Using movies to talk about past experiences

Hollandbush Nursery School likes to record any special events they are involved in with the digital video camera. The nursery teacher Archie Stewart takes the clips and makes them into short movies. One such movie is that of the pupils visit to the Transport Museum. The movie was then used to encourage pupils to recall their experiences and discuss what they saw.

Parents also have access to these movies on CD-ROM which helps them keep in touch with what their children have been doing in the nursery.

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Teacher profile

Archie began his teaching career over 20 years ago. He is one of two qualified teachers at the nursery and is in charge of the 3-5 Curriculum, moving round all the different groups of pupils each week.

The nursery has had a digital video camera for a year, during which time Archie has made 50 videos of events at the nursery, including Halloween, the Christmas party and school outings. He is now training two other members of staff to edit video using Pinnacle Studio software. Archie learnt his ICT skills by attending a number of courses, by trying out the technology himself and by sharing skills and ideas with colleagues.

Hollandbush Nursery is in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. It is a modern building with inviting, brightly coloured playrooms. Eighty pupils attend in the morning and another eighty in the afternoon. There are currently two pupils with special educational needs, 15 who have free school lunches and four who speak English as a second language.

The nursery has five computers, with a computer bay in each of the three playrooms. Pupils can choose CDs such as Izzy's Island, Jump Ahead Nursery, Pingu and Bob the Builder, although they have to ask a member of staff to load the CD for them. About a third of pupils arriving at the nursery school will already have used a computer at home; those who are new to computers are shown how to use a mouse so that they can navigate successfully round the CDs.

School events are recorded on a digital still camera or on the digital video camera. There is a special parents' room with a computer, where parents can view the photos or videos of events that their child has been involved in. Similarly, parents of prospective pupils can be given a clear insight into the life of the nursery by being shown the photos and videos.