What makes LAB, LAB?
Here, we pride ourselves on thinking outside the box to provide the best education for our pupils to achieve our vision:
‘To empower future generations to follow their dreams and to build a society of which we can all be proud.’
Below, are some examples of innovations that are unique to Livingstone Academy Bournemouth:
We are an all-through academy:
This means that we educate pupils from Reception all the way through to Year 13 (6th form), catering for children from 4 to 18 years old. This empowers us to build fantastic relationships with all of our pupils and families. Furthermore, as a single site, all-through academy, transition between key stages is seamless or our pupils. Our single site houses a 2 form primary school, a 5 form secondary school and a 6th form provision for around 150 students.
We invest heavily in our outstanding Early Years provision:
We believe that the Early Years are crucial in building good foundations and ensuring that all children have an excellent platform on which to build their future success. We invest in employing 3 teachers across our 2 classes to ensure that our children receive the best provision and highest quality opportunities.
We are re-thinking transition into Key Stage 3:
Nationally, children struggle to transition from primary school into secondary school. Often, children find the change overwhelming, causing issues with behaviour and attendance. Nationally, the percentage of children receiving a suspension increases by 5.5% in Year 7, compared to national Year 6 figures, and average attendance drops from 96% to 89%.
Here at LAB, we have introduced our Year 7 model: merging the best of primary with the best of secondary. Similar to the Primary model, pupils in Year 7 have one teacher and one classroom (within the Year 7 base) for their morning lessons of advisory, English, maths, humanities, science, DEAR and PSHE, enabling the staff and children to foster close relationships. During the afternoon, pupils then rotate between teachers to receive specialist teaching in art, music, computing, technology, PE and Spanish.
With 96% attendance and 0 suspensions in Year 7, alongside our pupil and parent voice, we know that our Year 7 model is making a real, positive difference for our pupils and families.
Our ‘No Limits’ Curriculum – Applied learning and Power Skill development:
Our unique ‘No Limits’ curriculum is ambitious, enriching, broad and balanced. Designed to go beyond the traditional curriculum, it combines the acquisition of knowledge with the development of power skills. Our students have regular opportunities to develop their ‘power skills’ in real world contexts. Engaging in learning in this way deepens understanding, and results in high levels of achievement as well as preparing pupils/students for an ever changing world.
LAB Technicals:
All pupils in Years 2-6 have a weekly, 2 hour ‘LAB Technicals’ session, working in groups of 10 alongside a specialist member of staff to develop their technical fluency in the following STEAM areas:
- Photography
- Woodwork
- Textiles
- Cookery
- Art
- Science investigations
- Engineering projects through LEGO Spike
- Coding
- Geographical fieldwork
Creator Space Projects:
All pupils in Years 7-9 complete 3 ‘Creator Space Projects’ every year. During these projects, they have 2 hours each week with a Creator Space teacher in a small group of 15, where they will work in teams to solve problems, think critically and create solutions using a variety of digital technology and engineering skills. Examples include:
- Minecraft Education – Designing Sustainable cities
- Paper Circuits
- Engineering Challenges
- Makey Makey – Physical Computing Problem Solving
- Building Virtual Worlds in Virtual Reality
- Vector Images and Laser Etching
- Lego Robotics
- Computer Aided Design (CAD) and 3D printing
The ‘Livingstone Academy Project Diploma’ at Key Stage 4:
In line with our vision to empower all pupils with the knowledge, skill and character that they need to succeed, all of our pupils in Years 10 and 11 complete the ‘Livingstone Academy Project Diploma’ as part of their Level 2 qualifications. This is a nationally recognised Level 2 qualification (equal to a GCSE) where students select an area of interest for themselves and complete a guided, independent project. They conduct research, create products, think critically, present their ideas, and develop their power skills through their project work. By the end of Year 11, their project is assessed and a final grade is achieved.