Isaac Newton’s call to arms for the acquisition of knowledge couldn’t be more pertinent now that the Open Source AI genie is out of the bottle, and will never go back in. This is a watershed moment in the education of young people; a time when the two great facets of learning come together: what to learn and how to learn. It is in this context that the team at Packwood are proud to launch Curriculum SOAR, an important step forward in our mission to nurture character, adventure and soaring performance in unlocking true wonder.
SOAR, as an acronym, stands to underpin our belief in equipping learners with the motivation and tools to learn, unlearn and relearn. Rooted in ‘Socratic questioning’, ‘Oracy’, ‘Applied Learning’ and ‘Reflection’, it is our aspiration that, through their 4-13 journey at Packwood, and aligning with Shrewsbury’s ‘Origins Curriculum’, Packwoodians will grow their thirst for learning.
Our pedagogical approach is based on the concept of ‘Understanding by Design’, an internationally respected framework. Packwoodians will be introduced to the following components of this:
- Big Ideas – the enduring concepts that help pupils make sense of their learning.
- Essential Questions – open-ended prompts that drive conceptual understanding and critical thinking.
- Evidence – multiple forms of assessment, from formative insights to authentic performance tasks.
The team at Packwood are bursting with energy to deliver this, and at the start of our curriculum planning day in August, we posed them the following essential questions to drive their ambition for every Packwoodian:
S → What big questions help us think more deeply and understand more clearly?
O → How can every voice grow in confidence, clarity, and impact?
A → How does purposeful design turn knowledge into lasting learning?
R → How does reflection help every pupil to soar beyond their expectations?
As we navigate the early (and still fairly basic) stages of Chat GPT – and WoodAI, our own curriculum planning agent has been busy at work – it is worth remembering Isaac Newton’s point. Our young people are presented with an infinite ocean of knowledge, understanding and concepts to enjoy making sense of. It is our job to ignite the fire within them. This is true learning. This is Curriculum SOAR.
