Hitachi Fieldwork

By Jamie Portman7th December 2017

We would like to thank Hitachi Rail Europe of Doncaster for hosting our recent fieldwork to their depot last week. Students were given a tour of their incredible premises by team leaders and specialist engineers. Their work is described as providing ‘a total railway system supplier offering rolling stock, traction equipment, signalling, traffic management systems, and maintenance depots.’

We visited Hitachi in order to support the final phase of our ‘Society, Speed and Steam’ expedition on ‘What does the community of Doncaster owe to the railway?’

Hitachi staff gave students a tour of the facilities and some of the trains that were being maintained there. They also highlighted the range of jobs, careers and expertise from their staff, along with explanations of some of the scientific and engineering processes involved. The Hitachi team were really friendly and supportive throughout the entire period of time that we spent there.

We would also like to thank Andrew Webb (the Rail Sector Development Manager for ‘Business Doncaster’) who liaised with Debra Morrel of Hitachi in order to arrange our fieldwork.

I was delighted with not only our students’ conduct, but also with the probing questions that they asked the Hitachi staff.

 

 

Students Become Maths Teachers

By J Smith7th December 2017

Pioneer have started preparation for their end of term test in Discrete maths. They have done their first ‘Market Place’ protocol where the students create a learning resource and reach mastery by teaching others on their stall.

This process was done exceptionally well by Alyssa who taught ordering decimals to all who visited her stall, showing confidence and craftsmanship and quality.

 

Product launch

By C Duffield6th December 2017

 

On Thursday 30th November all of our students came together for the product launch session. During the session students were introduced to the final stage of the expedition and the groups they will working in to produce the final product, then they looked at a final product that has been produced by students from XP.

Students worked in pairs making notices and wonders about sections of the book and then feeding back to the rest of the school. Mr Smith then encouraged students to make suggestions for our product and how we can make it unique to us. The aim of this protocol was to ensure our product is produced to a high standard and reaches the levels of craftsmanship and quality expected of XP East students. By using the XP product as a model students were able to visualise what is achievable as a whole school community when working collaboratively.

 

 

Answering our Guiding Question: first draft

By A Parker28th November 2017

One of the principles of expeditionary learning is that learning can’t be done in one draft.  Along with self-reflection, we expect our students to give and receive feedback to one another, and redraft their work until their ‘good’ work becomes ‘great’ work.  All feedback has to be Kind, Specific and Helpful.

7Pioneer started writing their first draft answer to the guiding question today.  Over the next few days, we’ll share examples of their work at different stages, so you too can appreciate the power of peer critique and the redrafting process.

Here are the opening paragraphs from Tom D, Callie, George and Nicole. The quality of work is already impressive, and Mrs Poncia and I are excited to see how this first draft evolves into the finished article.

 

 

Selling soup

By A Parker25th November 2017

Some excellent work from 7 Pioneer this week in Discrete Maths!

They have been building on their fractions and decimals knowledge to work out proportional relationships and ratios.

The problem they had to grapple with was how to make the most profit from selling 500 servings of soup, based on a random sample of 40 people.

As ever, the emphasis was on showing and being to explain the rationale behind their thinking rather than getting the correct answer.

What does the community of Doncaster owe to the railways?

By A Parker25th November 2017

That is the question we’ve been working towards answering since we embarked on our first learning expedition in September. This week in HUMANS, 7 Pioneer have been analysing historical sources and making lots of notes which will help them finally answer the guiding question in their assessed piece of writing.

 

Pioneer Collaborative Learning

By J Smith10th November 2017

Great work this week from all of Pioneer who have been taking on fractions decimals and percentages. After a number of weeks of ‘learning how to talk’, the class are now enjoying some great rewards of being able to solve problems together, working through collaborative tasks, to then take on the re-grapple!

 

Thank you Andria Johns!

By Jamie Portman9th October 2017

Last Thursday we kicked off Case Study 2 of our ‘What does the local community of Doncaster owe to the Railway?’ expedition by taking part in fieldwork to Hyde Park Cemetery. Here, Andria Johns of Friends of Doncaster Hyde Park, gave our students a superb tour of the gravestones of some of the people who had contributed to the growth of Doncaster during the Industrial Revolution period.

Andria provided key details and background information to these people, many of whom died due to accidental death and poor health and safety measures. The visit helped to immerse students in the next phase of our expedition, and also helped students to begin to understand how Doncaster’s rich historical Railway heritage has shaped the town that they live in today.

Andria works voluntarily for Friends of Doncaster Hyde Park, and she gave up her day off to work with XP East. We really appreciated her time and input.

Thank you Andria!

 

 

The productivity of 7P

By Jamie Portman3rd October 2017

I was so struck by 7P’s focus and effort this morning, I simply had to write about it.

Every single student was totally absorbed in their first draft of what makes a successful community. After drawing up a brief plan (and after yesterday’s creation of an opening paragraph) students have continuously worked for over 2 and a half hours on their reflective writing.

It must be said that being productive for such long periods of time are qualities of being a great learner, and students should be commended for this. Mrs Poncia introduced short activities in which to re-energise everyone’s concentration, and this clearly helped to make students to remain so focused on their work.

Emphasis on redrafting certainly puts a clear focus on quality and craftsmanship (one of our character traits) and I’m looking forward to reading about the completed pieces of work.

I intend to show examples of student’s work from 7P to my own group (7X) as this will help them to visualise what success looks like, and to aid their own efforts in answering ‘What makes a successful community?’

Great work everyone!

C24 Fieldwork: Hyde Park Cemetery

By K Poncia2nd October 2017

As C24 prepare to launch into Case Study 2 of our expedition ‘Society, Steam and Speed’, they will be visiting Hyde Park Cemetery on Thursday 5th October.

Here, they will be given a guided tour by a volunteer from The Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery.

The arrangements are as follows:

  • 7X students will depart promptly from school at 9.15 a.m. returning to school at 11.00am.
  • 7P students will depart promptly from school at 1.15 p.m. returning to school at 3.15 p.m.

Students will be walking to the cemetery and conducting fieldwork outdoors and so will need suitable rainwear and footwear.  In addition, please send any prescribed medication if appropriate.

Many thanks.