As part of our commitment to school empowerment, ODST delegates curriculum decisions to our individual schools. We do however expect all schools to develop a curriculum underpinned by the National Curriculum, enhancing this with opportunities to make learning exciting, and delivered in a meaningful context for children both in and outside the classroom.

We believe in an integrated curriculum which enables children to learn holistically, but we recognise the strengths and disciplines of individual subject areas. As the children’s learning journey progresses, subject specific learning enables increasing depth and specialisation.

Curriculum design

We want all ODST children to experience a wealth of educational experiences in our schools so as to enhance not only their basic skills but to encourage them to be independent learners and successful adults with a sense of moral purpose.

There exists a wide range of curriculum design within our schools, which reflects the different needs of our varied school communities. Typically, our schools ensure that the curriculum includes space for learning beyond subject boundaries, so that children can make connections between different areas of learning. Interdisciplinary projects, based upon groupings of experiences and outcomes from within and across curriculum areas, will provide relevant, challenging and enjoyable learning experiences. 

Community

Children are encouraged to exercise responsibility appropriate for their age and stage to enable them to be properly prepared to citizens in modern Britain. 

Where appropriate, we encourage schools to have School Councils, environmental groups for pupils and other responsibilities to introduce to them the art of decision making, which supports their personal development and helps our community ethos become a reality in our schools. We are also committed to supporting our schools to be inclusive environments where tolerance and respect for others are embedded into daily life.