Fen Ditton's second update
Wow, the Summer Holidays went fast…..
Here we are in September raring to go, just the small matter of COVID-19 rearing it’s ugly head at school again, so sadly our time has been very limited with Staff and students off at the start of term.
Well, we might not be exactly where we had hoped with the project in terms of animating, but the building blocks are still building! The children are all still really enthusiastic and motivated, and they are exploring the resources with joy!
The two challenge levels are still set up so that those with more experience can get to making animations, and those with no experience, or more difficulty with communication, can have more time to explore emotions and how to express themselves.
There has been a lot of plasticine and clay used recently - it really helps to build up details of expressions, and some of the pupils are slowly getting to grips with how animation works; adding one feature of expression at a time not only shows them the ideas behind stop frame animation, but also helps to break down identifying emotion in others, into smaller manageable chunks. This is really assisting children who have trouble reading the emotions of others, and might help them recognise their own emotions and identify how they are feeling.
We have big plans for the rest of the term. The teachers have had training on the animation equipment and will run an animation club going forward, for small groups to make Lego movies in particular. This will suit children with more experience, so there will be a parallel activity for those with less experience to gain confidence in modelling, fruit animating, and other styles of animating with less complex details.
The children in the Nest will continue to have short sessions, either making films together, or as part of these small group activities. This is a great chance for the children to work together in different cohorts, to learn from each other, and to get to know each other better.
Staff are very aware of each child’s individual needs and will match the groups accordingly, so that skills within the group are cohesive, and that everybody has a chance to take on the different animation roles.
The long term aim would be for all children to gain skills in digital animation, whatever their starting point, and increased confidence in creating these, either with their 1:1 staff member, or as part of a small group.
We have many children who experience emotional difficulties and mental health challenges, not only those attending the Nest, so it is really important to us as a school to remain inclusive and ensure the needs of as many children as possible can be met. These resources are an amazing help to us!
The photo shows how children are exploring the building blocks of animating emotions using modelling. Different colours can help expressions stand out making them easier to read and recognise.