made possible by the unstoppable enthusiasm of Bill Lord,
Learning and Teaching Consultant, CfBT Lincolnshire.
“Excellent delivery, range of activities on display superb and relevant information provided that will have a definitive impact if applied correctly - excellent range of information given." Primary KS2 teacher.
2 December 2011
It was way back in the summer of 2011, in the Northern Grid offices, we first discussed the idea of offering a course on creative approaches to developing key stage 2 literacy skills. Bill Lord’s enthusiasm for, and deep understanding of, literacy issues and strategies, alongside the boundless optimism and creativity of Vital’s Steve Bunce ensured that we could develop a CPD event that would be engaging and effective.
Bill, who is currently working with the Learning and Teaching team in Lincolnshire Local Authority, created a ‘Cluedo’ style narrative which would form the basis for the successful half day CPD session on 2 December 2011. The interactive training session; ‘Chapter One’ was to be the first of a two part CDP programme; Creative Strategies to Support Literacy.
We knew what we wanted to achieve. We wanted to create a life size Cluedo style environment with rooms, props, artefacts and technology for teachers to explore and further develop the narrative and activities. Steve arranged for us to use the top floor at the Open University offices in Gateshead. A large spacious area to allow us to show how teachers could create a similar space for learning in the school hall, or even within a classroom. We are hugely grateful to Vital’s Gemma Cook who produced, as if from nowhere, crockery, candelabras, plants, clothes, hats and kitchen utensils to create the ‘rooms’ for our crimes scene.
Unlike traditional ‘whodunnits’, Bill had left the story open and this would provide the delegates with the opportunity to further develop activities, ideas and focus on specific areas of literacy skills and learning opportunities. We felt confident that we had created an exciting and dynamic CPD opportunity yet very aware that the success of the event would depend of the willingness of the delegates to bring their imaginations and ideas with them. We needn’t have worried.
Friday was one of the most interesting, and demanding CPD sessions I’ve been able to experience. Teachers from across the region willingly entered into each of the activities and stepped outside their comfort zones to experiment, discuss and learn from each other. We created three groups and each group used green screen technology (after planning and discussing in the comfort of summer chairs in the garden area) to hot seat and develop character resources. In the dining room they created sound files with digital audio recorders and in the kitchen they used cameras to create evidence and resources. In each room they learned how to create, upload and share their resources via a Posterous blog which will be a key resource for them and colleagues beyond the event. We are very grateful to
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of Q4 technologies for freely giving his time to help ensure all teachers were able to gain in confidence in using the green screen technology.
We’re hopeful that the teachers who attended on Friday for ‘Chapter One’ will become leaders at the second event, ‘Chapter Two’ in February where we hope to share their use of the resources and expereinces with other teachers from beyond the region.
All the resources used on the day can be found on Bill’s blog.
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