Yearly Archives: 2025

InFindingOut (IFO) / Tech To Help (TTH)

Classroom Brainwaves!

The NeuroSky Mindwave unit has proven to be fascinating for many of the pupils that I teach. 

This was important, as part of the InFindingOut project is around self-assessment by young people of their wellbeing, inspired by the use of biometrics.

 We will soon by adding further sensing options – each one provides a small sample of data that can then encourage the young person to engage more fully with a meaningful measurement of their own mental and physical wellbeing.

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December 12, 2025
Digital Writes / Marvellous Musical Machine

World Premiere of the MMM!

Today marked the final session of Marvellous Musical Machine at the Lydiard Park Academy ASC. 

This first cohort of six boys have been astoundingly capable and a total delight to work with. Keith and I will miss their enthusiasm and wonderful ideas.

Here then is their finished work…

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December 8, 2025
Art of Conversation

AoC Animation

Having voted last week to create animated insects that live on mushrooms, this week we filmed short animated sequences.

The wonderful Year 9 crew at Crowdy’s used the insects that they had drawn. It was a joy and a privilege to see their engagement with this task.

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December 4, 2025
Digital Writes / Marvellous Musical Machine

Marvellous Musical Machine 1 nears completion

As our first cohort near completion of their machine – here is a little clip featuring the use of MakeCode Arcade for musical composition.

To see the whole Marvellous Musical Machine journey to date, please visit: www.flickernet.net/mmm

The grand premiere of their performance film will be on Monday 8th December. 

We will be moving on to the Ridgeway ASC early in the new year , where are looking forward to working with Will and his team to build the second Marvellous Musical Machine. 

To celebrate the creation of our first MMM, we have created a new logo!

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December 2, 2025
Resources / tech_ventures

Quiz Machine

Fun in Bishopstone today creating what we are calling Quiz Machines!

These are based on MicroBits, Bit Commanders and View screens – the same equipment that we are using to build the ChoiceBoxes at Crowdy’s – but this time they act as “fastest finger first” devices that transmit to the Receiving Unit the team name followed by the answer.

We plan to develop them so that they can toggle between multiple choice and written answer as well as keeping a score electronically.

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December 2, 2025
InFindingOut (IFO) / Space To Learn

WindCam

A new STEM experiment takes shape in Space To Learn, Northern Ireland – in readiness for the InFindingOut pupils (in Swindon, Wilts) to develop.

The aim of the experiment is to measure the movement of the branches of WindTree (camera to follow!) using a suspended WindCam focused on a Micro:Bit with Kitronik View screen attached. The screen will show small variations in the x and y axis as patterns of dots – for analysis in England.

We are considering an AI analysis of the patterns – perhaps to generate an artistic output sound as sounds.

To follow this experiment, please see: www.flickernet.net/sos

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November 27, 2025
InFindingOut (IFO)

EEG sensing equipment

Working each week with young people who have found themselves on the cusp of educational exclusion, the question “how are you” takes on a certain urgency.

Part of the InFindoingOut project is about encouraging young people to engage with a self-assessment routine that is designed to establish how they are really feeling, based on a sincere pupil-led desire to be accurate.

Biometric sensors will be deployed to provide them with an objective measure of what their bodies can indicate about mood, anxiety and general wellbeing.

Our new equipment will provide many such metrics, including this EEG sensor.

The first test of this – at the SoS in Swindon – was fascianting. Pupils were eager to volunteer to put the head band equipment on and to see the readout. We used Chat GPT video analysis to be told in general terms about what the readout was indicating

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November 24, 2025
Art of Conversation

Goats galore!

This week in The Art of Conversation we created a new island together called Goat Island. Partly inspired by the school goats at Crowdy’s and very much voted for using their ChoiceBoxes – this is a place to explore in a similar way to Mushroom Meadows but with a puzzle to be solved involving the feeding of goats.

Firstly though: an art challenge – each child drew their own pattern which will be added as a “skin” to their own goat for next week. They also chose a name and voted on the available types of food / clumpiness of the grass!

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November 20, 2025
Digital Writes / Marvellous Musical Machine / Tech To Help (TTH)

The Marvellous Music Machine takes shape!

After two months of development with the intrepid and inspiring Year 9 team from the ASC at Lydiard Park Academy (see www.flickernet.net/mmm) – today the machine itself began to take shape. 

It will incorporate many of the experimental elements that have been explored –  today we added light sensing that is converted into sounds and sound waves.

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November 3, 2025
Resources

K10 and kit

Somewhat looking forward to introducing this new kit!

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October 15, 2025
Space To Learn

July animals

A quick round up of animal visitors in Space To Learn this month!

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July 24, 2025
InFindingOut (IFO) / Space To Learn

Squirrel Jeopardy

Having focused on Scratch / Makey Makey integration this term with St Mary’s, Swindon – we built a game called Squirrel Jeopardy – where the aim is to feed the hungry squirrels whilst avoiding prowling Pine Martens.

Regular video updates of those wonderful animals, and live feeds of the woodland in Northern Ireland, inspired us. 

See: www.flickernet.net/stm for more details

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May 25, 2025
Space To Learn

New season, new tent!

In preparation for the first Space To Learn school visitors of 2025, we have found a tent that wouldn’t look out of place in a 1950s war movie!

Northern Irish weather being predictably unpredictable – we hope that it will shelter people, and technology, in equal measure!

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May 7, 2025
InFindingOut (IFO) / Space To Learn

April Update 1

There have been so many {animal} visitors to the Transmission Zone this month!

The IFO Themes are taking shape too – please click on each to explore further.

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April 11, 2025
InFindingOut (IFO) / Space To Learn / Tech To Help (TTH)

March summary

A busy month:

The woodland is filled with Spring life – which in turn is inspiring pupils in Primary, Secondary and Alternative Provision contexts. 

Projects continue to be based on the monitoring of native species in their outdoor habitats in the Mountains of Mourne.

This takes place from within classrooms in and around Swindon.

The therapeutic benefits of live-linked learning, directly connected to the wild, are becoming increasingly evident – with engagement from otherwise reluctant pupils. This interest is being sustained and built upon each week.

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March 25, 2025
Space To Learn

Leaping squirrels!

Red squirrels bounding about in Mourne Park at this time of year – sometimes in slow motion, joy!

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March 6, 2025

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