The Super curriculum

What is theSuper-Curriculum?

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.” – Leonardo da Vinci

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Strong applicants to competitive universities tend to have explored their chosen subject through wider reading outside the classroom. This sort of exploration is called ‘Super-Curricular’, as it builds on and enhances what students’ study in Sixth Form. More importantly, by regularly exploring Super-Curriculum resources, we hope that students will think critically about wide-ranging aspects of their disciplines; strengthen their academic understanding; and, hopefully, ignite passion and interest in their subjects.  

Reading is a great way to explore the topics, but, as our Super-Curriculum subject pages will demonstrate, we would also encourage our students to undertake visits, enter competitions, listen to podcasts and watch relevant programmes or lectures. As our Super-Curriculum evolves, we hope that students will suggest resources that they have found as they have been exploring an area of interest.    

How will students benefit from the Super-Curriculum?

• It’s a student-led academic activity which builds independent learning habits.
• It contributes to subject specific learning.  
• It will support attainment and aspiration as students achieve ‘mastery’ of topics.
• It will help to uncover synoptic links within a subject.
• It will stimulate questions and discussions as well as providing much-needed answers.
• It will support UCAS applications and interviews.
• It will foster ambition and build confidence in learning.

The weekly registration reading session every Thursday will be set aside for Super-Curriculum reading. It is hoped that this will quickly encourage the new Year 12 students to embrace good working habits as well as embedding academic learning practices for our Year 13 students. We also aim to have departmental ‘spotlight’ challenges throughout the year to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for our students to get involved in the Super-Curriculum.  

If you have any questions about the Super-Curriculum or have any suggestions, please contact kate.leopold@thirskschool.org  

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