Think Curriculum
E. M. Forster, by Dora Carrington - Public Domain
“Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.”
At Hilden Oaks we believe in inspiring a lifelong love of learning and preparing children for life in the 21st Century—where knowledge is just a click away!
With this in mind, we have developed and introduced our ‘Think’ curriculum. This has been specifically designed to improve and extend the children’s thinking and learning skills.
Closely following the work of C J Simster and Professor Matthew Lipman, the children attend weekly ‘Think’ lessons, where they learn about metacognition, questioning, information skills, critical thinking, philosophy, creative thinking, reasoning, decision making and memory skills. These skills are then overlaid onto the subject curriculum throughout the week, enhancing the learning experience and improving academic performance.
‘Think’ lessons are designed to build a more dynamic view of intelligent behaviour as something that can be developed by everyone. Many of the activities are low-floor, high-ceiling tasks, making them accessible for all, but the ‘sky is the limit’ for the outcome; so even the brightest of children are stretched and challenged.
Beyond the classroom the children are encouraged to explore and develop their thinking skills during Creative Curriculum days and during breaks on the Imagination Station, for inspired learning through play.
“Pupils persevere in a variety to tasks, concentrate well, make decisions and select resources. They explore and investigate enthusiastically in order to solve problems. Older pupils are able to analyse information, hypothesise and demonstrate higher order thinking when forming their own questions within group discussions.”