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School 21

School 21 is a pioneering 4 to 18 school in Stratford, East London, for children from all backgrounds, focused on teaching 21st-century skills to prepare their students for today's world. They believe that to prepare young people to succeed in school, work and life - education needs to be done differently.

School 21 aims to rebalance head (academic success), heart (character and well-being) and hand (generating ideas, problem solving, making a difference). They have developed a series of pedagogies and approaches that give students the chance to find their voice, develop deep knowledge and understanding, and create beautiful work that has real value beyond the classroom. They achieve this through interweaving three pedagogies into their curriculum: wellbeing, oracy, and project-based learning.

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Project Based Learning

PBL is a series of techniques that produce deep and authentic learning. At its heart pupils immerse themselves in rich subject content or a real world problem and through the application of knowledge and the development of skills and attributes they craft work of real value.
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Real World Learning

Every student, starting in Year 10, is required to successfully complete a Real World Learning Project. Real World Learning Projects (RWLP) are School 21’s take on work experience and provide both student and their host workplace with something that is more meaningful and authentic than traditional work experience. Students spend half a day a week in the workplace, for a term and a half, and are tasked with solving an authentic problem for a real organisation. 

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Oracy

Oracy is the ability to communicate effectively. At School 21 oracy is a moral cause. Employers put good oral communication at the top of their requirements for employees, yet we rarely teach it systematically in schools. School 21 has worked with Cambridge University to develop a comprehensive oracy framework that includes four dimensions: physical, cognitive, linguistic, and social & emotional.
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Wellbeing

A child whose wellbeing is high has the social and emotional tools to combat the modern world with all its challenges, ambiguities and complexities. They have a ‘growth mindset’, are resilient in the face of setbacks and have found their own voice to communicate who they are and what they stand for. School 21 has devised an innovative and impactful pedagogy and curriculum to develop these attributes.