The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2022 - Magazine - Page 35
As part of the educational pilot, pupils
at the school have been building a
new digital world that reflects their
own community, one including local
landmarks like their primary school and
playground.
The result will be a fully interactive and
safe online world in which players/
learners can interact with non-playable
characters (NPCs) – created by Gwent
Police community support officers
(CSOs) – to learn more about things like
staying safe online, how to report crime
and knowing the signs of county lines
exploitation.
Learners have used knowledge picked
up in their maths lessons to build
buildings to scale, learned to code
lighting sequences and engaged in
conversations about community safety.
In setting up the project, Gwent Police’s
NXT GEN officers, Alex Donne and Deke
Williams, became the first police staff
members in Wales to be accredited by
Welsh Government and Minecraft as
part of their education programme for
Wales.
Alex Donne, a community support
officer (CSO) working within NXT Gen
said, “The training developed by Welsh
Government and Minecraft has allowed
us to get a better understanding of the
power and potential of games-based
learning to inspire future generations.
“Working with subject matter experts,
we’ve been able to use Minecraft to
build a digital world that is both
inspirational, safe and educational.
“By using technology like this, we can
build great links with young people
across Gwent, and highlight how the
police and the community can work
together to increase safety in our
neighbourhoods. The project’s enabled
us to deliver community safety advice
in an engaging and fun way –
something we hope sticks with the
pupils in Derwendeg Primary School.
“Throughout the project, learners have
been encouraged to take pride in their
community, think about how their
streets could be made safer and speak
about local concerns.”
“The project has allowed our learners
to develop in the four purposes of the
Curriculum for Wales and has fulfilled
many of the statements of what matters
across the Areas of Learning and
Experience.”
Once the project has been completed,
it’s hoped the Minecraft world will
become available to more than 100
Gwent schools, building an online
community of learning, networking and
support.
Sarah Snowdon, Hwb Minecraft
Learning Centre Programme Manager
added, “It is fantastic to see how
technology, community and policing
can be brought together and come
alive in a really relevant way to the
benefit of so many learners and adults.
Lynsey Wangiel, Head Teacher at
Derwendeg Primary School
commented, “We have been delighted
to work with Gwent Police as part of
this exciting and innovative project.
“To think that Minecraft: Education
Edition and creative young people can
change perspectives on how policing
and community have common aims
and share similar ambitions is incredibly
powerful!”
“Our year six learners have been
fully engaged in the project through
this term’s topic (‘How can we keep
our community happy, healthy and
safe?’), focusing on their role and
responsibilities as members of the
local community.
Gwent Police’s NXT GEN team work with
schools across Gwent and manage the
force’s police cadets and Heddlu Bach
initiatives. If you want to find out more
about the team, follow them on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/GPNxtGen.