Year 7 have been exploring the wonderful world of leaves as part of their Problem Based Learning program. Students were given the task of working in groups to complete a selection of tasks about leaves that satisfied various criteria. The outcome of the project was an impressive display today – but more importantly, students have developed and improved their Royal High Learner qualities: Brave, Reflective, Inquisitive, Collaborative, Kind and Sparky.

Tasks included: creating a Scratch game; producing a dance, collage or display; making a playlist; learning about the word for leaf in different languages; designing a leaf cake; drawing leaves with non-dominant hand and many more. In order to be successful they needed to plan, manage their time over a period of a number of weeks and above all collaborate positively with other members of their group.

Part of the Year 7 curriculum, and unique to our school, the weekly Problem Based Learning sessions provide the students with specific real-world challenges. The aim is for students to develop effective teamwork, while responding to briefs through innovating and problem-solving.