The Heywood Prep Futures Curriculum

FUTURES CURRICULUM

Let’sstartwithaquestion.(IfyouwereapupilatHeywoodPrep,thatis,infact,howyouwould starteachlesson.)Whatdoesoutstandinglearninglookliketoyou?

Ifitisanimportantquestionforanyparenttoconsider,itisacriticaloneforHeywoodPrep’sHead RebeccaMitchellandDirectorofStudiesLeonoraMartinItisaquestionthathasbeenattheheartof thedevelopmentofHeywood’snewlylaunchedFuturesCurriculumIsaylaunched,butthisisn’tso muchthestartofsomethingentirelynewasacrystallisationofwhatdefinesandfiresaneducationat HeywoodPrep‘Ouraim,’explainsRebecca,‘istoprovidechildrenwitharangeofskillsthatwillopen upthedoorsoflearningahead,whateverthatis.Todevelopenquiringminds.’Inanutshell,thisisastyle oflearningthatisdiscovery-andnotknowledge-led,focusedondevelopinglearningskills,noton memorisingfacts.

Children’sbrainsarespongesSittingpassivelyandbeingdripfedinformation,theywilllearnWedid, afterallButthisisadifferentworld,wherechangeisgatheringspeedFeedingourchildreninformation thatmaynotberelevantin10,oreven5years’timeislimiting.Besideswhich,yougiveachildafact,and youshutenquirydown.Youaskachildaquestion,andthesubjectopensup.Inaworldwhereany answerisjustthetouchofasmartphoneaway,thechallengeistoteachchildrentohowtoasktheright questions,howtoestablishwhattheydon’tknoworneedtoknow,andhowtogoaboutsearchingfor theanswers

Andthat’sjustthebeginning‘Asafirststepwewantourchildrentobeproactiveindiscovering knowledgeforthemselves,’saysLeonora.‘Butthentheyhavetointerpretthatknowledge,hypothesise, evaluate.Allcriticalskillsthattheywillusefortherestoftheirlives.’

Discovery-basedlearning

Thatquestionatthestartofalessonisamarker,anindicationthatlearningisaproactivechoice,askill youcanhonelikeanyotherReceptionchildrenmaybesettowonderinghowweknowdinosaursever walkedtheEarthYear3pupilswalkingintoaMathslessoncouldfindaseriesofnumberswrittenupon thewhiteboard,withthequestion,‘What’sthelink?’Sciencemightkickoffwith‘Whatdoesaplant needtogrow?’Asthechildrengetolder,thequestions,andsubjects,becomemorechallenging.‘After thehorrorsofWW1,whydidBritainenterWW2?’Theyareaskedthequestionandthelessondevelops fromthatpointofenquiry.

It’seasier,ofcourse,tosimplyfeedapre-plannedlistofinformationintoreceptiveearsItismoreofa challengetogivechildrenagencyintheirlearningandrequirescarefulscaffoldingButitexpands learningexponentially,becauseitisthechildrenwhoaresettingtheboundaries,andtheteacherswho standalongside,supporting,encouraging,challenging.Occasionally,Rebeccaadmits,runningtocatch up.‘Weloveitwhenchildrenpushourownknowledgetothelimit.Itkeepsusonourtoes,curious, enquiring.Everythingweaskofthem.’

‘Staffneedtothinkontheirfeet,’agreesLeonora‘Ourbrilliantstaffcandothisthisandwelcomethe possibilityofadaptingtheirlessonsonthegoItensuresthatteachingisfluidbutwithpurpose’

Thewholestructurearoundthoselearningspacesencouragesindependentlearning.InaYear1Maths class,childrenchooseasheetofproblemsofvaryingdifficulties.Iwatchachildreadthefirstquestion andimmediatelysaytotheteacher,‘MissParker,Ican’tdonumberone.’‘Gobackandreaditagain,’was theresponse,‘andthenmaybetalktoabuddy’ThisgentleresistancewasallthatwasrequiredThegirl retookherseat,readthefirstquestionagainandimmediatelywrotedownthecorrectanswerWhenI mentionthistoLeonora,shesmilesandsays,‘Yes,weencouragethechildrentoexploreotheravenues beforeaskingtheteacher.Itgivesthemanopportunitytorealisetheyareresourcefulandable.Sothey’ll bereadyforthenextchallenge.

Ifpupil-ledlearningseemsabitfreeforall,bereassured.Justbecauseyourchildisfascinatedbybugsto theexclusionofallelse,thisdoesn’tmeantheywillbeabletorestricttheireducation‘Wehavearigorous approachtodeliveringacomprehensivecurriculum,’saysRebecca‘Discovery-ledlearningrevealsa child’sexistingknowledge,andthenwecanexpanditButwearepiggybackingofftheirown enthusiasm.’Strengthinthecoresubjects,English,Mathsetc,isagiven,butitissuperchargedbythe children’swillingnesstoengagewiththem,andtheknowledgethattheyhavetheskillstheyneedtoget there.

AsIarrivetowatchYear6workonaseriesofpercentageproblemsinMaths,theteacherissaying‘OK, everyone,wheredowestart?’Thereareanumberofplacestostart,asitturnsout‘Canwethinkabout multiplicationandinverseoperation?Youcanlookatitfromanydirectionyouwant’

Handsflyup.Differentapproachesareputforward.

‘So,whichistherightwaytodothis?’

‘Allofthem,’theychoruspromptly

‘That’sright.Allofthem.’

TheYearlyInvestigativeProject

AnaturalextensionoftheFuturesCurriculumapproachisthefocusontopic-basedwork,wherea themeisexploredacrossarangeofsubjects,inmuchasthesamewayasSTEMistheinterplayofScience, Technology,EngineeringandMaths‘It’saboutchildrendrawingconnectionsGettingthoseenquiring mindsfiringagain,’explainsLeonora.‘Itwasn’tuntiluniversitythatconnectionsbetweenothersubjects reallyopeneduptome.Historically,educationhaskeptsubjectsdistinctandseparate.Wewanttobreak downthebarriersforHeywoodchildrenandenablethemtomaketheseconnectionsfromanearlyage.’

Generaltopic-basedlearninginpre-prepdevelopsintoayearlyinvestigativeprojectfromYear3upwards Forthis,childrenareinvitedtoaskabigquestion,tosettheirnaturalcuriositytowork,toexploreand discoverandthenreportbackInYear3theprojectiswell-structured,withlotsofsupportfromthe teacher,andthemedaroundsomethingthattheyarealreadylearning–thisyearprojectsarebased aroundworkonAncientEgypt.Eachsubsequentyear,theteacherstepsbackalittlemoreuntil,byYear 6,theyarealldoingacompletelydifferentdiscovery-ledinvestigation,onanythingtheylike.Theymay carryoutelementsofresearch,orexperimentstoproveordisprovehypotheses,suchasthespreadof germsItmaybemoreacademicallybased–howwomenwonthevote,forexampleEitherway,it’sall theirownwork,andhowtheypresentitisuptothemtoo,fromtraditionaltrifoldboards,tomodels, videosandTed-talks.Whentheyarecomplete,allHeywoodparentsandchildrenareinvitedseeand explorethisphenomenalbodyofwork.Whatanopportunity!

Steppinguptothenextchallenge

‘Wetalkaboutskillsforlife,’saysRebecca‘butourimmediateroleistopreparechildrenfortheir moveontosecondaryschools.’And,shesays,theseprojectsarekeytothat.

‘Itishardforparentstounderstandthatshiftintoseniorschool,howcomparativelyalonethe childrenareatYear7.Theprojectsrepresentagreatdealofeffort.Childrenhavetostickatit,and manageasignificantworkload.It’sachanceforchildrentodevelopandhonetheskillsthatwill supportthemwhentheyreachseniorschool,whentheyneedtobemuchmoreself-reliant.’

Havingkeyskillsalreadyundertheirbeltsmakesallthedifferenceachild’sapproachtosenior schoolandalltheopportunitiesopeningup.‘Theydon’tneedtofeelguardedwhentheyembark onnewsubjects.Theydon’tneedtospendtimeandbrainspacegettinguptospeed.Theycanbe alerttowhat’sonoffer,andreadytograbnewopportunities.’

ThesuccessofHeywood’sapproachtranslatesintocommentsfedbackfromseniorschoolHeads, whodescribeHeywoodchildrenas‘readyforanything’,‘independent’andsaythey‘don’tneedto developlearningskills’.Inanutshell,theyarereadytofly.

Allthisistheendresult.TheFuturesCurriculumisnotacatchphrase,oravagueethosthat flavourstheschool’sapproachtolearning.Itisacombinationofvision,andanenormousamount planning,structure,aswellasdrawingdownonthecreativityandenthusiasmofanincredible teamofstaff.ThisiswhatdefinesHeywoodPrep,Ithink.Acommitmenttoidentifying outstandinglearning,andthenputtingthestructuresinplacethatallowthemagictohappen.

Wherewouldittakeyourchild?