'We don't aim to be Outstanding, we aim to be World Class'

What do we mean by World Class?

What does a truly world class school for the 21st century look like? At Chestnuts, we believe;

A world-class school encourages and develops the holistic growth of every child and empowers them to tackle 21st century issues and develop global understanding and is not solely focused on test scores and pure academic achievements.

A world-class school encourages and engages children in authentic learning experiences, not standardised learning experiences.

A world class school actively engages and empowers children in their own learning, and does not have them sit passively in classrooms, waiting for the content to be delivered to them.

1. A voice

Chestnuts gives children and parents a voice in constructing the physical, social, and cognitive school environment. They have a say in the learning and direction of the school. In a word, they are empowered to take ownership of the learning. We do this through school council, parent council, learning ambassadors, questionnaires and voice boxes and through implementing our new Parental engagement strategy.

2. A broad curriculum

Chestnuts prioritises children’s engagement in learning by giving children a curriculum that is broad, exciting and flexible. The curriculum gives children the freedom to pursue their own interests and the development of their own personal talents, rather than creating standardised children capable of all performing the same tasks. Our world-class curriculum has a broad, flexible content that can be individually tailored to the interests, talents, and abilities of each child. We do this though a wide variety of trips and visits, providing opportunities for child initiated learning tasks, creative home learning projects and encouraging feedback from the various councils.

3. Personal support

Chestnuts provides personal support for each of its children and personalises each child’s learning through a solid system of support.

4. Engaging learning

Chestnuts’ engages children in a sustained and disciplined process of learning. In many education systems, children basically complete their work. The teacher marks it and gives it back. In Chestnuts, children are engaged in a learning process that asks them to develop, review, evaluate and revise. In this kind of learning, children are clearly engaged in more than just finding right answers. We do this through effective feedback other than just marking, pupil and parent meetings and varying lesson structures.

5. Utilising strengths

Chestnuts capitalises on the strengths of its children, team and community. The schools' teaching reflects the strengths and ambitions of its team. This provides ways for both staff and children to exploit their own talents and interests. A world class school seeks to make the most of both its children and staff in all areas of learning. We do this by offering a wide range of opportunities to children and empowering staff to lead in areas where their strengths lie – and share this with other schools, locally, nationally and internationally.

6. World orientation.

This means simply, that Chestnuts operates from a global perspective. We seek international partnerships and children are engaged in learning involving global issues. In addition, children are engaged in frequent interactions with people from other countries. In other words, Chestnuts moves children and their learning beyond the walls of their classrooms and even the borders of their country.

7. Global competence.

Chestnuts’ develops the global competence in its children. This means in world-class schools, foreign languages and cultural learning are important. It means students have opportunities to interact with foreign cultures. In other words, Chestnuts provides opportunities for children to experience other countries and cultures in engaging and relevant ways. We teach BSL, and Mandarin and have regular international themed days.

Being a world-class school is more than having the highest scores. Ultimately, a world-class school focuses on and celebrates children’s diversity, their enjoyment of learning, choice, personalisation, authentic learning, global perspective, and global competence.