Equipping students for life.
Beyond
At Norwich High, we believe a truly outstanding education extends far beyond examination results. Our bespoke Beyond enrichment programme runs from Year 3 right through to sixth form. It’s designed to deliberately and actively equip girls with the essential life skills, resilience and real-world experience they need to thrive in life after Norwich High.
The Beyond programme reflects our commitment to preparing our students not just to pass examinations, but to pass through life successfully.
What is Beyond?
Launched in 2024 and developed using extensive feedback from students, parents and staff, Beyond helps us bridge the gap between academic study and the contemporary skills necessary for a complex, ever-changing world.
Beyond is based on three main aims, helping students to: prepare for life beyond Norwich High, broaden their learning beyond the classroom and enrich experiences beyond the traditional curriculum.
The programme is built around core, underlying themes that ensure holistic development:
- Personal Development
- Careers Education
- Life Skills
- Mental Health & Wellbeing
- Collaboration & Leadership
- Outdoor Learning
Content is constantly evolving to meet the contemporary needs of our students – for example, incorporating popular requests like cookery, forest school, enterprise opportunities and financial education. Our focus is on the learning journey and experiences that will serve our students well and that they will remember for years to come.
The Beyond curriculum is carefully tailored to be relevant and appropriate for each stage of development, ensuring the topics and challenges directly meet students needs.
Prep School
In the Prep School, the ‘Beyond’ curriculum is designed to help our younger pupils navigate school life with confidence and set strong foundations for the future.
The focus is on developing independence and confidence through engaging, age-appropriate modules for pupils in Years 3-6. Topics include:
- A Strong Start: establishing key skills for life inside and outside of school, from managing homework and free time to social skills and leadership.
- Life Skills: gaining an understanding of money matters to develop financial awareness.
- Speak Out: developing critical thinking and communication skills, such as speech making and engaging with current affairs.
- Enterprise: exploring entrepreneurial skills and creating a group initiative to raise money for charity.
- Careers: beginning to explore the world of work in a fun and accessible way.
- Looking Forward: ensuring readiness for the next stage of their journey through the school.
Senior School
In the senior school, Beyond scales up to tackle a wider range of practical, creative and future-focused skills. Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have one timetabled Beyond lesson a week and Year 10 students have a fortnightly lesson.
Recent topics have included: food nutrition, cost and preparation; Forest School and outdoor skills including allotment cultivation and sustainability; career skills and future pathways; business and enterprise; debating; first aid; artificial intelligence; confidence and communication.
Sixth Form
The sixth form Beyond programme is designed to equip students to flourish in university life, employment and beyond, focusing on the advanced skills highly valued by employers and higher education.
It is a crucial opportunity to venture outside comfort zones and build resilience and flexibility – qualities essential for adapting to personal and professional changes.
Through activities such as directing a play, learning BSL, community service and mock crime scene investigations, Beyond empowers students to develop skills that will serve them in every aspect of their lives.
“It’s so exciting to see students engaging enthusiastically with our Beyond programme and gaining invaluable and enriching life experiences. Beyond highlights our commitment to providing an education that goes further than the classroom and truly prepares girls for their future lives. This programme was built based on what our students told us they needed and is an ever evolving curriculum that ensures every girl, from Year 3 to sixth form, is gaining practical, age appropriate, real-world experiences.”
