iExplore: Olchfa School’s approach to curriculum enrichment
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Information about the school
Olchfa School is a large, English medium, 11-18 mixed comprehensive school situated in a suburban area to the west of Swansea. There are 1,907 pupils on roll, with 466 in the sixth form. Around 12.02% of pupils between Years 7 and 11 receive free school meals. Around 40% of pupils are from ethnic minority or Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and over 50 languages, other than English and Welsh, are spoken in pupils’ homes. Just under 5% of pupils have additional learning needs (ALN) and 9.2% have a level of English acquisition which is less than competent.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Following the publication of ‘Successful Futures’ and in preparation for Curriculum for Wales, Olchfa School successfully gained Pioneer School status. This established a culture of innovation around curriculum structure and design, culminating in ‘iLearn’, a curriculum for Years 7, 8 and 9. Leaders have a vision for their curriculum as the ‘lived experience’ which should provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and experiences to be ambitious, creative, ethical and confident pupils during their time in Olchfa, and beyond.
Olchfa introduced ‘iExplore’ in response to a need pupils identified to tailor and enrich the ‘iLearn’ curriculum provision in Year 9, recognising that these pupils would soon be making choices for study in Year 10. ‘iExplore’ lessons account for four of the fifty lessons a Year 9 pupil has per fortnight. They provide an opportunity for pupils to develop new skills and interests, as well as strengthen existing ones, alongside continued learning within the Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLE) with which they were familiar in Years 7 and 8.
Each year, leaders of the six AoLEs design a range of ‘elective’ courses to broaden or deepen the curriculum experience of Year 9 pupils. Each ‘iExplore’ course should have the potential to foster a pupil’s passion in a chosen field, enable meaningful application of subject knowledge in authentic, real-world contexts or offer joy in learning something new, in a new way, with new people.
In total, the school offers twenty-four ‘iExplore’ courses, of which Year 9 pupils study two, one in the first half of the year and one in the second half. Examples of the ‘iExplore’ courses offered are:
- Forensics
- Creative writing
- Law and Criminology
- Sports Leadership
- Playing with programming
- Musical theatre
- Become a problem solver
‘iExplore’ plays an important part in fulfilling the school’s vision for Olchfa’s ‘Cynefin’, giving opportunities for learners to be leaders of themselves and others and to learn more about Wales’ culture and background. ‘iExplore’ provides a chance to study something related to a career pathway, something creative or original. The school explores these ideas with learners as they make their ‘iExplore’ choices in Year 8.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
The wide breadth of the ‘iExplore’ offer is maintained by pairing subjects across the year to maximise staffing efficiency. During Year 8, learners choose five ‘iExplore’ courses, in order of preference. In most cases, pupils are allocated their first and second choice ‘iExplore’ course and leaders respond by running multiple classes if there is the demand to do so. This approach not only gives leaders valuable insight into learners’ subject preferences, supporting long-term curriculum and staffing planning, but also ensures that offering ‘iExplore’ remains cost-effective.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
The school’s three ‘Attitude to Learning’ data captures over Year 9 indicate notably high levels of engagement across the range of ‘iExplore’ subjects. Some pupils cite ‘iExplore’ as an opportunity to specialise in a subject that interests them, whilst others welcome the enriching impact it has on their Year 9 experience and their well-being. Central to the school’s vision for Olchfa is that school days bring joy and feedback from pupils and families suggests that ‘iExplore’ is doing just that for Year 9 pupils. Some pupils change their choice of pathway from Year 9 into Year 10 as a consequence of having tested their interest in a subject through their ‘iExplore’ course choices. Pupil voice has helped refine ‘iExplore’, and the school’s Advisory Board (a stakeholder group of parents, pupils, governors and staff) has asked for ‘iExplore’ to continue through Years 10–13, something leaders are now exploring.
How have you shared your good practice?
Olchfa School regularly hosts visits from staff from other schools and is committed to system-wide partnership and the power of peer-to-peer school improvement.