The Usherwood Curriculum at St Dunstan's College

ST DUNSTAN’S COLLEGE THE USHERWOOD CURRICULUM

THE USHERWOOD CURRICULUM ST DUNSTAN’S COLLEGE

September 2021 saw the launch of the Usherwood pastoral curriculum across all Senior School year groups at St Dunstan’s. The aims of the Usherwood programme are to support pupils in the ownership of their emotional wellbeing; to develop pupils’ selfawareness and resilience; and to celebrate individual learner characteristics, including neurodiversity. This is underpinned by a strong pastoral care system that ingrains the College values, in particular compassion in the College community.

What content is covered?

The Usherwood curriculum is split into three areas, each of which are studied every year:

WELLBEING, MENTAL HEALTH AND RESILIENCE

How do I manage my own wellbeing, build resilience and increase my mental health awareness?

We use the five ways to wellbeing to structure lessons on this topic area: connect, be active, notice, learn and give. Students learn how good physical health can support good mental health, looking at sleep and nutrition. They also are introduced to a range of mindfulness approaches, including art, yoga and meditation, so that they have a variety of wellbeing tools at their fingertips throughout adolescence and into adulthood.

INDIVIDUAL LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS AND NEURODIVERSITY

How can I develop awareness and understanding of my own individual learner characteristics and those of others?

We explicitly teach students about neurodiversity to increase their understanding of the different ways in which people’s brains can work. This includes dedicated sessions on autism, ADHD and dyslexia, as well as teaching students about neuroplasticity and adolescent brain development. Where possible, we try to make these sessions as practical as possible, so students may be modelling the brain to understand how the different areas work or completing their own research projects into neurodiversity to discover the lived experiences of others.

PASTORAL CARE AND A COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITY

How can I lean on those around me and build a compassionate community?

This strand of the curriculum looks at improving oneself and contributing to the community around us. Looking firstly at self, students are taught how to effectively study and prepare for examinations, manage their time (including time for relaxation!) as well as how to respond proactively to feedback given by teachers. Students learn to problem-solve and resolve conflict together, by taking part in weekly circle time or round table discussion sessions. Students contribute to the community by taking part in year group compassion challenges, where students have to devise a project to benefit the St Dunstan’s or local Lewisham community. Finally, many of our students have the opportunity to represent their peers at College Parliament, which meets weekly to discuss how to develop different areas of the College to benefit our students.

How is the Usherwood Curriculum taught?

The Usherwood curriculum is delivered by form tutors in a dedicated lesson period each week as well as on occasion through section assemblies, during co-curricular clubs and during drop down days with specialist speakers invited to deliver workshops and talks. Last year, we were pleased to invite in external specialists on eating disorders, performance management for exam success, drugs awareness and yoga. We also trained two of our own staff to deliver a child-centred mindfulness course. We are always looking for those who are the best in their field to inspire and develop our young people so do get in touch if you have any recommendations.

COLLEGE PARLIAMENT

College Parliament runs from Year 2 all the way through to Year 13 and is led by a staff-pupil team, including our student Head of School or Deputy Head of School. Each year group meets weekly to discuss issues relevant to the operational or strategic development of the College. This ranges from giving feedback on our catering provision or on recreational spaces, to meeting with architects to look at future building projects for the site.

Once per year, the entirety of College Parliament comes together for a G12 summit meeting, held in our Great Hall, to celebrate successful initiatives of the last year and to debate and agree our strategic aims for the forthcoming academic year. These are then shared with the appropriate leadership teams to plan for implementation. Elections for College Parliament take place early in Michaelmas term each year.

USHERWOOD HIGHLIGHTS

AT ST DUNSTAN’S COLLEGE

over 150

Lessons delivered in 2022-2023

1

Specialist talk on eating disorders

College Parliament trip to the Houses of Parliament

over teachers collaborating 40+

2

2

80 National Mental Health Conferences

Teachers trained and qualified in mindfulness instruction trained as Senior Mental Health Lead 1 teacher

100

students completed yoga sessions delivered by Forest Hill Yoga students attended mindful art sessions

All Senior School students took part in taught lessons about neurodiversity and adolescent development

250+ students attended a mindfulness course