Innovation Days

Purpose

One day every half term is an innovation day for all students at Chobham.

Innovation days aim to enrich the academic subject based curriculum and equip students with knowledge, skills and outlooks which will be of value to them in meeting the opportunities and challenges they may encounter at school and beyond.  Activities are planned based upon the background and circumstances of our students and upon local, national and international developments relevant to their lives (eg climate change, political and religious tensions).  We believe that in order to inspire students to become the best citizens they can be, we need to develop their awareness  and knowledge alongside their socio – economic skills.  We recognise the importance of ‘character development’ in the education of our students.  By this we mean aspects such as communication skills, confidence building, resilience and being kind and helpful.  We subscribe to the view that young people with more highly developed emotional and social skills (such as empathy, emotional regulation and moral reasoning) are likely to more proactive and positively engaged in their school and local communities.

Content

Innovation days sit alongside tutorial time and assemblies as part of our wider PSHE and Citizenship programme.  The programme is under constant review in order to make it as relevant as possible to the needs and life experiences of our students.  Some of the key themes and content currently covered in our innovation day programme is:

• Guiding students into volunteering and other forms of supporting their local community
• Supporting friends, family and neighbours
• Valuing and understanding political action (eg keeping up with current events, appreciating and respecting different viewpoints, participating in political action in the right way).  How to protest and campaign in the right way
• Engaging in environmentally conscious behaviours
• Demonstrating socially responsible values
• Looking to the future; university applications and career planning

System

Innovation days are spread across the school year, one per half term. On the days, the whole academy takes part in innovation day activities. There is a detailed programme for each year group which appears below.

Students usually work in their year groups during the days.  Sometimes activities are led by academy staff however there is significant input from external agencies and speakers.  Trips (including to universities and places of worship) have always been an integral part of our innovation day provision.  With the return to more normal movement following the pandemic we anticipate seeing our trip programme quickly re-establish during the 2021–22 academic year.

The programme of innovation days for the current academic year appears below:

	SRE	Living in the wider world	Equality and diversity Inclusion.	Online safety and safeguarding.
7	Understanding physical health, body changes, healthy relationships. Spring 2	Faith Day - Humanities Students will get an insight into the faiths and religions outsides of their own, visits to places of worships and guest speakers Spring 1	Disabilities KWS - Students will learn about disabilities and different learning needs of other students, how their lives can be impacted and the everyday struggles they face. Autumn 2	Rights, risks, responsibilities and opportunities online. Relationships online. Summer 2
8	Mental health, body image, FGM and forced marriage Autumn 2	Barclays life skills The day will support our students to develop the skills they need to succeed in future careers. Summer 2	Who are we? Who are You? – PHA & YLT Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia Identity and relationships Gender identity, sexual orientation, consent, ‘sexting’ Spring 1	Appropriate online material, risks of sharing, reporting, cyber crimes. Spring 2
9	Healthy lifestyle, emotional health, sexual consent, and exploitation. Summer 2	Take your child to work day – JST We will be encouraging parents and carers to provide opportunities for their child to attend work with them for the day. This will provide students with a glimpse into the working world. Spring 2	Knife Crime / Gang culture  – BT Newham being a hotspot for gang culture, the day will educate students on keeping safe and the dangers associated with gangs Autumn 2	Evaluating what they see online, links to mental health, identifying misinformation and persuasion. Spring 1
10	Safe sex, STIs, alcohol and drug misuse. Spring 1	Sides not Slides – FEL The day will be used to focus on current issues in the wider world and help our students to understand a range of arguments associated with the topic. Spring 2	Inclusion Day – The day will focus on gender equality. It will help our students understand how women and men share equal rights and a balance of power, status, opportunities, and rewards Summer 2	Pornography, grooming, Autumn 2
11	Teamwork Autumn 1	Coping with stress Spring 2	Financial Education