PARENTS in Ruthin are unlikely to enjoy a quiet school run again because teachers are letting pupils decide what they learn about in class.

Dinosaurs, film studies and farming have proved popular among Ysgol Pen Barras pupils who are benefitting from their school’s innovative approach to lesson planning. Rather than being taught from a textbook by their teacher, the pupils get to choose a topic that grabs their interest, which their teacher then uses to plan activities that develop cross-curricular skills such as literacy, numeracy and ICT.

The school was rated ‘excellent’ by Estyn inspectors in June and received further praise after its new approach was used as a case study on the education inspectorate’s website.

Headteacher Marc Lloyd Jones said the lesson planning style aims to “encourage pupils to ask the big questions” and stop teachers from getting “bogged down” by textbooks.

“Teachers have become more enterprising and keen to experiment with interesting themes and activities and involve the children in the planning,” he said.

The approach also aims to involve parents and the community by inviting them to talk about their first-hand experience in a given topic area. Mr Jones gave the example of learning about dairy farming: instead of working through a textbook, the school invites the local milkman to talk about their job, and they may visit a nearby farm.

Mr Jones has been asked to discuss the approach in more detail with GwE, the North Wales education improvement service.

Huw Hilditch Roberts, Denbighshire County Council’s cabinet member for education and children’s services, responsible for GwE, and chair of governors at Ysgol Pen Barras, said: “Pupils have a bigger say in the way they learn and their determination to do their best is clear to see. Teachers have observed that pupils have much more enthusiasm towards their work, and standards have increased as a result.”