When I was at school, it was a rare thing to be asked what I thought about my education…the range of subject choices was limited, and the extent of my careers advice was that I would make a good policewoman. But all that’s changed. Today, ‘student voice’ has become hugely important – recognised as one of the nine ‘gateways’ to the Holy Grail that is personalised learning….

As the new secondary curriculum becomes statutory for year 7 pupils in September, Twofour has been given the opportunity to create a ground breaking set of films which will explore the reactions, feelings and aspirations of learners embarking on their secondary school career - at a time in which important changes are being made both to what children learn, and the way in which they learn.

The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s (SSAT) curriculum dept have created this project initially to develop an understanding about the way in which learners make the transition from primary to secondary, but with a view to continuing to map their progress annually throughout their school life, reminiscent of an education focused ‘7 up’ or ‘Child of our times’ series. It’s a really exciting prospect – and as the producer / director, I’m really looking forward to seeing the project unfold.

The ‘Big Picture’ of the new curriculum takes into consideration fresh understandings about the nature of learning, changes to the nature of work, the impact of technology, and an increased global dimension to life. Curriculum innovation embraces the futures agenda - ECM, personal development, social cohesion and enterprise. I am optimistic that our initial film will kick off what is to become an insightful and somewhat inspiring evaluation of curriculum design and the way in which learning is managed.

Having made an initial visit to ten schools across the country, I am looking forward to meeting our prospective contributors in late September, and I am keen to ensure that the chosen 20 will represent the range of young people living in England today.

After workshops with the families, we will be ready to film in November. The content of the film will be guided very much by the 20 children we follow – their favourite subjects, their own comparisons between primary and secondary school, and their current thinking about the choices they will make as they get older. Our brief is to create a 20 minute film featuring all of the children, which will appear on SSAT’s website, and will also be shown at lead practitioner events and educational conferences across England. A series of short profile films will also be created which will look at 12 – 15 individual experiences in more depth. These will also appear on the SSAT site, but I am hoping that - riding on the success of the project - we will eventually build a microsite for these mini profiles where progress can be easily and accessibly traced through the years.

So far schools have been extremely keen to get involved, and the project itself has been received with huge enthusiasm, watch this space for further updates!