Mayfield Primary SchoolCurriculum: Planning Mats & Key Words
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROJECT LEADER
Mr Taylor
As we continue to develop, refine and search for constant improvements in our Curriculum & Classroom Craft, we have, in recent months, been developing a new element to our planning and vocabulary work. We have been keen for some time to develop a system of planning that is there for the children to see, read, follow and understand. As we move through the various subjects and units, we want our children to understand the journey they are on and be able to recap and revise previous learning quickly and effectively. The planning mats are our latest attempts at this and cover all subject areas. We have created two versions of these already, with our latest one captured below. A key element within the mats is the importance and position of vocabulary or 'key words' as they are termed on here. We have tried this previously and have now integrated them onto the specific subject mats in this case. This is very much a work in progress and forming a central part of my current work as project leader. Ultimately, we are looking for a system which ensures that our children understand the direction of learning and understanding the way it builds whilst holding onto what has gone. A combination of shared planning, knowledge retention, prominent key vocabulary and an accessible classroom resource that is ideal for Brain Gym is exactly what we are searching for.
The mats are based on the classroom islands and stations and each subject area, once approved, is laminated and a copy made for each child. They are then used at relevant Brain Gym times within the week and during the subject sessions themselves. It should be stated that the mats capture challenges to take place rather than 'lessons' and they often cover more than a conventional hour long session. We don't operate our learning in that traditional manner.
Watch this space - this innovation is evolving all the time as we learn more about its impact.
Below you can find our previous version Vocabulary Mats and then you will see our new Planning Mats incorporating 'Key Words'. The example we have given is taken from science in Year 6.
