Teaching, Learning & Curriculum
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Curriculum
As an all through trust, we are well placed to create a coherent curriculum which reduces the disruption between different phases of education. Our approach to curriculum planning ensures that pupils in each phase receive an engaging, knowledge rich curriculum which is deliberately sequenced, building on what has come before.
As a trust, we ensure that we are constantly developing both substantive and disciplinary knowledge throughout subject areas. The curriculum is planned collaboratively with a strong emphasis on curriculum leaders at both Macmillan and Archibald working together to ensure that the progression from Key Stage 2 to 3 is smooth. Within the same ethos, Post 16 departments are increasingly collaborating with academic departments at universities to ensure greater progression from A level to undergraduate courses.
Designing a high-quality curriculum is an iterative process and we are constantly reflecting on our curriculum. The cross trust subject review model is well established, and this regular review process drives improvement in this area.
One of the key values of the trust is providing a ‘whole education’. We want our pupils to thrive academically but also to develop personality, character and acquire lifelong interests. Endeavour Academies schools commit to providing rich experiences through our curriculum and co-curriculum, with both making significant contributions to the personal development of pupils at all phases.
Equity is a key principle of our curriculum. We believe that every pupil has the right to fully access our curriculum as well as the activities and experiences we offer. We adapt our provision for pupils based on the individual needs they have and in conjunction with parents and carers.
Teaching and Learning
The trust’s approach to teaching and learning is grounded in the strongest evidence about how pupils learn. The curriculum is implemented through a teaching and learning model -OPTIC (Optimising Teacher Impact in the Classroom) which is an evidence informed teaching and learning model specifically developed to work across all phases of education.
The development of great teachers is a key priority of our trust and the OPTIC teaching and learning framework has driven improvements in this area. It has created a consistency of practice across subjects and enabled effective cross-phase collaboration between primary and secondary teachers to take place effectively.
Our approach to teaching and learning is underscored by an understanding that effective learning can only be achieved through a partnership between pupils and teachers, our OPTIC model facilitates this through a consistent lesson structure with 4 component parts; connect, construct, demonstrate, consolidate.
Each Autumn, all teachers in the trust get together for a teaching and learning conference. This well established CPD event centres around implementing the teaching model and has been supported in recent years by the Education Endowment Fund’s Research School at Huntington, a further illustration of our commitment to ensuring our teaching and learning is evidence informed.