In this lesson, Matt Shanks is using AppleWorks 6 database software to introduce the idea of creating a chronological list of the kings and queens of Scotland to his P6 pupils at Blackridge Primary School. The pupils are already familiar with the basic tools of database software. His aim today is to consolidate their understanding of how to create different field types and how to include a calculation field.

Mr Shanks has been teaching for nine years and he is currently teaching a P6 class. He uses ICT extensively in his teaching. He recently introduced the use of databases to his class and is very pleased with his pupils’ achievements.

He is also using an email-based project called ePALS. In this project, the pupils email pupils abroad and learn about other countries and cultures. He sees this kind of project as being very useful in developing pupils’ interest in ICT skills.

Matt has recently been on some ICT courses, on data logging, Clicker 4 and PageMaker 3. He has also developed his ICT skills through personal interest and by training himself in his own time. There is an ICT coordinator at the school who is very helpful and supportive.

School profile

Blackridge Primary School is situated in the west end of Blackridge village, east of Edinburgh, and is a modern one-storey building. The school has 163 pupils; 129 are of primary age and the rest are in the nursery. There are eight pupils recorded as having special educational needs and 27 primary pupils have free school lunches. There are no pupils with English as a second language. The average length of service among the teachers is approximately 18 years.

Blackridge Primary has received two awards: Steps to Safety and Investors in People. The school has ten desktop computers – at least one in every classroom – and 15 laptops all connected in a local network. One of the staff teachers acts as the ICT coordinator, but on a part-time basis. Some of the ICT training available includes in-school demonstrations for staff, Phoenix Training, New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training and local education authority courses run as part of West Lothian’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme.

The class is a P6 set, with pupils aged nine to ten years. Mr Shanks identifies historical dates when Scottish queens and kings came into power and dates when they died. He will ask the class to use the database to calculate how long they reigned.

Mr Shanks creates a PowerPoint presentation with slides introducing the lesson and the database exercise. He will project the presentation to the class through an interactive whiteboard and produce a list of kings and queens of Scotland with relevant dates. Finally, he prepares a worksheet for recording the pupils’ results.

Top tip

When teaching databases to the class, it’s much better to keep it simple – maybe just start with three or four fields. One of the difficulties the pupils had was remembering what a field is, so field types should really be introduced one at a time.

In this lesson the pupils should:

• improve their database skills, being able to suggest field types for different types of data and to construct a database that includes text, number and calculation fields
• learn how AppleWorks 6 can calculate for you
• learn how to sort the dates numerically to report on the length of reign
• study independently and provide peer support, encouraged through working in pairs
• develop their language capabilities (spelling and punctuation) through use of ICT       

Mr Shanks begins the lesson by reminding the class about the topics covered during the last two lessons on database construction and sorting. Using PowerPoint slides projected onto the whiteboard, he revises the concepts of field names and types, including how to create a field and a new record, and how to save and sort.

Finally he shows them how to view a list of records. He then introduces the idea of making a database of the kings and queens of Scotland and runs a PowerPoint presentation on how to construct field names and types. Mr Shanks shows his pupils how they can calculate how long the reigns of the monarchs lasted, by means of a simple equation using the dates of when the kings and queens died, minus the dates when they came into power.

At this point, each group is given a list of kings and queens of Scotland, including their names and the dates referred to above. Then the pupils are split into pairs to work on a laptop to create a database by inputting their records. At the end of the lesson, the pupils report their results to Mr Shanks and the class, and compare answers. Pupils managed to complete most of the requested tasks, although they did struggle with the concept of new fields.

Overall, Mr Shanks is happy with how the lesson went today. He thinks that the pupils enjoyed themselves and managed to complete most of the requested tasks. He feels that the pupils’ skills in using AppleWorks 6 database have improved.

He did, however, hope that the pupils would reach a better understanding of what the calculation field could do for them. He feels that perhaps the pupils were struggling with a new field concept, and that they seemed to run out of time towards the end of the lesson. Mr Shanks says that next time he will compile the database with the pupils, to make sure that everyone is doing the same thing at the same time. Mr Shanks views working in groups as a very positive aspect of this lesson as pupils can check each other’s work and exchange ideas.

Pupils comments

The pupils' feedback was very positive. One of the pupils said that using a database is a useful way of keeping records instead of writing them down on paper. Another pupil said that he has learned to create different field types in a database.