Life after SATs: what will you be teaching this summer? – open thread
Now that SATs are done and dusted, tell us what you are planning for your year 6 class this summer.
So, you have uttered the words "time's up, put down your pencils," for a final time; the statutory assessment tests (SATs) are over for another year. Now, what to do with all those year 6 pupils? Carry on with the curriculum or break-out and do something a little less 'standard' instead?
Well, for most of us a party is probably on the cards plus there will be trips out so pupils can visit their new schools. But what else can you offer that doesn't mean their last weeks of school become an extended golden time session where very little learning goes on?
I had one colleague who used to set a task where the class turned into travel agents and she gave them a very detailed specification of what kind of holiday she and her family wanted to go on this summer and they had to work in pairs to come up with a bespoke package tailored to her needs.
My class became forensic scientists and I used to reconstruct a crime scene – they had to do fingerprint dusting and fibre analysis and once the science bit was finished they wrote newspaper reports on what had happened and recorded a news bulletin live from the scene.
Another year we declared independence for our classroom and became a new country, designed a new currency, passport and set of rules and then they all created their own businesses trading with one another. There was lots of enthusiasm and bags of cross curricular opportunities – I included learning a new language, they created a new national anthem and one day we set to and made our own new national dish.
Read more... (The Guardian - 17 May)