Latest News

« Back to all stories

Next: Going Green at Wandsworth Prep: Walk to School Week »

The Quarter Island Project Develops Pupils Understanding of the Environment

24th May 2013

An island has floated away! A terrible storm has separated its inhabitants, a group of young royal recyclists from their homeland. The island, now inhabited by witches, goblins, dragons and giants is in danger of facing irreparable environmental damage, unless these young monarchs can work together to problem solve and set up a sustainable development plan in order to help restore the island to its former beauty. Providing our children with meaningful and purposeful learning opportunities which are centred around their interests is a way in which we inspire our pupils to take an active role in their learning, ignite their passion for education and help them to achieve their best. The Quarter Island Project is an excellent example of how we have taken a planned thematic unit which incorporates all seven areas of learning, and brought it to life in a child initiated way. The children have developed a real interest in fantasy, fairytale and mythical creatures. By creating a project which builds on these interests we have empowered our children to take on roles of responsibility which not only gives them ownership over the planning and direction of the project and enables the development of communication, thinking, problem solving and decision making skills, but also puts the children at the centre of learning. The Quarter Island Project has helped our children to develop their understanding of the environment and how we can all contribute to leading a more sustainable life. The children have collaborated to design their own sustainable islands made from recycled materials, used clay to create models of the island inhabitants, established the characteristics leaders need to have when making decisions and dealing with others, and have designed royal coat of arms for the leaders.