What has worked well in the Project Launch? How do you know?

Here's a selection from around project fortnight:

1.       The dog agility session, letting kids have a go at ‘crufts’ after practising dog obedience in the morning session

Students are enjoying starting their learning journey in their journals. The project launched with a visit from the deputy head of the school we will be visiting and she introduced the school and project to the students. They had a wealth of questions and were visibly excited about the project. Today, students have conducted their own research into the different types of SEN they will work with when at the school. They have also begun to learn Makaton, to the Mr Tumble ‘Hello Song’. 

Cinema inspiration and talking of personal experiences to get the students ‘hooked.’ They’re highly motivated because they see building the assault course as a challenge and have taken ownership of it.

The transport media team  have been thrilled at the manner in which the Y9 lads have organised themselves. A full class discussion about what would equate to success with this project produced broad areas of interest. The lads then placed themselves into these broad groupings and came up with a mini action plan. The quality of their thinking was really good and they thought laterally too, coming up with ideas we had not thought of. The groupings were fair in number and composition, which was also a bonus. Andrew Soulsby blew me away by suggesting he follow a “producer/director” role, advising some groups and facilitating others. All in all, a really positive start, as the structure worked the way we hoped, but without us having to impose it.

 I was impressed by everyone's commitment - they're all more than happy to 'muck in' and seem fired up by the competitive element & the idea that we're up against other schools, therefore what we produce must be top quality. 


We used Video connect, followed by compare and contrast recycling vs upcycling (students make connections and clarify their definition of upcycling). Literacy taboo allowed students to develop their understanding of key vocabulary, as well as break the ice within their new groupings. During the design session students were able to not only select raw materials, but give justifications as to the wider implications of the project in terms or economic value, artistic creativity and sustainability.

To launch our project we showed news articles/ real stories of people surviving in the wilderness. We then did a continuum line to see wether the students would do that to survive. This seemed to hook the students into the project as well as linking it to the hunger games. 

Cakeworld Project

Our students in CakeWorld today have been exploring some key skills of Baking 101 – making cupcakes and trialling out how to colour, roll and shape royal icing.  They’re very excited about the project of creating the Sphinx, Pyramids, Petra and Maccu Piccu.

Students have been generating some initial ideas and responses to the project (see pics) and have been creating some cupcake designs.

We have already allocated a  Star Baker award to mason who not only worked solo on the cupcakes, but was resilient at trying new skills and for someone who ‘doesn’t know how to crack an egg’, did a pretty darn impressive job!!   We have been surprised, impressed and proud of how they have all taken to Day 1 of this project…our trip to The Hancock Museum tomorrow will be an exciting adventure…we get to meet a real-life (dead hehe) mummy!

A great Project Introdcution

I loved the introduction to this project, which just goes to prove you  can study the world through just about anything.

The students are studying world war one, particularly on a local level. The students are producing a cycling map, which sets up trails that then inform visitors of local history. The combination of content knowledge, engaging activities and a purposeful product are all key motivational strategies for this project.
This slide show highlights the big picture of the project, has teaching prompts and questions to teach the content, highlights and makes relevant enticing trips out on bikes, and includes the practicalities to make the project run smoothly.

What a great way to learn history and about your local area.

Project Introduction- World War One on a bike from DKMead

Project Based Learning at CLV

Projecting success at CLV

What is Project?

Cramlington Learning Village is putting into Project Based Learning (PBL) into our core curriculum.  Project Based Learning refers to students designing, planning, and carrying out an extended project that produces a publicly-exhibited output such as a product, publication, or exhibition. This year Year 7 students have around 20% of their curriculum time delivered through project based learning primarily in Science and Humanities.  This is supported by our Learn to Learn programme.

World Class Education Study Tours

Over the last three years senior leaders and key practitioners have worked alongside partners such as the Innovation Unit and Whole Education to use study tours to High Tech High in San Diego and Expeditionary Learning Schools in New England to build our understanding of PBL and the learning it brings to students in our own context.  Cramlington Learning Village is working as part of the Learning through REAL Projects Pilot  to drive forward and evaluate the impact of PBL.  

Why PBL?

Our own experience and the growing community of practice around PBL demonstrates the impact deep learning opportunities bring to our young people.  Cramlington Learning Village is proud to offer a curriculum which not only optimises achievement but builds opportunities to develop the key attributes and dispositions (our 5Rs) in meaningful ways.  PBL offers further opportunity to build on a core principle of our school - to develop independent learners and thinkers.  Evidence shows also that working on authentic, well designed Projects increases engagement for young people.  Moreover PBL helps our organisation to develop classroom norms for critique which empower students to make improvements in their work; to work hard to perfect work in light of critical analysis.  Finally, the principles of curating, displaying and exhibiting beautiful work gives our young people a real sense of what can be achieved

There are 3 key areas of the curriculum where PBL is central to the experience of our young people:

Project Fortnight - the high point in our educational year happens in June.  Almost 1000 students from Years 7-9 engage in intensive 2 week projects in small groups. The outcomes are astonishing.  They range from professional, bespoke chairs designed from scratch using mathematical principles to CDs sold on iTunes comprising original music inspired by local birdsong and accompanied by hand drawn illustrations as sleeve notes.  The impact of Project Fortnight for many of our young people is transformative; it brings real authenticity to their learning and leaves a lasting impression on how they view school and what can be achieved.

Experience Week

In February Years 7-9 engage in a week long project delivered through the normal curriculum.  Students create their own timetable based around workshops offered around a planned core theme.  Each department plans workshops around the theme culminating in two days where pupils craft their final product to show their learning.  Examples of the beautiful work created by students is displayed in the JLV street.  Students love the variety of experience and the way the theme brings relevance to their learning. It brings a crucial opportunity to develop a culture of drafting, critique and the meaning of quality work. 

In 2014 the focus of the week was the “Big Write”  with students in Year 7+8 creating an A-Z of their learning around the theme of “East meets West”.  Year 9 students were challenged to think about “What if…?” For example, students had the chance to visit workshops ranging from “What if the Cuban missile crisis had escalated?” and “What if Vampires were real?” in order to inspire their amazing written pieces.  Each home group produced a book which is to be published very soon.

Current Projects

Pupils exhibit their learning
to family and friends

Year 7 are introduced to PBL with a project entitled: “Who am I?  Here I am, illuminated” in Humanities.  This first project is about Culture, Community and Contribution.

Students will create a piece of really high quality work which will establish for students the culture and work ethic of life at Cramlington.  This will be an opportunity for the classroom communities to explore the identity, skills, qualities and contributions that each individual brings to the learning journey they are about to embark on over the course of the next seven years.

Students will investigate the story of the creation of the Lindisfarne gospels- Northumberland’s greatest treasure and use this as inspiration to craft their own illuminated manuscript page , learning calligraphy along the way!

Sample draft page from the EAT book

Year 7 students have just completed the Educate a Town project (E.A.T.) in science.  The theme was inspired by the local issues of health and lifestyle. Students are working with experts from Newcastle University and local community members investigating eating habits, consumer issues as well as the science of nutrition. The result has been a carefully researched and scientifically written book for everyday consumers helping them to make healthy choices and become informed about the food they eat which will be available to buy locally.

School as Base Camp

Over the next two weeks Project Fortnight will undertake 63 trips from school, including the World Challenge trip to Ghana. Some are on foot, some visit our project "clients", some are active, some are artistic, some are cultural, some are community ventures, some are fact finding trips. All are part of engaging students in schooling and are opportunities to think like geographers, runners, entrepreneurs, writers, artists, scientists, horticulturists, designers, cyclists, musicians, historians etc.

The idea of "school as base camp" is not a knew one, but has been summarised neatly by  Learning Futures  defining it as :
School as ‘Base Camp’: A genuine 21st century school should be a base camp rather than a single destination – a place where students meet to explore learning opportunities that take them into their communities, onto the web, and to local businesses and employers. It should also be a hub that creates connections with families, and with learning partners beyond school.


Stay tuned for updates from the trips to find out what the students learn as a result of them.