Engagement

The ABC of Opera learning journey links world history, geography and social developments against a backdrop of music and fun. Curriculum links to aural and literacy which are the core, although most aspects of the curriculum are covered. The skills stretched ABC include listening and performing, pupils engage as individuals and as groups, quickly adapting to the pace and challenge of the program.

Find out more @ http://abcofopera.com/

MI can provide educators with a tool for how to enhance students’ intrinsic motivation to learn or change behavior, individually or in a class. It does so by providing a simple way to honor autonomy, recognize strengths or competence to scaffold learning while enhancing interpersonal collaboration. Might this be a tool to support students in developing a growth mindsets for their academic skills, reinforce the development of grit and improve outcomes?

Find out more @ https://miforschools.org

Age: Any

Overview: Garden projects, giving pupils the control/chance to make their own garden or outside space.

Resources: https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/resources

Age: Any

Overview: Encourage the pupils, with the help of staff to create their own woodwork projects, make boxes or displays for the school, etc.

Resources: Woodwork space

Age: Any

Overview: To help children and young people to have a greater say over matters that affect their school and wider lives.

Resources: https://www.schoolcouncils.org/

Age: Any

Overview: The Eco-Committee (ideally elected by the whole school) takes the lead on the school's involvement in the project. Ideally, the committee includes pupils from each year group, teachers, non-teaching staff, management and parents. An ideal Eco-Committee will also represent the views of the wider local community as well as the whole school. Examples of this include local council representatives or other local environmental contacts, perhaps from the voluntary sector. The Eco-Committee is designed to be flexible and can take many forms tailored to meet the individual circumstances of your school. It could be part of an existing group who meet regularly or in some cases, it could include every pupil and staff member in the school. Often the committee is made up of volunteers from the student body as well as teachers and other interested members of the community. In some cases schools will go through a full election process with manifestos, election speeches, canvassing, election posters and ballots in order to fill the various positions on the committee! The Eco-Committee is responsible for carrying out the initial and subsequent Environmental Reviews and for preparing an Action Plan for the whole school to engage in.

Resources: http://www.eco-schoolsni.org/cgi-bin/generic?instanceID=10

Age: Any

Overview: Encourage the pupils to get involved with volunteering within the community, e.g. old people’s homes, clean ups, disabled groups.

Resources: N/A

Age: Any

Overview: Forest School is an inspirational process, that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees.

Forest School is a specialised learning approach that sits within and complements the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.

Resources: https://www.forestschoolassociation.org/what-is-forest-school/

Age: Any

Overview: Providing the pupils with a variety of clubs and activities during lunchtime or after school, such as sports activities or leisure activities.

Resources: N/A

Age: Any

Overview: Grit deliver personal development programmes using structured group training models partnered with individual coaching. Our transformational training methodology has been tried and tested over the last 25 years and is continually developed by our exceptional team of facilitators, most of whom have over 10 years of Grit experience. Everything we do is designed to challenge the way you think by listening, speaking and engaging. It’s about creating the space to see new choices. By identifying the limitations within your mind-set and breaking through them, you will recognise the contribution you can make to yourself, others and the world.

Resources: https://grit.org.uk/programmes

Overview: The Mindset Kit is a free set of online lessons and practices designed to help you teach and foster adaptive beliefs about learning.

Resources: https://www.mindsetkit.org/

Overview: Support is based on sharing experiences and agreeing a reason for meeting. How you choose to meet up or connect with people is very flexible and depends on your personal preferences. Peer support can improve your emotional health, wellbeing and sense of belonging.

A vital part of peer support is mutual respect; peer support aims to help both those giving and receiving support. Everyone's experiences are treated as equally important, so you might find this gives you a different experience to more traditional support options.

Resources: N/A

The purpose of mentoring is to provide support, guidance and advice to teachers to enable them to enhance their teaching skills to develop professionally. Mentoring works best when it is carried out as part of a structured developmental programme.

Find out more @ https://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/continuing-professional-development/teacher-educator-framework/supporting-and-mentoring-teachers/introduction-supporting-and-mentoring-teachers

Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children’s learning, and levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with children’s academic outcomes. Schools and early years settings can support parents to engage with their children’s learning in a wide range of ways.

Find out more @ https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/school-themes/parental-engagement/

Assisting children’s learning potential at home will certainly increase their learning performance when they return to school. This course is designed to give parent’s and carer’s the methods to advance themselves as teachers from within the home so to increase the academic performance of their children in order to develop your children’s literacy skills and independent learning. By doing this course you will subsequently increase your teaching ability as parents or carers to help with homework and to collaborate more effectively with your child’s schooling.

Find out more @ https://acapacademyuk.co.uk/positive-parenting/

https://www.familylives.org.uk/how-we-can-help/online-parenting-courses/

Parent coffee mornings are a great way for parents to meet and interact, using each other to answer their own questions while also being able to interact with staff.

The PLAY Project (PLAY) is a cost effective, evidence-based, autism early intervention program that is parent implemented and play-based. PLAY uses the family’s relationship to intervene and help the child reach their full developmental potential.

Find out more @ https://www.playproject.org/parents/

Based in the East midlands, they are a specialist non-profit organisation that organise music based projects for primary and secondary schools.

Find out more @ http://www.firebirdtrust.co.uk/about-firebird-trust-non-profit-music-organisation/

HMDT, twice winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Education (2004 and 2008), is a leader in developing inspiring arts projects, which support other areas of learning. Working with world class artists and leading experts, HMDT increases access to high quality musical experiences by commissioning new performance works, developing resources, creating enduring partnerships, and sustaining an extensive outreach programme to schools and the community in areas of significant disadvantage and deprivation.

Find out more @ http://www.hmdt.org.uk

Great Art Quest is a UK-wide arts project designed to introduce schoolchildren to their local gallery. The project aims to help provide young people with the opportunity to learn about, experience and create art in order to boost their confidence, increase their creativity and change the way they think about the world.

Find out more @ https://www.childrenandarts.org.uk/great-art-quest

They work with children with emotional difficulties, using unique methodology to help them explore their feelings, express themselves and grow in confidence.

Find out more @ https://www.theartroom.org.uk/

They provide Drama projects that involve the whole class giving children the opportunity to express their creativity. A series of 6 musicals covering topics such as peer pressure, bullying, relationships and citizenship, they bring out the very best in all children.

Find out more @ http://www.malachi.org.uk/in-your-school/drama-projects

Bigfoot works within primary, secondary and post 16 education environments both during and out of school time, as well as running specialist performing arts courses throughout the school holidays. They provide schools with a wide range of creative workshops, interactive whole school assemblies and courses designed to help students discover their spark and enrich their learning experience.

Find out more @ http://bigfootartseducation.co.uk

Dallaglio RugbyWorks is an intensive, long-term skills development programme based on rugby, through which they aim to get teenagers outside of mainstream education into sustained education, employment or training.

Find out more @ http://www.dallagliorugbyworks.com/

The aim of The Daily Mile is to improve the physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of our children – regardless of age, ability or personal circumstances. The Daily Mile is a social physical activity, with children running or jogging – at their own pace – in the fresh air with friends. Children can occasionally walk to catch their breath, if necessary, but should aim to run or jog for the full 15 minutes. They encourage every child to do a Daily Mile in their Primary School.

To find out more and sign up for the Daily Mile see @ https://thedailymile.co.uk

VIG is an intervention through which a practitioner aims to enhance communication within relationships. It works by engaging clients actively in a process of change towards realizing their own hopes for a better future in their relationships with others who are important to them. Guiders are themselves guided by the values and beliefs around respect and empowerment.

Find out more about their services and training @ https://www.videointeractionguidance.net/aboutvig

Code Club teaches children how to code, working with a global community of volunteers, educators and partners to run free coding clubs where 9-13 year olds build and share their ideas.

Find a club near you @ https://codeclub.org/

This website provides a resilience framework and resources to develop resilience among children and young people.

Find out more @ https://youngminds.org.uk/resources/school-resources/academic-resilience-resources/