‘The Very Hungry School’ and the curriculum
WWF online debates are vehicles for delivering many aspects of the primary curriculum in the UK.
Specific links for The Very Hungry School online pupil debate include:
English
There are many opportunities for pupils to:
- read for information;
- distinguish between fact and opinion;
- identify and use specialist vocabulary;
- identify words associated with reason, persuasion and argument; and
- use written language to inform, explain and persuade.
ICT
The online work encourages pupils to:
- select and check suitable sources on the web;
- interpret and analyze information; and
- share information by email.
The online discussion provides the rare chance for pupils to engage in a live exchange within a safe environment.
Maths
In addition to the number puzzles included in the Very Hungry School story, the project offers a range of opportunities to develop skills in data handling as pupils investigate and report information about resource use.
PSHE and Citizenship
PHSE and Citizenship are included in curricula across the UK and this work covers a range of issues that are covered here, such as considering social and moral dilemmas that pupils encounter in their lives, personal health issues and what it means to be an informed and active citizen.
Science and geography
This programme contains clear links with science and geography. In discussing what consumption and how it can be reduced, pupils will need to know or find out about different sources of energy, water use and treatment, waste management, the natural and built world surrounding their school. There will be opportunities to explore issues such as food production, transport, and manufacturing and consider the links between human activity and the natural environment.
Global citizenship
The whole programme encourages pupils to see themselves as global citizens characterised by:
- an awareness of the wider world and a sense of their own role as informed contributors to decision-making processes with local and global implications;
- respect for and value of diversity;
- a willingness to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place; and
- a sense of responsibility for their actions.