This partnership aims to harness the links between STEM and the arts/creativity. The artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci is the inspiration for this project: daVinci/2019.co.uk. The project aims to develop a creative and collaborative approach to STEM for pupils across the Primary sector. There will be a particular focus for pupils aged 8-10 years old, including those with special needs. It is anticipated that over 2,000 pupils will be involved and of this number over 300 in the focus group across the schools. While the focus will be STEM there is a clear expectation that this work will improve basic skills, especially mathematics. The children's creative abilities will be encouraged via an exploration of the art and inventions of da Vinci. All schools in the partnership see the arts as a language that is universally understood. In this spirit, there is a clear intention to encourage and develop the schools' ability to teach additional languages to promote European identity and belonging. Key activities and output of this work will include: - the development of an interactive website across the partnerships fronted by a virtual robot called daVinci/2019; - pupils will be taught about the story of daVinci and inspired by his work; - staff will be trained on how they may use works of art to stimulate pupils' thinking skills and creativity; - pupils will engage in joint science challenges across Europe: - staff will observe good science lessons and will enhance their practice: - pupils will learn how to code and produce apps that combine art and technology: - staff will be trained to code and use this language as a powerful tool to promote logical thought and ICT: - pupils will engage in international trade as they share their arts and crafts across Europe in Christmas markets: - staff will be equipped to teach children to embrace enterprise: - pupils will be enthused and taught to use an additional language in context: - staff will be exposed to a range of teaching strategies used across Europe to teach an additional language. In summary, 'For once you have tasted flight (creativity), you will walk the earth with our eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return' (Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1500).
'For once you have tasted flight (creativity), you will walk the earth with our eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return' (Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1500). This partnership worked to raise standards in teaching and learning by harnessing the links between STEM and the arts/creativity. The artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci was the inspiration for this project: daVinci/2019. The project aimed to develop a creative and collaborative approach to STEM for pupils across the Primary sector. Although there was a particular focus on pupils aged 8-10 years old, including those with special needs, over 2,000 pupils were involved across the participating schools. While the focus of this project STEM, there was always an expectation that it would also impact basic Language and Literacy skills and Digital Literacy. The children's creative abilities were encouraged via an exploration of the art and inventions of da Vinci. All schools in the partnership see the arts as a language that is universally understood. In that spirit, there was a clear intention to encourage and develop the schools' ability to teach additional languages to promote European identity and belonging. Key activities and output of this work included: - the development of an interactive website across the partnerships, highlighting the work that was undertaken and acting as a vehicle for speeding news of the work to parents; - teaching and learning about the story of daVinci and those inspired by his work; - staff training on how works of art can be used to stimulate pupils' thinking skills and creativity; - pupils engaged in joint science challenges across Europe; - staff and pupils engaged in a final project displaying how they linked STEM and the arts; - staff observed good practice in teaching science; - pupils learned how to code using 'Scratch' and produced Christmas cards that combined art and technology; - staff were trained to code and use this language as a powerful tool to promote logical thought and ICT; - pupils engaged in international trade as they shared their arts and crafts across Europe in Christmas markets; - staff were equipped to teach children to embrace enterprise; - pupils were enthused and taught to use an additional language in context; - staff were exposed to a range of teaching strategies used across Europe to teach an additional language.