Project Based Learning (PBL)

What makes someone a community hero? (History, Art, English)

By researching famous figures such as Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez and Malala Yousafzai students explored what it means to work to address injustice and improve lives, and discussed together people in their own community who have similar goals on a local level. Having articulated a set of characteristics for a community hero, each student nominated someone they admire or have been inspired by, from the local Swanage community. They researched news stories and considered the occupations they consider heroic. Bringing together English and art skills, they created fact files and news articles, painted portraits in the style of American contemporary artist Shepard Fairey and sculpted their hero's likeness. The output of the project was a Community Heroes book.

How can we shrink our family's carbon footprint? (Geography, Science, Maths)

In this project, students worked together to explore the science behind climate change and carbon footprints, and the impact on the natural world and societies. Using data collection, measurement and maths skills, they calculated their family's carbon footprint and undertook research on the use of resources to devise an action plan for reducing their family's environmental impact. Persuasive resources for a campaign to encourage us all to work harder to reduce our carbon footprint formed the output of this project.

Why did the Titanic sink? (English, History, Geography)

In this mini-project, students investigated the reasons why the Titanic sank and explored similarities to the fate of the Costa Concordia, giving them deeper immersion into this fascinating story that simply learning the story of that fateful night in 1912. A trip to the SeaCity Museum (The Titanic Story) enabled them to learn more of the ship's connection to Southampton, to see and handle artifacts, and to investigate the role of key people involved in the making and sailing of the the Titanic and the rescue efforts. Students created a wonderful range of work in an autonomous activity to support their learning - including artwork, models, newspaper articles and scrapbooks. An extended empathy piece written from the perspective of a passenger rounded off the project.

How can we reduce the marine debris entering our oceans? (Geography, English, Science)

Students investigated the various types of plastic, how recyclable it is and what happens to mismanaged plastic. They heard from recycling experts and visited the local waste management centre to see first-hand how waste is discarded and sorted. Representatives from 'Surfers Against Sewage' discussed with them the issue of plastic debris in the ocean and ways in which action might be taken. Students demonstrated, through large scale mapping, their understanding of the route waste plastic takes to our oceans. As an output, students devised a public service announcement to educate the community on how to properly recycle plastic, along with videos and social media campaigns.

Read more on our Years 7-9 page.