Getting stuck in after watching the clips
We made friends with the outstanding (according to OFSTED) and frankly inspirational The Bridge Secondary School in Islington, London. The Bridge is a teaching school, providing training and support to both mainstream and special schools. One of the curriculum areas where The Bridge have led the way is Sex & Relationships Education; "lifelong learning about sex, sexuality, emotions, relationships and sexual health. Through SRE children and young people acquire accurate information, develop skills and develop positive values which will guide their decision-making, judgements, relationships and behaviour throughout their life." Sex Education Forum
In January The Bridge 6th form teachers developed a series of 3 lesson plans around clips of Monica & David within 2 classes. This was a research-based, pupil-led resource, steered by students' interests, questions and engagement. Monica & David follows a couple with Down's Syndrome that wish to start an independent life of their own- working, getting married and having children together.
The resource deals with ideas such as independence and dependency, employment, relationships and marriage, choosing people who are special to us. Tom Andrews who has been leading this project at The Bridge described how a lot of the work they do in school aims to prepare students for the wider world and these clips provide the perfect tool.
Results included new vocabulary being used and Makaton (sign language) signs being remembered, a rise in P levels, an eagerness to find out what is going to happen to Monica and David, students discussing the film out of class and a change in behaviour at home for one student.
The lesson plans and film clips are now being rolled out into the new 6th form as well as a mixed Key Stage 3/4 group and as part of a specialised 1:1 programme.
The Bridge and Doc Academy are now looking into the potential of working together to create a brand new resource from scratch- based around a documentary that we would choose together and share with schools across the country. We are very excited! Watch this space..
The Bridge's 2014 Monica & David lesson plan will be featured on the Monica & David Doc Academy page in November 2014. The new lesson plan around a film TBD is due to be released in September 2015.
