Curious Minds

In My Liverpool Home - St. John Fisher Catholic Primary School

On Friday 1st April the pupils and teachers of St John Fisher Catholic Primary School held an enjoyable and impressive event including a film, singing, drama and poetry, to celebrate the work produced through their 'In my Liverpool Home' project.

This  learning journey began with the question: “How does a teacher developed creative curriculum inspire the teaching and learning of our pupils; what is the impact and how can we measure this?”

To explore this question and develop a topic approach to learning, the school collaborated with Curious Minds and as creatives. The staff looked closely at the school development plan and decided that they would use the inspiration of the city on their doorstep to improve curriculum teaching and develop the school environment . The project ‘In Our Liverpool Home’ was born.

Every child in the school accessed a school trip to a venue within the city to act as an inspirational stimulus for their artwork. 

Each class attended a trip around Liverpool:

EYFS: Underwater Street

Year 1: The Ferry Across the Mersey, Tate Museum, Liverpool Echo wheel and also  HMS Liverpool

Year 2 & Year 6: Liverpool Duckbus tour & Albert Dock.

Year 3: Knowsley Safari Park

Year 4: Liverpool Echo Arena & Liverpool Echo wheel.

Year 5: Liverpool World Museum,  Radio City Tower,  St. John’s Gardens & a walk around the city centre.

as creatives then delivered staff training, pupil workshops and developed playground artwork to provide a lasting and sustainable reminder of their  experiences.

Four students from Hope University chose to support the school through their teaching module ‘Wider perspectives’. Pupils raised just over £1000 during a sponsored event and even contributed 10% of their funds to a Japan appeal. The students then invested the money wisely into fantastic garden resources. These inspirational teachers of the future worked tirelessly to develop a wonderful garden area that will continue to develop over the coming years.

To extend the schools provision for Gifted & talented pupils they asked partners at the City Learning Centre to develop a filming project that would capture the essence of the journey through the ‘In My Liverpool Home’. The children worked hard to record all of our workshops in school, our class trips and the installation of the artwork.

I have  been so proud to see how all of our children, staff, parents and partners can work together to achieve such a fantastic learning experience for our whole
school. It has been fantastic!
Miss Toole-  project coordinator

When children and staff take risks, feel heard and have a passion to work together, projects like our ‘in My Liverpool Home’ succeed beyond our expectations. This Creative approach to our learning has reminded us all why, in the footsteps of Jesus, we all think so much of our school and are committed to it’s future.
Mrs. Farrimond—Head teacher

The project has really given everybody the opportunity to reflect upon the magnificent history and the diverse culture of our city., It has been fantastic to have the chance to participate in the learning experiences, exploring our wonderful Liverpool home.
Mrs Fillingham—Learning Mentor

Thoroughly enjoyed doing this topic. All the staff and children have worked hard to make it successful.
Mrs Perry—School Governor

In my Liverpool Home was an exciting experience got me and has made our school more beautiful
Tayla —year 5 pupil.

I liked learning about my Liverpool Home.
Joel—Early Years Foundation Stage.