Our Curriculum Vision

Curriculum Review - 2025 
 
Our Curriculum Vision 
At Ravens Wood School, the curriculum is central to everything we do. The decisions we make about what we teach, when we teach it, and why are shaped by ongoing professional dialogue and regular review. 
Our updated curriculum vision guides the way we design and deliver learning across every subject: 
To develop students’ character and leadership through access to a broad, challenging body of powerful knowledge. 
To provide an inclusive, ambitious education for all learners, rooted in a taught curriculum that inspires awe and wonder. 
To model, at every stage, a culture of mutual respect—empowering students to contribute positively as thoughtful, informed global citizens. 

Broad 
Our curriculum invites every student into a rich world of ideas, designed to spark curiosity, provoke thought and inspire discovery. We believe learning should be captivating. Our curriculum includes moments that surprise, move and intrigue — sparking questions and inviting students to look deeper. Whether it’s a striking idea, a beautiful pattern or a powerful story, we create space for all learners to be inspired. This reflects Basil Bernstein’s belief that all students deserve access to powerful knowledge that broadens their horizons and connects them to the wider world. 
 
Powerful 
Teaching is grounded in knowledge that helps students understand the world and think with clarity and depth. Carefully sequenced content, high-quality instruction, and regular opportunities to revisit and apply learning ensure deep and lasting understanding. This approach draws on Tom Sherrington’s view of curriculum as a progression model and David Didau’s work on memory and retrieval — ensuring that learning builds securely over time and supports all students to grow in independence and confidence.  
Awe and Wonder 
We believe learning should inspire. Our curriculum creates moments that spark curiosity — through striking ideas, beautiful language, surprising patterns, or powerful stories. These experiences help make learning stick, encouraging students to look more closely, ask questions, and delight in discovering more. As Didau reminds us, engagement and rigour are not opposites; awe and wonder are often found at the point where challenge meets curiosity. 

Awe and Wonder 
We believe learning should inspire. Our curriculum creates moments that spark curiosity — through striking ideas, beautiful language, surprising patterns, or powerful stories. These experiences help make learning stick, encouraging students to look more closely, ask questions, and delight in discovering more. As Didau reminds us, engagement and rigour are not opposites; awe and wonder are often found at the point where challenge meets curiosity. 

Inclusive 
High expectations are matched with thoughtful teaching that adapts to meet different needs. Barriers are removed, not ambition — ensuring all learners have the support, access and encouragement they need to thrive within a shared, ambitious curriculum. Bernstein’s emphasis on equitable access to core knowledge and Sherrington’s guidance on instructional clarity both shape this inclusive approach to planning and delivery.  

Mutual Respect 
Classrooms are built on mutual respect — for knowledge, for each other, and for the learning process itself. Students are encouraged to share ideas, listen actively, and grow as thinkers and collaborators. This respectful culture fosters deep learning, open dialogue, and shared success. In line with Sherrington’s belief in purposeful classroom culture, we value thinking hard, making mistakes, and learning together as essential parts of every student’s journey. 

(one of our curriculum workshops)