BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS

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BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS

• In a recent survey pupils were asked to complete
  this sentence
• Lessons make me ..

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With the right curriculum we can create1.
Opportunities for students

• Being able to develop a set of learning tools
  (competences) in order to flourish in their
  future.
• Application of those competences in many contexts
  thus creating independent, resourceful, lifelong
  learners who enjoy learning.
• Ability to make connections between different
  curriculum experiences by understanding the
  learning process - shift the emphasis from
  teacher and content to learner and process.

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2. Opportunities for staff

• Access to the latest education thinking and
  experiences that will allow colleagues to compete
  and be successful in the job market.
• Experience of the need for flexibility and
  innovation to meet the needs of the 21Century
  learner.
• Leadership opportunities.

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3 questions

• What do we want to achieve? (for our learners and
  staff)
• How will we achieve it? (How do we organise
  learning?)
• How will we measure impact? (How well are we
  achieving our aims?)

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Towards an integrated, competence based curriculum

• Supported by the new QCA curriculum development
  of skills for life and work
• Focus on learners personal development some
  coverage of content but were more concerned
  about the skills/competences being developed
• What we want to achieve is an integrated
  curriculum incorporating a number of subjects
• Core subjects plus PE and MFL will continue to be
  timetabled as discrete subjects

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Intentions

• Better transition
• Improved pace
• Avoidance of any dips in attainment
• Preparation for KS4
• Key competence development
• Global citizenship - C
• Learning how to learn - L
• Managing information - I
• Relating to people - P
• Managing situations - S

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Opening Minds A competence based curriculum

• The OM framework has been developed at the RSA
• 21st Century Learners will require a skillset
  that enables them to change, adapt and innovate
• We will implement an integrated curriculum to Y7
  pupils in September 2008 with a focus on the
  essential competences
• We want to develop confident, independent
  learners who will settle quickly at secondary
  school with a positive attitude to learning.
• Having already partially replicated the primary
  model for a number of years this was a natural
  progression for us.

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Our experience so far..

• Development is demanding - detailed planning is a
  must needs to be the schools own route, cant
  just be taken off the shelf
• Some concern from subject leaders about losing
  curriculum time but the planning team is made up
  of enthusiasts from each of the integrated
  curriculum areas
• Weve reiterated that content is not our prime
  concern any gaps in subject content will be
  plugged in years 8 9
• We are writing modules that combine subjects. In
  each module we aim to i) Develop identified
  competences
• ii) Cover agreed subject content
• OM will be taught in blocks of time with one
  (sometimes two) teachers per mixed ability group

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Other elements that must be considered

• Which teachers will be directly involved
• Timetabling of OM sessions
• Arrangement of rooms/resources/ICT
• Planning time - Meetings for the OM team are
  scheduled into the calendar and INSET time is
  being made available to plan modules and develop
  resources.

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Benefits seen to date during planning sessions

• Sharing subject knowledge/methods. This is
  collaborative planning at its best
• Enthusiasm/creativity
• Some of the material from subjects would normally
  be covered in year 8 or 9, so we do not expect
  any repetition of year 6 work.

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Development of modules

• Clear development of all categories of
  competences
• Competences will be mapped across the modules so
  that we can record coverage
• The focus on competence development has to be
  maintained as its very easy for the focus to
  shift onto content

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Making a start

• Decide the competence focus and content base
• We have decided to incorporate learning to learn
  into our first module and a belief that success
  is dependent on what you do, not on innate
  ability (based on the work of Carol Dweck)
• Its not fair! - Social injustice lots of
  links resulting in the kind of connections we
  want our pupils to make
• Incorporate specialism eg pupils might use
  animation rather than a piece of writing

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Assessment

• Time for review of competence development is
  built into each unit
• Pupils will have log book/e-portfolio
• Statements about competence development written
  by pupils will be attested by the teacher
• Assessment will be formative
• Teachers will make qualitative comments about
  progress and competence development
• We will not level OM

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Staffing

• 1-2 teachers per group but specialists can be
  brought in
• Practical sessions are integral to every module
  with specialist workshops incorporated into
  timetabling

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Who have we consulted/will we share with?

• Staff all work done in planning meetings on
  what were trying to achieve is displayed in the
  staff room
• Pupils through the student council
• Parents Open Days
• Governors Curriculum Committee
• Partner primaries to ensure that the new
  curriculum is coherent and relevant to what has
  gone on before

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What do you need to make it work? (from our
experience so far!)

• Planning time focus INSET on T L and create a
  collaborative planning culture within school
• The support of the leadership team and a creative
  timetabler!
• A willingness to take risks. Success is measured
  by test/exam results/OFSTED
• Teachers willing and able to think outside their
  subjects
• Teamwork crucial.

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Other positive benefits were hoping to see

• Motivation of the least able as it gives these
  pupils an early taste of success
• Positive impact on behaviour/attendance (these
  measurable areas will form part of our
  evaluation process)
• Off site experiences being more easily
  accommodated
• More effective AfL , as spending blocks of time
  with a group provides more opportunity for the
  conversations necessary for deep learning than
  a 1 hour lesson.

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• Tell me and I will forget
• Show me and I will remember
• Involve me and I will understand
• ARISTOTLE