PUPILS of an Ellesmere Port school have been showing plenty of respect thanks to a successful collaboration with Commando Joe's.
Commando Joe’s prides itself on innovation, collaborative working and creativity. They first began back in 2009 when founder Mike Hamilton had the idea of setting up Commando Joe’s to help improve education and life outcomes for the most disadvantaged children and young people.
The result: A curriculum packed with overarching lesson plans, tools and resources developed by teachers for teachers.
Mike was so impressed with the whole school approach that he was keen to work with Woodlands Primary School in Ellesmere Port.
The Character Curriculum was used as inspiration for the school to create its own set of resources that link with their curriculum and core reading texts. To further extend their pupils’ learning, staff at Woodlands worked alongside CoJoe’s Mike and Kirsty to help design new resources in a fun format for all schools up and down the country to enjoy.
Woodlands Primary School has enjoyed success with its Commando Joe's RESPECT programme.
The school is always looking for innovative ways to drive staff and pupil engagement and profound learning and this was another of the ways that headteacher Dr Victoria Carr sought to enhance the learning experience for everyone in school and the staff testimony, that they shared via video clips, speak for themselves.
A spokesperson for the school said: “The RESPECT programme is synonymous with our own school values.
"We want our staff, as role models, to inspire our children inside and outside of the classroom and the practical element of the RESPECT framework, embedded in our wider curriculum offer, and coupled with the people selected to demonstrate the missions, facilitated them challenging common stereotypes of gender and ethnicity and modelling the characteristics in a tangible way.“
The new resources cover everything from Early Years Foundation Stage to Upper Key Stage 2, ensuring a whole school approach.
EYFS jumps pupils straight into a magical storybook world, with missions inspired by 'The Shark in the Park' by Nick Sharatt, 'How to Catch a Unicorn' by Adam Wallace and 'Harry and His Bucketful of Dinosaurs' by Ian Whybrow.
Year 2 go on a Kenyan adventure, discovering the vast plains of Africa and its varied wildlife. Year 3/4 travelled back in time to the Stone Age working on their survival skills, working together to gather food, build safe structures and tend to the wounded. Year 5 take on the helm of Norse warriors, helping Odin re-build the Bi-Frost bridge, delving deep into Norse Mythology, with code-breaking missions and mysteries to unravel.
The final resource is the Future Commando, a resource that can be used for all year groups. Future Commando is a reflective resource, ideal for looking back on the year and seeing exactly what you have worked on as a class.
Mike Hamilton said: “It was a pleasure to work with Woodlands Primary School, it’s amazing to see the results of Woodlands’ hard work.
"I’m so pleased the RESPECT programme has inspired the school to create its own resources, it was great to meet all the teachers and explore the mission topics.”
People can keep up to date on social media with Woodlands Primary School's missions @CoJoWoodlands.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here