​Plus ça change, plus ce la meme chose!
The more things change…the more they stay the same.
 
Lockdown, social distancing, shielding, family bubbles. How quickly these words have become part of our everyday vocabulary. With the arrival of the covid-19 coronavirus, the world changed and the world had to respond to change.
 
Just days before lockdown, we witnessed education professionals, grappling with the challenges of how they were going to provide some kind of education continuity for their learners. How? When? What? Who? Why? All valid questions which were often met with responses which would sometimes be invalidated the following day. 
 
It was, and still is collaborative problem-solving, which we could not have imagined three months ago. 
 
However, despite the unprecedented nature of the challenge (perhaps requiring specific, new knowledge and technical skills) the ‘big questions’ remain the same and so do the generic skills and attitudes required to respond to them successfully?
 
‘How do make sure this is learning environment is fair?’ ‘How do make sure this learning environment is safe (both physically and emotionally).’ ‘How do we make sure everyone feels valued?’ ‘How do we make sure everyone engages fully?’
 
However different the ‘new normal’ appears, if we are able to respond effectively to these ‘old’ questions, then continuity will be achieved.

We've just realised that we published our last post over a year ago. 🤔
​Time really does fly when you are busy! It also makes you reflect on which social media platforms you use, how manageable they are to maintain and whether they are the best way of communicating with our followers, colleagues and friends.

We will be updating and streamlining our main website in the next few months. If you have a preferred way of connecting with us regularly, please let us know by completing the survey. 

It's November already and we can't quite believe that 2017 is passing so quickly. This year, we have been involved in an increasing number of Designer Projects. 

Our Designer Projects have grown in popularity since 2016, with forward bookings in place until July 2019. Each project involves 'Embedded CPD/CLPL' for the staff involved, as well as a series of linked learning experiences for the children over a 2-week period. A project website is developed and updated daily, a photo-book produced and a family engagement event organised and led by the children involved. ​

We must say 'thank you' to David Lewis (Headteacher), the staff, children and families of Aberbargoed Primary School for being the pioneers of these type of projects. It was been a pleasure working alongside you all.

On Friday, it was the turn of Class 6 to have an audio recording of The State Song. They performed the song with an echo and a change in tempo. Enjoy! 

Take a look at the project website.

Classes 5 and 6 have been learning 'The State Song' as part of their 'Road Trip USA' Project. 
Only the second day and Class 5 were ready for their first audio recording. Enjoy!

Today, it was the turn of Class 3 to have an audio recording of the second song that is accompanying the project in Aberbargoed Primary School. 

We are currently in the middle of a two-week project with Classes 7 and 8 in Aberbargoed Primary School - Year 4, 5 and 6 (P5, 6 and 7). It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to witness the progression in learning - attitudes, skills and knowledge.

A website has been set up specifically to capture the essence of the project - providing a place for children, parents and staff to access materials, share experiences, evidence children in action and capture the learning, reflections and connections of all involved. 

We were fortunate enough to spend a day on Skomer Island (Pembrokeshire) last week. It was an amazing experience and we would highly recommend a trip there if you visit the area or live nearby. The wardens and volunteer staff are incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and available to answer any questions and point out the best places to see certain wildlife. 

If you can make use of our short video in your school/setting, please feel free to download it. The puffin landed right next to us - a real treat as 20,000 of the 22,000 puffins on the island had decided to migrate the day before we arrived!

For more information about Skomer Island and the The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, visit this website. http://www.welshwildlife.org/skomer-skokholm/skomer/ 

If you would like to read more about our visit Skomer Island and have a look at some of our photos, please visit our 'A Peak A Week' page. 

Our friends and colleagues in Clackmannanshire and Stirling may or may not be aware that the current council has, with reluctance, been unable to renew their invitation for us to run ‘Designing for Learning’ courses in the next session.

However, after receiving a number of enquiries, we wish to make it clear that we are still available to design and facilitate events for schools and settings who feel they would continue to benefit from our training - both as individual establishments and as part of collaborative clusters/learning communities.

We have experienced a fantastic six years working alongside educators and leaders in both local authorities and it is our heartfelt desire to maintain progress and the professional relationships we have nurtured.

We are already looking forward to working with those who contacted us on our last visit and are also in discussion with others who are proactively exploring alternative funding options. We will keep people informed of future developments and opportunities as they occur.
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Finally, we would like to wish all Scottish educators an enjoyable summer vacation, which, we believe, begins this week!
Lynne and Andrew