Our curriculum intent is to
‘give our students the knowledge and skills to succeed in the world as it is, and the wisdom, empathy and courage to fashion the world as it should be’.

The DC6 principles of highly effective teaching and learning are incorporated in all sequences of lessons.

Teachers have high expectations which motivate, challenge and inspire our students.  Students will be supported in reaching ambitious goals and guided in the early stages of practice. Teachers are aware of the needs of individual students and ensure all learners are able to access the curriculum.  

Teachers aim to engage all students in high quality discussions, encouraging them to explore their ideas and depth of understanding, rehearse explanations, collaborate with others, prepare for writing tasks and practise unfamiliar vocabulary.

Regular opportunities for practice are given, whether practising specific skills, performances, explanations of processes or problem solving. Teachers provide feedback which allows students to deepen their knowledge and understanding and improve their performance. 

Retrieval practice is a particular focus of our classrooms, ensuring students transfer key knowledge to long term memory. Teachers include periodic reviews of material previously learned, to attenuate the rate of forgetting and support students to retain accurate schema in the long term.

Teaching and learning priorities

In our classrooms, we adopt four evidence-informed, high impact strategies. All our students, from year 7 to 13, in all subjects, are familiar with these strategies and understand the power of each one in boosting their learning.

Retrieval practice:

• Strengthens memory so forgetting is less likely to occur
• Identifies gaps in learning
• Produces better organisation of knowledge
• Improves transfer of knowledge to new contexts
• Improves metacognition
• Provides valuable feedback to teachers
• Encourages students to study more

Think Pair Share allow students to:

• Practise using new vocabulary
• Explore their ideas and depth of understanding
• Rehearse explaining their ideas to others
• Prepare for written tasks
• Exchange ideas as part of collaboration
• Provide teachers with real time feedback

Silence is Golden provides opportunities for:

• All students to think hard
• Independent writing and problem-solving
• Self-reflection, evaluation, and rejuvenation
• Extensive practice, in order for skills and knowledge to become automatic

Live modelling (I do we do you do) allows:

• Teachers to break down tasks and skills into manageable steps
• Teachers to support students building connections between new and prior knowledge
• Teachers and students to co-construct responses before students attempt tasks independently