SHAPE offers students’ opportunities to develop key learning attributes which will enable them to discover and realise their own personal best and be successful throughout their future lives. SHAPE lessons rely on a variety of teaching and learning approaches, including the use of metacognitive strategies and co-constructive learning techniques.  Students are encouraged to view their learning as a process whereby tasks provide as much information about a new topic as they do about how students learn best.  

SHAPE guides students through the learning process covering a range of curriculum subjects in lessons including elements taken from Geography, History, Music, Art and Religious Studies as well as other key aspects of school life such as personal, social, health and financial education and citizenship.  Individual, group and whole class tasks provide students with opportunities to get creative in the face of challenge.  Central to SHAPE is that students recognise the opinions and feelings of others, acting with kindness, consideration and empathy at all times.  Students are encouraged to make their own decisions and take responsibility for their own actions and learning.  Learning often comes from a need to alter plans, adapt initial ideas and build on mistakes.  The language of SHAPE is important so that students feel secure in making mistakes. 

Our aim is to shape students into life-long learners who excel in areas outside of traditional academic study.  Qualities of learning are emphasised through skills orientated tasks, these attributes include: time management, organisation, autonomy, independence, leadership, perseverance, risk taking and problem solving.  Students are assessed in a number of ways: self, peer and teacher assessment after which they are encouraged to set specific skills related targets for the next task to continue their learning journey.

By developing a student’s appreciation of the learning process and the skills they and those around them have, students are enabled to approach other areas of the curriculum with confidence.  The skills and attributes students develop in SHAPE lessons provide a solid foundation for them to build on throughout their time at Denmark Road and beyond into further education and the world of work.