Cross-Subject Learning

The tremendous power of a river is diminished when it is fragmented into little streams. However, when the streams are channelled together, it then can develop a deep flow. So it is with learning.¹

Ben Johnson

Children are free thinkers. They tend to make free associations in their minds linking experience to knowledge through memory as they come across the “new” in life. This is particularly true for pre-school children and greatly explains why these early years are ones full of the wonder of discovery. Good primary schools can prolong this golden age of learning but often when the child arrives at secondary school the river of learning is split into many unconnected channels.

RAINFOREST

Chosen by our 7 to 10 yrs group

ENGINEERING

Chosen by our 11 to 14 yrs group

Students want to learn in a way that engages them by making connections between the theoretical and the practical, between one subject and another. They want to feel that learning is actually useful, fun, enchanting, inspiring and relevant.

"I've learnt more here in two months than I had learnt in my other school in about a year"

Jelle

Aged 12

Our curriculum provides an academic framework that encourages pupils to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, enabling them to become analytical, reflective, and creative thinkers who are able to realise the interconnectedness of all things. We teach through a combination of cross-subject learning and single subject learning.

Topics

This means part of the curriculum is learnt through topics that embrace a variety of subjects while other aspects of the curriculum are taught through traditional classes to make sure students cover everything they need to prepare them for their GCSEs. They are not forced to think in boxes but are instead supported to think openly and freely, being encouraged to express their thoughts and feelings. Even when being assessed students are given points for creativity, originality, interconnected thinking and expressing complex emotions and ideas.

Joined-Up Thinking

The cross-subject curriculum is planned by all the teachers together and taught as a whole. Each teacher is aware of what the others are doing and every effort is made to connect the learning in one class to that of another. The teachers themselves broaden and deepen their practice by linking their subject to others and excitement of learning is spread all around the community. This collaborative approach to planning, teaching, assessing and evaluating allows us to be holistic in the true sense of the word as it is genuinely a whole community approach.

(1) “Deeper Learning: Why Cross-Curricular Teaching is Essential.”