EDUCATION
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL
OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, SEVENOAKS HAS BEEN DEVELOPING AN APPROACH TO THE CURRICULUM THAT TAKES GREATER ACCOUNT OF THE VARIETY OF WAYS IN WHICH STUDENTS LEARN. OUR AIM IS TO BETTER PREPARE THEM FOR UNIVERSITY AND EMPLOYMENT, BUT ALSO TO ENCOURAGE AWARENESS OF THEMSELVES AS LEARNERS, AND OF THEIR PLACE IN AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL WORLD, WHICH CARES MUCH MORE ABOUT THE SKILLS THEY DISPLAY THAN ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE THEY’ VE ACCRUED.
This is potentially contra to the traditional educational model that typically divides the process of acquiring knowledge into particular categories. There is a clear distinction drawn, for instance, between notions of what is‘ academic’ and what is not, between things that happen in the classroom – the‘ curricular’ and the clubs and activities that take place outside – the‘ co-curricular’, and between cognitive or intellectual qualities and personal, emotional or‘ affective’ ones.
Curriculum Innovation at Sevenoaks is born therefore from a conviction that education should attend to the many and varied elements that contribute towards meaningful, productive learning. Students should feel fulfilled in all areas of their lives at school, be able to recognise the many different ways in which success can be defined, and to develop understanding of their identity and their place in the world. As a result, this year we are proud to introduce a Diploma for the Middle School, and the aim of the programme is to take into account the ways in which academic, intellectual, personal and emotional qualities are all interrelated, whilst providing students with the opportunity to learn and reflect as they move through the Middle School.
Firstly, the Diploma will provide students with a means to record activities and experiences that define their intellectual, emotional and spiritual development through the three Middle School years. This could embrace anything from a piece of class work of which they are particularly proud, the record of a school trip, passing a music examination or feeling inspired by the content of a school play or a particular work of art. In this sense, the Diploma works a bit like a blog – documenting important and interesting events that have motivated, impressed or provoked.
Secondly, the Diploma encourages students to think and to reflect about the ways in which they have learned in and through these events. Research suggests that the more students become aware of themselves as learners and the more reflective they are generally, then the more successful they are likely to be – whether in term of passing exams, being committed to their co-curricular activities or, perhaps more simply, being happy in their time at school.
The Diploma therefore invites students to choose a number of activities in which they have demonstrated commitment over a period of time and provide intermittent reflective comment on the way they have made a contribution to them and the qualities they have acquired through participation in them.
Finally, underneath the Diploma is a recognition of the importance of a range of skills and personal dispositions that can sometimes go unrecognised. Students will be assessed on skillsets such as creativity, independent learning, self-awareness, social responsibility, critical thinking, collaboration and international awareness. For example, an ethical outlook on the world, an ability to listen as well as to lead, a willingness to work productively with others, a sensitivity to cultural difference and a capacity for creative, imaginative and critical thinking are just some of the characteristics that the Diploma seeks to celebrate and to nurture. These are qualities increasingly being recognised by universities and employers and reflect our commitment to the provision of a rounded, complete education for our students. Sitting alongside, and in support of their I / GCSE or Sevenoaks School Certificate courses, the Diploma will therefore enhance the relationship between Middle School Years and the IB, as well as lay important groundwork for our students’ lives once they leave the school.
www. sevenoaksschool. org
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