This term our focus muscle has been Collaboration.  When you use this learning muscle, you…

• are aware how you respond to other people
• manage your feelings when working with others
• respect other people’s points of view
• are able to work effectively as part of a pair or team
• share information and ideas willingly
• understand the ground rules of team work

Here are some of the children’s thoughts on what collaboration is:

“This is for the team.”

“We are putting our brains together to create a super-brain”

“Collaboration is hot work - I am going to have to take my sweatshirt off.”

These are just some of the words spoken by children during our work on collaboration.

In Year3&4 for one afternoon a week, we concentrate on developing our ability to problem solve using everyone’s thoughts and ideas. We have used the parachute to create nurturing team environments, listened carefully to instructions and information so that our group can decide what’s important and create their own interpretation of the facts and we’ve also made structures that will hold a specific amount of weight.

In Years 5&6 we have been developing the vocabulary for effective collaboration to happen in a number of different curriculum areas. There have been some specific design tasks and lessons to develop successful collaboration such as

• Stranded – children were given a number of items to take in the desert with them. As a team, they had to rank the order of importance of each items, all agree on their selection and be able to justify their decision.
• Swamp Survival – the team had to cross the swamp using a small range of given equipment. Huge consequences were at stake if any member of the team touched the poisoned muddy waters!
• Problem Solving in Maths – team challenges to reason with number problems to solve the unknown.

Our aim is for these skills to transfer across the curriculum and to be part of our vocabulary and learning every day.

Meanwhile, teachers have been studying hard, meeting on a number of occasions this term to read and study the art of orchestrating the use of this learning muscle effectively into everyday learning.

by Mrs Greenwood