Yacapaca

I actually wrote this a week ago whilst I was in Ukraine, and then discovered I’d failed to bring my password file. Sadly, the promise of worldwide access isn’t completely idiot-proof.

Geography author Paul Laird invited Alex (our CTO) me up to Huntcliff School last week to help launch the Redcar & Cleveland Gifted and Talented Challenge.

What Paul is doing is really innovative; pitting gifted kids from each of the participating schools against each other in teams to perform a series of challenges, and holding the whole thing together with a variety of web tools. Getting meaningful collaboration between schools is a huge benefit to the gifted kids, who often find themselves quite isolated and without a natural peer group in their own schools. There are benefits beyond G&T as well; cross-fertilisation of teaching ideas, for example.

Alex and I got really engrossed in Paul’s vision and came away wondering what we could do to support it, beyond hosting the quiz component which we already do. If you are doing or planning an inter-school competition I’d love to hear from you. And if there is a way we can support your efforts, we will gladly do it.