The production’s acclaimed cultural learning programme, Wicked Active Learning, promotes curriculum enrichment, personal development, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, self-confidence, career pathways, and the delivery of cultural capital.

The programme supports classroom-based learning through a range of free resources and lesson plans, and learning outside the classroom with ticket discounts, exclusive benefits, official workshops, Q&As, and free resources to assist in the organisation of school trips.

A venue preview video and school trip guide provide everything needed to complete a risk assessment and book an enriching school trip.

Tickets, workshops, and Q&As can be booked directly with the production’s in-house education team, who can be contacted via telephone, email, or live chat for expert advice and support.

Classroom-based learning

Free downloadable lesson plans, script extracts, production images, and theatre-maker career videos support the delivery of SMSC, PSHE and citizenship, literacy, and oracy teaching, as well as English, music, drama, and art and design programmes of study.

Lesson plans inspired by, and themed to, the production include:

• Anti-Bullying (KS2-4) lesson pack

• Diversity + Inclusion (LKS2, UKS2) lesson pack

• Fake News + Propaganda (Primary) lesson pack

• Self-Confidence (Primary) lesson plan

• English (KS2-4) lesson packs

• ESOL/EFL English (Intermediate) lesson pack

• Drama (KS3-4) lesson plans

In support of English and Art + Design teaching, there are also free written and visual resource packs for teachers, designed to inspire further lesson ideas.

The 26-page English Teacher resource pack looks at the literary inspirations behind the musical, other famous prequels and sequels, the witches and wizards of myth and legend, the magical worlds of fantasy fiction, the history of magic, and the enduring legacy of Baum’s ‘Oz’.

The Art + Design Teacher resource pack looks at the production’s acclaimed design elements, including set, costume and lighting. 

Music learners can watch a free video of composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz discussing the musical themes and inspirations of his score, including the song ‘Defying Gravity’, which is a set work for Pearson Edexcel GCSE music and included (together with ‘The Wizard & I’ and ‘No Good Deed’) in the repertoire of the ABRSM’s new ‘Singing for Musical Theatre ARSM’ diploma.

Learning outside the classroom

A class or year group trip to Wicked provides an enriching live London theatre experience, supporting cultural and social education, personal development, self–confidence, the capacity to think imaginatively and creatively, and the delivery of cultural capital.

Benefits provided to schools/colleges include:

• Book directly with the in-house education team

• Save over 60% on school class and year group tickets

• Free teacher ratios (10:1 secondary / 5:1 primary)

• Extra tickets purchasable at the applicable school group rate

• Official workshops (Wellbeing, Anti-Bullying, and Musical Theatre)

• Post-show Q&As

• Free venue preview video

• Free school trip guide including risk assessment supporting resources

• Coach/minibus set down/pick up directly outside the venue

• One minute from National Rail and London Underground stations

A school trip to Wicked also provides the opportunity to visit one of London’s most unique theatres and heritage buildings, originally built as a ‘Super-Cinema’ in 1930.

A detailed history of this 2,328-seat Art Deco venue is included in the free resources.

For more information, call 020 7183 5109, email Hello@WickedActiveLearning.co.uk or visit www.WickedActiveLearning.co.uk

Savings and Benefits featured may not apply when booking through third party agents, and only apply to the London production. See website for details and T&Cs. ©2023 WLPL. All rights reserved.

The post What your pupils will learn from a trip to see the award-winning ‘Wicked’ appeared first on Teachwire.

Recent research by The British Science Association, however, shows that this isn’t what young people want, nor feel they need in order to prepare themselves for the future. In their view, they’re pigeonholed – forced to select between distinct scientific or creative pathways, and missing out on opportunities to develop multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving in process.

The shift of focus towards STEM and away from STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) over the last decade plus has only exacerbated this trend, and seen creative subjects become increasingly relegated in importance.
It’s therefore no surprise that one of the key concerns raised by the BSA’s Future Forms research was a lack of access to practical teaching – something highlighted by students in science and art pathways alike.

Budgetary pressures

Tight budgets and increasing costs for schools have forced many to reduce their practical offering. Both science and art subject areas make regular use of perishable items – chemicals, paints and so forth – which can only be used once, which doesn’t help. Nor does the lack of teachers, particularly in science subjects.

Shockingly, one science teacher I spoke to informed me that he’d previously been forced to teach groups of 90 in a school hall when no teachers, not even a supply, could be found. When pressures like that take hold, practical offerings will often be the first to go.

However, budgetary pressures aren’t the only thing both subject areas share. There are some genuinely exciting ways of addressing these issues, while also giving students more of the connected approach between the two that they so desperately want. Let’s look at some examples of art history and science working in union, and see what we can take from them.

Art and biology

This is perhaps the most obvious place to start. We’ve all seen Da Vinci’s illustrations of human anatomy, and can instinctively recognise that visual understanding is a key skill for any student wanting to progress in medicine or veterinary science.

Combining observational drawing of animals with a science lesson in anatomy can open up two approaches to exploring the same artifact. This is great if you have a collection of beetles in the back office, or work at a school that still dissects mice – but if you don’t, then the work of Victorian botanist and artist Marianne North could provide you with a much easier route.

Her painting depicts exotic flowers from her wide travels, and was considered by Charles Darwin to be excellent documentary material for illustrating the theory of natural selection. Her rich, in situ compositions can be used in art as an artist starting point, and in science to illuminate the differences between the plants she captured and explore general plant anatomy. With over 800 paintings to choose from, her work provides both subject areas with a rich source to draw from.

Art and chemistry

Many of what are now our most commonly used colours were originally stumbled upon by scientists attempting to create something rather different than a novel shade to welcome in a new fashion season. My favourite account relates to William Perkin – a celebrated British scientist who sought to create a synthetic quinine which, during the mid 1800s, was the only known cure for malaria.

While experimenting with coal tar, he kept producing a light purple liquid. Alongside his passion for chemistry he had once also dreamed of being an artist, and with his curiosity piqued, he placed some fabric in the liquid. He soon realised he’d created a light- and wash-proof dye in a colour we now know as mauve, which went on to become one of the most sought-after dyes of the Victorian era and made Perkins a rich man.

His tale reminds me of the sessions I completed as part of my textiles degree, where we had to mix and dye a rainbow of colour swatches. These sessions bore all the hallmarks of science lessons, complete with the careful measurement and combining of different elements, experimentation and subsequent recording, annotation and storage.

Approaching colour theory and paint mixing from the perspectives of both disciplines can provide an interesting lesson in how to record observations, while improving students’ understanding of how colours, hues and shades can be created and altered – foundational skills for scientists and artists alike.

Art and physics

Some years ago, I was teaching a group of students who became interested in long exposure light photography. This resulted in them producing images of stars at night which shows some stars having light trails that were curved and others that were straight. Off to the physics department we went, knowing that what we saw in the photos had something to do with the rotatation of the Earth, but little more than that.

We soon learned that those differently shaped light trails were to do with a combination of both the Earth’s rotation and the direction the camera happened to be facing. When tracked north to south or vice-versa, the stars’ trails appeared straight; when tracked east to west, the trails would appear to ‘curve’ into circular lines.

We didn’t stop there. After we were kindly lent some lasers to photograph, we were able to give a follow-up lesson where students learnt all about light rays, diffraction, refraction, reflection and absorption. 

The images that came out of this were abstract and ethereal, captured as they were using a range of different camera settings, aperture sizings and ISO values. We used Photoshop in postproduction to further refine the images and produce striking contrasts between light and dark areas, and expanded our explorations to include light sources from torches, glowsticks and even sparklers.

These are just three examples of ways in which you can potentially draw on vast areas of research and practice – you’ll have your own particular interests and topics that you want to explore.

But whether you’re reading this as an art teacher or a science teacher (or indeed a specialist in any other subject), it’s well worth finding out what you and another department might have in common. You may be surprised where these connections might take you.

Take it further

Why stop there? Those ‘TEM’ subjects can make for similarly perfect art partners…

Technology

Classes can use an online tool called sketchpad.cc, which lets users ‘programme’ graphics using lines of varying thickness and colour. Once a set of instructions have been issued, sketchpad.cc will execute them in a continuous loop, resulting in continuously developing compositions. Similar alternatives can be found at randomart.com and scratch.mit.edu.

Engineering

The Angel of the North is as much an engineering triumph as it is an artistic one. Its foundations extend down 20 metres and are anchored to solid rock, while the work iteself employs 700 tonnes of concrete and 32 tonnes of reinforcing steel. Classes could explore the practicialities of top-heavy sculptures and how they can be secured, touching on the mechanics of weight distribution and properties of different materials.

Maths

Curves of pursuit were originally studied to devise more effective manuevouring strategies in naval battles. As one ship pursues another, the point the former is advancing to will move, creating spiralling lines and patterns. Exploring this in lessons will enable students to practice their skills at making precise measurements, and discover the work of artist Megan Geckler, who uses curves of pursuit and wool to create remarkable installations.

Hannah Day is head of art, media and film at Ludlow College

The post STEM – What students can learn at the point where science meets the arts appeared first on Teachwire.

Anyone regularly following today’s increasingly polarised news media – including our students – must learn to distinguish between spins of commission and omission.

My hair conditioner is supposedly ‘seven times more moisturising’ than other leading brands. My jar of coffee provides ‘210 cups’ (albeit thimble‐sizes ones, presumably).

A recent university lecture revealed that during the protracted miners’ strikes of the 1980s, the BBC came under pressure from Downing Street and duly highlighted every instance of miners opting to return to work. It was left to Channel 4 News to tell us how many miners were actually joining the strikes.

Inflammatory rhetoric

In the here and now, nurses were recently offered a taxable rise of £1,300 – but if they’ll be expected to pay £1,200 on newly reintroduced annual parking fees, doesn’t that amount to a pay cut?

LBC radio presenter James O’Brien recently examined how certain tabloids spun particular stories concerning the Royals. During her pregnancy, pictures of Kate Middleton touching her bump were accompanied by reports approving of her ‘maternal instincts’. When Meghan Markle did the same, it became ‘attention‐seeking behaviour’ deemed worthy of excoriating character analyses by the same paper’s resident psychologist.

Over a further 29 examples, O’Brien showed how stories would be routinely spun to present Markle as the wicked witch of a media-created pantomime.

Closer to home, meanwhile, the national press will regularly and ruthlessly expose the perceived professional and personal failures of teachers across the country, but these often won’t constitute factual news. Rather, they’re intended to provoke readers’ suspicions of rampant ‘wokery’, and in the worst cases, amount to straight-up inflammatory rhetoric.

Twisted words

Our schools should be obligated to teach teens media literacy. When we imply that all news is reported objectively, we effectively do the opposite of educating.

Tomorrow’s judges, journalists, politicians and, yes, teachers can be found sitting in today’s classrooms. It’s imperative that we teach children the importance of compassion, justice, integrity and honesty. Our primary responsibility isn’t to be ‘politically correct’, but to be as morally, factually, and contextually correct as possible.

Similarly, I find myself longing for media outlets willing to act as proud and truthful voices for the otherwise unheard. When powerful figures seek to oppress the innocent and powerless, I take solace and inspiration from seeing people I admire courageously challenging those forces.

Honest educators will rarely, if ever, speak from explicitly ‘left’ or ‘right’ perspectives because they know full well that right and wrong are seldom the sole preserve of either side.

The finest teacher I ever had, Mr. Wright, once taught me how ‘twisted words’ are the most effective weapons of mass destruction that modern societies have ever seen. Alas, he was later ‘invited to retire’ after connecting the ‘rape of Africa’ (his words) to the greed and wealth of the British Empire, which prompted a parent to complain.

Mr Wright consistently refused to sanitise the extent of man’s inhumanity to man, but at the same time he never deployed the term ‘white privilege’. Nor did he ever encourage hatred of any kind, though he did insist upon on students digging deep for objective facts.

History, he insisted, is often ‘his story’ – that is, thoroughly spun stories detailing the exploits of male exploiters. As wonderful as Google may be, it remains abundantly clear that we still need teachers driven by a passion for relaying important truths to help us spot the googlies that seek to deceive us.

John Lawson is a former secondary teacher, now serving as a foundation governor while running a tutoring service, and author of the book The Successful (Less Stressful) Student (Outskirts Press, £11.95); find out more at prep4successnow.wordpress.com or follow @johninpompano

The post Media literacy – Young people can Google knowledge, but not wisdom appeared first on Teachwire.

Thankfully, however, you can introduce students to the following four photographic processes – and a noted practitioner of each – in a hands-on way without a full darkroom set up…

1. Caynotypes – Anna Atkins

Atkins is best known for her 1843 book, Photographs of British Algae – though the images are actually caynotypes, an earlier form of light-based image making.

This is an easy process to try in GCSE photography, requiring minimal set up. Simply open a pack of pre-coated Caynotype paper, lay a series of objects onto it and expose it to the sun, before washing the print to reveal the striking blue that the process is known for.

For a more advanced lesson, make your own chemical mix and apply it to a range of different papers and fabrics. Just be sure to prep away from sunlight, and as close to the time of use as you can. You could also try trapping items under glass and seeing how compressed objects produce images differently to those not made to lie flat.

2. Pinhole – Nancy Breslin

You won’t need a full darkroom for this, but you will require a light-sealed, preferably well-ventilated room, red safety lights, trays, tongs and chemicals. If a fan isn’t available, try setting up in a space with light-blocked windows that can be easily opened.

We use Quality Street tins for our pinhole cameras, since their multiple flat sides allow for considerable experimentation – our students’ favourite is the ‘eight-exposure spiral’ – though be advised that very sunny days can present difficulties with exposure times.

Pinhole works best with subject matter that offers high contrast, such as a white building with black fencing in front, for example, or brickwork next to smooth render.

Nancy Breslin’s most notable images were captured in cafes, contrasting the movement of people against static surroundings. This can be recreated to great effect in any GCSE photography classroom.

3. Photograms – Man Ray

Photograms are produced via a cameraless process that sees objects laid onto photographic paper that’s exposed to light, before developing the results. This method lets students explore the physical qualities of objects and how they may affect the end results.

As before, there are variations to explore, from the properties of the objects themselves, to attempting double exposures, applying paint during the development stage and so on.

Many of Man Ray’s most well-known works came about through unexpected events. In his explorations of the then-nascent medium of photography, he came to recognise the embracing of chance as a creative tool. Teaching students to simply wander and see where a medium takes them can be one of the hardest, and yet most vital, parts of our job.

4. Cliché Verre – Hannah Höch

This process entails first creating a collaged image. This is photocopied in monochrome onto acetate, which is then placed on photographic paper and exposed to light. The result is a photogram created from an existing image, rather than solid objects. Have the students play around with your photocopier’s various settings – coloured copies and overprinting can all produce interesting combinations.

As with most of these processes, high tonal contact and good definition will lead to better pictures. Base starting images will need to be crisp and lend themselves well to monochrome reproduction.

The work of Hannah Höch, while strictly photomontage, is a great starting point for learning about Cliché Verre. Her concepts are sophisticated, but her execution intentionally not, making the work accessible to students at all levels.

Hannah Day is head of art, media and film at Ludlow College.

The post GCSE Photography – How to produce compelling images without a darkroom appeared first on Teachwire.

30 Second Briefing

1.  The ‘Wow!’ factor

Nothing beats the look on students’ faces when they enter the room and find the dome there waiting for them. The anticipation builds, and then they go through the entrance portal and into another world, or out into the universe!

Teachers and staff are also carried away by the excitement and it becomes an incredible learning experience for all. 

We can also bring our incredible Campo del Cielo meteorites so that the students can touch a piece of rock that has come from space and is over 4.5 billion years old!

“A truly magical experience for everyone. Incredible service from the moment they arrived and delivered the shows. The children will be talking about this for weeks!” 

2. A range of options

We have the world’s largest fleet of dome – 23 at current count – to suit every space. From our smallest four-metre dome to the seven-metre, eight-metre and beyond, if you have the space, we can fill it!

The larger the size of dome, the more students can partake in the experience. For those not in the dome, we also have other options, including VR headsets, drones and Augmented Reality cards, where students can see the universe come to life in front of them. 

Language is also no barrier, as we have films available in multiple languages, including Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Slovak, Polish, Russian, Tamil, Telugu and Turkish, both with subtitles and narration. 

“An amazing experience, with such incredible service from staff. FIVE STARS!”

3. A range of subjects

A planetarium isn’t limited to astronomy! While the jewel in our crown is our adaptable, presenter-led astronomy shows, delivered by our highly-trained staff, we can bring a range of subject films to your students.

This includes all the sciences, geography, geology, palaeontology, art, culture, design, history, music, photography, dance, film and maths, and even a reduced version of Romeo and Juliet for English! 

If you need live-action historical presentations, then our staff can take you back to WWI, Tudor times, or even show you how mediaeval weaponry worked. Viking axe-throwing? We can do that too! 

We are also great believers in the power of storytelling, and can enthral all ages with tales for World Book Day, or run workshops on CVs and interview techniques. If that’s not enough, then we also provide STEM-based board games to keep your students occupied!

“We highly recommend the company; nothing too difficult from the moment they arrived and very flexible programmes.”

4. Accessibility

Accessibility is incredibly important to us, as we want to make sure that no student is left without the opportunity to access the universe. All our domes can accommodate wheelchairs, and we can provide hearing loops where needed.

We are the UK’s leader in developing SEN/PMLD content, and were the first planetarium company to earn the Good to Go rating in 2020 for our COVID-safe measures. 

We also want to ensure that location isn’t an issue, and we boast full national UK coverage, as well as further afield. If a visit is not available, then we can reach classrooms virtually through Zoom, Teams and other software and deliver shows to your students that way! 

“Brilliant value for money, with a premium feel to the whole experience – the school will not forget.” 

5. Price

We believe in fair and transparent pricing, which is why you can look up all our prices on our website, alongside a bursary scheme for schools and charities that may not be able to afford the full cost. 

And finally, while other companies may be putting their prices up this year, we have committed to celebrating our ninth birthday by taking nine per cent off all our 2022 prices!

The post 5 reasons to book Immersive Experiences in 2023 appeared first on Teachwire.

It aims to introduce new plays to the English literature and Drama curricula, offering students access to more diverse, representative and inclusive work.  

Together with the National Theatre and Open Drama UK, Bloomsbury listened to, interviewed, and collaborated with hundreds of English and Drama teachers, exam boards and theatres to understand the challenges, barriers and support that’s needed to ensure the teaching of plays and drama in schools is representative of our diverse nation.  

The findings and recommendations of this research can be found in their Lit in Colour: A spotlight on plays and drama research report, where you’ll find that:   

In 2019 English literature assessments… 

• 79% of GCSE candidates answered an exam question on a drama text.  
• A huge 349,337 (65%) of these candidates answered a question on An Inspector Calls. 
• 0% answered an exam question on a play by a Global Majority writer. 

But change is coming. Be part of it and start your Lit in Colour journey with Bloomsbury this year.  

You’ll find lots of teacher resources online at www.bloomsbury.com/LitinColour including author Q&As, classroom discussion guides and much more.

The post Ready to diversify your English and Drama play teaching? appeared first on Teachwire.

As my words echoed across the lab, I looked frantically for the gas isolation valve. This wasn’t a science lesson, but actually Y9 drama last thing on a Friday, back when I was an NQT.

The only room available that period had been a science lab overlooking the staff car park on one side and a brick wall on the other. It confused the heck out of my Y9s too. “We can’t do drama in here, sir – it’s for science.”

The obstacle course presented by assorted stools, raised desks and ominous gas-related fixtures did admittedly make a conventional drama lesson more difficult, but not impossible. Though the brick wall metres from the window seemed an apt metaphor for the response I typically received most weeks from this particular class…

As is often the case, the hardest part of the lesson was convincing the Y9s that our time together in this hour designated ‘drama’ was worthwhile, and that everyone could get something out of it – from the outstanding performer, to the shy child hiding behind stacks of science textbooks using a tripod for a shield.

It’s often struck me that the students – and perhaps even staff – most in need of drama, or who might appreciate its value the most, tend to be those who are least forthcoming in engaging with it.

Scorching ordeals

Many years have passed since I was an NQT. In England, we now live in a world of Ebacc and STEM, prompting people to increasingly ask ‘What is drama, and what is it for in schools today?’.

When we speak of ‘drama’ are we referring to the study of ‘pure’ drama or theatre, such as we might find at theatre studies A Level? Are we talking about the broader performing arts and what students will need to apply to acting school? Or are we seeing drama more as a device for helping students learn and grow?

Drama should, and usually does have a place on the school timetable as a subject to be studied and engaged with, but it can also exist across the curriculum.

A little-known playwright once noted that “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players” – if true, then we all should do more to appreciate the importance of drama in our lives.

But how can teachers of drama – or indeed teachers of other subjects – help encourage students who aren’t ‘natural’ performers to stand up, perform and realise that they can grow and develop into more confident human beings?

We can measure qualifications, but we can’t measure the process children go through in terms of their development as a ‘performer’. It takes time. Sometimes, it can hinge on one-on-one support a student receives from a teacher. Others may come to appreciate the joys of working with peers that drama provides. Or it can come through the many scorching ordeals that humans journey through from childhood to adulthood.

Students can struggle in drama mainly due to nerves, or a simple lack of desire to engage. Having said that, though, the students in your drama class will inevitably run into other teachers. English teachers trying to get students to complete speaking tests. Science teachers expecting presentations on set topics. History teachers wanting verbal contributions in group discussions – the list goes on.

Little jobs

Whatever your subject, you’re a teacher of human beings. Encouraging students’ confidence in their own ideas, and ability to speak in front of others whilst deepening their critical thinking, takes time and careful nurturing. Some students will inevitably require more support than others, and often, your response will have to involve putting yourself out there first and leading by example.

Over the years, I’ve been known to tell some students, “If you’re worried about how you’ll look, you’re not going to look half as daft as me – so come on, let’s try this…”

Now, not all students are going to become the next famous star of stage or screen, and nor should they put pressure on themselves to be. Instead, it should be about setting realistic goals. A wise person once said to me, “You’ve not got a big task – just lots of little jobs.”

Applied to drama lessons, these ‘little jobs’ can be used first to help students build up to the performance they want to deliver: ‘Job 1, stop hiding in the costume cupboard. Job 2, stand up. Job 3, relax your arms. Job 4, work on this… .’ Just lots of little jobs.

The ‘Hollywood effect’

I’m often inspired by a collection of four lectures by Peter Brook, published as the book The Empty Space. In it, Brook talks about the dangers of what he calls the ‘Broadway Crisis’, which leads to a ‘deadly theatre’. Everything looks great, from the costumes, to the lighting and the famous actor playing the lead role – but something isn’t right. The play just
isn’t good.

This prompts me to think about the spread of what I call the ‘Hollywood/X Factor’ Effect’ into our schools, where students’ conceptions of ‘performance’ are inextricably linked with fame and stardom. They want to raid the costume cupboard; use numerous coloured lights onstage; assemble elaborate sets and have their favourite songs playing in the background.

As Brook reminds us, all that’s really needed for a piece of theatre to be engaging is for an individual to cross an empty space. Sometimes, starting with that very simple premise can help all students, especially those most scared of performance, to focus on what they need to – themselves, and the little steps they need to take to improve their work or confidence.

Acting confidence

This doesn’t just apply to students, though. Some years ago, there came a knock on the door of my office (i.e. the cramped, windowless cupboard sandwiched between the drama studio and the outside corridor). A history teacher – who had previously often complained that we were making ‘Too much noise’ in our lessons – walked in. “Just wondering”, he said, “if you’ve got some drama I can do?”

“With your class?” I replied.

“No, for me.”

He went on to explain how he’d often spent lessons not knowing how to perform at the front of the class, and wanted some tips on how to ‘act like a confident teacher’.

Every now and then, teachers can benefit from stripping away the paraphernalia associated with ‘great teaching’ – the fancy PowerPoints, beautiful displays, impeccably marked exercise books – and consider how they want to approach that notion of crossing the empty space. How should they stand there, and build faith in themselves to perform and engage their audience?

In many ways, we all know how it feels to be that shy student at the back, because nearly every teacher will have once been similarly shy or nervous themselves at some point. Many still are.

I’ve taught in secondary schools for nearly 20 years. While I can’t definitively answer the question of how students and teachers can become performers in drama – or anywhere else – I do feel the words of the late theatre education pioneer Brian Way have some resonance here; that ‘drama is to simply practise living’. Maybe that’s a good starting
point for us all.

Help them open up

• Ask the students to speak to you and listen to them carefully. What barriers are stopping them performing?
• Set students achievable goals – ‘It’s not a big task, just lots of little jobs’
• Celebrate little wins with students
• Remind students that we all feel nervous, that it’s part of being human and that nerves can be good by driving us on
• Set rules for your drama/teaching space that will ensure all participants are included
• Drama is fundamentally about a person’s continued development – and it’s for everyone

Martin Matthews is a deputy department leader of English at an 11-18 secondary school, having previously been a head of drama and temporary head of English

The post KS3 drama – How can shy students be persuaded to perform? appeared first on Teachwire.

The Learning Programme, available to all secondary schools and colleges across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, is part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK – 10 projects bringing together scientists, technicians, engineers, mathematicians and artists in creative collaboration. 

Unique learning experiences

Throughout the course of the year, 1.7 million young people took part as UNBOXED Learning toured the country in a roadshow, delivered in-person workshops, created online learning experiences and gave them the opportunity to visit an UNBOXED project. 

Each learning experience is designed to engage young people in immersive, real-world learning, open their minds to careers combining STEM and the arts, and inspire them in using their creativity to affect more positive futures. 

Adel Al-Salloum, who heads up the UNBOXED Learning Programme, said: “The learning programme presented inspired and inquiry-driven opportunities to unlock learning, fuel curiosity and develop new skills in relation to STEM and the arts. It’s been a joy to witness what happens when young people have the space to engage creatively with real-world experiences.” 

Here are some of the highlights from the 10 projects: 

• About Us – a spectacular multimedia show exploring 13.8 billion years of history, inviting school pupils aged 4–18 to write a poem and/or create an animation project on the theme of ‘connectivity and the universe’. The team is now creating a series of free educational videos for GCSE students inspired by poems commissioned for About Us, with each video exploring a different aspect of the project. 
• Our Place in Space – a scale model of the solar system, over more than 8km, that young people will soon be able to visit at Ulster Transport Museum. It has just launched a Minecraft Education Adventure, enabling pupils to journey through the solar system, stopping off at each of the planets and exploring historical events back on Earth. 
• Dandelion – a ground-breaking programme involving growing cube – metre-squared vertical farms designed especially for the project. Almost 90,000 children from 468 schools got their hands dirty and got growing this year. 
• SEE MONSTER – a North Sea rig transformed into an art installation. It welcomed hundreds of children on board and continues to welcome those who couldn’t make it to Weston-super-Mare through its 360 tour and learning resources. 
• GALWAD has resources for schools on its website and has delivered a full week of live lessons that invited pupils to consider a question central to their story: ‘If we can’t imagine a positive future, how are we going to build one?’ 

One particularly innovative project is Dreamachine’s Life’s Big Questions, an interactive series of five questions that can be answered by classes in one part of the UK and compared to the answers of classes in other parts. These intriguing questions – including ‘Can I believe everything I see?’, ‘How do I know time is passing?’ and ‘Are people the same all over the world?’ – explore how the brain and senses work together to help you understand the world.

Teachers can find Life’s Big Questions and other resources at Dreamachine schools. 

“What drew me to the UNBOXED Learning Programme was how its various projects, and the resources available, showcase what can happen when creativity and STEAM are combined.”

Lauren Wallace, Physics teacher and STEAM Lead from Bishopbriggs Academy

Lauren Wallace, Physics teacher and STEAM Lead from Bishopbriggs Academy, took part in the UNBOXED Learning Programme and sees cross-disciplinary collaboration between science, technology, engineering, arts and maths as an integral part of her students’ development. 

“What drew me to the UNBOXED Learning Programme was how its various projects, and the resources available, showcase what can happen when creativity and STEAM are combined,” she said. “The variety of the UNBOXED programme offers teachers a chance to add excitement, real-world learning and innovation into lessons to inspire students.

“To thrive professionally in a future workforce, students must develop an appreciation of how all the STEAM subjects can interact to produce new innovations – and vitally, must also recognise the fundamental need for creativity in order to make this happen.” 

Secondary school teachers across the UK can find the full suite of UNBOXED Learning resources, perfect for inspiring students on the power of combining STEM and the Arts, at Tes Teaching Resources or by searching for “UNBOXED Learning” on TES. 

The post How UNBOXED inspired secondary pupils UK-wide by combining the arts and STEM appeared first on Teachwire.

• FINE ART – Guidance on how to write effective contextual studies and critical responses to examples of fine art.
• ANALYSIS – Good and excellent examples of AO1 critical understanding / artist analysis pages.
• GRAPHICS – Advice on how to present successful contextual studies and critical responses to examples of illustration and graphic design.
• PHOTO – Suggestions on what’s required to produce contextual studies and critical responses to photography, in a way that satisfies the GCSE art assessment criteria.

These resources are intended to accompany the Teachwire article titled ‘GCSE art final piece‘

The post GCSE art – Final piece resource appeared first on Teachwire.

This resource is intended to accompany the Teachwire article titled ‘GCSE art – How to support students creating their final piece‘

The post GCSE art – ‘Better Words’ reference sheet for final project artist research appeared first on Teachwire.