Is secondary education failing to teach what really matters?

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Is secondary education failing to teach what really matters?

🌱 Pillar 3: Closing the gap in sustainability, AI ethics, and real-world learning

Kimberley Olliff Cooper

May 11, 2025

Transcript

What should a relevant curriculum look like today?
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This week, we held our first ThriveNow live event in Kingston—a gathering of prospective parents and community partners curious about the new secondary school we’re building together. We were deeply moved by the turnout. People gave up their evening to connect, reflect, and explore what a truly transformative education could look like for their children.

We began with a short introduction to the ThriveNow vision—why we care, why now, and what makes this different (you can catch up on those themes in past posts we've linked here). But the real power of the evening came from the questions—especially the bold, honest ones that parents might usually hesitate to ask. We invited them all. Because if we’re going to build this school with our community, then every voice matters.

One recurring question stood out:

“What curriculum will you use—and how is it any different from what’s already out there?”

It’s a great question. And one that sits at the heart of our third pillar: a transdisciplinary, relevant curriculum.

In the UK, secondary schools typically follow one of two main pathways, largely because both culminate in qualifications that pave the way for entry to college and universities:

The National Curriculum, which culminates in GCSE exams.
The International Baccalaureate (IB), which ends in globally recognised IB qualifications.

While the IB is often praised for its holistic and inquiry-led approach—emphasising critical thinking, interdisciplinary projects, and global citizenship—it is expensive to run and requires extensive teacher training. It’s also still very dense and content-heavy, which can limit adaptability.

By contrast, the National Curriculum is well-known, widely understood by teachers, and freely available. Its main issues lie not in the content itself, but in how it’s often delivered: siloed, exam-focused, and disconnected from real life.

We’re choosing to use the National Curriculum as a foundation, but we’re reimagining how it’s delivered. We’ll support students to work toward 5–6 carefully chosen GCSEs in English, Maths, Sciences, and Design & Technology. But alongside this, we’ll build a broader learning portfolio (inspired by Rethinking Assessment group), including hands-on qualifications, inquiry-led learning, and enrichment that reflects students’ interests, values, and ambitions.

We’re taking the best of both systems; the ‘content’ and ease of accessibility of the National Curriculum and the inquiry-led spirit of the IB and designing something fresh, grounded, and meaningful.

Our rebooted model

Core knowledge
GCSE subjects taught through passion-led real-world projects, storytelling, and inquiry, so learning feels relevant and useful, not abstract.
Essential skills
Communication, digital literacy, problem-solving, critical thinking, developed through transdisciplinary, hands-on projects.
Values in action
Sustainability, ethics, leadership, community care, brought to life through lived experience: think local design challenges, climate initiatives, and social entrepreneurship.

At the core of the offering we are also including elements typically overlooked in conventional curricula: like wellbeing, executive functioning, financial literacy, and even self-sufficiency (gardening, cooking, maintenance). These are the life skills every young person deserves.

This is all designed to help young people not just survive school, but thrive in the world.

At ThriveNow, we believe the richest curriculum is real life.

No matter which formal curriculum is followed, GCSEs, IB, or anything else, what matters most is how learning is experienced. Curriculum is simply a way to organise knowledge. But children aren’t empty vessels to be filled, they are already whole, already enough.

That’s why at ThriveNow, pedagogy comes before curriculum. Relationships, connection, and community are the foundation. We value how children learn just as much as what they learn. Because real growth comes not from memorising facts, but from meaningful experiences that nurture the head, heart, and hands.

What’s next?

In our next Substack post, we’ll show you what this looks like in action, with real examples from programmes and schools that have inspired us. You’ll also hear more about our partnership with The Great Imagining, who are already bringing creative, sustainability-focused learning experiences to over 70 schools across the UK.

Our Kingston secondary school will be a living, breathing proof-of-concept, but our vision is much bigger. Through the ThriveNow Hub, we’ll open-source everything we build, so parents, educators, and communities everywhere can take these ideas, adapt them, and make them their own.