Stretch & Challenge
At Waltham Toll Bar Academy we actively support and encourage learning through continuous high expectations of all our students. This expectation is an integral part of our Academy's inclusion of educational opportunity for all and reinforces our commitment to providing an environment in which every student is enabled to think deeply and engage with challenging concepts.
The Academy and staff provide a stimulating and enriching curriculum to enable our students to develop. Curriculum and Pastoral Leaders, supported by the Stretch and Challenge Coordinator, provide enrichment opportunities to challenge and stretch their cohort further. Students are encouraged to be active participants in lessons, take responsibility for their learning and grasp the initiative where possible. The emphasis is on increasing the depth before breadth of the curriculum, rather than providing an accelerated curriculum.
A number of extra-curricular activities run, which allow for enrichment and extension. Involvement in sports teams, music and opportunities for performance are organised. House competitions, reading clubs, field trips and various external visits are arranged and well attended. Enrichment activities provide opportunities for students to work with those of different ages but with similar interests. Staff are encouraged to set up clubs and extra activities according to their own interests – for example, Chess Club and the Trading Card Strategy Club.
The 'Stretch and Challenge' pages are intended to help your son or daughter develop independence and take some responsibility for their own learning at Waltham Toll Bar Academy. In lessons there will be occasions when your son or daughter may like to increase the difficulty of the work, try an additional task or link their learning across subjects. It may be that their learning at home or in extra-curricular studies could enable them to take their classroom learning to the next level.
Linked to each Curriculum Area icon, there are a range of activities that students and families can engage with at home and in the wider community to extend learning.
