The Village School for Girls Tapestry
"As trends such as globalisation and advances in artificial intelligence change the demands of the labour market and the skills needed for workers to succeed, people need to rely even more on their uniquely (so far) human capacity for creativity, responsibility and the ability to “learn to learn” throughout their life"
Whilst we follow the UK National Curriculum, we do so with an international perspective to align with our truly global school community and a true passion for lifelong learning and curiosity, inspired by our bespoke learning framework.
Chatsworth Schools’ CEO and Founder, Anita Gleave created The Chatsworth Tapestry, (with Clemmie Stewart, Director of Learning and Teaching, Chatsworth Schools) as an innovative and holistic curriculum overlay totally unique to the Chatsworth Schools family.
Social and emotional skills, such as empathy, self-awareness, respect for others and the ability to communicate, are becoming essential as classrooms and workplaces become more ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse.
Achievement at school also depends on a number of social and emotional skills, such as perseverance, efficacy, responsibility, curiosity and emotional stability.
Physical and practical skills are not only associated with daily manual tasks, such as feeding and clothing oneself, but also with the arts. To date, researchers have been unable to identify a comparable activity that develops the cognitive capacity of children in the same ways or to the same extent as music and arts education does. Engaging with the arts also helps students develop empathic intelligence, which enhances their emotional engagement, commitment and persistence.
OECD Learning Compass 2030 – The Learning Compass 2030 defines the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that learners need to fulfil their potential and contribute to the well-being of their communities and the planet.
The Chatsworth Tapestry is intended not just to benefit those pupils who’s immediate and longer-term futures will follow a more traditional academic and ‘traditional’ career pathway; rather it is designed to benefit ALL pupils, regardless of ability to ensure every child has their own outstanding future truly enabled. These futures are more uncertain than ever before with regards to what the jobs market might look like in the future, and even more importantly what skills –will be required to succeed.
The Village School for Girls’ Tapestry encompasses all the skills that children need to flourish in the 21st century: Mindset, Global, Health and Wellbeing, Digital Literacy, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship.
GLOBAL
We celebrate the individual, their talents, their differences, their uniqueness, and their place in the world. We follow the principles of the Round Square movement: the pillars of Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership and Service underpin our curriculum and our co-curricular programmes.
Our pupils will take part in language exchanges, Arts tours, Model United Nations events and sporting competitions. We are also excited about the opportunities that exist for them with other schools in the Chatsworth Schools family.
HEALTH AND WELLBEING
In order to promote growth and learning we recognise the need to not only strengthen our children’s physical health but also nurture their mental health.
Our staff are chosen as those who invest the greatest level of care and nurture for each and every child which they serve. They know, love and celebrate each individual for who they are and know every pupil inside out ;what makes them tick, what makes them wobble and how to get the very best from them on a daily basis. Through the building and sustaining of strong, trusting and encouraging relationships, our children feel safe to be themselves, take risks, embrace mistakes and learn with confidence.
SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP
We aim for all our girls to develop a deep understanding of sustainability issues and become responsible stewards of our planet. We want them to feel empowered to see the world with open eyes and have the confidence to make changes where they need to. We aim to be the leading green Senior School in the area and will achieve this through a pupil led approach with our Pupil Eco team working hand in hand with senior leadership.
Pupils will leave us with a sense of their role within the world and have ideas about how they can action change.
MINDSET
We seek to build mindsets as a core part of our learning approach so that our pupils are open-minded, resilient, able to learn from failure and build upon it in order to be successful. We incorporate the work of Dr Carol Dweck and Matthew Syed to develop our children’s ability to embed a growth mindset, strong enough to overcome barriers and seek continual improvement throughout their learning journey
DIGITAL LITERACY
We are preparing our children not just for the world as it is but as it will become, whilst supporting them to thrive in the present. We recognise that our children already embrace the digital world and seek to harness this in a positive, proactive, and measured way. Digital literacy should be a fundamental aspect of any 21st century education and we are at the forefront of this with our innovative approach.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
We work in partnership with 8billionideas. We believe it is our collective responsibility to unlock the entrepreneurial spirit which exists in every student and this is embedded into our curriculum and daily life at The Village School.
- Work Experience: Every year group in our Senior School has the opportunity to do work experience as part of the academic year. Starting in Year 7, we work with our girls to find placements in the local community for 2-4 afternoons throughout the course of the year. Later, our older girls have the opportunity for longer placements. We believe this work experience will help our girls begin to think about career choices after finishing education and subsequently give them experience in their chosen field.
As the Chatsworth Tapestry has now become embedded across the Chatsworth Schools family, from September 2024, Village Girls – both Prep and Senior will be able to chart and evidence their own Tapestry journeys and development through The Chatsworth Tapestry Awards.
