The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace
LGfL Learning Resource impact case study
1.
Introduction to the school
St Michaels’ C of E Primary School is located between Camden
Town and Euston. We have a high proportion of EAL and free
school meals. We place great importance on developing good
communication between home and school to ensure that our
children’s learning activities can continue at home and that
parents can be involved in their child’s progress and
achievements.
2.
What you did and how you did it
We have been using the “Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace”
resources on LGfL as a starter to our Traditional Story topic.
At the end of last term many of the children were beginning to be interested in Princess’ and Princes. It was a
coincidence this term I needed to teach Traditional tales.
My Nursery Nurse thought Cinderella would be a good story to start and linking it to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
When we saw the Royal Mews resources on the LGfL site we could see how useful it could be for the children to
make connections with the topics and develop their understanding.
We have been using the material for the last 2 weeks integrating it into the 6 areas of the EYFS curriculum, but we
could not have predicted that the children would have become so enthused!
3.
Innovative use of LGfL Content / How you implemented the resource
In our reception class we have been:

Using the video clips and photos in the Royal
Cars section to develop their own class
cardboard Bentley. This is now in the Role play
area- Likewise, a coach was made for the “Royal
Mew” role play area

We have extracted some of the high resolution
images from the Royal mews site and imported
them onto the interactive whiteboard software
and used the “rub and reveal” to disclose the
photo. This has been great for discussions, close
observations- and in general supporting
speaking and listening opportunities.

The quality and clarity of the images has allowed us to use them as the basis for shape space and
measurement- We have been discussing repeating patterns, symmetry- Investigations eg how to create an
arch tall enough for a ‘Royal Beebot Bentley’ to go through!
LGfL Learning Resource Impact Case study
www.royalmews.lgfl.net

We have also found the supplied curriculum
materials to offer a range of ideas that we had
not thought of. We adapted one of the
resource worksheets based on the Royal
Standard where the children created their
Family “Royal Standard” flags.

We made our own maps – thinking where the
Queen wants to go in her Royal Bentleyremembering that the Royal standard needs to
go wherever she goes.

During our story telling sessions (Cinderella)
we have been able to support some of images in the story with the video clips and relevant photos from the
Royal Mews.

Learning about the stables and the Queen’s horses. Children brought in their toy horses- sometimes a toy
rabbit or unicorn came too! They then created stables out of junk material.

Looking at the repeated patterns on the wheels of the coaches- this then developed into drawing the wheels
– we thought about the colours that were used and other details which enriched their vocabulary.
The downloadable KS1 Fronter room built into the resource has been useful because children and parents have
gone into the room at home and continued learning together.
They have then had opportunity to share their findings back in the classroom. This has offered us a wonderful
opportunity for the children to have become leaders of learning.
4.
Impact of what you did
There has been a much wide range of impacts on the children than we
anticipated which include:

Opportunities to develop their confidence in speaking and listening
skills

Supporting imaginative role play

Imaginative story telling on the basis of a photograph

Increased vocabulary

Enjoyment of constructing things such as Royal car, coaches, stables

Sharing knowledge they have learnt at home

The delight that they were teaching new things to the teacher

Enthusiasm to come to school and immediately start telling stories
One child came to school after the Easter holidays and said that they had been to the Royals Mews with their
parents. They were very knowledgeable about the different elements of work that occurred at the Mews and were
talking openly to the class about their experiences. When asked how they got to the Royal Mews......did they go on
the train? The Bus? The tube?...........’No .......we went on the laptop!’.
LGfL Learning Resource Impact Case study
www.royalmews.lgfl.net
Impact on the Staff has been:

Awareness of the increased knowledge and
understanding of the materials by the children in
such a short period.

That the vast range of high quality digital resources
has enabled all the different personalities in the class
to be involved.

The importance of end of the day review and
planning next steps – Confidence to take risks in
allowing plans to change as children were inspired.

It’s an ideal resource for a creative curriculum as you
don’t need to search for extra resources – it’s all there for you

The supply cover teacher was impressed how much the children knew and also how easy it was to use the
online resources.
Impact on the parents and older siblings:

Surprised by the children’s knowledge

Support in their learning at home

Have learnt new things about the Royal Mews themselves
The Royal Mews resource will become an essential tool in our online resource library which I will use in relevant
topics in the EYFS setting throughout the year.
The case study video can be found at: http://trailers.lgfl.org.uk/royal_mews/case_study.html
Rowena Bernstein
Reception Teacher
St Michaels’ C of E Primary school
Camden LA
April 2012.
LGfL Learning Resource Impact Case study
www.royalmews.lgfl.net