needed for the week — staff were given one term's notice prior to the topic week and they worked on it as part of their normal planning procedures.
They were tasked to use the Olympics as a link between numeracy and literacy and the other Foundation subjects, and an INSET day was set aside for the teachers to complete their planning.
"Every member of staff drew up their topic plan for the week, and at the end of the week we had an assembly where the children gave presentations about the work they had done.
"Initially, teachers' responses varied from very excited to being more reserved. They were understandably concerned about fitting the topic week in with their existing plans for numeracy, literacy and other curriculum areas.
"Some colleagues and I encouraged them by stressing how this topic would make learning more interesting for children. When they do an Olympic task on who is the fastest runner, they don't even realise they are doing maths. It makes them very enthusiastic; I think the teachers saw the benefit in that.
"We are in the early stages of planning in this way. I am hoping that eventually it will become second nature for staff to prepare for these topic weeks. So when we do literacy work, they are thinking about how to link it to geography, and vice versa."
Capturing children's imagination
The effect on pupils was noted by staff and parents, says Mr Bless. "Teachers were very impressed, during the Olympic-themed week and the follow-on projects, by how focused the children became. It was very calm throughout the school and there was a great sense of enthusiasm.
"Raising awareness in the pupils about the bid has also, we hope, helped spread enthusiasm through parents into the wider community."
Mr Bless says staff now share his belief that cross-curricular teaching is exciting for the children, and are looking forward to applying it to other topics in future.
Follow-on projects
The Olympics work did not stop with the cross-curricular week, however. The theme has sparked a series of follow-on projects that have further stimulated the children and enhanced their curriculum-based learning.
Among the highlights so far is the 'Gifted and Talented' dance project with East London Dance Company. This will result in a dance video featuring pupils from Carpenters and four other local schools, to be shown to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in the coming months as a part of London's 2012 bid process. The school is paying £1,800 from its own budget for staff release time, while the local authority has provided £300 towards transport costs as some of the filming will be off-site. The school is negotiating to receive back some of the extra money needed for cover.
But, as Mr Bless, says, "Even if we didn't get that money, we would be committed to funding the project ourselves because we are the nearest school to all the proposed Olympic sites in the area and we believe the bid is so important to our community".
In another project, last November, the school worked with Emergency Exit art group to design and make lanterns that were used in a 'Rings of Fire' procession through Hackney, East London, on the eve of the handing-in of the London 2012 bid to the IOC.
And the Olympics theme will continue this spring with a second Topic Week and the school's involvement in the Olympics 'masterplan' project. This will see Year 5 pupils working with Lea Rivers Trust, a local development agency, on a consultation on the local community's ideas for the development of the area in the run-up to the Olympics.
Fostering international links
The school is also taking part in Olympic-themed activities on a borough level. Mr Bless says: "As part of Newham Council's commitment to the Back the Bid campaign, it is running a competition for schools on the Olympics. It has allocated every school in the borough an Olympic country to foster international links — we were given Spain."
"The idea is to come up with a portfolio on the Olympics theme and our link country. Our children are finding out about Spanish culture and language and are making contact with schools in Barcelona to find out about the long-term impact of the 1992 Olympics there."
The total cost of all the Olympics-themed work at the school has so far been in the region of £2,500 says Mr Bless.
"Any school can do this, it's not prohibitively expensive and it is very worthwhile," he adds. "If we don't get the bid, our work will not have been in vain — because we will still have taught the children the national curriculum through our Olympics work.
"The Olympics theme has definitely captured the children's imagination. If the Games do come to London they will be thrilled — and so will I. I believe we have a very good chance of winning the bid and if we do I will do everything I can to make sure that our children will be taking part in the opening ceremony."
| Related links |
