Digital photos of the school grounds: Port Ellen Primary

In order to make ICT a more meaningful classroom tool, Port Ellen Primary has been working on creating a basic kit for each classroom. As part of this kit, each class was allocated a digital stills camera.

In order to ensure each child had experience in using a camera, we set up a photography competition from P4-7. The subject of the competition was the school grounds, thus there were no issues of child safety if the pictures were made available publicly. The school grounds were used in an extremely meaningful way and the children were able to explore and publicise the diversity of the grounds.

Aims

The aim of the project was to get the children using the cameras independently both in and out of the classroom setting. We wanted the children to experience the use of digital cameras from the point of working the camera, through to providing options for the publishing of the photo. We also wanted the children to experience the enterprise aspect of this project, bringing in various organisations and businesses to support the project. The PTA was happy to help because the children were gaining a valuable learning experience. The Royal Bank of Scotland was happy to help because it strengthened the links with the local primary school and helped their image within the local community. This way the project worked well for all those involved.