All Year 7 students spend one full morning every fortnight on project-based activities designed to improve their personal learning skills. We want students to be creative, reflective learners who work well as individuals and in teams. This will help them in all their future studies and eventually in the world of work.
 

Throughout the year we run five or six projects, each incorporating a visit to a local site to act as a stimulus.
 

We have visited the abandoned medieval village of Wharram Percy to study the history and geography of the area; after researching medieval life, students have for example re-constructed medieval buildings and carried out creative writing tasks.

Our project on ‘Black Voices’ has investigated the trans-Atlantic slave trade and allowed students to explore African culture through mask-making and drumming workshops.

We have enjoyed workshops at York Theatre Royal, centred on the production of ‘The Wind in the Willows’. Students have researched the main characters, made story boards and designed costumes and stage sets. 

Our local nature reserve, ‘Clifton Backies’, is the site of a former war-time airfield. Students have researched the history of the site and produced information leaflets for local users. Our visit included bulb-planting, mini-beast and wild flower spotting. 

Our final project of the year has been a study of York tourist attractions. After touring the city, our students were tasked with putting on a showcase event for parents and the local community in our new school building.
 

At the end of each project we ask students to evaluate the skills they have used. At The Joseph Rowntree School we use a concept of ‘Skill Fish’ - different fish for different skills. Students assess their skills at three different levels, through peer and self assessment; they then set themselves personal targets to improve. If you would like to know more about the ‘Skill Fish’ please click here.