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Issue 6.2

Creative Teaching & Learning

PBL project plan: Choosing my future car

With so many makes and models, not to mention the large sums of money involved, choosing which car to buy can be a daunting task for any adult. In this latest PBL unit for KS3 and 4, Alexis Shea guides pupils through the process of this significant purchase, preparing learners for their future lives as mature, responsible decision-makers.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

The future is just a click away

As populations grow and the effects of climate change worsen, it’s vital cities take action and evolve into cleaner, greener environments. We provide a compilation of websites to support you and your pupils in an exploration of the future of urban life in relation to renewable energy, sustainability and citizenship.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

Bright Ideas: The new schools competition to inspire future scientists and engineers

How can countries produce the energy their cities need without destroying the planet? It’s one of the biggest challenges facing humans in the 21st century and one Shell is posing to secondary school pupils in a national competition to win £5,000 to supersize STEM teaching. Anna Haslam reports.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

Powerful everyday learning experiences? There’s an app for that

We’ve seen conflicting evidence about the educational impact of tablets in schools - but used with a clear purpose in mind, the results can be inspirational. Chris Waterworth shares a very personal account of the powerful impact his school’s one-to-one iPad initiative is having on pupils’ motivation and achievement in literacy, maths and more.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

How to give effective feedback in PBL

Completing final project outcomes to a professional standard is the best way to ensure pupils are developing their learning habits. How can we, as facilitators, support this? In the final article of her series, Alexis Shea presents a teacher’s guide to the critical cycle of drafting, feedback and improvement in PBL.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

Stars, sounds and simple circuits

The new science curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2 encourages a variety of approaches to pupils’ scientific investigations – but how creative can you be in a subject where the boundaries are so fixed? Ed Walsh inspires with a range of ideas to spark pupils’ imagination in physics and encourage creative, learner-led enquiry.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

Keeping pupils on target in a mixed-ability classroom

Pupils who are bored or frustrated with work that does not fit their needs are more likely to disrupt lessons and hamper the progress of others. How can we keep them on track? Marcella McCarthy provides six steps to effective differentiation, ensuring all learners are engaged in tasks that support them when they struggle and stretch them when they don’t.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

Out and about for words: Making connections in early literacy

Confidence in early reading relies greatly on understanding the link between letters and words, and the role they play in the real world. Kate Williams brings the process to life with an energetic expedition for words in school, at home and on the street.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

Meeting the new curriculum’s high expectations for grammar

With its increased, almost obsessive emphasis on grammar and punctuation, the new English curriculum will present a number of challenges for even the most confident of grammarians. How will you meet its demands? This issue’s ‘Strategies for the new curriculum’ explores possible approaches for teachers of Year 1 right through to Year 9.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins
Creative Teaching & Learning

Creating risk takers

Children do not learn resourcefulness, responsibility and independence by having everything planned for them. But how far are you willing to let your pupils take charge of designing and managing their own learning experiences? Start small, says Professor Guy Claxton, and you might be surprised how high they can fly.

  • 11 Feb 2016
  • 24mins