Friday afternoons in LETTA schools look and feel different from the rest of the week. Children are in mixed age groups, collaborating on projects that, where possible, address real-world challenges. These enable pupils to broaden their horizons, develop their character, and explore their personal interests and talents. Much of this takes place outside classrooms, using the outdoors, the local neighbourhood and other parts of London as resources for learning. All school staff, (as well as parents and others in our community), are involved, and older pupils are given genuine leadership responsibilities.
During each project, children have the chance to earn badges and exhibit the processes and outcomes of their project to others. They have opportunities to reflect on their learning and receive meaningful feedback from peers, school staff and other adults.
These projects complement our existing knowledge and skills-rich curriculum which is taught through subject-driven termly themes. We believe that this curriculum, based largely on the national curriculum, provides insufficient opportunities for our pupils to develop the character behaviours and discover the passions and interests that will enable them to thrive, as children and adults. Our explorer curriculum gives us the chance to develop and embed these character behaviours in a more focused, systematic way.
On Friday afternoons, our children are learning, deeply and with purpose, about themselves, the world around them and their place in that world. At the same time, they are having lots of fun!
