Lyfta Time is a weekly 20 minute session where a class can travel to a new place and experience a powerful and inspiring human story. Lyfta Time sessions are interwoven with meaningful class discussions about the new experience - both the sensory details of the spaces that are explored, and the themes that are related to the short documentaries.
The concept was co-constructed during discussions with the team at Braunstone Primary School in Leicestershire. The leadership team wanted to share Lyfta with their teachers and pupils and to do so in a deep and meaningful way. We know that weaving Lyfta resources into the whole school curriculum is highly effective, but also that schools sometimes prefer to get up and running quickly so they can start to see impact while exploring the content and tools in more depth. The Headteacher at Braunstone, Halil Tamgumus, wanted a lighter touch way for his team to get started and Lyfta Time was identified as a perfect way to do that.
Lyfta Time is a quick and practical solution, using a short weekly timetable slot like reading or story time at primary school, and form time at secondary schools. Learning during this session allows pupils to regularly experience different cultures and perspectives. It provides the opportunity to see how resilience, problem-solving, teamwork, and many other critical skills, values and competencies happen in the real world. Completing Lyfta Time each week also means that teachers become familiar with Lyfta's many storyworlds. They view the documentary films alongside their students and, in doing so, they can start to make links to the curriculum. Through delivering Lyfta Time, teachers become more familiar with the content and resources which reduces the planning time required for embedding Lyfta across the school curriculum.
The Lyfta team worked with Braunstone Primary School to plan Lyfta Time and the initial series of content to explore. Here's an overview of how it works: