The relevance of GCSEs is being contested, with claims that they are too narrowly focused on subject knowledge, so students lack the wider skills needed to thrive in the world.
At Monkton, we think differently. While we acknowledge this criticism, we believe the curriculum of all great schools fosters these aptitudes but that the national assessment framework leaves no room for their recognition.
We have begun to collaborate with schools, organisations, and government, and our goal is to uncover these hidden gems and bring them to light. We have engaged with awarding bodies, including Pearson, to create a way to assess and reward these aptitudes.
This might result in ‘aptitude assessments’ alongside GCSEs making clear to future employers and universities the breadth of a student’s skills and abilities.
Our Year 9 students have been given the opportunity to assess and collect evidence for two particular aptitudes: ‘Collaboration and Communication’ and ‘Creative Thinking’ this year as part of a national research project spearheaded by ‘Rethinking Assessment.’
Our vision is to reveal many of the implicit aptitudes that our students at Monkton already possess. To share and develop our ideas with like-minded educators, we’re hosting a conference, ‘Making the Implicit Explicit,’ on June 16th. We’ll hear from Times Education Commissioner Michael Morpurgo and Prof Bill Lucas, with workshops from eight schools that have innovated their curriculums to focus on these aptitudes.
To learn more about our approach, please visit www.monktoncombeschool.com and book your free tickets at bit.ly/MtIE23Tickets.
Categories: Monkton Combe School
