People’s lives everywhere are shaped by what they learn. Reflection, especially shared reflection, about what has been learned is the essence of social and economic evolution.
Big Wide Talk uses children’s learning as the spark for adult reflection and learning about how to make life fairer and more democratic.
News - The Pupil Premium
The Lambert Family Documentary
"Only 53% of 7-11 year olds known to be eligible for free school meals achieve the expected level in both English and Mathematics compared with 75% for non free school meal pupils." Department for Education 26.07.10
'The Lambert Family Documentary' draws attention to some of the issues facing families. These children and their two younger siblings are part of a single parent houshold where mum works part-time. The children respond with huge enthusiasm to the learning outside the classroom experiences offered by Big Wide Talk. Spent collaboratively across schools, the Pupil Premium could fund this kind of work. The family are just above the eligibilty threshold for free school meals which is a huge financial burden for them.
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education argues that schools should be engines of social mobility and has announced a consultation on the introduction of a Pupil Premium to be made available to schools from April 2011.
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers argues 27.07.10 "The Institute for Fiscal Studies report on the pupil premium has made it clear that funding is not the only important issue in supporting the poorest pupils' achievement. They state that previous research shows a pupil premium would at best lead to a modest reduction in the attainment gap between rich and poor. Restoring the proposal to introduce universal free school meals could have a significantly more positive effect."
Peter Wilby arguing in the Guardian (about the expansion of academies) "As long as we have wide social and economic inequalities, family circumstances will have the biggest influence on a child's success, not what the school's called or who controls it" 27.07.10
Big Wide Talk says let's think about this, the gap in achievement is real and needs to be urgently addressed. Parents, politicians and professionals working together on an equal basis can find some answers.
We want to consult with all our members and followers about what might be possible with the Pupil Premium so that we can respond imaginatively to the consultation.
Go to our History page and our Proposals page to see how we can do this
We would like to know what you think about this:
Tweet us @bigwidetalk, join the discussion on our YouTube channel, write on our Facebook wall, or simply contact us.
Moving Minds and Muscles is a proposal for a sport and science project with children, parents and young people in Cambridgeshire, in partnership with the Henry Morris Community Trust and Sawston Village College. Big Wide Talk is speaking to schools, parents, researchers, nurseries, business leaders and politicians across the county about the possibilities opened up by this project.
Children from two years through to the end of primary will be invited to climb using a six metre high Perspex climbing wall. On the same site the children will also be invited to explore the Colourbox, a series of three installations in which they can split, add, subtract, bend and reflect light.
Click here to read more
News - The Morecambe Theatre of Learning
The psychologist, Jerome Bruner, once said 'every place has its own spirit, its own past, its own aspirations' (June 1997) when talking about the ways in which children and families learn. Following the Morecambe Theatre of Learning children, parents and other family members are sharing their understanding of how children and young people tackle challenges, confront fears - fear of heights, fear of the dark, fear of embarrassment - and learn about themselves and their relationships with the world around them. Many of these conversations have been captured on film, while some families have written their comments into research story templates on our website.
We are now working with some 400 families online to create mini-documentaries that reveal the contexts in which Morecambe children are learning. See the films in our story wall opposite. See also 'Growing Up In Morecambe Part 1' from 2008. Our deadline for completion of the films is 30th April. Families wishing to take part should login as soon as they can to offer comments or view the edited films. All of the finished documentaries will be published in the Proposals Section.
Stuart Langhorn, Leader of the City Council, thinks this project will inspire young and old and provide an immediate touchstone for the future of Morecambe. Ann Jamieson, Chief Executive of Big Wide Talk says, ‘Big Wide Talk is pioneering the use of digital technologies for family learning especially for those families where there is a real gulf between the cultures of home and school.' See 'Children’s role in home-school relationships and the role of digital technologies.' (pdf) - Lyndsay Grant, Futurelab, August 2009.
Click here to view more family documentaries
This Big Wide Talk Theatre of Learning will run from Monday 4th October until Friday 29th October at Seamills Middle School. An entire block will be set as The Cloth Place, complete with café, kitchen, shops, crypt, farmyard, beauty salon and edit suite. Children from birth through to the end of primary will be able to take part directing their own exploration and learning.
The children’s activity will be filmed and the film stored on a searchable database in the onsite edit suite...
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