“If students are given opportunities to lead their learning they will do well and feel well. Importantly, it is when nature is our teacher that this work is at its most inspiring.”
Richard Dunne, The Harmony Project: New ways of looking at and learning about our world
Our teaching will reflect biophilic principles with study that encompasses environmental awareness, social responsibility and 21st century life skills - augmented by natural light, a conducive indoor environment, and a purpose-build outdoor learning facility.
Our curriculum cornerstones
1.
A set of core values to underpin conducive learning.
2.
Focus on half-termly modules of enquiry-based learning topics.
3.
Principles of Harmony to frame students’ context and encourage metacognition for ownership of knowledge.
4.
Culmination of each half-termly module via a presentation and performance to consolidate learning and provide quality assurance.
Our teaching will uphold the mainstream curriculum, while being diverse and inclusive in its delivery.
Holistic learning at our school
Buildings should be constructed with natural materials, as well as maximising exposure to natural light and providing views of, and access to, nature.
Outdoor learning
Learning beyond the classroom will provide our pupils with opportunities to try new things, using a programme of co-curricular activities that enables them to find their talent in some areas and step out of their comfort zone in others
Growth mindset
Our school will uphold Carol Dweck’s theory of a Growth Mindset. This incorporates the creative and performing arts, day and residential trips, plus individual and team sports to help children understand that effort leads to mastery, while failure is a step to success. All supported by Before and After School Clubs to help families across the school day.
Citizenship and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
Understanding citizenship at a formative age can be important to actively contributing to society at large in adult life. It will be an active part of our school curriculum because it offers clear benefits for children’s social development, interpersonal and teamwork skills. In addition to learning about politics and voting, our programme will include:
Human rights
Justice
The law
Media literacy
Climate change
Personal finance
The economy
PSHE
Our school will also be a place where everyone is valued for who they are and synonymous with good practice in the precepts of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Creating a shared culture of mutual respect, tolerance and diversity.
Food
We will challenge the perception of variable food quality and high waste by ensuring that we work in partnership with a supplier who procures locally-sourced, seasonal food with a proportion of organic produce incorporated onto the menu. Pupils will also be engaged in recycling school food waste as part of an ongoing project that closes the loop, sending waste compost back into the soil to prepare the ground to grow again.
Sustainability and regeneration
For us, sustainability is closely linked to the concept of regeneration - actively enhancing conditions for life to flourish and enabling nature to become resilient. Our school environment will uphold sustainability principles and provide opportunities for the regeneration process. Our curriculum, ethos, and values aim to empower students to design communities that are regenerative and can thrive while respecting planetary boundaries.
Safeguarding
In accordance with statutory guidance, our school leadership and governance will adhere to the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) document. Instilling a child-centred culture of safeguarding awareness, and ensuring everyone in our school community recognises they have a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking action.
Digital literacy
The rise of AI means that different, softer skills will be required for success in the future. We believe schools should develop all the aptitudes and intelligences that differentiate person from machine: to prepare young people for employment, love, friendship, parenthood, leisure, citizenship, curiosity and fascination in the world around them. This will require an emphasis upon digital literacy to ensure students are equipped with the knowledge and understanding to navigate the pitfalls of AI with dexterity.
We will carefully prepare children for the real world, as well as the virtual one.
