Year 6 pupils completed their Independent Research Projects, an initiative now in its second year. The project was introduced last year to give pupils the opportunity to explore a topic of personal interest while developing important skills they will need as they move towards the Senior School.
Throughout the process, pupils worked with staff mentors from across the Junior and Senior Schools. The project focused on encouraging curiosity and thoughtful questioning, developing problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and supporting pupils in reading and understanding non-fiction texts. It also helped pupils build confidence in both written work and spoken presentations, while introducing them to basic project planning and organisation.
Each pupil began by choosing a main question to investigate, supported by a number of smaller sub-questions. The range of topics showed just how thoughtful and varied their interests were. Questions included:
How did penicillin help the world?
How has globalisation changed the world?
Should humanity prioritise space exploration over solving Earth’s problems?
What happens to nature when land is damaged, and how can we help it recover?
Should we ban space tourism?
How does sport affect children’s wellbeing?
What can fossils tell us about the past?
How might AI impact the arts?
Why does dyslexia make me different?
The project concluded with a presentation event for parents held in the Ideas Hub. Pupils displayed their work on boards and spoke to visitors about their research in a science-fair-style format. They explained their ideas clearly, answered questions with confidence and showed a strong understanding of their chosen topics.
The event was a valuable opportunity for pupils to share their learning and take pride in the effort they had put into their projects.
When asked about their projects, the students had plenty to say:
I really enjoyed decorating and researching my project, as there was so much to explore in this topic and so many amazing colours and images to add. There was so much I found interesting, but I really enjoyed learning about the charities that support anti-racism. When I was talking about my project, I felt very proud of my culture and also of the hard work I have put into this project. I have followed up this project with a charity bake sale in my local park to support the charity Show Racism the Red Card. By Moremi
I liked the process of researching and finding out information. It was really calm and quiet while we worked and I learned a lot. Something I found interesting in my topic was all the different ways we can help support biodiversity and urban ecology. When I spoke to others about my project, I felt nervous at the beginning but then I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the challenge, especially when the person would give me a difficult question, and I had to think really hard. I learnt from this project how to research independently, and I have improved my oracy skills. By Sarah
