At St Ignatius Catholic School – Cayman Islands, we make the most of every moment, including lunchtimes!

This week’s vibrant Lunch & Learn session focused on curriculum design, and it was fantastic to be singing from the same hymn sheet—emphasizing the importance of having a clear department vision, ethos, and defined teaching approaches. It’s too easy to simply follow a specification point by point, but what excites you as a teacher? What do you believe are the most important topics to teach?

💡 “Dinner Table Conversations: Core and Hinterland Knowledge” is a great read on this topic. It explores how hinterland narratives support core learning; essentially, how to create the right soil in which to plant knowledge.

🔹 Are you designing a curriculum that ensures inclusivity and allows all pupils to succeed?
🔹 Are you treating KS3 as the most important phase, where you have the most freedom to shape learning?

Do you find yourself teaching KS3 concepts again in KS4? If so, why?

This leads to key curriculum questions:
📌 Vision: Why are you doing this work? What is it for?
📌 Ethos: What are your core beliefs? How do they impact your decisions?
📌 Approach: What are your core practices? Are they effective?
📌 Analysis: Do you have oversight of both the big picture and every learning objective?

A well-designed curriculum isn’t just a sequence of lessons; it’s a roadmap for meaningful learning. How do you approach this in your teaching?