Visit to IPACA Academy

The first schools that Terry White took me to in UK was the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy (IPACA) opened in September 2012, bringing together five Portland schools, the Grove, Brackenbury and Underhill, Southwell and Royal Manor Arts College. The new primary school is a converted leisure centre. The school is co-educational state school providing for students aged 4 – 16, together with Foundation Stage units including nursery and reception age children.

IPACA is sponsored by educational charity The Aldridge Foundation, which has strong links to the community forging employment opportunities for school graduates. This thinking is considered critical as most school leavers stay in the area – the school has a commitment to   building  networks with commercial and manufacturing organisations in the district and incorporating opportunities for students in their teaching and learning.

IPACA is led by Head teacher Alison Appleyard and its Governing Body. This body includes Sponsor Governors, Staff Governors, Local Authority Governors, Parent Governors and co-opted governors selected by the Academy Trust

Professor Stephen Heppell,  is the patron of IPACA. Stephen is recognised internationally as a leader in education. As a Heppell.net school the staff  here have the advantage of working directly with Stephen Heppell who influences the direction of the school.

Gary Spracklen is the Director of Digital Learning and Innovation across all campus of IPACA. His role is to drive the vision around digital learning and innovation. As an early adaptor and enthusiast for digital and future focused learning, Gary is exploring different ways he can work with the leadership team to make sure that the thinking and culture around digital learning and innovation is consistent across all five campus with ideas being explored at all levels of the school.  His blog can be explored at www.digitalipaca.blogspot.co.uk

Is an ”all through school” focused on ”stage not age” Currently 5 years to 9 years, but new build will take students to 18 years. The students work in house groups, across two year groups.  Each space can accommodate 90 students with 3 teachers, plus two teaching assistants. Most learning support happens in the classroom. A typical lesson has one teacher leading 1 supporting and 1 stretching more able students. Every learner has a chrome book from Yr 7 up. 

Key educational elements of  the design include:

·        spaces within spaces

·        flexibility

·        personalising learning

·        Why before the How and What

·        mixed age learning

·        digital learning

The flexible environment is achieved by a range of different furniture including high backed sofas and utilising furniture to make withdrawal spaces. These spaces were observed being used flexibly in the junior areas of the school

Gary  explained that in UK there is huge pressure to teach to the SATS which schools and teachers are judged on nationally. Personalising learning is considered to be a risk because there are tests to pass and jobs and careers can be lost if the student achievement results take a dive. IPACAs SAT results are impressive. Gary is working with staff across all campus to have confidence in letting go didactic approaches and to have the belief that the fantastic student achievement results will just get better with the open and team teaching approach in the modern learning environment that IPACA is committed to.

We had a brief visit to the Royal Manor campus where the senior students are currently located and met with principal Alison Appleyard where we discussed the proposed  new campus at Southwell Park. This exciting project is an old Navy base that is currently a commercial centre.

It will cater for students between 3 and 16 years old, with the main school buildings divided into houses or “schools within schools”, and a separate section for early years children from Nursery to Year 3, with its own entrance and play areas. 

The plans or Southwell Park  include:

·        a performing arts theatre

·        heated swimming pool

·        a new sports hall

·        specialist sports, art, drama, music, science and environmental science facilities

·        cutting-edge computer facilities and new technology to support learning

·        a dedicated zone to support enterprise for students and the community.

TheSouthwell Park campus would offer a range of after-school activities and facilities will be available for after school and community programmes as part of the commitment to linking to the local community.

--- SEE GARY'S GOOGLE ATMOSPHERE PRESENTATION BY CLICKING HERE ---

My take outs from the IPACA schools include:

• ·        The collaborative teaching model of one teacher leading the lesson, 1 supporting and 1 stretching students, plus 1 or 2 teacher assistants for three teachers with 60 students.
• ·        The importance of the school structures supporting the vision of the school – eg exploring leadership and team structures in relation to the school vision around teaching and learning.
• ·        Teacher development around the vision and reflecting the vision/ way of working needs to be a priority. If we want staff to be developing a programme of personalised learning / learner led design – then they need to be involved in such a programme for their professional learning.

 I    I was impressed with the work in schools in UK where new schools were being created utilising commercial buildings - in this case both a leisure centre and naval base. This is a great way to respond to roll growth accommodation needs and get good bang for buck. The concept of several schools or campus in an Academy was new to me.   I wonder how head teachers can keep in touch with staff and learners across so many campus. The current New Zealand Government policy direction is to create communities of schools informed I think from the academy concept. While I am sure there are advantages the concern for me is that Government policy makers may consider this a way to drive right wing policy around testing through a top down hierarchy rather than developing curriculum that is future focused and relevant to learners future lives.

Flipping Learning Design - the start of the journey in UK and Scandinavia

Over the 10 weeks as recipient of the 2014 ASB / APPA travel fellowship, I had conversations with educationalists, designers and architects – during visits of twenty two schools in five countries. These schools were actively engaged in new school design and new ways of teaching and learning.  My next few posts will  explore school design and aspirations around personalising learning of the schools visited.

The school  types  visited in UK and Scandinavia , included state, church, international, independent, primary, secondary, academies and free schools. It included new school builds, remodelled schools and schools that were built in refitted commercial buildings. 

The visits in UK were arranged by Terry White. Terry is a director of UK  Learning which is the UK chapter of CEFPI  (Council of Education Facilities and Planning International).  He is  an educational design solution consultant for Nova Co-Design which supports schools through the process of designing new schools and developing  and supporting the teaching vision to be implemented in the new builds.

The visits in Scandinavia were arranged by Lene Jensby Lange. Lene is founder of Autens which is an educational consultancy that works with schools, local authorities, charities, architects and others to innovate learning spaces dedicated to personalising learning. 





Both Terry and Lene were incredibly generous with their time and hospitality. I found it really interesting that in the UK and  in Scandinavia the local authorities funded talented project leaders like Terry and Lene who seemed to have ownership / leadership over the design project at all phases. A key feature of their role  is to drive the vision around personalising learning and design.

In New Zealand the role of driving the learning vision is usually done by  the principal, whose task it is ensure that  the architect understands the learning culture of the school and how that might look in the new build. We discussed at length;  personalising learning, school design and the impact of the political, social  and local context.

What a luxury to have such design consultants funded to actively engage with schools to support their transition from old ways to new ways of teaching. 

The school visits were a  fast series of walk throughs where the  worlds of pedagogy and design, intersected and  fused with vision and concerns. They all aspired to learner led personalised curriculum and design that would drive these concepts.

The challenge in all the schools was to  embed and sustain teacher practice related to learning vision and school design so that learners will be prepared for their future world.

   

A HIGH RISE SCHOOL IN THE CITY

The Hong Kong Singapore International School is a primary and secondary school built on a steep hillside on Hong Kong Island. To meet the challenge of future roll growth the school has demolished and built over the top of part of the existing building. The existing buildings had to be retained and integrated into the design. This has extended the height of the building and provided more facilities for the growing secondary school creating an amazing high rise school in the middle of the city.

The site size is an incredible challenge. The land area is only  4500 sqm. The planning of the spaces has been thought out to reflect how students are taught. The classrooms are set up as formal traditional teaching spaces and there is a range of specialist spaces: Music, dance, gymnasium, hall, science labs and throughout the campus there are lots of spaces for students to collaborate or relax with friends.

There is a focus on sustainability with gardens utilised for biology lessons, a wind turbine and gardens on the outside wall of the building. There has been a lot of thought put into utilising natural light and optimising air flow for natural ventilation.

Large windows provide views of the surrounding views, including forest, an construction on the new rail link. A  unique feature is see through ‘think tanks’ attached to classrooms as breakout spaces for students to collaborate on their learning tasks. These large windows provide a open environment for teaching and learning.

The school is a 1-1 device school with most school work done through GAFE. 

Once the new rail link is completed it is expected that the roll of the secondary school will increase from 350 to 800. The building is designed to be further expanded for growth to 13 levels in total.

This school is an interesting case study for meeting the challenge of providing a growing school where space  is restricted.

KIWIANA CORPORATE DESIGN... JOINING THE DOTS

JOINING THE DOTS .. FROM 2014 TO 2030
Five year olds starting school this year at Freemans Bay School will graduate to  start in the workforce in the  2030s. We are thinking about what those work places will look like by exploring  the thinking that informs ways of working in leading corporations, universities and other tertiary institutions. Two recent visits in Auckland to the ASB North Wharf Building and Lion Corporation gave an opportunity explore the philosophy behind their new buildings. 

Both corporations  have a focus on the key principles of collaboration, openness, innovation and sustainability. Like the recent school builds we have viewed, these new corporate headquarters breakdown traditional silo ways of working. These designs naturally draw people together  to share, collaborate and innovate through a series of  gathering and meeting places. The key principles of design in these future focused work places join the dots between the ways our students are working in schools today and their role in society in the future.  

ASB NORTH WHARF, WYNYARD QUARTER. AUCKLAND                     
           
Derek Shortt, ASBs property manager, took staff from Freemans Bay School on a tour of the new ASB North Wharf building. The spaces are made up of a series of 'neighbourhoods' and 'boatsheds' - both have a nautical and waterfront theme. Workspaces include places for highly focused individual work, spaces for meetings for small and larger groups to work. The design principles are based on ASBs business vision:

• Choice
• Collaboration
• Community
• Transparency

The principle of collaboration is intrinsic to the building design and to the organisations way of working. Put simply -  "people working togetherto make the outcome of their endeavours better than the sum of individual parts." (Navigating into the Future, ASB North Wharf, Auckland, New Zealand, 2013)-

The ASB design supports freedom of choice, flexibility, sharing expertise and building a powerful creative work community.

LION CORP, FREEMANS BAY, AUCKLAND

Lion Corps new headquarters adjacent to Freemans Bay School in Napier Street is a fun and funky environment. It has a village feel with design elements that  bring together quintessential Kiwiana, with motifs from Cape Reinga to the Bluff.                                                                                                     
Principles of collaboration, innovation and creativity are intrinsic to the Lion Corp fit out. Every aspect has been designed to bring people together throughout the day. People are encouraged to move around and utilise the various work spaces creating opportunities for dialogue as they encounter others while on the move. This creates a village feeling, building community and a sense of physical, personal connectivity and well-being.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

When thinking about design principles for our schools we need to look at other types of building design for inspiration. We need to consider future focused design of corporations, universities, art galleries and museums. When we look at solutions such as these two corporate case studies we can join the dots and aspire to create learning environments that are powerful, creative, flexible, collaborative, open communities of practice.

      

                                                                                      

BREAKTHROUGH AT STONEFIELDS NEW LEARNING HUBS

OPEN LEARNING SPACES PLG
In 2011 Chris Bradbeer, AP at Stonefields school started a PLG (Professional Learning Group) which meets once a term for a building tour and discussions around  thinking about the physical and learning design. The sites visited have included, primary, secondary schools, tertiary institutions, libraries and corporate organisations. Understanding the vision of these organisations and how learning and working happens from the inside has provided opportunities for meaningful conversations around how design, research and learning philosophy converge. I love these meetings and have been to most of them. I follow Chris's blog and enjoy his reflections on the design process that has continued at Stonefields school. 

STONEFIELDS NEW LEARNING HUBS
Last week we visited Stonefields School fantastic new learning hubs. Chris discussed with us his thinking about the optimum number of teachers that works well in a learning hub. Two is too little - as that relationship lacks bounce! More than three becomes too complicated. Three is the number that works best.

It was wonderful to see so much shared ownership of the school's vision through teacher and student voice. The leadership team  has spent a lot of time with their school community, parents, staff and students, reflecting on what had worked well in the first building stage and considering new steps for the latest learning hub. The learning hubs include kitchens, creative making spaces, digital recording rooms and breakout spaces. Although the hubs are distinct, they are open and interconnect visually.

We observed a range of student learning activities during our visit during their 'Breakthrough Time". Students were involved in a range of personalised, collaborative learning activities utilising both indoor and outside learning spaces.

It was a privilege to talk to these students  during Breakthrough and see their engagement  in  learning.  

The school staff have a real commitment to coaching students about how we learn, experiencing being stuck and developing strategies to get through being stuck. They are explicit about what learning feels like, that the frustration you experience is  OK - you just need to know what to do to get through it. 

The leadership team worked through a major consultation process to prioritise the ideas they wanted incorporated in the design. This process is continuing as they canvas parents,staff and students for ideas for the master planning of their site.

I am humbled by the generosity of  principal Sarah Martin and the team at Stonefields School who continue to share their thinking about their school design process and allow others to view it in action.

We have such a lot to reflect on from out visit  and really appreciated  the openness and time given at Stonefields School as we begin our own journey to rebuild  Freemans Bay School.

ITS ALL ABOUT LEARNING - FROM NORTHLAND TO AUCKLAND

In recent years, the design of new and remodelled school in New Zealand  has evolved dramatically from teacher-led, front facing, private, single celled classrooms to student-focused, flexible shared teaching and learning spaces. The opportunity for schools to remodel or rebuild is a catalyst for school leaders and communities to explore school values  and beliefs about effective teaching and learning. The design process is a catalyst to reflect on thinking of the changing nature of learning. The process itself can influence changes in the ways that teachers teach and engage learners in meeting their current and future learning needs. Visits to schools that have been through this process is an opportunity to explore recent trends and thinking about learning and design, the deep thinking behind decisions made and what  the learning  looks like in practice. T The building design can be a driver to develop shared culture around learning that is open, sharing, flexible and collaborative. It reflects the thinking of learning design - the learning philosophy, culture and partnerships around learning.

Te Kura O Pukemiro (click on the link to see slide show)

Te Kura O Pukemiro is in Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand. This school is a Kura Kaupapa Maori School where the students are delivered their curriculum in through the context of Maori culture, values and the language of Te Reo Maori.  The Kura (school) caters for students from Year 1 to Year 13. 

The connection to tikanga, (Maori cultural values) are explicit in learning and also explicit in the building design. The central courtyard draws visitors into the atea (formal entry) which  leads to the Wharenui (hall). 

The  school  buildings are grouped around the courtyard. Each building is named after a significant ancestor of the whanau (families) of the local area. The open teaching spaces each have an Awhina (break out) space and shared wet areas. The Kura is Kaitiaki  (Guardian) of the adjacent wet lands and bush regeneration, conservation areas care of which is supported by the local community and kura. Conservation and guardianship are common themes in the curriculum. The Kura was built to a Green Star rating.

Hingaia Peninsula School

The vision of this school is for learning to  be collaborative, creative and agile. The building design enables this learning philosophy to take shape through three learning studios. Each learning studio has a large central  learning space and with a break-out spaces which act as 'caves' and 'campfires', The students have access to working individually, in groups or creatively through these break out spaces that are colour coded to their function. Students also have access to a digital production space, including green screen.

Year 1-2, Year 3 -4, Year 5-6 students grouped in the three studios, shared by three teachers.   Each student is assigned to a Whanau (family) leader, who is their learning coach and is the person for the learning partnership between the students family. This teacher supports the students pastoral, and learning needs. The students explain how they learn at Hingaia Peninsula School in this Campbell Live News TV Clip.

The teachers and students are able to combine groups and classes according to student learning needs and interest - in a personalised learning environment.

CEFPI EVENT AT HOBSONVILLE POINT SECONDARY SCHOOL

This week I attended an Auckland CEFPI event at Hobsonville Point Secondary School. 

CEFPI stands for Council of Education Facilities Planners International. It brings together architects, educators and planners with a passion for education design and thinking. 

CEFPI  is quite new in New Zealand. It is a valuable forum  for  sharing ideas about the connections between design and thinking about teaching and learning.

Hobsonville Point Secondary School (HPSS) had only been open for 27 days. Principal Mauri Abraham, DP, Claire Amos and an enthusiastic and passionate team of teachers explained their thinking about the school design and thinking about teaching and learning.

The building design is based on a series of learning hubs. In these open learning areas, the students work on an integrated curriculum called "Big Modules"  with three teachers at a time. The learning theme is focused around a theme, currently, "Identity' which is delivered in a co-teaching style through the lens of the relevant curriculum.

Teachers all have a role as 'learning coaches'.  Each learning coach currently has up to 10 students assigned to them. The learning coach stays with the student through their secondary schooling years and supports the student and family with their learning action plan. They meet regularly to coach and mentor students, supporting them to achieve the best they can. This is a way of developing true partnerships around learning and really brings latest educational research to practice in an innovative way.

Students also have passion projects, called 'Big Projects". These include subjects of students choice, including; Dance, Dance , Robotics, Design, Enviro studies (utilising the school wonderful wetland environment), drama, music and a range of other rich curriculum areas.

They also have individual projects called "My Time". These are workshop style and students can sign up for them during the week or work on them in their own time. As we walked through the building we could see notices for workshops that included E-learning, Music, Gaming and a range of other topics.

The learning principles of - being  Open, Visible, Connecting and Flexible have driven the design ensuring that this is an exciting, future focused learning and environment. It is a place where students are truly empowered as learners.

I could see many links to the thinking of our curriculum design at Freemans Bay Primary School - our curriculum design is around enriching, engaging and empowering students. The HPSS, Big Module, integrated curriculum around a  relates to our "learning pathways' integrated, action learning curriculum. The 'Big Idea' - passion projects - aligns with our Funky Fridays - where teachers and students choose learning workshop around student interest and teacher / parent passion.   We are developing a more personalised curriculum - where our students take more responsibility for their timetables and managing their learning. For example our Yr 5 and Yr 6 students can sign up for workshops that supports their learning goals and action learning. 

The staff at HPSS school explained that many of the staff are studying or have completed study at Masters level. At FBS our Board of Trustees supports our teachers to continue post grad study. This means we bring a educational research focused lens to our practice. I love the idea of every child having a learning coach, and wonder how we could resource that in a primary school. Could it be expanded to the community - local business people or high school students? This is something we could certainly think about.

 I note the commitment to being a cashless school as well - and this is something we are working on at Freemans Bay School. Our parents are notified of how to pay accounts on line and now our lunch system will be paid only through the YQ app available on smartphones or through the web. (Not related to curriculum - but a huge savings of time and very convenient).This approach has improved payments for school donations and activity fees from the beginning of the year so it is a win win!

I think it is much easier to integrate curriculum at the  primary school level. HPSS has made a  committment to a more holistic and deeper  approach to learning - rather than a traditional secondary school timetable and silo approach to curriculum.  The learning environment at this school certainly supports the statement on their webpage - " A school where learners enjoy innovative personalised learning, engage through powerful partnerships and are inspired through deep challenge and inquiry to achieve academic and personal excellence." An inspirational visit!