FEATURE: VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
When the lesson becomes the story
nursery located in Eltham which is in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Just over a third of our children are eligible for free school meals and although pupils come from a wide range of social and economic circumstances, there is a significantly high pupil base deprivation indicator. The percentage of pupils for whom English is not their first language is 39% and this is made up of 36 different languages. 60% of children are from minority ethnic groups and 14 of the 17 ethnic groups are represented. We work hard to provide a welcoming and friendly family environment where children can develop into resilient, independent and confident individuals with enquiring minds and a love of learning.
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n our ever-popular View from the classroom feature this month we’re delighted to hear from Kate Barnes, Headteacher at Haimo Primary School in Eltham, who looks at the benefits of immersive learning and what it means for pupils and staff at her school.
Tell us about your schools We’re a larger than average primary school and
Reading and Writing is always an improvement priority for the school and we successfully use a variety of strategies to support pupils’ progress. A surprising aspect of this has been immersive learning which is now used in a number of ways across the school.
Can you explain what you mean by immersive learning?
We were first introduced to it by Punchdrunk Enrichment, an education and community led immersive theatre company , who developed the practice and has been working with schools for more than 15 years. Immersive learning places children in a fictional world where they
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are cast - as themselves - into the story and their actions and work are integral to the story moving forward with, ultimately, a successful outcome.
For example, the children may need to learn about local history to return a mysterious creature to a travelling museum, find out about their local geography to save a fictional island, or write stories to help characters return to a book. In all cases, the common link is that the children’s work is essential to solving the problem or issue. This immersive experience is a highly motivating way to engage and excite children in their learning and they often talk about each particular experience many months later.
How did you first hear about immersive learning?
We heard about immersive learning from our local authority and initially spoke with a local school who had hosted The Lost Lending Library, a Punchdrunk Enrichment literacy project that involved a mysterious and marvellous library arriving at the school. Everyone who experienced the three-week project talked about how it had engaged the children, improved their oracy and really increased their enthusiasm for writing. This resonated with me, and my senior leadership team, as these were key priorities for us as
June 2023
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