RISS Rose Programme

We believe in creating opportunities where we can nurture well-rounded individuals who are not only academically capable but also equipped with essential life skills. Our RISSRose programme, inspired by the Rose Report, is an innovative teaching programme, designed to give students the opportunity to explore and grow beyond the traditional classroom setting, fostering a love for learning through experiential opportunities.

We offer a dynamic learning environment where students can engage in hands-on experiences, developing critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. By integrating real-world challenges and interactive learning methods where students can transfer skills, we encourage students to take ownership of their learning journey.

Aligned with our mission - for every student to enjoy their youth - we encourage students to explore, experiment, and grow in ways that spark their curiosity and excitement. Learning should be an adventure, and our aim is to equip our students with the tools to not only succeed in school, but to thrive in life. Through this approach, we hope to cultivate confident, curious, and compassionate individuals ready for an exciting future.

Inspire learning and develop the essential transferable knowledge, skills and understanding which are the building blocks for later life.- Jim Rose

The symbol we will use is a rose, both to acknowledge the inspiration of Sir Jim Rose CBE, whose original report has informed this project, but also to represent the brightness, beauty and strength that all children show when they are given the care and support to ‘blossom’ fully. Embarking on this unique programme is possible thanks to the strong collaboration, creativity and resourcefulness of our staff.

Teaching and Learning

Our instructional approach is inquiry-driven, rooted in the development of conceptual understanding, and experiential in nature. The programme is taught by both in-house teachers and carefully selected specialists. The programme is integrated into the students’ normal school schedule.

Assessment

Assessment will take multiple forms, including teacher evaluations, criterion-based assessments, project-based evaluations, or self-assessments that will formally track progress and achievement.

Students end the RISSRose programme at the end of the school year with a performance exhibition, where they showcase their year’s learning. This exhibition is designed to highlight the diverse skills acquired through RISSRose courses, such as public speaking, dance performances, food science and chemistry, project exhibition etc.

Interdisciplinary Curriculum Cycles in Focus

The RISSRose program has been carefully designed and developed by our experienced and passionate educators and specialists. Their expertise ensures a curriculum that is both responsive to students' needs and meaningful for their learning and well-being. Details of the courses are outlined below.

Mr Murphy's Kitchen

Mr Murphy's Kitchen - Food Science and Chemistry

Interdisciplinary lenses

How much cookery is Chemistry and how much is chemistry? You’ll be amazed at the overlaps between these two important disciplines - something known as ‘molecular gastronomy' - and how many great chefs are extraordinary scientists in the kitchen.

At last, science experiments you can eat!

Objective

To learn about sustainable food production, the links between nutrition, health and well-being and the many scientific principles involved in producing great tasting food. As well as the chemistry involved when it goes wrong.

Key Skills

Planning, metacognition, numeracy, oracy, photography/videography skills, self-management, research, transfer (thinking/analysis) and collaboration.

Speak Up, Speak Out, Speak Well

Speak Up, Speak Out, Speak Well! - Oracy

Interdisciplinary lenses

Citizenship, English (oral production), Ethics, Humanities, Science, Maths, EAL.

Objective

It has been said that, ”You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.”

In this strand, students will learn and practice how to speak up for themselves, speak out for others and speak well - one of the most important skills anyone can develop (and one so many adults fear more than anything).

Through greater oracy skills, children develop confidence, better thinking skills, improved listening skills and a greater awareness of the important things in life that need someone to speak up for them.

They also learn another vital skill - when to stop speaking and listen.

Key Skills

Oracy (learning to talk and learning through talk), communication, collaboration, research, critical thinking.

Dance to Express, Not to Impress

Interdisciplinary lenses

Dancing is deeply rooted in history and culture. In this strand we will incorporate various interdisciplinary lenses: Language Arts, Music, Mathematics, Visual Art, ICT, and Physical Education.

Objective

Dancing - the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually done to express emotion, for physical activity or just for the pure enjoyment of the movement. We are born with this unexplained urge to move

when music is playing. In this strand we want to explore the world of dance with specific reference to dance composition.

We will be focussing on key concepts such as spacial expressiveness, body awareness, personal creativity, health and well-being and role of digital literacy in the age of dancing.

Key Skills

Creativity, communication, choreography, performance, rhythmic expression, posture, balance, alignment, coordination, elevation, strength, stamina, flexibility, mobility, memorisation and collaboration.

Be Well, Be Healthy, Be You!

Be Well, Be Healthy, Be You! - Puberty, Sex and Relationships

Interdisciplinary Lenses

According to Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, people require food, water and air to survive. However, we all know this is a dramatic simplification. In this course we will be using science, psychology, ethics, humanities and physical education to look at how as people we can do more than just survive but thrive and flourish on this journey we call life.

Objective

To equip students with the strategies to:

Understand and manage the changes they go through during puberty
Make healthy decisions around sex and relationships
Foster and develop positive relationships

Key Skills

Critical thinking, self reflection, communication, relationship building, future planning

Explore, Discover, Create!

Explore, Discover, Create

Interdisciplinary lenses

Visual Arts, Design, Technical Skills, Technology, English, Science, Mathematics.

Objective

Every man-made object around you is designed and created with a purpose. You can buy everything in the store, but you can also make it yourself. Learn how it’s made. What technical skills do you need for that? What instruments do you need if you make it yourself? How can you customise an everyday object? Learn the basics on how to work with wood, textiles and electricity.

Key Skills

Research, critical investigation, basic technical skills, creative thinking, self-management (reflection), planning, problem solving, designing, creating, planning.

Be Wild, Be Nature!

Interdisciplinary lenses

The world around you is full of information that your brain constantly has to analyse. In this course we will explore the skills of our body through short excursions, hear-training (copying the environment), movement education and also meditation!

Objective

Music, Art, Sports, inventions. Everything starts from the great human skills to observe the other species and the rules of the natural world. Our purpose is to improve physical skills and mental strength, in order to create your own skills-set to be the best version of yourself.

Key Skills

Adaptation, Elasticity, Strength, Body control, Awareness, Lateral thinking, Stress control, Resilience.

Single Subject Strand

English Language Arts

Deepening our understanding of language and literature through English

Interdisciplinary lenses

Communication, connections, perspective, communities, relationships, identity.

Objective

Develop reading, writing, speaking, listening skills
Exploring a variety of forms and genres
Broaden intercultural understanding
Expand knowledge of the world

Key Skills

Reading for pleasure and with a specific purpose in mind
Creative expression, becoming aware of authorial choices
Writing and speaking in different registers
Using a variety of sources, both primary and secondary

Examples of Units in Grade 6 at RISS:

Growing a Community: Fiction and Non-Fiction
What we read: Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman and various non-fiction articles on Newsela.com
A skill we practise: Presenting a non-fiction source to you classmates
Drama Kings and Queens
What we read: Excerpts from various plays, including Shakespeare and Ancient Greek theatre
A skill we practice: Writing a monologue or soliloquy

Mathematics

Deepening our understanding of Mathematics

Interdisciplinary lenses

Identities, relationships, time, place and space, form, logic, connections.

Objective

Mathematics is so much more than just numbers and calculations. It is about discovering how it is intertwined in our daily lives, exploring the wonderful world of quantitative reasoning. Our inquiry based approach unlocks the world for exploration in topics such as algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics to list a few.

We aim to foster a love for the subject and throughout the school year we have several opportunities for students to showcase their passion and skills for Mathematics e.g. Pi Day and the annual Kangaroo Challenge to name only two.

Key Skills

Operations and applications of integers, exponents, common fractions, decimal fractions, ratios and proportions, and interchanging between different forms.
Identifying and simplifying basic algebraic expressions and equations.
Identifying numeric and geometric patterns.
Analyse and compare basic functions and relationships.
Apply basic knowledge of geometry to space and shape and the real life applications thereof.
Investigate different forms of measurement and identify approaches to solve applications problems.
Collect, record, organise, represent and summarise statistical data, and report on findings.

Languages and EAL

Deepening our understanding of Communication and Languages

Interdisciplinary lenses

Communication, English, Modern languages, Humanities.

Objective

Join the wonderful world of Languages! If you want to learn a new language in a fun, lively, authentic and safe environment, then the RISS EAL and Language Department is the place to be. We don’t mind if you make a mistake, that is the best way to learn a new language. Plus, throughout the year, we have fun activities so that you can showcase your Heritage Language and also showcase how well you have learned a new language. We embrace all cultures and languages while fostering relationships between students and teachers. We are happy to offer you the chance to learn English as a language, Dutch, French, Spanish, German, and Chinese.

International Language Day is celebrated in March throughout the school, where both Mother Tongue languages are revered and languages new to students are practiced, i.e. Chinese, French, German, Spanish and English as an additional language. This gives students the opportunity to showcase what they have learned so far with their peers.

We are happy to offer you the chance to learn English at different levels, Dutch, French, Spanish, German and Chinese.

Key Skills

Reading
Speaking
Listening
Writing

Science and Technology

Deepening our understanding of Science and Technology

Interdisciplinary lenses

Culture, systems, evidence, patterns, models, movement, interaction, functions.

Objective

Being able to formulate questions and investigate using the scientific method in order to find answers.
Using models (e.g. of the Solar system) to get a better understanding of the function and interactions of different parts of a system.
Understanding how all things are made up of small parts that - in living organisms - work together to perform a diverse range of complicated tasks.

Key Skills

Formulating research questions
Designing experiments that are fair and reliable
Taking precise measurements
Processing data
Communicating results in a written and oral form

Examples of units taught in grade 6:

Nature of Science: What are scientists and how do we do science?
Building Blocks of Life: How do we know something is alive? What makes up the building blocks of life? How do different systems work together?
The Earth and Beyond: What do we know about the Earth in the solar system? How do we know these things? How is our solar system part of a larger structure in the Universe? What is beyond that?
What's the Matter?: What is the difference between solid, liquid and gas? Can we make a model to predict what happens to our material e.g. when it is heated? Let's test our predictions in the lab!

Humanities

Deepening our understanding of Humanities

Interdisciplinary lenses

Power, place, change, time, community, society, values.

Objective

Understanding the differences and similarities between human societies over the chronological course of human history.
Applying different concepts to a variety of human contexts.
Understanding how classic humanities subjects (at RISS) such as geography, economics, business, ICT, psychology, and history interconnect with the human experience.

Key Skills

Critical analysis of primary and secondary sources
Reasoning (Drawing conclusions, debating, etc.)
Presentations
Research Skills
Map skills
Essays
Oracy
Video development

Sports and Extra Curricular Activities

Deepening our understanding and practice of Sports and Extracurricular Activities

Interdisciplinary lenses

Nutrition & Wellbeing, Aesthetics, Communication, Relationship, Ethics.

Objective

Students engage in a programme designed to promote personal development, health and physical activity.
There is a further focus on the promotion of lifelong engagement in physical activity, finding meaning through engaging in both mentally and physically challenging situations, individually or as part of a team.

Key Skills

Effective Communication (verbal/non-verbal)
Responsibility
Respect
Team Work
Spacial Awareness
Adaptability

The Arts

Deepening our understanding of The Arts

Interdisciplinary lenses

Aesthetics, Change, Communication, Identity.

Objective

"The true purpose of arts education is not necessarily to create more professional [artists]. It is to create more complete human beings who are critical thinkers, who have curious minds, who can lead productive lives.” (Kelly Pollock 2013)

Students develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding along with creative and critical thinking, as they explore and respond to art forms from their own and other cultures and contexts.
They develop the skills and techniques required to create, perform and present original artworks. They also develop awareness of the artistic process as reflective individual and collaborative theatre practitioners, musicians and visual artists.
Through the arts, students explore what it means to be human, and in doing so, shape their character as citizens in a changing world.

Key Skills

Drama: performing, directing, devising, researching, interpreting, devising, rehearsing, analysing, evaluating, reflecting
Art: drawing, painting, sculpting, crafting, designing, analysing, evaluating, reflecting
Music: composing, performing, listening, analysing, evaluating, reflecting