Project, Program and Performance.

There is alot to write about this week as the CLC ran a variety of sessions for our Network Schools. The week started off with the pupils of year 8 from Parkview Secondary School participating in some Lego Robolab sessions. There were four sessions in total and each class had to run through various programming tasks which allowed them to make a Robot follow specific instructions. Each session included exciting challenges which allowed the pupils to compete for best teamwork and best programming champion.

Also this week saw the start of our Modern Foreign Languages Project, which we are running alongside Washwood Heath Secondary School. The MFL project involves several primary and secondary Language teachers using video conferencing to enhance their lessons. Group meetings will be held to discuss new and exciting ways in teaching languages. Progress on this project will be updated in the future.

Pupils from Year 10 Bordesley Green Girls School attended a P.E Performance session this week which allowed them to evaluate and recognise strengths and weaknessess, plan strategies and improve their performance of doing physical education. This session will make 10% of the GCSE mark for P.E. Working in small groups the pupils made videos of themselves playing rounders and watched it later to analyse their playing method. All pupils were very enthusiastic and followed instructions carefully.

Last but not least, another Access session was run this week but this time pupils from Al-Hijrah girls school learnt about creating forms and reports in a database. Another successful outcome was seen by the pupils.

Access Accepted!

This week the CLC created forms and reports using Access software with the pupils from Al- Hijra Boys School. The aim of the lesson was to learn how to create a form and a report incorporating pictures, graphs and the various other formatting features.

The pupils of year 9 visited the centre and were introduced to the 'CLC Movies 4 U' database. They then had to complete several tasks which allowed them to practice inputting and retrieving specific data to place in a form and on a report. The pupils worked really hard and showed some excellent understanding of databases.

Super Science!

At the CLC this week the Catholic Partnership attended a crime scene scenario and were given the opportunity to investigate, through different activites, how to solve a murder. The various network schools who were involved arrived with three pupils from their school to take part in the session. Grouping everyone into specific teams played a major role in this session as it allowed the pupils to build confidence in interacting with pupils who were not known to them.

Each team then worked through a total of six tasks like blood analysis, finger print matching, toxicology and more to try and solve a crime. Everyone worked well together and the session was enjoyed by all.

Also year 10 pupils from St Albans Secondary School took up the CLC Space Challenge, where each pupil went through mental and physical challenges to understand what life would be like for an astronaut. Again the pupils were very keen and quick to learn.

Robots 'n' Space

Robots and Astronomy were the main sessions taught this week at the CLC. Al-Hijrah Secondary School attended Lego Mindstorm classes where the pupils of year 7 and year 8 were shown how to program robots to do specific jobs like moving in a straight line, square, sounding alarms and displaying pictures and text.

Using sensors and sound sensitive equipment the robots were also programmed to do specific actions upon hearing a certain sound and move into various directions when coming into contact with an object.

Also Nansen Primary School attended astronaut sessions detailing what life was like for an astronaut. Each child was put through physical, mental and reaction challenges. They were also given facts on lifestyle and food up in space. All the children this week were enthusiastic and enjoyed all the tasks given.

ICT Champions

As previously mentioned Parkview City Learning Centre initiated the 'English for ICT Champions' project just before May half term. The aim of the project is to train and equip innovative English Practitioners in delivering exciting and engaging classroom content.

Each teacher was given in induction pack and kit which compromised of a Ferarri Laptop, a camcorder, a digital camera and various other essentials needed for the project; both the kit and software will be loaned for a year. Group meetings will be held regularly to discuss and exchange best practice. Also all resources will be stored in an online repository to be accessed by the wider teaching community. Updates of this project will be given throughout the year.