Whitefield Primary School: Case Study on Recovery and Catch Up with audio learning

What areas/priorities has now>press>play helped with?

 Children have found it difficult to return to structure and listening, and to access things they have forgotten. now>press>play has helped children to engage in an active way which has really helped them return to learning.The Experiences have been invaluable in developing children’s confidence as well as their understanding of a topic.

Have you seen an impact on any specific areas or on specific children that has been unexpected?

We run a curriculum based on strong texts, and the children love being immersed in the storytelling in a now>press>play Experience. They have talked about using their imaginations more to create the worlds they conjure up.

now>press>play has been used to great effect when delivering the history curriculum. Making use of the forest area on the school grounds and combining it with the now>press>play equipment enabled The Stone Age Experience to become immersive and physically active. Children enjoyed roaming through the trees whilst hunting for a woolly mammoth and then trying to create a campfire.

Combining outdoor space with the equipment has also proved to be an invaluable tool when teaching concepts in Science. This was used to great effect when delivering ‘rocks and their properties’. Following the Experience through the headphones whilst hands on testing rocks and feeling the physical environment provided a great stimulus to embed learning and sticky knowledge.

now>press>play has also allowed them to develop empathy and understanding based on the roles they take on. For example, in the Anglo Saxon Experience, they further understood the role of working children, how difficult this was and how most didn’t receive any formal education. The Experience really allowed them to develop that emotional understanding of what it was like. ‘It would have been hard ploughing the fields all day.’ – Pupil

Combining the immersive and imaginative Experiences of now>press>play with our rich curriculum and outdoor opportunities has proved to be a winning formula with the learning and progress made by the children.

What have the children and staff said about now>press>play and this style of learning?

 The style of learning allows children to really immerse themselves into a topic and experience it, gaining that deepening of understanding. The children enjoy it immensely, moving around and taking on different roles. Even children who are usually fairly quiet have the confidence to join in. The Experiences have been invaluable in developing children’s confidence as well as their understanding of a topic.

‘It makes our learning come alive.’ – Pupil ‘We love it.’ – Pupil