Learning & Loans

Conclusion: 38 cross-curricular links were identified in 73% (19) of 26 observations. These included links to: Design and Technology (24%), Literacy (31%) and Numeracy (11%). Primary User observations made the most links and Secondary Users the least links to other subject areas. There was no difference between Users and Non-users.

Despite the absence of Numeracy as a loan supported subject in the teacher interviews, mathematical concepts were apparent in learning from loans during the observations.

Key: A "user" is a school that already uses the loan service. A "non-user" is a school that does not currently use the loan service.

English/Literacy: 12
1. School B: User: Primary
Link to History: The Victorians
Answers were recorded in Literacy books and the children worked in their Literacy groups.

2. School C: User: Primary
Link to Geography: The Seaside
The teacher told me that she had used the two owl loans as a support for the students' English SATs. During the SATs the students were expected to write a letter from an owl's point of view.

3. School D: User: Primary
Link to Geography: India and Pakistan
Because the students were investigating the different components of historical artefacts, the lesson touched on History as well as Design & Technology. Writing labels is also part of Literacy.

4. School F: User: Primary
Link to History: Victorian farm life
English: The activity involved the students in describing the objects with carefully chosen vocabulary.

5. School H: User: Primary
Link to History: Ancient Egypt
The teacher reported that they had used the artefacts for their class assembly as well as for a story in Literacy.

6. School J: User: Primary
Link to History: Transport
English: There was a 20 minute discussion, questions and answer session that took place at the beginning of the lesson, ensuring an opportunity for all the students to speak and to listen.

7. School M: Non-user: Primary
Link to History: The Edwardians/1930s
English: The teacher asked the students to write descriptions and write imaginative stories.

8. School N: Non-user: Primary
Link to Geography: Another Locality: Habitats
The teacher linked the work with loans with previous Literacy work: Teacher: " You can use the library, CD ROM, check what you know already, use lots of books; if it is easier to show by drawing, draw it. This covers everything we've done in Literacy."

9. School S: User: Secondary
Link to Art: The Human Figure
There was a definite link between AT1 and AT2 in the study of the human figure from the prints. Margaret devised question sheets to help the students think through the intentions and effects of the prints.

There was a link with Literacy within Art. The teacher made this explicit at the end of the question sheets:
i) links with creative writing; visual literacy and written literacy;
ii) opportunities for group and individual work;
iii) cross-cultural links

10. School T: User: Secondary
Link to History: WWII
Literacy: Information sources

11. School V: Non-user: Secondary
English: Three of the five groups of secondary students decided to use drama to communicate various aspects of Tudor life to the visiting primary students. Every secondary student was involved in a presentation; the primary students were questioned for comprehension at the end of each session.

12. School X: Non-user: Secondary
Link to History: Romans
There were no explicit links. However, Speaking & Listening as well as Design & Technology issues were touched upon:

Student: "Is this a lid?"
Student: "Does it go here?"
Student: "They look new - like the 1980s. How is that possible?"
Student: "Coin (looking at its sides) - it's not straight."
Student: "A mosaic. Its smooth on one side and rough on the other."

13. School Y: Non-user: Secondary
Link to History: Medieval Realms
Speaking & Listening: The whole session was very much based on small group
discussion centred on developing thinking skills - analysis and deduction.

Design & Technology: 9
1. School A: User: Primary
Link to Science: Living Things
The knitted farm allowed the very young reception children to work on particular schemas based on spatial relationships such as "under and over". These relate to Geography, Design & Technology as well as Mathematics.

2. School B: User: Primary
Link to History: The Victorians
There were a great number of issues connected to Design & Technology. The teacher asked "Has the person who designed it done it well?". Writing in sentences, visual literacy and speaking and listening were areas of English and Art that were touched on.

3. School D: User: Primary
Link to Geography: India and Pakistan
Because the students were investigating the different components of historical artefacts, the lesson touched on History as well as Design & Technology. Writing labels is also part of Literacy.

4. School F: User: Primary
Link to History: Victorian Farm Life
Design & Technology: The students had to look at the parts of the models and working out what goes where.

5. School J: User: Primary
Link to History: Transport
Design & Technology: the students discussed the different parts of the vehicles including their functions and the effectiveness of these functions. This sample of conversation is centred on the model of the 1930s tram:
Student: "They go on a track."
Student: "There isn't a roof."
Teacher: "Reading used to have trams and the rails are still under the roads. Do
buses need rails?"
Students: "No."
Teacher: "Do you think that this is as good as a bus?"
Student: "No."
Teacher: "It limits where you can go."

6. School L: Non-user: Primary
Link to Science: Forces
Design & Technology: Following on from the conversation above, the students became aware of the model as a work of design in its own right and began to discuss the differences between the model and the real plane:
Student: "It would have taken a long time to make the model."
Teacher: "What's the real one made out of?"
Student: "A light metal. Iron would be too heavy."

7. School M: Non-user: Primary
Link to History: The Edwardians/1930s
Technology: They looked closely at how the artefacts were used; they also did observational drawing as research.

8. School W: Non-user: Secondary
Link to History: Native American studies
Links were made with Design & Technology in response to students' questioning. For example, one student said "We're interested in the box it's under, not the hat. How did they make this?

9. School X: Non-user: Secondary
Link to History: Romans
There were no explicit links. However, Speaking & Listening as well as Design &
Technology issues were touched upon:

Student: "Is this a lid?"
Student: "Does it go here?"
Student: "They look new - like the 1980s. How is that possible?"
Student: "Coin (looking at its sides) - it's not straight."
Student: "A mosaic. Its smooth on one side and rough on the other."

Mathematics/Numeracy: 4
1. School A: User: Primary
Link to Science: Living Things
The knitted farm allowed the very young reception children to work on particular schemas based on spatial relationships such as "under and over". These relate to Geography, Design & Technology as well as Mathematics.

2. School F: User: Primary
Link to History: Victorian farm life
Numeracy: Much of the language used drew strongly on the mathematical concepts of shape and space.
One example of this: Student: "There's a diagonal line going through the curve
with a blade at the end."

3. School L: Non-user: Primary
Link to Science: Forces
Maths: When looking at the model of the Spirit of St. Louis plane that was the first to cross the Atlantic, the teacher and students had the following discussion: Teacher: "How far is it across the Atlantic? If the world is 24 thousand miles in circumference, half of it would be...? And a quarter of that would be the Atlantic?
Student: 3000 miles.

4. School Z: Non-user: Primary
Link to Science: The Body: Materials
No explicit links were made by the teacher. There were links, however, with
mathematical concepts such as bigger than for these special needs students:

Teacher: "Is it an adult or a child's skull."
Student: "A human."
Student: "A grown up."
Teacher: "How did you know?"
Student: "Big."
Teacher: "What about hands?"
Student: "Bigger."
Teacher: "Bigger than yours."

Students: "Shoes."
Teacher: "Are they like ours."
Student: "Giants."
Teacher: "Do you mean adults?"

History: 4
1. School C: User: Primary
Link to Geography: The Seaside
Because the seaside loans were Edwardian, the teacher was also able to use them for History and had the students do "then" and "now" comparative drawing and writing.

2. School D: User: Primary
Link to Geography: India and Pakistan
Because the students were investigating the different components of historical artefacts, the lesson touched on History as well as Design & Technology. Writing labels is also part of Literacy.

3. School L: Non-user: Primary
Link to Science: Forces
History: The teacher and the students could not avoid discussing the historical context of the models with which they were working:
Teacher: "What queen was alive when this was used? What evidence is there?"
Student: "VR - it's Victoria and it says Royal Mail."
Teacher: (to group with a model of Stephenson's Rocket) "What is it?"
Student: "It's called the Rocket and it's Victorian. It is a steam train."

4. School U: User: Secondary
Link to Art: Native American patterns
There were certainly connections with history and studying other cultures within
the original aim of looking at pattern in Native American artefacts.

Science: 3
1. School I: User: Primary
Link to Geography: Local study
The students were interested in the materials of the loans and discovered the Huntley Palmer tin was magnetic. This resulted in labels for the different materials being made and a Science investigation of which metals were magnetic or not.

2. School M: Non-user: Primary
Link to History: The Edwardians/1930s
Science: The students examined the materials of the artefacts

3. School N: Non-user: Primary
Link to Geography: Another locality: Habitats
There were plenty of links with the Living Things aspect of Science. Example:
Teacher: "…What sort of things do you want to ask?" (about animals that live in
shells)
Student: "How does it see?"
Student: "How does it feel?"
Student: "How does it reproduce?"
Student: "What are its senses?"
Student: "What does it eat?"

Geography: 2
1. School A: User: Primary
Link to Science: Living Things
The knitted farm allowed the very young reception children to work on particular schemas based on spatial relationships such as "under and over". These relate to Geography, Design & Technology as well as Mathematics.

2. School G: User: Primary
Link to History: WWII/1930s
The teacher did not make any links explicit. There was, however, a link with
Geography in the work on the WWII buttons and badges. The students had to think
through where they were made and who eventually wore them. This led onto
discussion of transport and soldiers associated with particular localities.

Example:
Student 1: "Ps. Charlotte of Wales? Princess! Maybe it belonged to her. Royal
Berkshire. That is close to Wales.
Student 2: (Reading a different button) "Warwickshire. Where's that? That's where
it comes from."
Student 1: "ICDS. Irish Corporal…?"
Student 2: "Ironfield & Co. Ltd., Birmingham. That's where it's made."
Student 1: "This says Birmingham. I think this comes from Birmingham too."
Student 2: "It says ICDS - is it Irish?"
Student 1: "But it's made in Birmingham."
Student 2: "They could ship it."

Art: 1
1. School I: User: Primary
Link to Geography: Local study
Yes. The teacher linked the loans with Art. The students made their own clay tiles
in response to the Reading Abbey tiles. She also linked the Reading Abbey tiles
with RE and a visit to the local church.

RE: 1
1. School I: User: Primary
Link to Geography: Local study
Yes. The teacher linked the loans with Art. The students made their own clay tiles in
response to the Reading Abbey tiles. She also linked the Reading Abbey tiles with
RE and a visit to the local church.

SMSC: 1
1. School W: Non-user: Secondary
Link to History: Native American studies
There were also links with Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Education
through some of the big issues that came up through the students' questions. For
example: Student: "Why did the cowboys shoot the Indians?" Teacher: "The white
people wanted their land. We'll go over that in another lesson."