'Darwin Days' for Yr 5 : Alpha Academy students

Shrewsbury School and the Alpha Academy (Stoke-on-Trent) have been working together to plan and deliver a mutually beneficial cross-sector partnership. One strand of this is to provide 'Alpha Days' at Shrewsbury School. These cover various year groups (primary and secondary) - the Year 5 focus is the provision of 'Darwin Days' - looking at both the historic relevance of Charles Darwin and his family to both Shrewsbury and Stoke, as well as related science.

Aims

To develop leadership and collaboration skills amongst Shrewsbury School students.

To promote a love of Darwin related ideas and practical science.

To promote thinking skills, teamwork and resilience.

To provide a change of scene - to widen horizons mutually.

Background

Contacts at teacher level, and meetings between Alpha CEO and leadership and the HM and leadership at Shrewsbury.  Exploratory meetings and visits.  It has been in planning for over 2 years, with first pupil-facing delivery now underway.

Resources

 

Significant preparation before by the science department, science technicians, dance staff, admin support, catering, leadership time

Facilities use: library, ancient library, science labs, dance studios (interpreting the evolution of dance)

Impact

Feedback gained from Alpha staff and their pupils. Impact to be monitored/reported from Alpha

Pupil Involvement

At Shrewsbury we had c20 pupils involved supporting dance, science and library events.

c200 Alphas pupils will attend each year

Frequency

2 events for Yr 5 per year.   Planned to be annual.