Friday 21st January 2022 saw Year 7 and 8 pupils take part in their first Project Based Learning Day of the new year. Known as a ‘PBL Day’ it is organised as such that pupils have a portion of time away from their usual classes and learning to focus on larger project-based activities instead.

This PBL Day was separated into two elements, one part being all about identity and inclusion using potatoes (more on that below) and the other part being all about teamwork and problem-solving exercises. 

The first activity of the day was all about identity and inclusion that started by dividing pupils into teams and asking them to write down some facts about themselves including their favourite food, hobbies, interests and something that they are really good at. Teams were then tasked to respond to further questions such as things that they thought the school does well to help make them feel like they are included, things that the school could do better, what one thing they would change about Bethany School to make them feel happier and finally producing a new school motto to promote kindness, tolerance and inclusion. 

The next part of the activity was all about potatoes (but really about identity). Each pupil was given a regular spud and were asked to try and remember as much about it as possible. They were then tasked with creating a life story for their individual potato by giving it a name, age, family, hobbies and interests. Each potato was then returned to Mr Beckham and jumbled up before pupils were then asked to try and find their individual potato. This posed various reflective questions such as ‘Why was it difficult to identify your potato?’, ‘What does it tell us about all potatoes?’, ‘Does what we found out about potatoes also apply to human beings and how?’ and ‘What similarities might these be?’. 

Pupils were then given their potatoes back and asked to ‘dress’ them to represent themselves by using various craft resources. As seen in the photos there were some fantastic and highly creative potatoes on show! 

The second activity of the day encouraged teamwork and problem-solving exercises. This took place within the Bethany high and low ropes area as teams of pupils took on various challenges in balance, speed and skill. 

Thank you to Mr Beckham and his team for organising the day and after hearing comments from the pupils involved it is said to have been a great success!