Gunthorpe Curriculum
Most of this post has been inspired from 2 sources- one being Curriculum Ed and Clare Sealy talk on boxset curriculum and the other being reading the book Legacy by James Kerr about the All Blacks.
I will start with Clare's talk which inspired me to think about how what we teach needs to be interlinked. This also reminded me of Tom Sherringham's the learning rainforest where we consider knowledge in schemas. I have always traditionally been more skills based as a teacher but this talk really challenged me to think about how when knowledge is clearly thought about and planned accordingly then children can make the links they need from previous learning to support them in their new learning. Rather than each topic being a one off episode (such as the simpsons) where you can 'drop in' at any point instead it is like a really good series (such as line of duty) where you need to know about the characters in order to fully understand what they say. Small, possibly seemingly insignificant information that you were told previously, suddenly becomes important in the plot and new understanding.
Alongside this is the desire for a curriculum to be unique and specific to the school community that it is designed for. This isn't about making life harder than it has to be- not reinventing the wheel when this is not required but to know that when: "Leaders connect personal meaning to a higher purpose to create belief and a sense of direction."
I want to staff to feel this sense of personal connection and direction for the curriculum that we create together.
In a previous blog post I wrote about a talk I went to about millenials. One of the big things that I took away from that was the power of story telling. When we tell stories we emotionally involve ourselves. I keep finding links to this when I listen to talks and sure enough there it was in Legacy. "Using vivid storytelling techniques, including themes, symbols, imagery, rituals, mantras and metaphor, and bringing them to life with imagination and flair, leaders create a sense of inclusion, connectedness and unity – a truly collective, collaborative mindset."
So I started considering what the story telling language around my intent and purpose for Gunthorpe's curriculum would be. One of the things that has surprised me this year is that our school is set in a beautiful small village. Most people only know the village because of the bridge, oh and a really nice restaurant! It is a beautiful walk along the river and yet not a single class has been out and made use of this at any point this year! Not only is it about me being able to use story language to challenge and inspire staff but also thinking about how the curriculum is story led- how do we use this to challenge children
- "Stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemas, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values."
I think one of the things I think is important is not changing things for the sake of it, I have approached this year with an attitude of stepping back- watching, waiting, listening, seeing what was working and what needed changing.
Part of this is to look for marginal gains. "how a team worked together under pressure, how they understood the importance of team work and loyalty, and how they were willing to do a hundred things just 1% better" I want to look for what small changes could make a big difference. The same is true of this curriculum. There is no need to throw the baby out with the bath water. What is required is to look at what knowledge is currently being taught. How are these linked across different year groups and how is the progression both vertical and horizontal.
Sometimes the thought of big change can feel a bit overwhelming. Change feels scary and especially something as radical as rethinking the whole curriculum. I loved the concept of the ‘centipede effect’. If a centipede had to think about moving all its legs in the right order, it would freeze, the task too complex and daunting. I think this is where marginal gains can help too.
I want our intent to focus on the vision of the church of England education. Hope and aspiration, Wisdom, knowledge and skills, community and living well together, dignity and respect. All things that are central for integrity. I love this quote for what I would like my curriculum to be focused on:
From listening comes knowledge; From knowledge comes understanding; From understanding comes wisdom; From wisdom comes well-being.
Part of this process will be looking at our school motto/ mantra. This is currently Feeding Hearts, Touching Minds. "harness the power of these mottos and mantras to reflect, remind, reinforce and reinvigorate their ethos, every day. The wise leader would do well to follow. Words start revolutions."
This is something I hope will develop alongside our curriculum development and prayer at this time. So back to our unique story language- one of the things I did at Arnbrook was work as a SLT to create a shared learning language. Something that all children could identify and use to describe how they felt. As the school had tree themed logo, classes etc we talked about being stumped when they were stuck, how they may start with shoots, their learning would branch out as they made connections etc. I also came across a new term for me a braided river. Given the church school connection and the verse "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" Ecclesiastes 4:12
I will start with Clare's talk which inspired me to think about how what we teach needs to be interlinked. This also reminded me of Tom Sherringham's the learning rainforest where we consider knowledge in schemas. I have always traditionally been more skills based as a teacher but this talk really challenged me to think about how when knowledge is clearly thought about and planned accordingly then children can make the links they need from previous learning to support them in their new learning. Rather than each topic being a one off episode (such as the simpsons) where you can 'drop in' at any point instead it is like a really good series (such as line of duty) where you need to know about the characters in order to fully understand what they say. Small, possibly seemingly insignificant information that you were told previously, suddenly becomes important in the plot and new understanding.
Alongside this is the desire for a curriculum to be unique and specific to the school community that it is designed for. This isn't about making life harder than it has to be- not reinventing the wheel when this is not required but to know that when: "Leaders connect personal meaning to a higher purpose to create belief and a sense of direction."
I want to staff to feel this sense of personal connection and direction for the curriculum that we create together.
In a previous blog post I wrote about a talk I went to about millenials. One of the big things that I took away from that was the power of story telling. When we tell stories we emotionally involve ourselves. I keep finding links to this when I listen to talks and sure enough there it was in Legacy. "Using vivid storytelling techniques, including themes, symbols, imagery, rituals, mantras and metaphor, and bringing them to life with imagination and flair, leaders create a sense of inclusion, connectedness and unity – a truly collective, collaborative mindset."
So I started considering what the story telling language around my intent and purpose for Gunthorpe's curriculum would be. One of the things that has surprised me this year is that our school is set in a beautiful small village. Most people only know the village because of the bridge, oh and a really nice restaurant! It is a beautiful walk along the river and yet not a single class has been out and made use of this at any point this year! Not only is it about me being able to use story language to challenge and inspire staff but also thinking about how the curriculum is story led- how do we use this to challenge children
- "Stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemas, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values."
I think one of the things I think is important is not changing things for the sake of it, I have approached this year with an attitude of stepping back- watching, waiting, listening, seeing what was working and what needed changing.
Part of this is to look for marginal gains. "how a team worked together under pressure, how they understood the importance of team work and loyalty, and how they were willing to do a hundred things just 1% better" I want to look for what small changes could make a big difference. The same is true of this curriculum. There is no need to throw the baby out with the bath water. What is required is to look at what knowledge is currently being taught. How are these linked across different year groups and how is the progression both vertical and horizontal.
Sometimes the thought of big change can feel a bit overwhelming. Change feels scary and especially something as radical as rethinking the whole curriculum. I loved the concept of the ‘centipede effect’. If a centipede had to think about moving all its legs in the right order, it would freeze, the task too complex and daunting. I think this is where marginal gains can help too.
I want our intent to focus on the vision of the church of England education. Hope and aspiration, Wisdom, knowledge and skills, community and living well together, dignity and respect. All things that are central for integrity. I love this quote for what I would like my curriculum to be focused on:
From listening comes knowledge; From knowledge comes understanding; From understanding comes wisdom; From wisdom comes well-being.
Part of this process will be looking at our school motto/ mantra. This is currently Feeding Hearts, Touching Minds. "harness the power of these mottos and mantras to reflect, remind, reinforce and reinvigorate their ethos, every day. The wise leader would do well to follow. Words start revolutions."
This is something I hope will develop alongside our curriculum development and prayer at this time. So back to our unique story language- one of the things I did at Arnbrook was work as a SLT to create a shared learning language. Something that all children could identify and use to describe how they felt. As the school had tree themed logo, classes etc we talked about being stumped when they were stuck, how they may start with shoots, their learning would branch out as they made connections etc. I also came across a new term for me a braided river. Given the church school connection and the verse "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" Ecclesiastes 4:12
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