Our Director of Music, Mr Taylor and Subject Lead in Geography, Miss Chuchla give an overview of the experience.
We approached our Music deep dive with a degree of apprehension and anticipation, but we found it to be an amazing experience. We are rightly proud of our all-through musical curriculum, and this ‘mock’ exercise gave us the opportunity to evaluate and endorse what we do. The learning, the experiences, the curriculum that has musical responses at the heart of everything we do.
The day enabled us to bring all of the hard work of Team Music together, to show our ethos and to be humbled when the students talked of their musical learning with such passion. It was wonderful to see and hear our amazing rehearsals, to see sixth formers support younger students, including those from the Larch and to hear our students talking musically about Simon Balle and all we strive to achieve.
We ended the day knowing that we do our very best to ensure that each student has the best possible musical experience at Simon Balle, in all year groups. Team Music is an incredible team and as we know that includes our students, our families and our staff. The day was long, but exhilarating. Most importantly, the day demonstrated that we are an amazing musical school.
The Geography Department recently took part in a Deep Dive which was an insightful experience that we are excited to share. A Deep Dive is an opportunity for us to explore and celebrate the incredible work happening in our school, from our youngest learners in Reception to our secondary students. It’s a day of discovery, reflection, and growth.
The day began with a discussion about our school’s vision for Geography and the detailed curriculum that we are proud of as a department. We were able to talk about the progression in fieldwork and map skills that we have mapped across the all-through school, to ensure that each student is deepening their learning through each key stage. The curriculum was highlighted as a strength during the feedback of the day, and members of the department all demonstrated a deep understanding of both the curriculum and their students.
The day provided an opportunity for students to discuss their love of Geography and the positive challenge that the lessons provide them with. Lesson visits demonstrated the strong use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to allow students to interact with analysing data and maps, an area that the Geography Ofsted subject review highlighted as a challenge for many schools. Quality first teaching and consistency across the department was also clear, with all students being given the opportunity to “think and speak like a geographer”.
The insights gained from the Deep Dive will play a pivotal role in shaping our Department/Phase Improvement Plan in Geography to ensure that we continue to use research-led pedagogy to inform our practice. We are committed to continuous improvement and will use this feedback as a catalyst for growth.
Thankyou to all members of both subjects for the continued hard work and success.
