Integrated Learning Challenges
Integrated Learning Challenges are units of work which encourages pupils to learn about the same topic from the perspective of different curricular areas.
S1 ILCs
FIT 4 LIFE
Time Frame: September – November
Departments Involved: Art & Design, Business & Computing and English.
Context: The pupils will look at various issues of Health and Wellbeing in seven of their subjects across the curriculum They will have open discussions with their teachers about the work they are doing and its relevance both to the ILC and their own lives.
Aim: Pupils will discuss various factors of health and well-being with their teachers and perform classroom tasks in order to build up an understanding of risks to their health and ways to look after their own well-being. They will also be supported in discussion about the implications of mental health.
Activity: Pupils will engage in work relating to both mental and physical health in class and then, on the ‘Presentation day’, they will engage in a series of workshops offered by staff and outside agencies where they will be able to bring some of the knowledge they have gathered in class to a practical environment.
Celebration of Scotland
Time Frame: December – January
Context: The S1 pupils will explore a variety of Scottish themes within their different subjects making particular reference to the work of Robert Burns.
Aim: The pupils will have a greater awareness of creative and technological innovations which have originated in Scotland, and will deepen their understanding of the poetry and literature of Robert Burns.
Activity: In class the pupils will be engaged in a variety of tasks exploring Scotland which will contribute to the overall presentation of work at a Burns Supper at the end of January.
S2 ILC
Disaster & Emergency
Time Frame: October - December
Context: Pupils will engage with work in their subjects looking at the impact and effects of Disaster & Emergency scenarios. They will first be shown footage of a Tsunami and after effects.
Aim: Subjects are at liberty to decide on looking at Natural or man-made disasters, but the aim of the ILC is to give pupils an insight into the causes and effects of natural/ man-made disasters in classes such as R.E., Science and Social subjects in order for them to gather enough information to prepare creative responses in their Art & Design, English, Modern Laguages and Music classes. The aim of the ILC is therefore to provide pupils with a range of knowledge of the causes of disaster situations and to be able to show empathy and understanding of the effects in a creative, personal way.
Activity: After a presentation delivered to S2 looking at different scenarios, pupils will engage in work relating to disaster and emergency scenarios in their classes, relating the knowledge gathered in some of their classes to a range of creative writing, expressive art work and musical compositions.
They will then work with mentors, in their section classes to prepare a creative digital story featuring their work from their Art & Design, English, Modern Languages and Music classes which will be shown during assembly to the year group.
S5 ILC
DIARY OF A DECADE
Time Frame: October - December
Context: The students look at the 1930s as a period of extreme social and political change and technological and artistic innovation. The students are given a series of short talks delivered by staff from across the school over an afternoon punctuated by an accompanying DVD highlighting significant events and figures from the decade.
The students then recap on what they have seen and heard on the presentation day by completing a short quiz in their R.E. classes and discussions take place with their R.E. teachers looking at how the events of the 1930s changed society and continue to impact upon our lives today. They also look for any similarities/connections which they can make with that decade and present day life.
Aim: The idea behind this ILC is for senior students to understand the context of their own learning, that each and every subject they study will be impacted upon or impact on another. The ILC aims to encourage pupils to question why things happen, what led to something happening, how it was different to what had been there before and how it changed things in the future. It nurtures higher order thinking skills and seeks to broaden students’ references.
Activity: Each student, either alone or in groups should contribute to a brief class presentation in which they have made connections across the subjects which they are currently studying. They may wish to use the 1930s as a “jumping off” point. The presentations can be delivered as an oral presentation or with the use of ICT.