In a world with high levels of technology and rapidly changing images and sounds, children’s attention is easily distracted and re-engagement is a crucial part of sustained learning.
Jeremy Harper - Deputy Head, Ranby House
At Ranby House our curriculum is designed so that the children make direct links between all aspects of their learning. This is achieved by the curriculum objectives being taught through Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs). Each Project is divided into stages where the children engage, develop, innovate and express their learning. Every half term the children are introduced to a new project such as ‘Can I have a dog?’ in Nursery, ‘Beachcombers’ in Year 2 and ‘Frozen Kingdom’ in Year 6.
The children immerse themselves in the exciting ILPs and at the start of each half term it is all about engagement.
We believe ensuring a high level of engagement throughout a learning journey maximises each child’s learning potential. Thinking back to our own school days, it is the memorable moments which we immediately recall. In busy and exciting schools like ours, where learning opportunities are rich and vast, the school productions, sporting fixtures, music concerts and boarding nights (to name but a few) understandably stand out.
So how do our ILPs jump to the forefront of our children’s minds when they think about their day?
From the moment the ILP begins we gain the children’s attention, hook into their learning and engender enquiry through engagement. In our calendar ‘Engage’ trips are a prominent feature and this may involve visits, visitors and experiences inside and outside school.
Our staff plan carefully to strike a balance across the school year to provide a variety of experiences for each ILP. This week we have seen our Year 4 children engage with their ‘Misty Mountain Sierra’ project, under the expert guidance of Mr Simpson, our humanities specialist. They headed off to Edale, along with their class teachers, to develop real-life skills such as using OS maps, making comparisons with aerial photos, understanding the geology of the dark and white peak, witnessing first hand landslides and their effects on human activity and field sketching.
In a world with high levels of technology and rapidly changing images and sounds, children’s attention is easily distracted and re-engagement is a crucial part of sustained learning. Our children arrived back at school tired but inspired by their visit to Derbyshire. They will draw on these experiences throughout their ILP be that writing a recount from first-hand experience or creating an persuasive argument in English; painting a mountain-scape or constructing a 3D contour map in Art and Design; or scaling the climbing wall at Senior School site as an enrichment activity. Displays in the classrooms and along corridors, work in books and presented on walls, conversations with children and photographs in assemblies all confirm one thing.
Engagement in Learning is tangible at Ranby House.
To learn more about Ranby House, come and visit up at our upcoming open morning - 13 October 2018 between 10.30am and 12.30pm. Book your place HERE