Cambridge-Hitachi has been recognised at the leading industry awards for excellence in ICT in education, the BETT Awards, for developing Race to Learn for their clients, Williams F1 and Cambridge University Press. This curriculum software product uses Formula One as an exciting point of engagement for primary school children and provides cross-curricular learning for Year 5 & 6 pupils through 12 half-days of teaching in many subject areas. It uses a range of multimedia content including real Formula One footage to promote individual and group working.
Children working on Race to Learn
Winning the 2010 BETT Award for Primary Digital Content, Race to Learn was commended by the judges for “superb activities that are highly engaging for children” and “with helpful teacher introduction and age-appropriate activities, Race to Learn is a well thought through support for cross-curricular learning.”
Designed for interactive whiteboards, Race to Learn covers key curriculum topics – Science, Maths, Literacy, Geography, PSHE, Design & Technology, Physical Education – with each one linked to the relevant National Curriculum objectives.
Our work with Williams F1 is a great example of how we are helping a diverse range of organisations get their message into schools through curriculum-based resources that teachers value – not just because of their educational content but also because they are engaging for children,
said Richard Hollis, Managing Director of Cambridge-Hitachi, a joint venture between Cambridge University Press and Hitachi Software Engineering.
Race to Learn is one project in Williams F1’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme, which is based on the three pillars of education, energy efficiency
and road safety. Williams F1’s Chief Executive, Adam Parr commented,
“It is great news to add industry endorsement for Race to Learn to the positive reception it has had from the educational media, teachers, and most importantly, school pupils themselves. With the combined attractiveness of Formula One to school children and the sector expertise that Cambridge-Hitachi has in educational software, Race to Learn has shown that it has real merit in the classroom.”
The BETT Awards’ endorsement of Race to Learn follows a highly successful pilot of the product at Oakdale Junior School in Redbridge. The pupils’ response to the trial was consistent with the BETT judges’ view that Race to Learn’s greatest merit is its ability to engage all students, both high achievers and reluctant
learners alike.
The teacher who led the pilot project, Dawn Hallybone said, “I would recommend Race to Learn because it gets children talking through its use of video and its teamwork exercises. It gives children exactly the kinds of things they are interested in and provides a captivating real-life context for their learning.”
Race to Learn was launched in September 2009 to UK primary schools and has already been licensed by the London Grid for Learning for online delivery to
2,000 primary schools across the capital. Cambridge-Hitachi and Williams F1 are now expanding the project overseas with foreign language versions currently in development.
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