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A Glimpse into the Future?

23 Mar 2010

Area Delivery Organisation: Creative Partnerships Haven Gateway

Chantry High School in Ipswich launches new learning space -
‘The Learning Hive’

Date: Friday, 26 March 2010

Time: 7:00pm

Venue: Chantry High School, Mallard Way, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP2 9LR

Chantry High School in Ipswich, a Creative Partnerships school, will be launching a brand new learning space called 'The Learning Hive' on Friday, 26 March. This space offers a vision for future of learning and the new school which is expected to be built within the next three years. The Learning Hive has been designed and created through a DCSF match-funded project involving only 10 schools across the country, and Chantry High School is the first secondary school space to be completed.

In a rapidly changing world, learning needs to be more personalised in order to allow learners greater ownership and control and therefore to achieve more. Rows of desks facing the teacher at the front of separate classrooms are not evident in The Learning Hive. Instead a space equivalent to three classrooms is divided into zones by different furniture, and learning is enhanced by mobile technology such as i-pod Touches, Nintendo DS, and Netbook computers. Pupils will now have a completely different environment in which to learn with bright, colourful and comfortable furniture, a stark contrast to traditional classroom layouts and hard plastic chairs.

The ‘Touchdown’ zone on entry to The Learning Hive has an internet café feel, with bistro tables and chairs and i-mac computers available for learners to surf the net. There is a large zone with round tables for group work and light practical activities. Pupils get a sense for the world of work with height-adjustable office chairs. An informal ‘breakout’ area with soft, sofa-style seating separates the group work area from the formal presentation end of the space, where up to 75 people can be seated ‘theatre style’ to view a presentation, listen to an expert or watch a film. This area can be quickly converted into another group-work space with foldable tables.

The highlight for many learners however has been the pod seating in the ‘Independent Study’ zone, where groups of 4-5 learners can work in semi-private ‘pods’ to discuss their work, generate ideas or conduct independent research activities on the netbooks.

Year 7 pupils are spending four consecutive school days in this new environment with a small team of staff that have collaboratively planned a cross-curricular project with creative practitioners from Creative Partnerships as part of Chantry High’s Change School programme. Creative Partnerships is England’s flagship creative learning programme managed by CCE (Creativity, Culture and Education), designed to develop the skills of young people across England, raising their aspirations and achievements and opening up more opportunities for their futures. This world-leading programme is transforming teaching and learning across the curriculum. Creative Partnerships supports thousands of innovative long-term partnerships, between schools and creative professionals, from architects to scientists and multimedia developers to artists.

The space provides Chantry High with an excellent testing ground for new ways of learning, new technology and new ideas. It will help the school to identify what works well and what needs further refinement before the whole school is completely rebuilt. It also means that all pupils currently at the school can benefit now from future thinking.

Whilst seeking to develop subject based knowledge and understanding the projects are placing just as much importance on the skills required for being a successful learner. The structure of learning over the four day projects will be very different to a ‘normal’ school lesson as pupils will have access to at least three teachers and will be able to immerse themselves in the learning for longer periods of time.