Driving the vision for change

Leading secondary curriculum change - a view from practice

Background

Notre Dame High School is large 11–19 Catholic High School situated in Norwich. It draws on a large catchment and ability range. The school ha specialist status in modern foreign languages, science and is a training school. It is also part of Open Opportunity – a collaborative with local schools and a college.

What difference did the school want to make?

Notre Dame High Schools is committed to developing the full potential of each individual so that they become compassionate, interdependent and lifelong learners. It is mindful of the fact that students develop at different rates and the emphasis is on encouraging personalised learning. The school is in the process of developing learner profiles for its students and will look for examples of the following skills:

independent enquirers
knowledgeable
creative thinkers
reflective learners
communicators
team workers
effective participators
self-managers
risk-takers
open minded
caring
principled
balanced

What has the school done?

Changes to Key Stage 3 have beenintroduced and the school is moving towards delivering this key stage over two years. SEAL has been introduced in Year 7 and there is now no emphasis on SATs. Vocational experience has also been introduced in Year 9. In Key Stage 4, GCSEs have been introduced in Year 10 and two Diplomas were introduced in 2008 and seven in 2009. In the sixth form, the International Baccalaureate has been introduced and shared AS and A2 courses.

How has the curriculum change been led?

The school has been developing a shared vision and engaging all stakeholder groups. All members of staff, governors, students and parents have been spoken to. Staff were asked to reflect on what their subject contributes to the curriculum and what they could do with no boundaries. Students were asked to reflect on where they wanted to be and what the school does well and what it could do better. The school’s vision is a shared document – owned by all – and shares one vision of where the school is going, providing a roadmap of change. The vision was shared at a special governors meeting and to staff in whole-school meetings.

What’s next?

The school is now exploring how to consolidate improvements and produce more changes. They are looking to embed the Key Stage 3 changes and review these changes before continuing with its evolutions. The school sees change as a disciplined process, with constant questioning and evolving. The school is keen not to overload staff and establish clear evaluation strategies. If staff see the benefits then this will ensure that the momentum is sustained. The school feels it vital that all staff feel enabled to come up with ideas, contribute and own the curriculum. Students have also been central to driving the school’s vision.