The secondary curriculum review
Teaching and learning experiences are a vital element of any curriculum. The type of experience chosen can be the biggest factor in determining the quality of the learning that takes place. It is the teaching and learning experience that helps learners to know and understand things while developing their skills or personal qualities.
Young people should be entitled to a range of teaching and learning experiences appropriate to their learning needs. The entitlement should include opportunities for:
Teachers also need to consider when it is appropriate to use different approaches to learning such as:
There may be opportunities for collaboration in some learning both within and beyond the school. Other learning can be used to develop independent study.
A clear sense of audience and purpose should also be built into all learning activities to make them relevant to the learner.
Bishops Park College uses the national curriculum to provide goals for its students, but subjects are not taught in discrete lessons. Instead teachers plan work around a particular theme for each half-term, and 70 per cent of class time is spent on thematic work that focuses on developing skills and knowledge.
To support the thematic work, learners receive a daily lesson in numeracy and literacy and take part in Friday master classes where they focus on a national curriculum subject or project for the whole day.
In addition, learners also have the opportunity on a Wednesday afternoon to work with specialists from outside the school on a range of activities from textiles to gardening on the school allotment.
The end of each half-term is also marked by a vertically grouped focused learning session known as 'faculty'. During this time, learners spend three days working intensively on a particular project or theme, investigating it from a variety of angles with the support of teaching staff. During one project, learners spent two days preparing to open a restaurant. As well as preparing the food, they dyed fabric, made napkins and tablecloths, carried out scientific investigations into the chemical compounds in fruit and vegetable dyes and used ICT to plan and present menus. They then opened for business on the third day.
Year 10 students often act as coaches or mentors to the younger learners during these periods and the headteacher is considering extending this by giving the older students training for their role.
Rigorous planning ensures that each student at Bishops Park takes part in the following activities:
Each student thus has opportunities to:
