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Case study 7: Sixth formers and primary schools
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Case study 7: Sixth formers and primary schools
This case study shows how a school deepened its sixth-form curriculum for gifted and talented students by encouraging links with local primary schools.
selective, state school for girls, with beacon status and with 840 students on roll
encouraging gifted and talented sixth-form students to write stories for local primary schools
increased confidence among the sixth formers·
better links with local primary schools
Background
The girls' school was keen to enrich its curriculum for sixth-form students by encouraging them to work with primary school children. The project involved lower sixth-form students working with two local primary schools. As part of a Literacy Hour project, they wrote two stories designed to be of special interest to young readers in each school.
Implementation
The sixth-form students spent time looking at the reading schemes used in the primary schools and familiarising themselves with the key stage 1 curriculum. Once they understood the vocabulary and the type of sentences they would be working with, the students visited the children in their primary schools to get ideas for the stories. After much enthusiastic discussion, they emerged with an idea of what the primary school children thought made a story enjoyable.
The children were relatively new to reading and had a small list of words that they could identify. The students soon realised that this was rather limiting and that graphics and sound would make the stories more interesting. They decided to use PowerPoint to produce an animated story on CD-ROM.
The primary children visited the sixth form and the students projected the stories onto a large screen and read them together as a Literacy Hour 'Big Book'. The sixth formers then gave the schools copies of the stories on CD-ROM for their own use.
Impact
The two stories, Colin and the Burglar and Our Day Out at the Park, proved a great success with the children. They liked the fact that the stories had been written especially for them and drew on their experience (Colin the Bear became a class mascot).
Through the project, the sixth-form students gained experience of understanding other people's needs and carrying out research to make sure that they met them. They also gained confidence from working with the children and enjoyment from seeing the success of their stories.