THE CORNESTONES CURRICULUM - Mandarin International School - MIS

The Cornerstones Curriculum

Our curriculum provides many learning challenges throughout the academic year that require children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively. Cornerstones also provide a rigorous skills and knowledge framework that outlines the end of year expectations in all subjects. These skills and knowledge are tied to activities and are age-related so that staff can track children’s progress and identify their individual learning needs.

The rationale for the Cornerstones Curriculum takes the form of 10 big ideas that provide a purpose for the aspects, skills, knowledge and contexts chosen to form the substance of the curriculum.

These big ideas form a series of multi-dimensional interconnected threads across the curriculum, allowing children to encounter and revisit their learning through a variety of subject lenses. Over time, these encounters help children to build conceptual frameworks that enable a better understanding of increasingly sophisticated information and ideas.

General principles

Our curriculum will give children the opportunity to:

understand the purpose and value of their learning and see its relevance to their past, present and future
develop a rich and deep subject knowledge
learn within a coherent and progressive framework
develop new skills through a variety of interesting contexts
experience the challenge and enjoyment of learning
develop and demonstrate their creativity

How does the Cornerstones Curriculum work?
Each year group has Imaginative Learning Projects (ILP’s) which they will work through during the year, completing one project per half-term. Each project has been designed to provide exciting and motivating opportunities for cross-curricular learning within the context of a theme.

Each project is broken down into four stages, or ‘cornerstones’ of education, which encourage the progression of knowledge and skills as well as a love for learning:

Our Cornerstones Curriculum allows MIS students to:

see clear links between different aspects of their learning
experience the challenge and enjoyment of learning
develop a rich and deep subject knowledge
learn within a coherent and progressive framework
develop new skills through a variety of interesting contexts
develop and demonstrate their creativity

These principles are important in forming a coherent curriculum that identifies learning through knowledge and skills that is applied, progressive and repeatedly consolidated. Memorable experiences ensure learning is engaging, retained, extend experience and develop lifelong cultural capital

Our curriculum will give children the opportunity to:

learn in a peaceful and supportive environment
build respectful friendships
work in a range of groups and settings
reflect and think mindfully about their learning
recognise that people are good at different things
learn how to respect themselves and others
develop self-esteem and confidence in their abilities

These principles are important to our school as they allow children to engage and help direct learning within and beyond the classroom. They support the development of lifelong learning skills and support the children in their development as lifelong learners and active and productive citizens in our community.

Our curriculum will be taught through a pedagogy that:

promotes problem solving, creativity and communication
enables and fosters children’s natural curiosity
excites, promotes and sustains children’s interest
enables children to reflect on and evaluate their learning
offer all children a memorable experience within each topic of work

These principles are important to our curriculum as they underpin the quality of our teaching and the way MIS students learn. At the centre of our pedagogy is behaviour (what teachers do), knowledge and understanding (what teachers know) and beliefs (why teachers act as they do)