Specialist schools are failing to share their knowledge and expertise with other schools, according to Ofsted. In its recent report, Specialist Schools: an evaluation of progress, it says: “Most specialist schools have had difficulty in fulfilling their new role as a resource for the community. It is currently the weakest part of their work.”
Maybe the specialist secondaries could learn from Knowsley Central Primary Support Centre - a Merseyside beacon school that has just produced material to help local children get more out of their lessons.
The Thinking Skills Pack, aimed at key stage 2, features a collection of eight activities that encourage pupils to go beyond knowledge, comprehension and application and develop higher order skills such as analysis and investigation.
The Technology Challenge, for example, calls on students to build various structures using limited resources including paper, card, Oxo cubes and a marble. In another activity, students have to provide questions to answers supplied.
Each of the activities comes with support material that includes suggestions on use and aims, and details the resources needed.
Student feedback is an important part of the project, and pupils are encouraged to question the use and purpose of the mental agility tasks they take part in.
The Thinking Skills Pack has been developed following a pilot project involving eight local schools and is a good example of how teachers can share innovative practice without creating extra demands on their time. The pack is available on the web for use by schools throughout the UK. Go to the website at www.centralprimary.org.uk for more details.
