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The Big Bus – The Big Impact in the Classroom

The Big Bus first caught my eye at an ICT conference. As I watched Bo Bear dance, follow a butterfly and talk I was totally engaged not only by the character herself but the learning potential of just this activity within the wide range of activities on offer. The unexpected bonus was the price, extreme value for my eLCs.

When the CD-ROM arrived at school I introduced our new resource during a staff meeting in our ICT Suite. After demonstrating the contents page I had lost them, each member of staff was engrossed on a variety of activities according to their age range or subject preference. The versatility and ease of use became immediately apparent.

I introduced my Y1s to ‘Dress Bo Bear’ to squeals of delight. The colourful, fresh graphics immediately grabbed their attention. On the interactive whiteboard the response was exciting, children who usually sat at the back and picked at their shoes were focused and wanting to take an active part in the lesson.

An early favourite for my SEN children was ‘Counting Characters’ which introduces the numbers one to ten, including one to one correspondence, number order, number recognition and correct formation. The children’s pace of learning increased because they could interact with the resource without my help, they had become independent learners while having fun. Their developing needs required a new stimulus and they moved onto ‘Terry the Tug’ which required much deeper thought. During thinking skill sessions, small groups tried their hands at ‘Shape Cloning’ a wonderful problem solving activity, which offers a great challenge but does not overwhelm. (Adults have a go at level 10, it’s a lot of fun)

Having found The Big Bus invaluable in my own classroom for teaching specific curriculum areas, facilitating ICT, encouraging collaboration, independent thinking, decision-making and discussion, I set out to discover how this resource was being used through the school.

The Y5 & Y6 teachers were impressed by ‘Earth, Moon and Sun’ - it was exactly what they needed. ‘Honeybee Logo’ was transforming the teaching of programming language for the Y4s. One teacher eating lunch in the staff room described The Big Bus as “great discovery learning”. A new lunchtime club was in tremendous demand, Times Table Club. I was not surprised; ‘Times Table Racing’ puts you in the driving seat of a racing car and the better you get the faster you can go; the motivation to improve was tangible.

This term I anticipate the use of The Big Bus to grow even more as we finally go broadband and can interact online. Until then I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new termly CD-ROM, as the range of stimulating activities expands and opportunities for learning through fun increase.