Super Curricular Enrichment

Adjustments to the current Curriculum

The existing curriculum at David Game College is divided into four elements:

1. Core (academic curriculum)
2. Support curriculum (extracurricular activities)
3. Area-based (community curriculum)
4. Super curricular enrichment (beyond the academic curriculum)

Super curricular enrichment (SCE) will have an impact and significance for all students, but especially those applying to highly competitive universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, UCL, St Andrews, Imperial, Kings and the other Russell Group Universities, as well as the Ivy League in the United States.  

In parallel, and complementing the College’s SCE, further assistance will be given to Oxbridge candidates from our Head of UCAS, especially in terms of preparation for specific admissions tests and interview preparation via the David Game College Oxbridge Preparation Programme.

What does super curricular enrichment mean?

The prefix “super” in this context means “over” and refers to study that goes beyond and over students’ current core curriculum learning, looking at topics and issues in more depth than the subject specifications. Super curricular activities are not mandatory and are there to enhance a student’s chance of being considered as a competitive candidate for universities, apprenticeships and jobs.  For example, if a student applies for Economics at LSE they are entering into a highly competitive field, so they must demonstrate how they stand out from an average candidate. 

The super curricular enrichment activities will help in the following ways:

1. They will direct students to key books and articles
2. Identify relevant blogs and podcasts
3. Identify relevant and useful websites and organisations
4. Identify programmes from TV and radio (e.g. BBC iPlayer)
5. Introduce Google Scholar to students
6. Identify White Papers and relevant research
7. Highlight some key issues relating to the subject (e.g. cryptocurrencies and FinTech)
8. Identify good YouTube (including TED talks) and other online resources
9. Introduce online learning courses, including  MOOCs
10. Ensure that a student reads national newspapers and periodicals (e.g. FT, The Guardian, The Economist, etc.)

How does super curricular enrichment differ from extracurricular activities?

While extracurricular activities generally enhance a student’s scholastic experience, they are usually not directly linked to the subjects the student is studying. Extracurricular activities could include, for example, debating, the Student Council, chess club, yoga or any form of sporting activity.

Super curricular activities are typically directly linked to the subjects that a student is studying or want to study at degree level or in terms of any career choice.  The activities have an academic focus and stimulate the student’s intellectual curiosity. In this regard, students must take a broader view of a subject area and see how it can be applied and its value in terms of any, intellectual, social, economic or environmental impact/legacy.

Benefits of SCE

The rationale and purpose behind SCE is to enrich students’ knowledge and help them generate a deeper understanding and insights from within their chosen area of study.  In summary, the benefits include:

1. Helps students prepare for interviews and pre-university assessments
2. Provides scope and depth for studies for a student’s chosen field
3. Helps enhance and enrich a student’s personal statement for university admissions
4. Helps students demonstrate enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity for their subject
5. Helps a student to develop as an autonomous and independent learner
6. Enhances a student’s ability in terms of reflection and active thinking
7. Enables students to stand out and demonstrate their passion for a subject
8. Enables students to become more rounded and confident when discussing a subject
9. Promotes continuous learning and helps students develop a pluralism of views
10. Enables students to have discussions with their peers and teachers

Structure and delivery of super curricular enrichment at David Game College

Structure

Each subject will have its own resource bank that all students can access. A typical resource will contain the following:

1. A range of books, articles and online resources
2. Blogs, podcast
3. MOOCs
4. TED talks and YouTube resources
5. TV and radio resources
6. Periodical publication resources – including academic papers and reviews
7. NGO publications
8. Resources from academic and social institutions
9. PDF resources and seminal papers
10. White Papers

The above information should be (where relevant) up-to-date i.e., within the last 5 years, especially for sciences and psychology, and cited from a credible and reliable source of information. Content aggregators can also be used.

The super curricular enrichment programme will be developed and monitored by the College’s Academic Board, which will further support SCE activities through the following:

1. Ensuring that students understand how to source unbiased information and filter out false or misinformation/disinformation
2. Helping students understand how to conduct primary and secondary research and how to effectively search the web for credible and verifiable information

When preparing a resource banks for each subject, teachers and those involved, must ensure that links and resources come from trusted and credible sources e.g. BBC, FT, The Economist, recognised institutions and avoid information from sources that have an agenda or specific social/religious/political leanings.

Super curriculum enrichment domains:

1. Medicine and Related: Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, Pharmacy, Biomedical)
2. Natural Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy and Earth Sciences
3. Life Sciences: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Genetics, Genomics, Virology, Health Science
4. Computing, Mathematics and Engineering: Mathematics, Computing, Engineering (Civil, electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Aerospace, Robotics, AI and Data Science)
5. Social Sciences: Geography, Climate Change, Psychology, Sociology,
6. The Arts: Art, Architecture, Music, Film and Photography
7. Economics, Business and Management: Economics, Business, FinTech, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, Management ideas, Entrepreneurship  
8. Humanities: Literature, History, Politics, Law, Philosophy, anthropology

The content of the above domains will be prepared by staff at the College and continually renewed and up-dated. The content indicated above is not an exhaustive list, but represents the main areas of information and knowledge that are available in a generic sense. 

Delivery

Each student would have access to a bank of resources via a password from any domain of knowledge that they are interested in. Students could decide what information they considered of most interest. Teachers and PTs could also help in the explanation and interpretation of the materials, as well as the appointed Head of Super Curricular Enrichment.