We’re finally back at school after a long and challenging few months during which our girls successfully embraced guided home learning and achieved some excellent results.

Now we’re into a new academic year and have welcomed girls into Year 7 from our own Infant and Junior School as well as external schools. Year 7 is a crucial year, a transition from Junior to Senior School teaching and learning and a great opportunity to introduce some new ideas.

So we’re very excited to introduce our Deep Learning programme into Year 7 with one lesson a week. We’re sure that our girls will find this really exciting, interesting and challenging as they begin to explore more and more of the world around them and mature into well informed young adults.

Deep Learning Aims:

1) To foster curious, thoughtful, and compassionate global citizens who become leaders of the future.
2) To ensure NGHS girls have a deep understanding of world events, current affairs and significant issues whilst learning the skills of:

  • Debate
  • Evaluation
  • Critical thinking
  • Judgement
  • Analysis
  • Justification
  • Source evaluation

3) To create effective learners, who are self-reflective, resilient and well versed in:

  • Study skills
  • Revision skills
  • Spaced learning
  • Cognitive load
  • Memory skills
  • The importance of wider reading.

4) To develop confident learners, instilling in them the freedom to speak up, act independently and carve their own paths in life. To give girls the opportunity to explore the subjects they’re passionate about and embrace the topics that spark their curiosity.

5) To embody the NGHS mission to be PROGRESSIVE, CREATIVE, DIFFERENT.

Practicalities

In order to achieve these aims, lessons will involve active learning, collaboration, discussion, debate and exploration. For homework, girls will be keeping track of their learning by creating learning journals throughout the year. They will be able to share their learnings in fun and creative ways, for example by recording video diaries or by writing blogs.

We can’t wait to see the results of Deep Learning and how our Year 7 girls have taken to it. They will use and learn so many vital skills – revision, memory, critical evaluation, leadership and motivation – these will be useful throughout their education and their lives in general. Through a range of activities including puzzles, logical thinking games, personality tests and role play, our Year 7 girls will learn a lot about themselves and how to observe and evaluate the world, society and its many issues. What better grounding for the life and times in which we are living.