Sugar Hill Global Curriculum

“It’s Our World Now”

Our Intent

When designing a curriculum relevant to meet the needs of our children in Sugar Hill, Newton Aycliffe, we started by asking several pertinent questions.

What experiences have our children had of the world?
Do world issues impact on their lives?
Is what we teach always put into the context of their lives and community?
Do we allow the children to explore real world issues in depth and feel that they are doing something about them?
Are we really getting the children ready for life in the wider world today?
Do they really learn about the changes taking place in the world and the inequality that exists?
Is learning really connected and does it lead to an end product that the children can really invest in and so feel they are making a difference?
Is our current curriculum really as diverse and challenging of what we see in front of us as it could be?

At Sugar Hill we felt that learning had become narrow and aspects of the Curriculum seemed to have no point and certainly did not reflect real life or the lives of our children or the world they are growing up in.

The answers to these questions are the real drivers of our curriculum.

Following much discussion, deliberation and research into many curriculums we have designed our curriculum that we feel truly meets the needs of our children in our community.

The Global Curriculum is underpinned by the six themes of:

Social Justice and Equity
Identity and Diversity
Sustainable Development
Peace and conflict
Human Rights
Power and Governance

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn”.

Benjamin Franklin

We want our children to be prepared for the world they are growing up in, to understand the impact of world issues on them and their community and to be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to become 21st Century Global

citizens. We also want them to learn about their world, its past and challenges it is facing.

We want them to be passionate about a wide range of subjects such as history and geography and through a well-planned curriculum use the key skills of oracy, reading and problem solving.

We want them to become successful, independent, reflective and creative learners and thinkers who will be fully equipped to face their future.

Implementation

The children will be exposed to these themes across all year groups and focus on three themes each year. These themes are then explored through all subject areas of the curriculum, where they fit. High quality, well-chosen texts are used to bring themes to life. Staff will choose their core text and then supplement with other texts belonging to that theme.

Each theme is explored through a well-planned project that gives the children an end product, bringing together all of the skills and knowledge they have used and promoting a connectedness in their learning.

From each theme an over arching question is used to focus the learning.

For example, in Year 2 their theme is Human Rights and their question is “Is Education a Right?” Using the core text Malala’s Magic Pencil” they will look at education here and in Pakistan, the rights of girls and look at the rights of children and education in Victorian times. All of this will allow the children to reflect on their own education in our school and in our community.

The learning journey through the project is inspiring and motivating leading to a much deeper understanding of the global issues and the curriculum.

The children are able to collaborate, research, present and evaluate their learning through their end product.

The projects are planned starting with a clearly defined outcome. The subjects and lesson sequences are then designed to meet this end point.

The subjects are very focused to ensure depth of learning. For example, one aspect of a period of history is studied in depth rather than trying to teach a whole topic. As above in Year 2 the Victorians is focused on the aspect of education at the time and the rights of the children.

Deeper learning can take place and children see it in a context that makes sense to them.

As a Voice 21 school, oracy, communication, discussion and debate are all high priority and vital skills that will enable children to deal with the world in later life. Through our curriculum the children will see that we can have different points of view and that all are valuable.

Impact

Across school there is regular reviewing of learning through learning walks, discussions with the staff and children, and the sharing of work and project outcomes. This is carried out by all stakeholders including senior leaders, staff, Governors, parents and children.

Through an exciting and motivating Global Curriculum the children will develop the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes needed to become true Global citizens.

Children will have opportunities to develop into “whole” members of the community by understanding the values of friendship and responsibility and to address real issues such as stereotyping, diversity, and human rights.

Deep learning is developed and the children are able to demonstrate greater levels of resilience and ability to face challenge which will in turn impact on their outcomes.

Click the link above to view our Project Exhibition Page.

Parent Comments

"The showcase was presented beautifully and was a lovely way to learn what our children had been learning and focusing on throughout the term. I was very impressed with the vast range of work and subjects covered, and the children were very keen to talk about their work and explain the subjects further. The song the children sang for us was very emotional and was a realisation of the important subjects our children have focussed on this term. Thank you for the showcase, I would love another opportunity to be presented with their work."

"Was brilliant seeing what the children have been working on throughout the term. A great opportunity to see their hard work and them to showcase it so proudly."

"Amazing, absolutely loved it. Great way of making parents feel involved in what children are doing in school."

"Great presentation - and great for children to learn about different cultures at such a young age."

"Excellent use of IT equipment which I feel is important for the generation. The information was exactly that, informative of the subject and very well executed by all students. Well done one and all."

"It was absolutely fantastic. The children had put so much work and effort into the project. The topics were very relevant and simple to understand and follow. Fantastic!!"