Good Idea: Silent disco brings subjects to life for schoolchildren

Provider Now>Press>Play
Name Educational “silent disco”

Silent discos have become increasingly popular in the past decade. They allow revellers to dance to music while listening on wireless headphones, as opposed to a traditional speaker system.

The concept has now been adapted to help primary school teachers engage pupils with a wide range of abilities and different educational needs.

Now>Press>Play’s educational silent discos aim to engage and stimulate children through interactive narratives and role playing. Scenarios relating to topics such as history, science and geography are played to children through wireless headphones, replicating the experience of being in a silent disco.

The classroom is plunged into unusual silence while each child is given an individual learning package. “When they put the headphones on they are taken to a completely different world,” says Louis Brook, co-founder of Now>Press>Play.

The immersive lessons help children visualise the topic they are learning about. Precious, a year 5 pupil at St Anne’s Primary School, said of her lesson: “I could see pictures in front of my eyes.”

The project has been piloted across the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Islington and has received a positive response from teachers.

Remi Atoyebi, head teacher at Osmani Primary School in Tower Hamlets, says: “I was astounded by the quality and depth of the children’s engagement.  Especially given the high proportion of children with English as an additional language in the school. You could see how everything came to life for them, and it really came through in their class work as well.”