A topic-led curriculum backed by mobile technology and home-school links is putting the fun back into school for many students

Part of the old steelworks still stands near Parkwood academy, Sheffield. It's a reminder of the old factories and the newer industrial units that provide rich opportunities for year 7 students to study how the demise of manufacturing has affected their city.

In a project entitled My Surroundings, students went out into their community, taking photographs, shooting films in their locality and making maps, using handheld and other mobile technologies. It helped them to consider why, many years ago, Sheffield was built where it was.

"Pupils looked at the positive and negative aspects of the steel industry and how things have changed since [the factories] closed," says Derryth Hope, Parkwood's vice-principal. The project comprised history and geography and led pupils to develop written and spoken language skills as they worked on presentations.

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