The most striking image of the day was the sight of year 5 children walking hand in hand with year 1s, year 6s with year 2s, year 4s with reception children and year 3s with nursery children.
Woolmore Primary School students on their way to Canary Wharf © Jonathan Barnes
As they walked excitedly and carefully along Robinhood Lane and to the DLR the gentleness of the older children and the trust of the younger ones was obvious and heart-warming. This sense of a caring community stayed all day as children in their cross-age groups, teachers, teaching assistants and adult helpers interacted easily with kindness and mutual respect.
I asked one year 6 child if he already knew his partner, his answer was typical of the day, ‘no I didn’t, but he’s my friend now.’ Amongst 250 children and adults on the day, I did not see a single cross face, unkind action or a single angrily raised voice all day... probably a first in my 34 years as a teacher!
Learning from the environment
The day was also characterised by focused activity. The visit to Canary Wharf, less than 500 metres from the school gates, was grasped as an opportunity to collect as much information as possible.
None of the collected impressions could have been gathered from a website, lecture or written sources. Traffic surveys; rubbings; observations of people walking; collections of geometric shapes; still images framed by key describing words; moving images; sensory descriptions of sights, sounds and smells; intricate drawings of 360 degree views from Canada Square – mosaics, trees imprisoned in stainless steel, stone and scaffolded containers.
Two students drawing buildings in Canary Wharf © Jonathan Barnes
There did not seem a moment, morning or afternoon, that was not fully used in information gathering. Children collected digital and drawn observations, they listed, tallied, acted and heard data from a variety of contrasting sites around the Wharf.
In Canada Square, Jubilee Place winter garden, the watersides, the view of the Thames and the journeys between them, children and adults also built up a library of remembered images and sensations which were recounted back at school during the following days.
Relationships and learning
Relationships are key to learning. Research and experience shows me that warm and positive relationships are key to the types of learning which result in good things like collaboration, flexibility, kindness, self-confidence, self control, a positive view of the self as a learner and a hopeful, resilient attitude to life as a whole.
Good relationships I believe are also essential to promoting learning which is both transferrable and available for creative combinations later. This collaborative aspect of learning and creativity has been overlooked in recent years with our massive over-emphasis on the individual.
This exciting day at Canary Wharf became a demonstration of the power of a place to generate positive relationships between people. In honouring the place where people live, wherever it is, we honour them.
Jonathan Barnes...
Is senior lecturer in education at Canterbury Christ Church University. He has wide experience in all sectors of education. He now teaches a range of disciplines in teacher education, music, art, geography and history. His research is in the relationships between the curriculum, creativity and well-being. He writes regularly on cross-curricular and creative approaches to the curriculum, and staff development. He is author of "Cross Curricular Learning 3-14", published by Sage, 2007.
