Wawne Primary School uses their now>press>play subscription to extend pupils’ school experiences, put STEM learning into relevant contexts and increase overall confidence.
Why we chose now>press>play
The initial reason we chose to use now>press>play was because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The children’s opportunities for life experiences were suddenly limited and looking at places on the internet didn’t really bring things to life or offer the same overall experiences.
“When I do now>press>play I get to travel the world and go back in time.”
How we have used the now>press>play Experiences
Ask any child about fractions and decimals and they’ll groan and tell you “It’s too hard!” However, when it came to the Experience (Titanic) the children were really engaged and could not wait to complete it all. They didn’t even see it as doing maths, they saw it as problem solving that just involved some fractions and decimals as part of the process. A brilliant way of getting through a tricky area of learning and teaching the children a context to what they are learning making them see the importance and relevance.
“now>press>play brings everything to life. I feel like I am there and although I know I am safe in school I still feel the different emotions. I feel happy, excited and even scared and sad.”
We have tended to use the Experiences for consolidation and have found the children have had a better understanding of the Experience and have been able to gain more from it if we do it at the end of a topic, or in the middle, once they have some base learning about the area. The children find the familiarity and discovery of the key points of their learning within a context very engaging and we get lots of “I learnt that!” or “oh that’s what it means”.
We have used the resources for some of the maths and English Experiences but it is something we need to explore further in terms of weaving the Experiences and work into our long term plans. We have at present just been picking out things that relate to what we are doing or we have been using them when covering classes.
I could list what we’ve used but the list would be long, the equipment is out a couple of times a week – we may run out so be prepared to make more!
now>press>play has helped with:
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Making learning come to life
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Putting the learning within real life, relevant contexts
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Consolidating learning
“The mention of taking part in a now>press>play Experience sends a ripple of excitement, the children love the Experiences and so do the staff!”
“The now>press>play Experiences start some amazing conversations, especially with the older children - very thought provoking! The children relate things to their own life experiences and this enhances their excitement, inspiration and in some Experiences an empathy for others’ lives.”
How now>press>play benefits all of our students
now>press>play has had an impact on pupils’ consolidation and engagement in learning. Children who would perhaps be less engaged in lessons or who would find it hard to access the content, find the Experiences much more accessible. We wondered how it would work at first because the children would still be able to see their classroom or the hall they were in. But, when the children put the headphones on and the Experience begins they become fully immersed and it’s like they can visualise what is happening.
It has been great for our less confident pupils who are less likely to join in as they become fully immersed and forget others are there. We have even seen the most reluctant and shy pupils dancing away to the music and acting out the story!
We are planning to use the now>press>play equipment in our dance lessons in PE to help those less confident be more confident and willing to engage. Nobody worries about looking silly when they’re doing now>press>play!
now>press>play is an easy yet highly effective way of enhancing the children’s learning, bringing to life the Experiences we want to teach the children about and having fun at the same time.
Thank you, now>press>play has enhanced our curriculum so much, the children love it and the staff love it (in fact I think the staff have more fun than the children at times!).
