Craigholme delivers Curriculum for Excellence

S2 and S3 students at Craigholme School have been using Clyde Waterfront ideas and resources to support their learning.

Innovative Approach to learning

Craigholme School was the first school to take advantage of a Clydewaterfront subsidised ‘Classroom on the Clyde’ river trip from SECC to Clydebank which provided the teachers and young people with the opportunity to see the regeneration from the river and the commentary on board provided information on the past and the present, looking into the future opportunities along the river.  The group of teachers from Art and Design, Geography, Modern Studies, Science, History, French and ICT  who took this innovative approach to learning by taking their S2 and S3 students to see what was happening to the River Clyde through Clyde Waterfront regeneration developments, were very impressed and immediately saw the benefits of the trip to enhance their delivery of a CfE, including cross curricular, active, experiential and collaborative learning. The pupils made the most of the trip by taking photographs with the aim of using the landscape to inspire their work in their classes.

Applying the skills

Since September, S3 Art pupils have used the iconic buildings on the Clyde Waterfront as a theme for their S3 Standard Grade design unit, culminating in the production of their gift bags, while S2 have been busy making lanterns for a ‘festival of light’. In Geography S3 pupils used their Information Literacy skills to research how the use of the riverside has changed and developed over the last 50 years. They then presented their findings in a brochure; in wall displays and made a power point presentation to fellow classmates.

Clyde Waterfront Resources

This was supported by using several of the free lesson plans on the CW website – Gift bag printing inspired by the Clyde,  Creating a tourist leaflet for Glasgow, Design a paper lantern   and Land use changes along the Clyde. The success of the project has encouraged the teachers to involve more subject areas through utilising more of the free downloadable lesson plans on the website  each of which includes ideas about working with local business and community as well as delivering a Curriculum for Excellence.

Skills Development

The young people gained an understanding of skills for work as they produced very professional products as a result of their experiences which greatly impressed the visiting guests. They developed learning skills by learning in a different environment and their understanding of life around their local area was enhanced. Throughout the process students applied literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing learning.

Students engaged with the four capacities of the Curriculum for Excellence:

Successful Learners: Students gathered evidence on the 2 hour trip using commentary, photography and worksheets and used the website to find out about their local area creating enthusiasm and motivation for learning. When they returned to class they discussed with their teachers how this learning could be effectively used in curricular setting and worked both independently and as part of a group to evaluate their experiences and apply their new kind of learning in classroom context.

Confident Individuals: the students developed and communicated their ideas and view of their local area and achieved success in different areas of the activity by presenting to local business experts.

Responsible Citizens: The ably related to other students and adults demonstrating a sense of confidence and understanding of local developments affecting their lives. Their ability to evaluate issues and make informed choices and decisions.

Effective Contributors: Their capacity to show an enterprising attitude was demonstrated through their final products which were well developed and could challenge professional products with ease.  They communicated the marketing message in different ways through design challenges, commentary and presentations, and with leaflets.

Viewed as a successful way to deliver the curricular topics, in a local context and through business partnerships, and because there is obvious potential to develop various cross curricular links, the school intends to take the project further next year as it gives the pupils the opportunity to gain skills for life and work through its ‘Enterprise in Education’ approach as well as delivering literacy, numeracy and health throughout.

Pupils were set the challenge to create marketing materials and they did a wonderful job impressing the business partners with their professionalism and some of their work is being considered as part of the marketing strategy for Clyde Waterfront.