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TRANSFORMING LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
The Impact of ICT Investment Explained at TEDx
ICT Strategy Lead Josie Fraser emphasised the importance of maximising the benefits of ICT for schools as Leicester
hosted its first TEDx event on 27 April.
TEDx is an internationally renowned programme of events which has led to over 1,000 inspirational talks being available on line at
www.ted.com. These will now be joined by some outstanding contributions from speakers in Leicester, including the talk
given by Josie called Open and Connected Learning: Transforming School Practice. Her presentation described the significant
amount of ICT investment delivered through the BSF programme, which has equipped our schools with world class technology.
However, the greatest change is how teachers in our schools can make sure they get the most out of this technology, which the
Council’s work is designed to support.
A key message of the talk was the need to ensure that city children and young people benefit from technology in our schools
through supporting all teaching staff to develop digital literacy confidence and skills.
The enthusiastic audience went on to learn about the importance of open licenses which enable teachers and students to access,
free of charge, millions of high quality and effective online open educational resources. However, very few people know about them.
Open licenses can allow you, as an individual and a school, to raise your profile by sharing resources, such as successful lesson
plans, and being credited for the resources you choose to share. For example, Ellesmere, Netherhall and West Gate have
produced and shared autistic spectrum resources that have benefited schools internationally.
You can access The Council’s Open Educational Resource guidance document, jointly written with colleagues from the University of
Cambridge at http://www.childnet.com/resources/star-toolkit/about
We must
make sure our
children and
young people
benefit from the
ICT in our
schools
Josie Fraser , ICT Strategy Lead
Children’s Strategy Team Josie Fraser, a key speaker at the inaugural TEDx Leicester
DELIVERING LEICESTER’S BIGGEST EVER INVESTMENT IN OUR SCHOOLS JUNE 2015
‘
‘
activities has been nothing short
Belonging in Belgrave | Mellor Primary School & The Spark Arts for Children
Developing conceptual understanding of ‘mapping’ by using Belgrave Road as a local area
for exploration. With a focus on geography, using visual art and movement as creative
mediums for exploration.
Janus Project | Hope Hamilton CofE Primary and Charnwood Arts
Focus on photography, technology and on the natural environment. The study relayed
cultural learning to the whole school by blending it with cornerstone requirements and
filtering it through their curricular learning.
Moat Town | Moat Community College & Leicester Print Workshop
Enabling children to have their own voice through stories and art. Making the local area their
own, the children experienced the print making technique of Lithography and had the
chance to involve their families through gifting.
Oracy | New College Leicester & Soft Touch Arts
Young People developed their civic identity through speaking and creating arguments and
debates, with a final output of a video. This was built on by using the Town Hall which is a
place of civic power and great culture.
Pop Up Canal | Ellesmere College & Attenborough Arts Centre
The Pop Up Play system enabled an immersive digital and multi-sensory learning
experience of the canal, removing risks and barriers to enable children who are unable to go
on visits to take part in the lessons.
Learning Beyond the Classroom We all know what a valuable and rich source of learning our surroundings beyond the school gate can be. But we
also know how hard the regular use of our city as a learning resource can be.
The City Classroom is an initiative jointly funded by Leicester City Council and the Arts Council England (through The Mighty
Creatives) to make the very most of our city as a learning resource and build new and sustainable models for local learning.
In partnership with local arts organisations five pilot schools have investigated how they can use local places as dynamic tools
for teaching and learning - linked to the new primary and secondary curricula.
The Pilot Projects
The City
Classroom
Experience
“ The enthusiasm and hard work that all parties brought to the activities has been nothing short of inspirational.” Ellesmere College “Although we visit the local area regularly …being able to view it from an artistic and geographical perspective gave us an experience to remember.” Mellor Primary School “The level of engagement of children at all levels in this project was excellent – their creativity, and willingness to engage with new and sometimes challenging experiences was of the highest order.”
Charnwood Arts
“The project has an inherent sense of forward motion and moving through the processes has encouraged a sense of personal progression.” Moat Community College “Developing a sense of enquiry, ownership and belonging … The level of work was far beyond what we had hoped for or expected.” New College “We all had authentic experiences using the local resources, benefiting and being inspired by local activity.” Attenborough Arts Centret all parties brought to the
activities has been nothing short
The next steps for this project is to create a roll out, creating outstanding learning
opportunities within the city alongside arts organisations, broadening and enriching the offer
to meet wide ranging curricular needs.
The arts organisations involved in The City Classroom project are currently working on
developing work around new sites across the city which will form the focus of further creative,
curriculum based projects.
If you would like to know more about The City Classroom and how you can become involved,
please contact [email protected]
Several schools are engaging in similar projects around the city, for example, the English
Heritage Programme coordinated by Ismail Dale. On your journey, look beyond the
boundaries of the classroom and into your school’s community to find local places to use as
learning resources. Use local architecture to explore history; use ICT to create the
connection from outdoor to indoor, explore with local employers opportunities to use their
environment; use public spaces to find the most creative and interesting places that wouldn’t
normally be seen; turn a space in the classroom into ‘the local community’ or ‘Leicester City’.
If you have already begun your journey with successful forays into the city, tell us what you
discovered, what you did, what you learnt and what you would like to do if there was an
opportunity. Email [email protected] with your ideas, stories and teacher tips! We can
feature these in future newsletters.
The Pop Up Canal , Ellesmere College and Attenborough Arts
A Celebration of Granby’s 150 Years
Granby Primary School has been in educational service since 1889 when, as
a Board School children paid 2 old pennies a year to attend.
There have been many changes to the learning environment over the 125 years
but essentially the school, with its fine Victorian Architecture, continues to provide
high quality education for the children it teaches. As part of the celebrations at the
school each child will be given a commemorative certificate decorated with an
1889 penny and a 2015 penny - a gift from Granby’s Parent, Teacher Association.
Some of the significant changes such schools like this will be have experienced is
in the transformation that ICT has delivered from chalk boards to interactive white
boards….that’s a worthy historical journey of its own. What’s your school’s biggest
transformational change?
Planning for Emergencies
The Emergency Management Team of the Council is now undertaking the important annual review of emergency contact numbers and names for all
schools in the city.
This is, of course, critical information which will enable us to work together efficiently and effectively if any emergency situation arises.
All schools are currently being contacted by the Council’s Risk and Emergency Management Team to check names and telephone numbers currently held on central record.
Emails will be sent to Head Teachers, Business Managers or Office Managers to review their emergency contact names and numbers for their school.
A response is required from
schools please by 5th June
2015. Funding for OER School Leads
This year Leicester City Council has been working with schools to support
the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) as presented at TEDx
conference last month.
In support of this important work which has been recognised by the European
Commission and the the global education community as a valuable international
exemplar, we are providing the following opportunities:
Children’s Strategy BSF wish to appoint (OER) School Network Leads and a
Network Co-ordinator to develop the work of OER for 2015/16 and beyond.
Successful BSF schools will work with local primary schools. Full details of how to
apply have already been forwarded to BSF schools. Deadline reminder 5th June.
For any enquiries, please contact [email protected].
New Design Guide for Outstanding Schools
The Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE) has released the UK’s first ever Technical
Memorandum for Schools.
Safe, comfortable and stimulating school environments enhance communication, thinking and help children to learn. CIBSE,
an international professional engineering association based in London has released its first ever comprehensive
memorandum on integrated school design. The document provides a holistic view to designing and managing school
buildings. School’s that are embarking on build programs will significantly benefit from this
document which provides extensive commentary on setting out the process, developing
a brief and becoming an intelligent end user.
For schools that are now in their operation phase, the document provides key
information on post-occupancy and facility management issues. You can also use the
document to understand your energy performance against national benchmarks and
understand some of the other operational issues that you could experience.
The publication can also help to steer the design team towards creating places where
teachers, children, and the community can become inspired. The guide aims to help
create schools which are more usable and easier to operate and offers solutions and
opportunities for the educational challenges of the coming decades.
The publication includes contributions from Amrita Dasgupta, Sustainability Lead,
Children’s Strategy Team, Leicester City Council and is now available to purchase as a
hard copy or as a download from the CIBSE Website. www.cibse.org
Energy Management Training & Eco-schools for Phase 3-6
Phase 3 to 6 BSF Schools recently received an invitation to an important Eco-Schools event.
De Montfort University in co-ordination with Leicester City Council’s Children’s Strategy, Environment and Energy team will
be holding this event on 29th June at the Hugh Aston Building, De Montfort University.
This half day workshop with lunch is being facilitated and supported by sustainable energy experts. It will include an
introduction to Dynamat Lite energy management for BSF schools - how this can be translated through Eco-Schools as a
resource for teaching and learning. And there will be an opportunity to develop your schools energy action plan.
Who should attend? Business Managers, Eco-Schools Co-ordinators, Teaching staff.
Register now to book your place https://energymanagementtraining.eventbrite.co.uk
For more information on the event please contact [email protected]
For more information on Leicester’s Eco-Schools programme please contact
TRANSFORMING
LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
Contact Us
For more information
about any of the features
in this edition, or
information on how your
school can get involved,
please contact us at
16 New
Walk
Leicester
LE1 6UB
Sporting Fields Strategy Kicks Off
Leicester City Council is developing a new playing pitch and outdoor sports
facility strategy for the city and would like to ask for your support.
If your school has playing pitches and outdoor sports facilities, you will be a key
contributor in developing this strategy. The Council is keen to consider the
adequacy of provision for football, cricket, hockey, tennis and athletics and other
sports on your school site, regardless of ownership or management. This strategy
will focus predominantly on community use of facilities and it is essential that
school facilities are made fit for purpose to meet both curricular and extra-curricular
needs.
To be sure that your school has the opportunity to participate in the development of
this strategy, please identify a link person for your school by 19 June to liaise with
the Council’s project lead Carolyn Wilkinson.
Your school’s link person will be responsible for completing a short questionnaire,
facilitating school visits where required and being the link for the project as it
progresses over the next 12 months.
All schools will have received a letter from the Council but if there are any queries,
or have a particular interest in this work and would like to discuss your plans and
aspirations in more detail, please contact [email protected]
Your support in the
development of this
strategy will help us to
identify gaps for city
investment in school
sites, apply for sports
funding and maximise
the benefits of future
capital development
projects in the city. It
will also help the Coun-
cil to establish an over-
all direction for playing
pitches and outdoor
sports facilities, your
school’s included, for
the benefit of people
and communities
across our city.
