Introduction
Our project
Our vision is to give students opportunities that develop their connections to others through filmmaking. While many are experienced consumers of technology, our goal is to enhance their abilities to become creators. Students will develop their abilities to collaborate with each other and communicate their visions with others through student created social media posts, blogs, and podcasts. We will endeavor to create partnerships with our community and connect to Ottawa’s rich animation studio industry as well as students and teachers of technology, animation, filmmaking and communications from high school, college, and university. We envision the classrooms as studio spaces where students will as readily pick up an iPad and create a media project as they would have previously used a pencil. It is important to recognize our plan will be fluid in order to ensure that student voice directs the process.
Tell us about your team and your school community.
Our school draws students from several local communities. Students from several local towns attend our English program of Kindergarten to grade five students. While our school has just 141 students, these children represent a broad demographic in terms of their academic abilities and strengths. One of the benefits of being a small school is that everyone must collaborate for our school to be successful. We value what each student brings to the classroom and engagement through play allows all students to showcase their successes and strengths. Many learn best with non-traditional approaches, so our play-based approach is a wonderful way to allow them to demonstrate their many gifts. Our team consists of the two junior classroom teachers, core French teacher, and learning support teacher.
Tell us about the importance of learning through play for your team and for your students.
Community building through play ensures all students’ gifts and talents are showcased and that students interact with all their classmates in joyful ways. We have put particular focus on hands-on learning and connecting with community partners. Being somewhat distanced from these opportunities in our small village, we try to bring the world to our school. We are passionate about ensuring our students see the myriad opportunities waiting for them, and the many different pathways available. We have seen that school can sometimes work counter to this purpose, making students believe because they do not excel at a narrow set of skills that they are limited in their options. Quite to the contrary, we know that outside the box thinkers who demonstrate creative and unique talents are just what the world needs. As a team, we collaborate to ensure we share our strengths and support each other through challenges.
Tell us about your interest in joining the Canadian Playful Schools Network.
Our goal is to increase our students’ opportunities to connect and communicate with each other and beyond the school community, and to allow them to interact in the world beyond their own experiences. We plan to launch our project with a focus on telling stories through filmmaking. Students will develop their abilities to collaborate with each other and communicate their visions with others. We will create partnerships in the community and leverage our connection to the CPSN schools to connect with others across Canada. We hope to collaborate with colleagues and classrooms in the project and to have our students share their ideas and projects with an authentic audience. We are excited to continue to enhance our vision of creating a school that highlights students’ gifts, builds on their strengths, deepens their connections, and expands their horizons.
Discover our student’s movies and what they’ve accomplished in the year 2022-2023 !
The North Gower Festival :
The school team :
