Back to the Get Involved Page

The first thing to say is that we do not write our projects to any specific curriculum nor, really, to any specific age. I do not believe in being prescriptive with the material I create as I do not know your children, their likes and dislikes as to the way they learn or your particular schemes of work. Nevertheless, following many requests over the years, we have indicated a suggested age range for these projects.

What I do know from almost 40 years of developing, writing and using this type of material, is that it will cover many parts of many curricula and, more importantly, many different aspects of learning. I also know that both the resources we have uploaded and the suggestion we make for either uploading them to a part of your school site to which our site will link or, possibly, if you are a School of the Air subscriber, putting some on our site, provides an incredible motivation for young people. They feel that their work, their learning, has a purpose and an audience and that sense of purpose is an important aspect of developing learning material. I quoted elsewhere on the site the words of one teacher involved in the development who said to me that if you can't find parts to both motivate your pupils and make their learning more fun and also more meaningful, you may be in the wrong profession.

I have also always believed that the personality of the parent, guide or teacher plays a major role in how learning is perceived by the learners. The very best bring a massive amount of themselves into the learning process. With this website we are giving those who help young people a resource which also has a personality. It's not a text book or a worksheet, lying on the desk for them to read. It's being produced by a living (just) human being and, for younger ones, a lovable little puppet to whom they can relate.

As explained elsewhere on the site, there are several parts to the resource, several areas of a curriculum where it can be used and a myriad number of ways in which it can be used too.

In this little piece I want to concentrate on the "Get Involved" section and the projects we have written for your children to try. There are several stand-alone projects, some of which will contribute to our journey and website, and others which we have placed in groups. As stated earlier we have given an indication as to the age range but it is just that, an indication. The final group of projects are intended to be done in a group and, most likely, school situation. Each project has its own set of instructions, notes for adults or teachers and, in some cases, outcomes that can be achieved. Between you and me, I don't see the need to list outcomes because, like the late Sir Ken Robinson, I believe that you cannot standardise education or learning in any way. Sir Ken said that "The answer is to personalise and customise education to the needs of each child and community. There is no alternative. There never has been". Therefore, in my view, the outcomes from any learning resource depend on the individual using the resource. Nevertheless, I was asked to list some, so I have.

I have also produced some parts of the resources in PDF format to make it easier to copy and distribute.

Can you also note that all projects have been written for a global audience.

To conclude, I strongly believe that creativity is an important part of learning. The projects in the "Get Involved" section allow pupils to make use of their natural curiosity, deploy their imagination and then display their creativity. By not being too prescriptive they allow you, the facilitator of young people's learning, to be creative too. To finish with one more quote from Sir Ken Robinson; "I believe this passionately: that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it". Please don't be part of that latter process. Let creativity thrive and prosper and we will all be amazed by the results. I promise.