In September 2015, ICHK Secondary adopted the 5+1 Model.

This is a unique pastoral model, which lies at the heart of learning innovation at ICHK, and helps to create the conditions in which students can thrive.

The model offers a series of insights and guidelines based on the work of some key thinkers in education and beyond.

The five thinkers are Carol Dweck, Lev Vygotsky, Kieran Egan, Erik Erikson and Eric Berne. The headlines associated with the work of these thinkers, which the model encompasses are:

·       promoting growth mindsets,

·       accessing and extending endurance in the ‘learning zone’,

·       honouring phase-related psychosocial development,

·       appreciating cognitive dispositions and their significance for curriculum design,

·       and encouraging honest, purposeful communication across the community.

Taken together, these insights provide a solid foundation for positive, productive, mutually satisfying relationships between teachers and students, with high quality learning as its core component.

The 5+1 Model provides guidance on how to foster a growth mindset and how to support students into the “learning zone” through an imaginative, innovative curriculum, experienced in an environment of safety and trust.

The strength of the model, we believe, lies in the dynamic and iterative relationships between the individual parts. When combining variously together, as is the hallmark with any complex model or network, novel features emerge from the different components’ layered interplay that strengthen their overall impact and effect.

The +1 is the individual student – unique in his or her combination of temperament, life experience, interests and enthusiasms. It is in tailoring learning to this unique profile that our classes, led by experienced and passionate teachers, truly find their strength.