Curriculum Development
Our curriculum is broad and balanced and is enriched and enhanced in many ways. During 2009-2010 it was felt that a review of our curriculum organisation was needed in order to establish whether changes were needed to achieve a curriculum which was more coherent and unified to
ensure that our students achieve success but also become effective independent learners.
We decided to explore a wide range of curriculum models in order to be able to make an informed decision about the structure we wanted to use to develop our curriculum further. The exploration of different models was carried out as research projects during 2010-2011 undertaken by the
whole staff working in small groups.
Two of the areas investigated were chosen for trialling during 2011-2012; Habits of Mind and the blocking of Year 8 Science, FT and French to allow cross curricular project work to take place. A third area that was looked at involved moving assembly to later in the school day to allow a prompt start to lessons in the morning.
The alteration of timings was trialled during the summer of 2012 and a survey of all staff and children carried out. As a result, since September 2012, lessons now begin at 9.05am and assembly is straight after lunch.
The trial of Habits of Mind is being carried out by a group of staff focussing on the Habits of Mind which support our continuing theme of independent learning. Evaluation with the children has already shown very positive results. More information about Habits of Mind can be found here...
The Year 8 cross curricular project ‘Une Experience Gastronomique’ combined French, Food Technology and Science and was facilitated by the subjects being timetabled together. The children learned about different types of food, the meaning of a balanced diet and the process of
digestion. The project culminated in a cooking competition where pupils designed and prepared a balanced main course (influenced by French cooking) and presented it, speaking in French, to two independent French speaking judges.
ensure that our students achieve success but also become effective independent learners.
We decided to explore a wide range of curriculum models in order to be able to make an informed decision about the structure we wanted to use to develop our curriculum further. The exploration of different models was carried out as research projects during 2010-2011 undertaken by the
whole staff working in small groups.
Two of the areas investigated were chosen for trialling during 2011-2012; Habits of Mind and the blocking of Year 8 Science, FT and French to allow cross curricular project work to take place. A third area that was looked at involved moving assembly to later in the school day to allow a prompt start to lessons in the morning.
The alteration of timings was trialled during the summer of 2012 and a survey of all staff and children carried out. As a result, since September 2012, lessons now begin at 9.05am and assembly is straight after lunch.
The trial of Habits of Mind is being carried out by a group of staff focussing on the Habits of Mind which support our continuing theme of independent learning. Evaluation with the children has already shown very positive results. More information about Habits of Mind can be found here...
The Year 8 cross curricular project ‘Une Experience Gastronomique’ combined French, Food Technology and Science and was facilitated by the subjects being timetabled together. The children learned about different types of food, the meaning of a balanced diet and the process of
digestion. The project culminated in a cooking competition where pupils designed and prepared a balanced main course (influenced by French cooking) and presented it, speaking in French, to two independent French speaking judges.
