Really proud to share that my wonderful school - Ark Soane - has spotlighted by @inclusioninpractice.org.uk

This is a testament to the incredible job that my incredible colleagues do every single day!

Check out the report below to read more about our approach 👇

So, when we drop into each other's slip stream, when we narrate the links explicitly to our pupils and when we boost each other up by retrieving and building on knowledge that we know our pupils know, this is our accidental approach to cross-curricular!

We rely on granular phrases to give our pupils a short-hand for a deeper conceptual idea. These little nuggets of knowledge are designed to be used flexibly.

Christine Counsell put nicely that these serve as a reminder that it is knowledge and not skills which are transferable.

We used below example. Mike's KS3 curriculum teaches trade unions and welfare state - meaning can simply reference them.

Mike was then inspired to do a unit on Hannah Mitchell - a working class suffragette from the North of England... did someone say Eva Smith?

Tangent - none of this is possible without certain enabling conditions:

1. Disruption-free lessons from a strong behaviour system.
2. Our booklet design follows similar principles - lots of text.
3. Our lessons are quite similar - retrieval DNA, exposition, read, discuss and write.

We start off with three health warnings.

In our opinion, the main responsibility of a curriculum leader is to ensure their subject is taught well.

A useful by-product is when children forge connections between two subjects. Especially two households both alike in dignity - English and History.

Yesterday, I spent a wonderful afternoon presenting with my even more wonderful colleague @michaeldoron.bsky.social at #REdBrum where we discussed our accidental approach to cross-curricular work at Ark Soane Academy.

Great session on creating a culture of reading for pleasure from @lilystaff.bsky.social

Especially loving the points about fostering a culture of pupils talking about what they read.

#REdBrum

Half term reading 📚

I've been trying to teach myself Chinese since the start of September and it's been a humbling reminder that learning is bloomin' difficult.

Huge thank you to @tombennett71.bsky.social and @hgaldinoshea.bsky.social for organising another excellent ResearchEd yesterday. Thanks also for giving me the chance to present on the English curriculum. Had such a lovely day! #rED24

📸 @priteshraichura.bsky.social

Very excited and nervous to be speaking at ResearchEd for the first time next week.

My presentation features John Keats, the English curriculum and family trees!

#rED24