Curriculum, learning and teaching
Bridge House School, near Cape Town, South Africa
Developing an elective curriculum Giving students a say in the subjects they study has had interesting results, as Linda Castaldo and Shaun Kirk explain
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students of their final elective selection for the second semester. Less than a year ago, these students would have had no say whatsoever in their learning. They would have had a timetable full of subjects they did not choose, and many would have been disengaged during lessons that held no interest for them. Now they have a say, they have choice, and the results have been very interesting indeed. At the start of the 2017 school year, all grade 8 and 9 students started following our new curriculum. Subjects are divided into two groups: core and elective. The core subjects are English, Afrikaans (or French or German for non-South African students), Mathematics, Science, Creative Arts and Life Orientation; students are required to take all of them. Elective Autumn |
Spring
There is an air of excitement across the campus at Bridge House, an independent co-educational school situated in a rural setting outside Cape Town, South Africa. The College, or Secondary phase, starts in grade 8 where the average age of the students is 14. Students complete high school at the end of their grade 12 year. Today, grade 8 and 9 students eagerly await the arrival of the Academic Head bearing a pile of folded letters. As she calls out their names and hands them their letters, the room fills with the sound of young men and women celebrating what they are reading; one even hugs the letter to her chest as she beams with delight. These are not homework exemption letters or offers of places for our international exchange programme; these letters inform
| 2017
