COVID-19 has forced us all to adapt to new ways of working and whilst we may all be present in school, our year group bubbles are challenging us to be more creative in our approach to learning.
Our usual opportunities for Prep School pupils to work with students at the Senior School have been put on hold due to current restrictions, however we didn’t want this to be a barrier to both collaborative learning and the development of leadership skills in our older pupils. In November, Mrs Bestwick (one of our Senior School Art Teachers) gave an informative talk to Year 6 – via Teams – on the subject of Australia with a focus on climate change and the extinction risk to their native species. From her experience of having lived there for 7 years she was able to impart some first-hand experiences of recycling water and how a lack of water was affecting the country’s wildlife. Year 6 were then tasked with researching their own facts on Australia.
Working in groups of five they have been partnered up with a Year 9 leader. On Tuesday this week the groups had their first live ‘team meeting’ over Teams. The group of twelve Year 9 pupils have so far excelled themselves; rising to the challenge of working virtually, they embraced this new approach to collaborative learning. Conversations were flowing, questions and ideas were being thrown around at speed and the 35-minute meeting was over before they knew it. Thanks to technology, correspondence didn’t stop during school hours and many Year 9s made contact with their Year 6 group after-hours. We cannot wait to see how these projects develop. Well done Year 9 and Year 6!
.jpg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Celebrating St Edward’s Day")
