I enjoyed today and learned valuable information on news writing and journalism.
Year 8 pupil
Pupils in Year 8 were taken out of lessons to be plunged into two immersive learning 'experiences' that cut across conventional subject boundaries.
The project-based learning exercise involved all girls in the year doing a full-day news simulation exercise and also a full-day creating a piece of art based on the outcome of a mathematical investigation into the golden ratio.
The news simulation task - run jointly by the English and Computing departments - showed pupils the basics of news writing before asking them to work as a newsgathering team, reacting to a 'live' news event about a boating disaster off the North Wales coast.
Students were required to allocate roles within their news teams, conduct interviews with 'witnesses' and 'emergency services personnel' and then write and lay out their stories on a simulated online news page. The interviewee roles were played by members of Queen's staff.
As much as possible, pupils were left to react and respond authentically as news came in 'live' throughout the day.
Today was very enjoyable. It was a nice way to do some English without being on normal timetables.
The mathematical art project began with pupils discovering ‘phi’ and investigating where it appeared in nature, including the human body. They then looked at Kenneth Moore’s work produced under the theme of ‘chance and chaos’. Specifically pieces that had been created by using a mathematical algorithm. Pupils then began to create working sketches based on using the golden ratio, combined with an algorithm. This project gave pupils the opportunity to understand how a larger piece of work would be produced at GCSE level and practice construction skills needed for GCSE mathematics.
I loved this, I think we should make this for the whole school but add more subjects like drama
