Mab Lane Primary School, Liverpool

Mab Lane is a large primary school on the edge of Liverpool that caters for children from the age of three to eleven years. The school received the Healthy Schools award in 2001 and was one of the first in Liverpool to be awarded Investors in People status.

The Headteacher June Todd was eager to try Keyboard Crazy and below talks about how it has made changes throughout the school.

History

Since the year 2000 the school have reviewed the curriculum with a focus on creativity and making learning fun. Addressing multiple intelligences and promoting a positive ethos to learning have been significant in their new approach towards raising achievement. Their curriculum priority has been literacy and it has been very important to find the correct resources to support learning.

The present

They were very pleased that their 2005 end of year analysis has shown that children have made significant progress in writing in both key stages and that their confidence and willingness to "have a go" has greatly improved. They feel that part of their success was the use of effective resources and, Keyboard Crazy has played a prominent role in promoting achievement in spelling, helping children assess their own learning and raising self esteem. Children now see the "fun" in spelling and writing.

Initially the resource was purchased to support literacy and they have been amazed by the enthusiasm the children have shown towards this area of the curriculum. Enthusiasm and interest are the keys to successful learning and Keyboard Crazy has allowed them to bring the element of fun into developing literacy skills.

They are really pleased that they have now developed the use of the resource for assessment of learning in other curriculum areas such as geography, history and science, allowing teachers to instantly assess pupils' knowledge, avoiding the pressure of test situations which can be difficult for some children to show their full potential.

The future

The school has recently achieved Dyslexia Friendly status and the Inclusion Charter Mark at advanced level, both of which show their commitment to helping all children reach their full potential. Keyboard Crazy is an excellent resource which they feel is supporting them towards this goal. It has extensive uses throughout all areas of the curriculum and addresses all the multiple intelligences.

The schools' aim is to help children achieve through fun but challenging activities and they value Keyboard Crazy as a resource which has supported their aim this year and will continue to do so in the future - they add that they feel it is a resource which all schools should invest in.

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