Saturday 27th March 2010
Twenty eight Gifted Year 5 pupils, selected from each of the Blyth Primary Schools, attended The Blyth School Community College recently when the college acted as host to "Blyth's Best". The workshop, organised by Jayne Fitzsimmons, Transition Leader for the Blyth Schools, was the first workshop aimed and designed specifically for gifted and talented students.
In recent years, through the introduction of activities and events aimed at ‘Gifted and Talented’ students, there has been an emphasis on the provision of greater challenges through classroom lessons, combined with additional opportunities outside the classroom, for pupils to further explore and develop their individual gifts and talents across the breadth of the curriculum.
Focus this term was on Science and on their visit to the college the children were given the opportunity to take part in Science workshops. Two challenges were set: to safely land an egg on Mars and to create a wind turbine to generate energy to transport cargo; particularly relevant at the moment with the development of renewables; a growth area in Blyth itself which could in time offer future employment opportunities for students and the local community.
In order to establish and build on existing knowledge and understanding pupils were encouraged to discuss their ideas and experiences of Science, as well as considering the role of Science in history and in society. This type of activity offers children and young adults exposure to and encourages development of higher-order thinking and questioning.
Throughout the experiments children were asked to use methods of observation, prediction, to use casual and correlational reasoning, application, synthesis and evaluation. Year 5 pupils were able to work along side Year 9 students, with support from Sixth Form students in Year 12. Particular emphasis was placed on creative thinking, whilst at the same time emphasising the need for encouraging the growth of critical thinking.
The Science Teachers inspired enthusiasm and, by acting as catalysts, were able to build the confidence of able learners. By sharing their enthusiasm and demonstrating their knowledge and passion for their subject area they were able to add breadth and depth to the subject; promoting independence in both thinking and learning and helping the students to develop the skills of reflection and self evaluation.
Next term staff in The Blyth School Community College will be delivering workshops to Gifted and Talented students focusing on Numeracy and Literacy.
Related Images
Click an image below to enlarge it.