I Dream of Learning

This was a project from about 2010
Some of the links will no longer be live

I Dream of Learning is a competition that has been running across Hounslow.

Teams of pupils have been visioning what they would like their learning environments of the future to look like. They have been thinking about the different ways they like to learn and how new technologies can support their ideas.

This process will provide ‘Student Voice’ to influence our work in Hounslow on Building Schools for the Future: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesfinanceandbuilding/bsf/ and the Primary Capital programme: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesfinanceandbuilding/Primary_Capital_Programme/
The teams from the winning primary and winning secondary schools will each have £30,000 pounds to invest in developing their dream environment, thanks to the support of capital money from Hounslow's two City Learning Centres

The winning team from the primary schools are from Strand Junior School. They are now building up their vision, which incorporates an exterior and interior learning environment with 24/7 learning in mind. Parents and the comminutiy are involved. The winning team of 3 pupils from Year 6 is expanded to represent Years 3, 4, and 5. These pupils are working on their vision in consultation with myself and with the CLCs.

The students are trialling new technologies to inform the development of their new experimental learning zone. They have been working with RIBA and the V&A researching how buildings influence use and how our vision of learning must influence design. We will be experimenting with colour, lighting and furnishings to support learning.

The process will be repeated with the secondary school winners. The entries are now in from the secondary schools. The external judges have a hard decision deciding on the winners.

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Fifteen pupils from Strand Junior School took a trip to the V&A to help them build on their ideas for designs for their new learning environment, their prize for coming up with brilliant ideas on ways they would like to learn in the future.

We were met by Catherine Duncumb, V&A+RIBA Architecture Education Officer, she spent the day with us and created a wonderful investigative learning journey. Every pupil was engaged throughout the day from Year 3 up to Year 6.

We spent the morning thinking about functionality, construction and impact. We investigated how space is designed with a purpose in mind and how shape, light, texture, materials, access and dynamic focal points are all equally important.

In the afternoon we thought about all the spaces we had seen, what worked well, what didn't work so well and what we really liked. The pupils were then able to think about the design features they particularly wanted to consider for their own learning environment back in school.

Their ideas included: dramatic lighting, colours that were fresh, warm and welcoming, and features that made an impact like the 'Swarm' chandalier by Zaha Hadid.

They liked the use of stripes, comfy chairs, changes in texture between wood and concrete, and they liked natural light and water features.

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And the winning team for the secondary phase of the I Dream of Learning Competition is.... Lampton School, with runners up Gumley House School and St Marks School.


We had a fantastic prize-giving event at the Waterman's Theatre in Brentford. The winning team members all received Sony PSPs with cameras- thanks to ConnectEd and Feltham CLC - runners up received ipod shuffles and stereo arm clocks with ipod docking thanks to Feltham CLC and Computer Warehouse.


Now the really hard work begins as the winning team expands to involve others in their school, in order to help them develop their ideas into an experimental learning zone for real.

They will have help from experts and will consider how we like to learn and how this influences design of learning spaces. They will consider how the way a space is designed will influence whether it is used successfully and they will think about the importance of movement and light and how furnishings influence use of a space. They will also develop their thinking on how technology can support learning, with the help of Hounslow E-learning and Feltham and Brentford CLCs. The winning ideas can be viewed at http://www.clcfeltham.co.uk/bsf_pcp/entries.html. See also a posting on the NCSL web site by Lampton teacher, Juliette Hepple, describing the exciting design.
http://future.ncsl.org.uk/News.aspx?ID=166