Our vision is to deliver an authentic education for the 21st century for children from the age of 14 – 18. The aim of the curriculum is to ensure all students achieve high-level qualifications in a broad range of subjects, whilst simultaneously equipping them with the skills required to play an active role in the modern, highly-competitive and fast-changing world.
Central to the philosophy of the curriculum delivered at Space Studio West London is to provide an authentic education as critical foundation for pupils to participate in the full richness of the human experience. All students at the school learn in a challenging, engaging and supportive environment, and through a carefully planned curriculum that encourages creativity, celebrates diversity, and utilises the knowledge, skills and cultural experiences of the local community to become active citizens in modern Britain.
The curriculum aims of Space Studio West London are to:
- Ensure a broad curriculum coverage
- Develop a knowledge-rich curriculum
- Ensure that knowledge acquisition is enhanced through being effectively applied to real-life situations and problems
- Widen knowledge acquisition through single discipline and transdisciplinary learning
- Ensure all learning is challenging and engaging
- Develop transferrable future skills through the application of knowledge into actions for success.
- Ensure high rates of progress for all pupils
- Promote teacher planning that is integral to the success of the curriculum and also manageable
Whilst maintaining a distinct approach to education, Space Studio West London also shares a common philosophy with other academies within the Aspirations Academies Trust, including three guiding principles to adhere to:
- Self-worth
- Engagement
- Purpose
Also, the core values underpinning our curriculum are:
- Assignment-based working and close links with employers in the aerospace, space, science and technology industries.
- In-depth learning in a dynamic, academically rigorous and collaborative way, developing skills useful in adult life, such as critical thinking, problem solving and inquiry and research.
- An environment that will emulate the workplace, with ICT and mobile devices used throughout, encouraging pupils to build their own e-portfolio of achievements to using real-time data from orbiting satellites.
The learning at Space Studio is deepened by applying knowledge to real-world contexts and allowing young learners to take the lead in using this knowledge to find solutions.
At Space Studio West London, we ensure the following nine Core Principles are a clearly featured in every element of the academy’s work.
- High Expectations: being the very best you can be in your school and community
- Opportunity: matching your interests with activities that will help you to leave school well-rounded and confident
- Challenge: making your learning exciting and relevant to the real world
- Talent Development: enhancing your natural strengths and abilities so you thrive in school and beyond
- Innovation and Enterprise: supporting your creativity by encouraging you to ask ‘Why?’ and ‘Why not?’
- Makers and Creators: being a creator, not just a consumer, of technology in our digital world
- Global: having the cultural awareness needed to communicate in our interconnected world
- Employability: equipping you with the skills and abilities you’ll need to excel in our ever-changing world
- With Big Dreams and Hard Work: ‘aspirations’ means to dream about the future while being inspired in the present to reach those dreams.
Our curriculum has been developed to meet the needs of pupils so that they have both embodied and institutional cultural capital with Employability and Future Skills as the centerpiece of our educational provision:
- Resilience
- Cross-cultural competency
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Creative and adaptive thinking
- Cognitive load management
- Sense-making
- Media literacy
- Entrepreneurialism
- Transdisciplinarity
- Productivity and accountability
Implementation of the curriculum
- Assignments are central to the success and development of students at Space Studio West London. Applied transdisciplinary learning is about students designing, planning and carrying out an extended assignment that produces a publicly exhibited output such as a product, publication, or exhibition. Each assignment addresses a key question or hypothesis for students to investigate.
- Research/additional support sessions: Students will complete assignments and supplement their learning as well as being exposed to specific research and literacy related sessions. If students require specific learning support it will take place during this session.
- Work Placement. All Key Stage 5 students experience The EES (Engineering Education Scheme) through the EDT (Engineering Development Trust)
- Qualifications: The fundamental aim of the Space Studio West London is to develop high level, relevant skills and knowledge. An essential part of this aim is to ensure a solid grounding in English, Maths and the Sciences.
- Technology Enhanced Learning. Space Studio West London is committed to delivering teaching and learning through technology. The challenge will be ensuring that the technology is used to provide 21st century learning and not, as is so often the case, acting as a substitute for teaching based on 20th century needs. Technology will be used to communicate and present, gather and process information, and record activities and progress creating ePortfolios developed and maintained by students themselves. Sophisticated digital learning systems will be developed exploiting digital gaming technology where appropriate.
Impact
At Space Studio West London, we believe that a well-though-out curriculum which meets the needs of pupils should lead to high-level results for pupils which reflect what they have learned. The impact of the curriculum is evaluated through the following measures:
- The percentage of students who achieve at least expected academic progress and high levels of attainment in national assessments and examinations such as GCSE, KS2 SATS, GCE A level
- Progress and attainment of current pupils across key stages
- Reading Test data
- ‘Cultural Capital’ for disadvantaged and pupils with SEND
- The range of high level 21st century skills developed by students
- Destinations data – The percentage of students entering skilled employment or higher levels of study
- The percentage of learning that is challenging and engaging
- Attendance data
- Engagement in enrichment activities
- Pupil Voice