Urafirth Primary School
Urafirth Primary School on Shetland is a small rural school with just over 20 pupils and around 10 children in the nursery. There are two classes: a P1/P2/P3/P4 class and a P5/P6/P7 class.
Headteacher Jon Posnett discusses the whole-school programme
Jon Posnett arrived at Urafirth Primary School in 2003, just after an HMI follow-up inspection which suggested that not enough progress had been made in teaching problem solving and enquiry skills. Jon decided to develop a completely new programme.
Staff identified core strategies and agreed which classes each strategy would be taught in. They moved away from the use of one published scheme and found a whole range of material that gives the pupils a wide variety of problem solving experiences.
The aim is to give pupils skills that they can use across the curriculum and to promote an attitude of resilience. Jon has noticed that instead of losing concentration if they found that they could not do a problem, pupils are now trying different approaches until they reach a solution.
Files
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Problem solving guidance statement (1.1 MB) -
Problem solving progression document (37 KB)
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Problem solving poster (29 KB)
| Jon Posnett discusses the whole-school programme | |
|---|---|
| Description | Jon Posnett describes the development of a new whole-school programme and the aims behind it |
| Duration | 2 minutes 18 seconds |
| Windows version |  Windows Media video: Jon Posnett discusses the whole-school programme |
| Mac version |  QuickTime movie: Jon Posnett discusses the whole-school programme |
| Transcript | Jon Posnett discusses the whole-school programme |
Stages at Urafirth Primary School
- P1/P2/P3/P4, Urafirth Primary School
Thinking skills followed by problem solving in technology.
- P5/P6/P7, Urafirth Primary School
P5/P6/P7 pupils follow structured problem solving steps.