Microsoft Innovative Teachers Awards 2007 Andrew Lord Supporting Documentation

Examples of Innovative Practice Yr One / Yr Two Local Heritage project A multiliteracies project involving children in researching and presenting information about important places in the local area. See more…See more… Now you are at Spence A CD-ROM providing information and resources for parents of Spence Children. See more...See more... The Hobyahs – an Opera An opera written and recorded by children in the class for end of year performance. See more…See more… Anti Bullying Videos A set of videos written and performed by children in the class as a strategy to raise awareness of bullying in the school yard. See more…See more…

Anti-bullying videos Children related their own experiences of bullying in the yard. These experiences were used to write stories about bullying. The children's stories were used as the basis for a series of videos about bullying. The videos were used to generate class discussion and as a basis for staff T & D. The videos were made available to other classes for their own programme. See samples here

Anti-bullying video samples Two examples of the anti-bullying videos created with the children (compressed from original videos) In the first a girl has her ball stolen by bullies. When she tries to get it back the bullies complain about her to the duty teacher and the little girl gets into trouble In the second two boys are playing in the sandpit. A bully demands their toys. When they say “Stop it – we don’t like it.” he ignores them and continues his bullying. The two boys run away and the bully is left with the toys. In both stories the children’s stories showed a realistic view of school yard bullying and generated much discussion about possible strategies and ways of stopping bullying.

The Hobyahs – an Opera With the class I wrote an opera based on an old English folk tale. We researched various forms of the story using the internet and the library before writing our own version using the bits we liked best. Using ideas from the children I wrote a libretto for the opera Using various composition and recording softwares I wrote the music, arranged it and mixed it with recordings of the children singing. All this was done with a normal classroom computer. Midi files and texts were placed on line so children could rehearse their parts at home We staged the opera and rehearsed it, performing it for the entire school, the local kindergarten and other Junior Primary classes from the other schools on the campus as well as a gala evening performance for parents and invited guests. All children received a CD of the opera Soundtrack as a memento of the performance. Hear extracts from the Opera recording here…here…

The Hobyahs – audio extracts from the Opera recording Evening prayer The little girl settles down for bed. But before she does she says her prayers, not knowing that the Hobyahs are nearby and ready to strike. You look juicy Having captured the little girl the Hobyah King prepares to eat the old man and the old woman Hobyah prayer After all the excitement the Hobyahs settle down to bed. But before they do they say their prayers Chorale The Hobyahs have been defeated and the little girl rescued. There is general rejoicing

Year One / Year Two Heritage project. Children identified six places of significance in the local area. Using a variety of digital resources they researched the history and significance of these places and prepared e-texts of their findings See examples of the children’s work here…here…

Heritage project work samples The class researched the local history and built heritage of Aberfoyle Park. This resulted in a CD-ROM which was placed in the Council Library’s Local History Resource room. Children chose six places of significance in the local area. They visited the sites, documented them photographically, used internet research, spoke to local historians and accessed Local Government records in order to discover information about the history of the six sites. The video samples given here (both heavily compressed from the originals) was made by the children. The first shows our school campus as it was in 1982 (the year it opened) and as it is now. The second shows the oldest home in Aberfoyle park (the homestead built by the original settler) as it has changed through the years

Parent Resource CD-ROM As a part of the Spence Early Years Literacy programme I prepared a CD of resources for parents. This followed on from an earlier CD I had prepared entitled “Starting School at Spence” “Now you are at Spence” is a parent resource CD-ROM containing school policies, parenting information, reading resources, software, texts of children’s novels for shared reading, holiday ideas, community information and web links. At Spence we believe that children’s literacy is enhanced when they share rich and interesting experiences with adults. The CD has been distributed to all families of Reception to Year Three children in the school to support parents and give them information and materials to allow them to provide their children with a greater range of these experiences. See a sample herehere

Now You Are at Spence Find out about the Literacy Programme at Spence Find out about the Literacy Programme at Spence Find out about helping with your child’s Literacy Print some useful resources Print some useful resources Get free books to read to your child Read some parenting guides Load free software onto your computer Get some ideas for Holiday activities Visit some useful websites Install an open source PDF reader onto your Computer A presentation of Spence Primary School Aberfoyle Park Campus Ph:

Useful Resources A reading diary The Homework Game The Homework Game Card Games for Children Some School values Eight steps to a happy student Six ways of looking at a problem