The Holistic Curriculum: the entirety of the school’s education offer

When we talk about a school’s curriculum, the mind often jumps straight to subjects — the programmes of study, the knowledge maps, the progression models. But the true curriculum of a school extends far beyond the timetable. It is every experience, opportunity, and encounter a child has within the life of the school. It is, in essence, the school’s holistic education offer — the lived embodiment of its vision.

Vision First: The Anchor of Every Decision

A school’s vision is more than a slogan on a website or a line in a policy document. When genuinely defined, it becomes the heartbeat of the school — shaping decisions, inspiring practice, and aligning every element of provision.

To be meaningful (in both understanding and application), a vision must be:

• Clear and concise – simple enough to communicate, powerful enough to inspire.
• Truly defined – not just in words, but in shared understanding and action.
• Lived by all – every member of the community can see themselves within it and knows how their work contributes to its fulfilment.

When the vision is clear and etched into the workings of the school, every curriculum decision, from subject intent to enrichment, has a direction.

Staff can confidently ask, “How does this help us realise and actualise our vision for our children?” That question transforms planning from a compliance task into a shared moral purpose.

All encompassing

If we are to nurture both what I believe to be scholarship and personal development, our curriculum must reflect the full range of what it means to be educated at our school. A holistic curriculum deliberately develops the whole child, ensuring that the pursuit of academic excellence is complemented by growth in character, creativity, and wellbeing. It supports the intention for high standards across every aspect of school, including curricula on behaviour and personal development.

To achieve this, it helps to think of our curriculum in holistic strands – interconnected domains that together form the web of our educational offer.

For example (although there are many options that are better suited to the context and priorities of each school):

• Personal Development – character, relationships, values, responsibility
• Innovation & Creativity – problem-solving, curiosity, imagination, entrepreneurship
• Health & Wellbeing – physical and mental health, resilience, belonging
• Aspirations – ambition, self-belief, global citizenship, cultural capital
• Knowledge & Skills – substantive and disciplinary understanding within subjects, applied meaningfully beyond them

Within each of these strands (as an example) sit our subject curricula: each with its own integrity and depth, but all connected through the school’s wider vision and values. Science and art, for example, both nurture curiosity and creativity naturally, but thinking carefully about how subjects like Maths and History achieve this allow for more nuanced thinking. More examples like PE and PSHE both build resilience and teamwork; history and English both strengthen communication and understanding of humanity, and so on.

This interconnectedness is what transforms a collection of subjects into a coherent, holistic web — a curriculum that is more than the sum of its parts (a term from Aristotle that rings so true to me).

The Interdisciplinary Web: Weaving It All Together

When designed with intentional links across these strands, the curriculum becomes a powerful tool for interdisciplinary learning. Children begin to see connections: how knowledge in one domain informs understanding in another, how values are lived out through action, and how their learning equips them to shape the world around them.

This web-like structure doesn’t dilute subject rigour; rather, it strengthens it. When children understand the purpose of their learning and how it connects to the school’s vision and their own aspirations, motivation and depth of understanding grow.

Bringing It All Back to the Child

Ultimately, a truly holistic curriculum answers one question:

“What do we want this child to become… and how will every experience in school help them get there?”

In its fullest sense, it is the blueprint of the school’s badge.

When every strand of the curriculum, every policy, and every relationship is woven from the same vision, we move from delivering lessons to shaping lives. The curriculum becomes not just what we teach, but who we are.