Report for Islington Education Business Partnership

from

Kay Chaffer & Adrian Wills

The City at Our Feet Project

"The children's expectations of their future have been enhanced. The project has widened their awareness of their surroundings and encouraged them to voice opinions. It has shown them that as citizens they have the power to influence their environment."

Marjorie Woods, Headteacher St Jude & St Paul's Primary School. Islington

As the result of this pilot work, opportunity for teachers in the form of ready-made materials is available in Islington and other Boroughs neighbouring the 'city'. This pilot has been developed and used with Key Stage 2 pupils. It draws upon the use of parts of the City of London for fieldwork related to buildings/architecture/design.

From what is learned and experienced pupils' learning is supported further to encourage their,' imagining their future'.

The approach promotes and encourages education / business links. We feel that what has been achieved can be of value to other schools and their pupils

National Curriculum subjects include: English / Maths / Science / Design and Technology / ICT / History / Geography / Art and Design / PSHE

Introduction

The City at Our Feet project was devised by Kay Chaffer of Islington Education Business Partnership and Adrian Wills of Building Experiences. The aim of the work was to design and provide enriching learning opportunities for primary, Key Stage 2 pupils, by exposing them to the 'city' of London. Behind this aim was the intention of raising aspirations amongst learners in a psychological sense. Geographically, as with several London Boroughs, the 'city' is just a short distance - psychologically the potential opportunities on offer might be much greater.

The Headteacher of St Jude and St Paul's Primary School, Marjorie Woods and her staff agreed to take part in piloting the project and its ideas with the Year 6 group.

What was done - the sequence of events

Preliminary planning meetings took place with the Head and the Year 6 Class Teacher Joy Ashwin before the summer break 2001 and the following sequence agreed and planned:

1. Making of simple introductory video of the journey from the School into the city to illustrate that it’s just a 'song away'.

2. Creation of pupil workbook containing photographs and spaces for notes. The workbook incorporates a variety of different architectural styles and materials and encourages learners to observe as well as to draw upon what they already know and can do. Each photograph is selected to allow a safe route through a part of the city, and one that has safe working areas from which pupils can add information to their Workbook. One collection of photographs illustrates the building of a new complex that is the starting point for creative and imaginative work back at School.

   

3. A day's visit to the 'City' that begins at the School with the video of the journey about to be undertaken. During the visit information and ideas are collected and recorded in the Workbook and photographs taken by pupils.

4. A follow-up visit to the School to work with the pupils on model-making and building structures.

5. A period of work taking place in the School by staff, which allowed pupils to arrive at models for a building on a 'city' site.

   
   

6. Planned small group visits to 'city' institutions during which emphasis was placed on the design of 'entrances' and pupils were able to speak with employees.

7. A follow-up visit to the School during which plans and designs were arrived at for an entrance to a building.

   

8. A period of activity taking place in the School by staff, which allowed pupils to arrive at models of entrances.

9. A celebration event organised by the School for pupils, staff, parents, governors and invited guests who took part in the project.

Obviously, for any school wishing to make use of this approach and the Workbook, the above full sequence of events represent possibilities. These can be used or not, added to, and developed to meet individual circumstances such as time constraints. It is offered as an opportunity to be used in whatever ways might best suit any individual school.

The sequence does offer a number of key elements that are worth considering:

• The use of outside agencies and individuals to work with pupils to complement and enhance what schools already do - education / business links.

• Doing this over an extended period of time in areas not usually considered i.e. architecture / design - with key inputs to sustain and support progress.

• The opportunity for staff to work alongside outside agencies and so be exposed to the possibility of developing personal practice and their curriculum.

The value to learning and the School

The Value to pupils

The children have enjoyed outside visits and have been inspired by working conditions in offices and other schools. These have been beyond their usual experiences. Besides using the Trail Workbook in the city, visits were made to the City, City of London Boys’ School, The Worshipful Company of Pewterers and J.P. Morgan and Fleming (finance company).

The pupils have been able to look in detail and appreciate their surroundings. They have also learned that they can be agents of change in these surroundings. Part of this understanding was reinforced by a visit to an exhibition of architects’ designs for their local area, where they were able to voice their opinions in the form of a questionnaire.

The whole project has resulted in very positive experiences for the pupils, and they have shown enthusiasm for it and all its aspects.

Because of the way the project has been designed, with small group work and visits
out to see buildings, the pupils have been encouraged to work together in ways they might not normally do in the classroom. For example, they have had to think about how to work collaboratively, how to use their communication skills, how to resolve conflict within a group when there are different ideas.
This has been done within the framework of an architectural project that has been particularly useful for the class, which comprises of mainly boys (20 boys and 8 girls). This has allowed them to be creative and hands on, while making important links with what they do in maths, science and literacy.

Value to staff

Working with Building Experiences was an inspiration to us all, and helped us all look closer at our surroundings. It was great to see an expert teacher and enthusiast at work. There were well-planned and reliable sessions with clear objectives and direction. The management and delivery has been excellent. It meant we all wanted to play our part to make the project a success. It has been particularly important for the class to get used to working and responding to another adult along with the reinforcement of what the School works for in terms of pupils self esteem, confidence and inter-personal skills. It represented a good opportunity for staff to stand back and observe pupils working for another person.

National Curriculum links

English:

EN1 speaking and listening

The design and management of the approach has encouraged pupils to speak with confidence on the subject of architecture making use of a vocabulary that was new to them. They have been able to express ideas and opinions about style, appearance and shapes of buildings. They have been expected to be creative and imaginative with their ideas for what a simple shapes might be. They have been encouraged to listen to, and respond appropriately, to the opinions and ideas of others. The approach also gave opportunities for the pupils to learn to reach agreement, consider alternatives and anticipate consequences when designing and model making in groups. Throughout the project the pupils were using and developing skills of:- investigating, selecting, sorting, planning, predicting, exploring, explaining, reporting and evaluating.

EN3 writing

Children were encouraged to use adventurous vocabulary when describing buildings. They were encouraged to broaden their vocabulary and use it in inventive ways. They were also involved in writing letters of 'thanks' to various people who helped them.

Maths

MA3 Shape space and measures

Pupils were introduced to the strength of tetrahedrons in building structures. This and other workshops gave opportunities for them to:

• recognise 3D shapes in designs.

• measure.

• recognise right angles and understands their importance in design.

• recognise reflective symmetry.

• estimate and compare sizes of buildings by looking at sizes of people for scale.

Science

SC3 Materials and their properties

The work of the project allowed pupils to compare everyday materials and objects on the basis of their material properties including hardness, strength and flexibility.

They were taught that some materials are better thermal insulators than others, and which materials are needed for electrical insulators and conductors for safety reasons.

Design and Technology

The pupils were taught to generate ideas for buildings considering functions and purpose. They were taught how to develop ideas and given opportunity to explain and describe these clearly, relating their ideas to what they wanted their designs to achieve. The approach involved planning what they wanted to do, together with suggesting a sequence of actions and alternatives.

Pupils had to communicate design ideas in different ways, bearing in mind aesthetic qualities, and the uses and purposes for the building. They were taught to select and use tools, measuring, marking out, cutting, assembling, joining and combining materials. They were also engaged in reflecting on progress and applying finishing techniques to strengthen and improve the appearance.

Art and Design

Pupils were taught to record from experience and imagination, to select and record from first-hand observation and explore ideas for different purposes. They were taught to collect visual information to help them to develop their ideas.

They were taught:

• to compare ideas, methods and approaches in their own and others’ work and say what they think and feel about them.

• about tactile and visual elements, including colour, pattern, texture, line and tone, shape, form and space and how these elements can be combined and organised for different purposes.

• about materials and processes and how these can be matched to ideas and intentions.

• about designs of different architects.

They were able to work collaboratively on projects in 2 and 3 dimensions and with different scales.

Geography

Pupils were encouraged to ask geographical questions and give opinions on what buildings were like, where they were situated, what they thought of them.

They collected evidence from drawings and photographs and communicated with each other explaining different views of buildings and designs and their location.

They used maps to follow a route around the City and were able to follow a route from a map by watching a video and then taking a bus ride. When designing buildings they were encouraged to use keys. They had opportunities to describe what places were like, their location and position e.g. City of London School is situated on the banks of the Thames.

The approach allowed pupils to identify how places change by seeing a building site and planning what could be built there. This fed into pupils arriving at an understanding of how people can improve the environment or damage it, and how decisions about places and environments affect the future quality of people’s lives.

History

Pupils looked closely at buildings from different periods of history and as a result some of their models had historical / cultural influences in their designs. E.g. Egyptian sphinxes and columns were observed and incorporated.

ICT

Pupils used digital cameras and then were able to retrieve photographs from the discs for display purposes. They used ICT to record their work for display, making books and for their presentations.

PSHE links

The children were encouraged to work as a team. Sharing ideas was seen as positive and expected. Praise was encouraged from children towards their peers. It was shown that the team is as strong as its weakest link. It was expected that every child would be trusted to do their part to the best of their ability. It was shown that we all have different strengths, which can be useful to a group, and every child’s contribution was of value. Children were able to have the opportunity to exercise responsibility to which most responded.

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