“When are we ever going to use this stuff?” Yeah, if you’re a teacher a question like this will definitely be one you’ve heard before. Well, LA14 have been putting their classroom learning to use and developing skills they can use throughout life. We’ve been learning a lot about area calculations on paper and took an opportunity to get out of the class. Due to a minor earthquake at school (not really) we need to replace some of the paving and grass. The students have to measure the areas, some of them very complex, and calculate the price of the replacements from real commercial websites. The students need to measure accurately, use their calculation knowledge, give reasons for their choice of pavers and grass and explain the process involved. Their work will be presented creatively in a hand-written project (a strange beast in our digital world) and the students seem excited and motivated by the project. Real learning, using real situations in the real world – can’t get any more real than that!

Below are some photos of the students measuring for their project.