Opening Year 7 Minds

Through Four
Learning Journeys
Putting Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills at the
heart of everything we do

Why are we teaching Opening Minds in Year 7?

From September 2010 our Year 7 students will be following a

new bespoke curriculum that aims to do more than just teach
them lots of facts. Our Opening Minds Curriculum will also
teach students how to be successful, independent learners
for life by developing their personal, learning and thinking
skills (PLTS).
We aim to do this through the delivery of four exciting
themes, which we will be calling learning journeys, which are
linked to the Pastoral Enrichment Days. The learning journeys
will teach Maths, Science, Humanities, Literacy and ICT in a
cross curricular approach for 15 periods across each week.

What is a learning journey?

A learning journey is an organic learning process that is

shaped by student need and interest. It is different to
current units of work because it is more open-ended and runs
for longer than a half term. It is not about delivering a series
of lessons in a predetermined order with little or no room for
deviation and does not focus on only one subject. It is
different because a learning journey offers starting points to
explore learning objectives and develop PLTs rather than only
pursuing the coverage of subject specific content. This
means that there may be a variety of paths for students to
take when acquiring knowledge and skills rather than only a
single one dictated by the teacher. In this way the teacher
becomes a facilitator of learning rather than an enforcer of it.

How does a learning journey ensure coverage and progress?

 This sets the scene for learning Each learning journey has a catchy,
and gives it a context to help Our First Learning Journey open-ended title to engage student
students understand the interest and allow links with all
relevancy of what they will be subjects and all PLTS
learning. Time Machine
Pastoral links: Developing aspirations and working towards long term goals

Trip: Going to the LSE University to get a sense of what further education is and to start students
thinking about what they want in achieve in the future.

Narrative for Time Machine:

Imagine what would happen if our amazing planet was to run out of oxygen in two months time. We would not be
able to live here anymore! The Earth needs us to leave the present day and allow it time to recover from everything
it’s been put through. What are we going to do? Fortunately we have a Time Machine.

This is fantastic and will save our community, however, because people have used up all the world’s natural
resources, we only have enough fuel left for two journeys. How will we decide on a suitable date and place to settle?
How will we survive when we first get there? There are so many important issues we are going to have to consider,
can you think of any?
Each subject area on the Learning Journey Map will make meaningful links to the main fo

The outcome is what the students work

towards as it provides a contextual way to
apply all of their learning and to show case
their progress at the end of the learning
journey.
 Our Second Learning Journey

QK, UK, the World!

Pastoral links: Developing a common identity as citizens of the same school, the same country and the same
planet.

Trip: Visiting local area to record “their London” and what it means to be British through photography

Narrative for QK, UK, the World:

How often do we stop to think about who we actually are? Each one of us has a unique identity, it is very special
and should be celebrated. We all make an individual contribution to our community. We are super citizens of QK,
a vibrant place that we all have in common. We are super citizens of the UK-what does that mean and what does
it actually mean to be British? We are super citizens of the World. Where in our beautiful world do we come from?
Where do our parents/ grandparents come from? What wonderful things can we take from our different
experiences in a gloriously diverse world to share with our QK community and beyond?
 ICT
One way of showcasing who we are
could be through creating our own
website or facebook page-we can
develop our skills in ICT to make
sure our page or site looks fantastic.

Maths
When looking at the population of QK, Science
Uk, The World we can use statistics, data We are part of the family tree we
handling and surveys to give us a clear come from. We can learn how our
picture of population growth and decline. genetics are inherited and about the
We revise our knowledge of place value , process of reproduction .
rounding and indices to help us.

You are going to showcase what

is special and unique about you!
What wealth of experience and
heritage has made you the
person you are today? You may
wish to produce a personal
identity website, or a facebook
page .

Geography
How has the use of space in our
world changed? We will examine
population density, migration History
and the reasons for such Unfortunately the differences we have are not
changes, the difference s always celebrated as they should be and
between rural and urban conflicts happen. We will look at some of these
populations conflicts and learn from them-what can we do
to prevent such conflict? How can we lead the
way to a harmonious QK, UK, World? Do you
know the history behind the creation of the
union jack? Let's find out.

RE
One exciting thing we may
discover about each other
may be the different faiths
we practice. We can
explore different images
and interpretations of God
 Our Third Learning Journey

Just is, isn’t justice!

Pastoral links: Developing an awareness of global inequalities and what can be done to try to address them.

Speaker in school: Inviting in a speaker from a charity to talk about its charity’s work and how it raises public
awareness to support its cause.

Narrative for Just is, isn’t justice:

We all live in the same world but do we share the same rights?

We have a right to education, healthcare and access to fresh drinking water.

Can you think of rights we are entitled to but are so familiar to us that we take them for granted?

Should we just accept that that’s just the way things are? There is nothing we can do about it, not our problem? Or
can we make a change?

Science and ICT

Is the distance our food travels acceptable?
Distribution of wealth-let's look at ratio and
proportion.
We can use our calculator skills to work out what's
going on. Let's demonstrate our findings by producing
a clear spreadsheet

RE
World issues: We'll
contrast countries in
terms of peace/conflict,
History wealth/poverty. We'll
Individuals all throughout history have We are going to look at the explore the importance
made a positive impact on social inequalities in our world and see of the environment to
justice, who has inspired you? what a difference we can the world community
make.You will produce a
What impact has the industrial
convincing campaign to include
revolution had on justice?
adverts, a speech and an event
to raise money!

Geography
Where exactly do our food
resources come from? What Science
climates, natural resources,
Where does energy come from? How
 impact are they having on our world?
Let's compare countries that are
more/less economically
developed
Our Fourth Learning Journey

Take One Picture!

Pastoral links: Developing creative thinking outside of the box. I.e. really understanding themselves as learners
and unleashing their full potential.

Trip: Visiting the National gallery to be inspired by a famous painting. A follow-up visit will allow students to see
the work of other students also inspired by the same painting.

Take One Picture Narrative:

This year, throughout our Learning journeys, you have consistently been using and developing your Personal,
Learning and Thinking Skills! You now have the opportunity to further develop these vital skills in a very creative
way. 'Take One Picture' is the National Gallery's countrywide creative project for super learners! Each year the
gallery focuses on one painting from the collection to inspire cross-curricular work-the exciting way you have been
learning this year. Our challenge is to use the image they have chosen imaginatively in our lessons. All your teachers
are very eager to work with you and to see and hear the wonderful ideas you think of. Then you will develop and
follow through your remarkable ‘Showcase for progress.’

Thinking
outside
the box
 What are the Personal, Learning and thinking Skills?

1. Self-Management

I am always looking for new challenges or opportunities to get involved with things

I can persevere with a task or challenge, even when the going gets tough

I can organise my time and resources effectively

I can balance my time between school work, homework and other activities

I can cope well when the situation changes, and I know where to go for help when I
need it

I can manage my own emotions in difficult times and I build good relationships with
my peers

2. Team-Working

I can work well with any group, even if it’s not a group of friends

I can discuss my ideas with working partners and come to an agreement

I can change how I behave to either lead a group, or to help others

I encourage other people to share their views, and I listen to them

I can take on a responsibility in a group, and make a good contribution

I can give good advice on how to improve, and act on advice when it is given to me

3. Reflective Learning

I can use success criteria and scales to review and assess my own work

I can set my own targets for improving my work

I can look back over my work and identify how to improve it for myself

I can take compliments, and advice for improvement, and respond positively

I can identify ways in which I can improve as a learner

4. Creative Thinking
I can come up with original and new ideas to complete a task or solve a problem

I can think of ways to extend my learning, asking new questions or investigating new things

I can link together what I have learned in different places and lessons

I can ask questions to check whether what someone is thinking is correct – including myself

I can try out different ways of working and follow these through to completion

5. Effective Participation

I can take part in a discussion, and help to come to a decision or agreement

I can put my ideas across well to others to persuade them of something

I can think of ways to help my group to solve problems or achieve goals

I can identify ways in which my team can work better, and share these with them

I can work with others to find the best way of working to suit the whole team

6. Independent Enquiry

I think of information and skills that I want to learn about for myself

I can find information independently

I can easily see other peoples points of view

I’m good at working out what information is useful and accurate

I am good at explaining why events or phenomena have happened

I can explain my answers using the information I have found out

The Opening Minds Planning Process

 Design Activities
activities are designed to meet and include all the identifed PLTS and LOs
the planning will be a fluid document and allow for learner and teacher flexibility
Showcase for
using the Learning Journey focus, identify and allocate the key assessment outcomes for each Progress
cluster of objectives
what activity, product, attribute etc. will need to demonstrated in order to demonstrate progress
SEAL
SEAL objectives are identified and allocated to relevant Learning Journeys and grouped PLTS and
LOs
All LOs and PLTS for a particular theme are viewed together Group objectives
cross-curricular team group LOs, identifying possible overlaps and clarifying and unifying ideas and
activities
consideration of how to deliver LOs that do not naturally fit within the Learning Journey
PLTs are identified and linked meaningfully with themes and specific learning objectives, to be PLTS and Learning
printed individually Objectives
process, range and content LOs for each subject are printed individually
each PLT and LO is allocated to a particular theme/Learning Journey. Some will be repeated.
Learning Journeys
each curriculum area shares the Learning Journey which directly relates to the theme
keep variety of ideas at this point
deliver the curriculum for the whole year Themes
linked to Pastoral Enrichment days
drawing on best primary practice
The Opening Minds Academic Year Overview
Week Beginnings Planner - Outline Calendar 10/11

Wk

1 1 Mon 6th Sept

2 2 13th Sept

3 3 20th Sept

4 4 27th Sept

5 5 4th Oct

6 6 11th Oct

7 7 18th Oct

1 8 1st Nov

2 9 8th Nov

3 10 15th Nov

4 11 22nd Nov

5 12 29th Nov

6 13 6th Dec

7 14 13th Dec

1 15 Thur 6th Jan

2 16 10th Jan

3 17 17th Jan

4 18 24th Jan

5 19 31st Feb

6 20 7th Feb

7 21 14th Feb

1 22 Tues 1st Mar

2 23 7th March

3 24 14th March

4 25 21st March

5 26 28th March
6 27 4th April

1 28 Thur 28th April

2 29 Tues 3rd May

3 30 9th May

4 31 16th May

5 32 23rd May

1 33 Tues 7th June

2 34 13th June

3 35 20th June

4 36 27th June

5 37 4th July

6 38 11th July

7 39 18th July

NB One extra week in Term 3 / One week less in Term 5