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• October
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• Local Church Inspires Real Life Learning

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Divine inspiration played its part when a Kirkby school was looking for ways to bring art and history to life for pupils.

In fact, Kirkby CE Primary teachers, Sue Wavell and Kim Woodham discovered the ideal resource was right on their doorstep – in the form of St Chad’s Church.

The pair were determined to discover new ways to teach their pupils art and history – to make the subjects exciting and relevant to their lives and the area in which they live. Taking St Chad’s as a living example, they created a series of innovative new lesson plans suitable for every group in Key Stages 1 and 2, making use of the church building and its grounds.

Once back in the classroom, the new lessons proved extremely popular with the children, allowing them to understand their subjects in greater depth than before, having seen them demonstrated in their own community.

The project was also a fantastic way to encourage the youngsters to learn more about the heritage of their town and to appreciate the value of the beautiful surroundings they have near their homes. As a result, in addition to helping them learn history and art, the new lessons raised awareness of the problem of vandalism and littering that the church has suffered, and gave the children an understanding of the damage it causes.

Now the cross curricular lesson plans, activities and resources used are being posted onto a new St Chad’s Learning Zone Website, so that pupils from other primary schools in the area can benefit from the same experiences.

Mair Hindmarsh, head teacher at Kirkby C of E, said: “This has been a fantastic project for our pupils to get involved with. They have learnt so much, both within the subjects of history and art, but also in wider terms. They now have a sense of pride in their local area and can see the value in the town’s heritage. They understand why vandalism and littering is wrong.

“St Chad’s has been a fantastic inspiration for all of this and we thank them, particularly Rev Tim Stratford, for their co-operation. Now, with the aid of the website, we hope that some or all of the 16 other primary schools in Kirkby will make use of this valuable resource.”

Damian Allen, Director of Children’s Services in Knowsley, said: “It is fantastic to see our primary schools using such forward-thinking ways of making subjects both interesting and relevant to the pupils.

“The teachers involved in putting together this package of lesson plans and resources have created a useful legacy which can be used by other schools and other pupils for years to come. Well done.”

PHOTO: Kirkby CE Pupils Jonathon Hall, Megan Hall, Harry Hampton, Conor McKenna, Shannon Johnson with the Bishop of Liverpool at the official launch of the learning website at St Chad’s church.

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