11learning January/February 2009
SECONDARY
T
here is just an hour until school's
out for the day at the Richard Rose
Morton Academy, so you might
expect pupils to be getting restless and
having trouble concentrating.
But in Mrs Houlden's class they are
sitting round tables working in pairs,
drawing, looking up atlases and checking
for information on computers.
Jack Richardson, 12, comes up and
proudly shows his picture of colourful
birds and fish. It is his interpretation of
wildlife you find in South America,
which ties in with the theme the pupils
are working on, global affairs.
The atmosphere is both relaxed and
productive; and as this is Opening Minds
� which was introduced in September
when Morton became an academy � this
is the desired effect.
"Opening Minds focuses on the learner
and gets them energised and motivated,"
explains director Katie Robinson, who
says it is already benefiting her pupils.
"Both the teacher and learner construct
the curriculum and it is about them
working together, which makes it
enjoyable and active.
"The pupils are encouraged to
question learning, to identify where
learning is occurring. It is a quest, and
they are encouraged to find the answer.
It gets them to take responsibility and to
become resilient individuals in the
outside world."
It is a part of the school week that Jack
particularly enjoys. "I like it because you
get to do all the fun stuff, the games and
everything," he says.
Opening Minds is structured around
the key stage three curriculum. It was
introduced in the school at the start of
the autumn term and the idea is to link
subjects together, and move away from
the tradition of teaching every subject
separately. Opening Minds is for year
reports that the national economic
downturn had seen an increasing
number of teachers struggling with
mortgage payments and other debts
arising from credit cards payments and
borrowed money.
Teaching unions are finding that the
main reason that their members make
applications to their benevolent funds is
to help with mortgage repayments.
One curious effect of the recession is
to make state schools a more popular
choice for parents. As the fees charged
by the independent sector become more
of a burden to cash-strapped families,
they are turning to the "best" state
schools and negotiating the minefield of
admissions policies and catchment areas
that govern parental choice in order to
ensure a place for their children.
With students quitting the fee-paying
sector, even primary schools places are
oversubscribed in parts of the country.
You may also be surprised to know
that there are still 164 grammar schools
in England, most of which have rigorous
admission tests. They too are seeing a
rise in students seeking admission with
some 1,519 candidates undergoing an 11-
plus style entrance exam for just 180
places in one grammar school near
Manchester.
Whatever the other ramifications of
our current economics difficulties, I
hope that there is now a growing
realisation that the economy is not
directly driven by educational policy. I
hope that a hole has been blown in the
much pedalled perception that the effect
of producing increasingly skilled and
qualified school leavers will somehow
lead inexorably to greater economic
prosperity for individuals and for the
country as a whole.
Economy and education are not
causally linked. Our current situation is
in no way a result of how we have
educated our young people. The credit
crunch should therefore be a wake-up
call to rethink what model of
"prosperity" we are offering our young
people.
Is it just the narrow materialistic
experience of seeking higher salaried
employment? Is it just the expectation
that fulfilment will come from the ability
to produce more and consume more? (By
the time you read this around 37 per cent
of Christmas presents bought for
children in England will have been
broken or discarded at an estimated cost
of �1.16 billion.)
We need to offer children a better and
wider ranging toolkit for finding
fulfilment and meaning in their future
lives and consequently in the life of their
neighbourhood, their country and their
world. This is the time to start.
`Cash-strapped fee-paying
parents are turning to the
`best' state schools to try
to get their children in'
seven pupils, though there are plans to
implement it for year eight in the future.
It accounts for 60 per cent of learning,
but its aim reaches higher than simply
teaching children. It aims to ease the
transition from primary to secondary
school, where children change from
being taught in one classroom to many.
A whole floor at Morton is dedicated to
Opening Minds. The pupils pick learning
objectives and they learn about subjects
� referred to as `themes' � in depth. So
for a theme such as global affairs, they
will cover areas such as geography, maps
of the world, and our place in the solar
system. Other themes include All About
Me, My Locality and Roaming Around.
"It encourages pupils to think and ask
questions, and is not about just giving
them answers," says Mrs Robinson.
"They plan their work and teachers help
with structure and support. It's not
about teaching but about directing
learning, and we try to create a
nurturing environment."
At Morton, the pupils have their own
classrooms for Opening Minds, which
they have been able to make into an
environment in which they are
comfortable. Mr Hill's class, for example,
requested a `Chill-ax Zone' � a relaxation
area � a whiteboard, water and shelves to
store things on.
Along the corridor, meanwhile, in Miss
Singleton's class, the children have been
learning about America, in particular
native America, and have been busy
making teepees. "It is very free, they
choose the areas they want to cover and
then we run with it. They really enjoy
it," says Miss Singleton.
Back in Mrs Houlden's class, the
pupils are now doing a quiz, using
interactive equipment which allows
`Both the teacher and the
learner construct the
curriculum, which makes
it fun and enjoyable'
Reflective: Adam Graham, 11, with his tepee during Opening Minds at the Richard Rose Morton Academy, Carlisle
them to choose answers using hand-held
remote controls.
"Opening Minds is fantastic," says Mrs
Houlden afterwards. "Who cares that
Henry the VIII simply had six wives?
This isn't about learning facts out of a
textbook, it's about working with
someone else, using resources like the
internet and developing skills for life.
"The children participate much more,
and with equipment like this they can
contribute and choose their answers
without the pressure of sitting and
putting their hand up, worrying about
getting the answer wrong in front of
everyone. Basically they are always
learning things, but in a fun way."
Mrs Robinson adds: "The
achievements have been tremendous and
the feedback shows this approach makes
them more resilient and more reflective."
Interview by Rosalind Gibb
Can't go wrong: Chloe Routledge, 11, and Nicole Clark, 11, check their
measurements of a scale map of the Richard Rose Morton Academy
`Opening Minds is great.
Who cares that Henry VIII
simply had six wives?'

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