Silverstone Study Centre

I’ve just returned to what is left of Silverstone Study Centre.

Formula One Testing sessions took place last week and I met Jonny Dunn to gather some resources for use in the centre’s work. It’s a terrible job but someone has to do it

We were fortunate enough to meet Andy Howlett, the Head of Kingsbrook College, on our travels around the Paddock. He had brought a charming group of Year 10 engineers with him to explore what engineering in the world of F1 looks like. We tagged along on their tour of the Toyota pit garage. We saw Jarno Trulli drive out of the pits but unfortunately he returned without his car. No mention of the incident on the Toyota website though - must have been a minor one!

The picture below was created from the brilliant new Wordle application. Enter any text and it’ll create a ‘cloud’ of your words with more prominence given to those that occur more frequently. It gives a useful view of the ‘big picture’ of a piece of writing. I can’t wait to start using this with students.

I entered the copy for Silverstone’s entry in this year’s Study Centres Annual Review. The results do actually reflect the flavour of what we are aiming for (and hopefully achieving) at Silverstone. This might form a handout for my meeting on Tuesday. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case it’s true! Click on the picture for a larger view.

On Tuesday morning, I am meeting Northamptonshire’s Paul Burnett, the Director of Children and Young People’s Services, and Andy Downing, the Head of Learning, Achievement and School Improvement. Despite the fact that the Study Centre has been put into storage until July 14th, this website will still allow me to celebrate with them some of our students’ excellence and achievement.

If you have experience of Silverstone Study Centre over the last year, then perhaps you could leave a comment to let them know what you thought of it. Paul Burnett started out his career at Campion School so it would be good to hear from the Campion Crew as well as any others with an opinion.

I like the new quiz maker from MyStudiyo as it is very simple to create and embed in the website. There is a version which can allow students to add their own (moderated) questions which would be great for collaborative work. Here’s my first attempt below.

Anna Letts, the Playing for Success Curriculum Practioner, popped into the centre today and saw Silverstone Junior School’s Year Six pupils hard at work programming using Scratch.

Anna helps teachers and students develop their own Playing for Success style projects within school. The PfS on the Road  programme not only complements and enhances PfS provision for schools attending Silverstone but it also provides a sustainable way of developing some of the centre’s PfS ideas and ways-of-working to have a positive impact in the everyday classroom environment.

PfS on the Road will not break the bank either and Anna has some ingenious funding options. However, like all of the Northants Study Centres, she is already quickly filling her diary for the next academic year. Why not get in contact and see if PfS on the Road could have a positive impact?

It poured and we were drenched but it was definitely a day to remember with Silverstone Junior’s Year Five students. At the beginning of the day, I offered them the relative comfort of spending the day in the centre but they wanted to attempt the Study Centre Decathlon. I promised them that it would be arduous and that the weather would make the events difficult to complete but they were determined to succeed. They just managed to complete the events before the deadline and went away soaked to the skin but satisfied with their achievement.

I was mightily impressed with their spirit and enthusiasm for each and every task, from taking photos and video to lap-timing and venue evaluations - always in the driving rain. The accompanying teachers need also to be congratulated for their devotion to the cause!

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