Who are School 21 and Big Education?

School 21 is a pioneering 4 to 18 school based in Stratford, East London, supported by Big Education Trust. The aim of the school (founded in 2013) has been to revolutionise the school curriculum and pedagogies with the aim of empowering more students to take on the world and prosper in the 21st century.

At Big Education, we believe that in place of massive inequalities, we need an education system that nurtures the potential of every child from every background. Our mission is to help more schools and more changemakers develop that Big Education – an education of the head (academic success), heart (character and wellbeing), and hand (creativity, problem-solving, making a difference).

An Expansive Curriculum of the Head, Heart and Hand

There is a renewed interest in how we can offer our young people a broader, more expansive, and more engaging curriculum that develops the whole child. This comes from the fresh insights we have learnt from lockdown over this tumultuous last 18 months, as well as the impetus from Ofsted to offer a broader educational offer. There are also the growing requirements of employers for young people to be equipped with a rich balance of knowledge, skills and dispositions. 

This school visit is your chance to find out how School 21 has developed its broad head, heart, and hand curriculum. You’ll see oracy and project based learning in action, engaging with students along the way. 

Enrolling in this course will also give you access to an optional online webinar after the visit. This webinar is an opportunity to connect, share your learnings, and work through practical ideas of how you, and your organisation might develop your own expansive curriculum, suited to your own needs and context.

Overview

1. School Visit, Stratford London: Thurs 23 June | 8.45 – 16:30
2. Post webinar (optional): Thurs 21 July | 8:30 – 10:00

Our aims

• The visit to School 21 will give participants the chance to get underneath the curriculum and see it in action.
• You’ll come away from the course with a set of tools and materials, confidence about satisfying the new Ofsted framework’s needs, and a set of steps for rethinking the curriculum and timetable within the school.
• The visit and webinar will provide evidence and case studies that will prompt rich conversations within the leadership teams in the school.
• The aim is for schools and school leaders to be able to analyze their curriculum using a diagnostic tool and then plan a series of next steps which will help to build a more expansive curriculum.

Please note that we offer group discounts to groups sizes 10+, please get in touch at bla@bigeducation.org for more information. We hope to meet you soon!