Skills For Learning

The Skills for Learning curriculum aims to introduce students to the wider skills that they will need to succeed at school as well as later in life: team work, creativity, independent enquiry, effective participation, self management and reflection. These skills have recently been recognised in the National Curriculum as vital to student development. At Darton we have decided to dedicate time to this important area so that students can practice and improve these key skills.

The course runs for 5 periods a week and students are taught by specialist teachers from English, History, RE, Geography and Citizenship. The fact that students spend such a length of time with only one teacher means that their strengths and weaknesses are spotted early on and teachers are able to focus the work accordingly.

The year begins with a focus on the theme The Big Adventure. In this unit students are introduced to the key skills and begin to build their confidence as new members of our school community. We are delighted that cross-curricular links are stronger than ever and many Year 7s will embark on their own big adventure by going to London with the Citizenship Department.

Later in the year students will cover more aspects of Citizenship and RE as we take a look at Conflict and Courage. In this unit we aim to stretch the skills of students further as they work independently to research historical events and as they work in teams to reflect on the importance of freedom, fairness and courage.

Beyond Christmas students will become more involved in local history and geography as they work through our theme Barnsley, Past Present and Future. Last year students amazed us with their creativity and enthusiasm as they completed this unit.

Toward the end of the year students will look back at how far they have come by creating their own stories in Telling Tales. Students will take these stories into some of our feeder primary schools as part of our programme of transition for those coming to Darton next September.

We are looking forward to the fantastic work that students will produce this year and to watching them grow in confidence and skill. Students and teachers will both play a part in measuring their attainment throughout the year and parents will receive regular contact concerning their progress.