Future-focussed themes for our integrated units

The idea of choosing and identifying what an integrated thematic approach could look like lay with being able to find relevant and meaningful contexts - what we going to focus was really important and the decision had to be made asap so that departments and the school could plan towards it.

At the end of each year, the curriculum leaders and head of departments meet to review the year and essentially plan for the next year.  On Monday 14th November, we held our leaders meeting at the very appealing Remuera Golf club.

Our presentation for the middle leaders day

Our integrated projects was discussed and the context of Sustainability as one four aspects in the New Zealand curriculums of the future-focussed principles would be our context.  A reason for selecting this as the basis of our thematic approach as the New Zealand curriculum's acknowledgement that students should "look to the future by exploring such significant future-focused issues as sustainability, citizenship, enterprise, and globalisation" The New Zealand Curriculum

It was decided that departments would collaborate on ways to address the theme, whilst my  department would design the unit outline.  

Six of the heads of department would be freed up to meet regularly and discuss collaborating on the unit and use the time to assist in student projects.  The projects would revolve around 'problems' in our community around sustainability and students would select which problem they are most interested in.  This was an exciting opportunity to collaborate across curriculum areas, something we had not tried before at our school.