Higher still

Access 1 and 2

7516

A
HIGHER STILL

MER

Support Materials

Acknowledgment

This pack is based on work done in a Special School in the lead up to the implementation year of Higher Still.

The programme is intended for students with a range of learning difficulties for whom programmes of work leading to credits at one or more of the Access levels is expected to be appropriate. The programme could equally well be used in a mainstream school or college catering for students of similar ability.

This pack represents the first steps taken by a special school in the adaptation of their established and highly successful gardening programme to match the unit ‘MER: Planning an Environmental Area’, one of three Managing Environmental Resources, (MER) units available at Access 2. The pack focuses on a Herb Garden which is of course just one example of many environmental areas students could plan. The pack contains material necessary for students to start working on the ‘planning unit’, all three outcomes are covered. This may be a step towards achieving the unit and indeed the MER cluster of units at Access 2 for some students. Activities are also included at Access 1 level for other students in the group who may find the Access 2 unit unattainable.

The pack contains the following:

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  Part 1 Information for teachers, students and parents
  
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  Part 2 Student activities
  
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  Part 3 Examples of additional worksheets for some student activities.
  

What this pack offers, therefore, is a model for delivering the ‘planning unit’ for MER at Access 2, a unit which can be used to underpin the other two units in the cluster because these involve developing the area and then monitoring and maintaining it. The model in this pack can be applied to any well established gardening programme or it can be used to start-up a gardening programme.

The programme is essentially practical so the students learn by contributing to planning activities. By the end of the programme students will have compiled a folio recording their contribution to the planning. This folio is likely to contain log entries, completed activity sheets, students’ evaluations of their activities, observational checklists and possibly photographs. The folio may also contain formative assessments.

This pack contains the following formative assessment records:

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  Student’s Activity Record
  
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  Student’s Personal Log
  
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  Teacher’s Assessment Log
  
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  Student’s Record of Achievement relating to Access 2
  
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  Student’s Record of Achievement relating to Access 1.
  

The above student materials may be completed by the student or the teacher and may be particularly useful for recording the achievements of students working at Access 1 level.

We have also included examples of links between the MER activities featured in the pack and other Access 1 and 2 provision, for example Art and Design, English and Communication, Mathematics, Personal and Social Education, Science, Social Subjects and the core skills.

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  to involve students in planning, and eventually developing and maintaining an environmental area
  
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  to develop communication skills in real contexts
  

During the summer and autumn terms, students plan, develop and maintain a small herb garden. The herbs are used in cooking and some may be sold to parents in order to fund future improvements to the herb garden.

Some students may produce written work which can be formatively or summatively assessed. However, the programme is essentially practical so that students learn by contributing to activities. Assessment of this practical work is by teacher observation with the help of various checklists. Students may also be involved in self and peer-assessment.

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  Student’s Activity Record which can be used as a summary briefly recording the student’s contribution to the whole activity. It may be completed by the student or scribed.(Page 6)
  

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  Student’s Personal Log, (contained in Part 2), for students to enter their personal views of contributing to the activities. The log may be used at Access 1 or Access 2 level. It may be completed by the student or scribed. (Pages 17, 22, 27)
  

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  Teacher’s Assessment Log for each student activity is an informal record which may be used to give guidance to the student on performance regarding learning targets, behaviour or attitude. It may be used at the level of Access 1 or Access 2. (Page 7)
  

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  Record of Achievement for the unit MER: Planning an Environmental Area (Access 2) (Page 8)
  

We recommend that summative assessment for certification of above unit is administered using the National Assessment Bank material

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  Records of Achievement relating to Access 1 are contained in Part 2 of this pack alongside the relevant student activities. (Pages 19, 24, 29)
  

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  While carrying out these activities video and audio-taped evidence of student’s activities may also be produced. If so this may be stored centrally within the school.