13/1/2012

Ref: 120113US

The school:
Westfields Junior is a successful and popular school providing an outstanding education for 421 children aged 7-11 in and around the Yateley area in Hampshire.  Head Teacher, Mrs Karine George, together with her enthusiastic team of 20 teachers, places a high priority on developing confidence and self-esteem in all pupils. The school is committed to creating opportunities for individuals to develop their potential and equip themselves for future challenges, working together with parents and the wider community to achieve excellence.

UniServity’s Life Learning Cloud, the school’s new web 3.0 cloud-based learning platform which uses semantic technology to conduct intelligent analysis based on the interests, strengths and priorities of the user, has played a significant role in personalising the learning experience for pupils and  helping to raise standards – specifically in Maths.

The challenge:
Head teacher Karine George first approached UniServity in the summer of 2010.  With the help of UniServity, her target was to:
• Raise standards in Maths
• Encourage independent learning
• Provide parents and children with access to resources and information anytime, anywhere and access to safe social networking, collaboration and creativity beyond the confines of the classroom

The solution:
Further to the adoption of UniServity’s Life Learning Cloud in September 2011, Westfields embarked on its first Teaching and Learning Project. This centred around a whole-school development focus on children’s use of Mathematical Strategies to resolve word problems (Application of Number and Problem Solving). The intention of the project was to shift the focus from ‘teaching’ to ‘learning’ by encouraging more independence in the children.

The Project worked as follows:
• The teacher made a Jing (film e.g. http://screencast.com/t/PakmypOvi) about how to do a particular task (e.g. measuring angles, adding 3 digit numbers)
• The children watched the Jing for homework (with parents – so that the parents understood what their child was doing in class, and could support them at home)

The children returned to class and opted into 1 of 2 groups:
• I understand and will now practice (Independent Learning Group)
• I don’t understand and need help (Targeted Teaching Focus Group).

This was followed by Formative Assessment in a plenary used to review children’s understanding of the various tasks and to enable teachers to identify the next-steps for their class.

Outcomes:
The outcomes of this project were significant:
• Children became more independent learners, and less dependent on ‘Chalk and Talk’ teaching demonstrations
• Teachers were able to better differentiate teaching with groups focusing on specific skills
• Parents were more informed about exact strategies used within class, and thus able to help reinforce skills with their child more effectively at home.

In additon to this, teaching staff (Year Leaders, Classroom Teachers and Teaching Support Staff) identified other ways that Jing Films could be used in the Life Learning Cloud to support other areas of their pupil’s independence including:
• Screen capture of teaching inputs – so that if a child forgot what they should be doing, they could just re-watch the teaching input/demonstration
• Demonstrations of skills (e.g. how to save work, how to draw a 3D shape), so that children could self-help, rather than depend on repeated teacher reminders.

Commenting on the Life Learning Cloud, Teachers, Ruth Davey and Lawrence Britt, said:
“Children have responded very positively to the Life Learning Cloud. It provides us with a seamless transition between home and school and flexible access for all. It helps engage learners and parents in meaningful, relevant conversations that aid understanding and help raise standards.”

The Results:
The results? Well, they speak for themselves. In September Westfields Junior celebrated its first Outstanding Ofsted!  Headteacher, Karine George, was ecstatic. “We are delighted that Ofsted have acknowledged the impact of the quality and breath of the curriculum that we offer. An essential and integral part of our curriculum is the technology which is fundamental to how children learn. UniServity’s Life Learning Cloud has allowed us greater flexibility in supporting children’s learning and the power to truly engage parents in meaningful and purposeful conversations about their child’s learning, together with the development of a legacy of learning for all!”, she concluded.

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