Twist can help with the challenge of linking a school's specialism with curriculum subjects. At Central Foundation Girls' School (specialist subjects: performing arts and 'Voice' – communication, empowerment and democracy) Twist helped a leadership group embark on cross-curricular project, researching what empowers or disempowers young women today.

 

They visited a teenage mothers' group, met an ex-offender at Prison Reform Trust and went to a public school in leafy Hertfordshire. Later, the students facilitated a school debate to address the question "Do women today really have a voice?" The project linked with the English Department (which used the debate as an assessment for speaking and listening) as well as with the GCSE Media Unit.

 

What are the benefits?

 

The project was designed to integrate the school's specialist subject with topics in the curriculum, whilst building the girls' confidence and leadership skills. The project also helped the students examine issues that relate to their life experiences and aspirations. As they planned and facilitated a debate with all the students from their year, the girls felt more confident in their ability to communciate effectively and to organise and manage complex tasks and projects.

 

 

 

"The students found the project a rich and rewarding learning experience. I was very impressed with their engagement with the project, from start to finish. You could see them blossoming as they gained confidence. To watch a fairly shy girl be self-assured as she stands in front of a group and presents ideas coherently  – its' a great achievement. The project has really sparked their ambition, in school and beyond." Jo Archbold, Head of Department