Curriculum change

• Further resources

Creating enterprise: how school and curriculum redesign changed a college

Website

www.because.org.uk

Key challenges:

• What if the curriculum was based on new relationships between adults and children or children and children?
• What digital technologies can help you deliver your future educational vision, and how?
• Is curriculum planning a shared responsibility? If so, who is involved - teachers, governors, parents, support staff, children, the local community, local businesses?

Overview:

Brislington College is a large secondary school in Bristol.

In 2004 the leadership team asked the stakeholders what they thought about the school.

The children felt it unsafe, parents felt it was too big, and the Local Authority believed standards were not high enough, meaning the community would not send their children. As a pathfinder school on the BSF project, they had the opportunity to tackle these concerns - not only in the format of the new school, but within its practice as well.

Approach:

A leadership team of the Head and two vice principals led the project; deciding on a model and presenting their vision to the leadership team, governors and general staff.

So, from the beginning the staff were engaged in the redesign of the building and internal structures. Not only briefed on the process and proposed models, but also encouraged to visit other schools, here and abroad.

Later they saw their suggestions incorporated into the design. Initially they asked for more power points and shelves yet when they understood the potential they began to ask for things that would help them teach. Staff were also included in the development of the community system as the leadership model was changed.

Students too had their say throughout, working directly with architects and staff, whereas parents were kept informed via seminars, and the option to view the construction site. By the time the children came into the building they knew all about the design and how the building would function.

Previously, the college had traditional form classes. Consulting with all stakeholders gave rise to two key innovations:

Learning communities

Eight new 'learning communities' now divide students into 'families' from mixed years (7 and 8; and 9, 10 and 11; and post 16). There is also a community for 20 physically disabled learners, and another for students with learning difficulties.

Each family has a learning guide who meets with them for twenty minutes a day to go through their work. Each community is almost self-sufficient, with its own support staff as well as teachers. And a change in the leadership model now means there are no longer heads of departments, but four directors of experience across all subjects.

The rationale is that communities and families make the experience for students more personal than being just 'one of thirty'. There is also more support from peers who have been through the work, as well as the tutor.

ICT

The challenge here was in trying to work out what sort of technologies would be available in future. The Head decided to install an underlying wireless network capable of supporting 1,600 devices - to support the shift to handheld devices in the next few years. The move puts technology into the hands of the students, enabling them to control their learning rather than having a fixed ICT space. The school is also developing a powerful managed learning environment so students can access high quality core material.

The approach appears to have been successful. In the first year the new school and practice was oversubscribed and further places were added to the intake.

Key points and recommendations:

• Have a member of staff responsible for the BSF process.
• Involve all stakeholders.
• Use the opportunity to examine all aspects of the learning experience, not just the building.
• Try the Do Nothing exercise to determine what is actually required in the rebuild.

Architects impression Architects impression 2 Corridor