Objective:
Embed activity into everyday learning
The first steps to recovery
The return to school following the second period of lockdown presented us with many challenges in many areas. One of which was the noticeable decrease in physical activity that our children had been participating in. Their fitness levels needed rebuilding and we needed to reignite their passion for learning and engagement and reconnect them with their friends and peers following long periods of not being able to socialise as they were used to. Teach Active provided us with a tool to tackle all of these areas of recovery.
Engagement
All the staff welcomed the use of Teach Active. Their enthusiasm following the training course was immediate, they were already thinking of how and when they could use it within their teaching week. The online platform makes it easy for teachers to find the objectives they want to teach, and they use the tasks in many ways, introducing new topics, reinforcing previously taught topics, as an intervention for support. The engagement from the children is brilliant. The smiles are seen in every class. They are active and learning and the children themselves express they like this way of learning. Teach Active provides opportunities to engage with their peers, engage in another session of activity, engage in meaningful learning tasks.
"The interactive platform that is online is really easy to use, its broken up into year groups and then into key objectives so if you're looking to plug a specific gap or do some consolidation work it means that you can very quickly and very easily find a number of games that the children can play that you know will support them in developing those skills. You know when there is a Teach Active lesson going on because you can hear the laughter all the way through the building."
Jess Schuettke, Assistant Headteacher
The impact and feedback from staff
All staff engaged with Teach Active immediately. They have all seen the positive benefits and impacts for their children. The ease of finding the objective they need. The activities are engaging and the children enjoy them. Everyone can see the benefit of learning through activity.
Our Intital teacher training teacher has used it during her placements in Year 6 and Year 2
'I love it!! I used it in Year 6 for Maths on a Friday and they loved it. I also used it today for the first time with Year 2, I asked them at the end if they had enjoyed it and they all said YES! I could tell they did as they were really engaged running around trying to find the words and add on the suffixes.'
Our Year 2 teacher also loves using it.
'The children love it as there are so many creative ideas to support the teaching of a range of concepts. The lessons range in length so you could use one as a starter and one for a whole lesson - they are very flexible. I have found it useful for consolidation and to address any misconceptions. All the resources are provided alongside each lesson.'
Our Year 4 teacher says I like the activities that are exactly what you need to teach. Teach Active gives the children an alternative way to achieve their targets and objectives without having to sit down and complete a task, which works very well for the children in my class.
The future and next steps
Teach Active lessons are now a fundamental part of every class' week. The scope and flexibility to meet different targets and objectives is a real positive with teachers and teaching assistants. We have seen the benefit of using the Teach Active programme through increased levels of activity, positive emotional benefits and relationship building between children and staff and levels of achievement in fundamental English and Maths skills. The future is bright, the future is active at Over Hall Community School.
"Since we have started using Teach Active it has had a positive effect on all the children across the school. They really enjoy the teamwork aspect of it because they are working together and not necessarily with the people that they normally work with, which means it's really inclusive so everybody gets to work with different partners. This also helps with differentiation and then we can work with mixed ability groups, and also then use the lessons for targetted intervention for children who need reinforcement of key objectives. The engagement with Teach Active across the school has been great and it is really lovely to see the smiles on the children's faces as they are engaging in an active lesson."
Laura Ackerley, PE lead and SENDCo