Chapter 1.

1 Syllabus outline
Utopia High School project – an
introduction to English General Paper
skills
Topic outline
Main skills: Resources needed:
Reading for comprehension; Presentation 1.1: Utopia High School project
paraphrasing; supporting ideas
Worksheet 1.1: Utopia High School
with relevant evidence; analysing
information; making decisions; Copies of the Resource 1.1: Business Insider article ‘The
communicating through 14 most innovative schools in the world’
multimedia
Outcome:
Multimedia presentation

Assessment objectives Relationship to coursebook:

covered:
Chapter 2.2 Planning and organising responses
AO1: Select and apply
Chapter 1.3 Reading comprehension
information
Chapter 2.1 Summarising and explaining what you read
AO2: Demonstrate analysis and
evaluation Chapter 1.2 Core course knowledge (F Key elements of an
essay)
AO3: Communicate, construct
and develop a (spoken) Chapter 3.1 Argumentative writing (B Understanding
argument arguments)
Chapter 1.2 Core course knowledge (E Choosing your
approach to the essay task)
Chapter 3.1 Argumentative writing (F Drawing conclusions)
Chapter 3.2 Exploring issues through discursive writing
(E drawing conclusions following a discursive approach)

Overview
The Utopia High School project is designed to provide an overview of the key skills required for
the AS Level English General Paper 8021 course syllabus. In this project, students will use their
creativity to design the perfect school. The project is broken into four lessons to achieve this
purpose.
This project is a great way to begin the year because it:
• supports an active learning approach to instruction
• gives students immediate autonomy in the classroom

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• requires creativity and collaboration, which can make for a more comfortable learning
environment
• has all the key course skills built into the project, so teachers can refer back to these tasks
throughout the year as they scaffold learning
• concerns a topic students are familiar with and likely to have an opinion on
• introduces students to the concept of thinking about an issue with a global mindset.
First, students will think about their own knowledge and experiences in school before reading
about innovative schools around the world. After analysing the many features of these schools,
they will decide which ones are best for their school’s purpose. Finally, they will ‘pitch’ their
school concept to a panel of judges.
An overview of the tasks as they relate to these skills is illustrated here:

Display these five key skills in the classroom during the project and frequently link the various
activities to them, to help students better understand the course design and how skills are
sequenced.
For a more advanced approach, have students write journal entries after each lesson to explain
how the tasks relate to the course’s three assessment objectives.

Preparation
This project is meant to precede Chapter 1.1’s overview of the syllabus. Seeing the spectrum of
skills in practice first can help students understand course aims and expectations.
Read the article ‘The 14 most innovative schools in the world’ (Resource 1.1) to familiarise
yourself with each school’s story.

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LESSON 1
Enquire
1 Ask students to make some assumptions about why we go to school. List these assumptions
on the board. (Note: questions posed in steps 1–3 are listed on slide 2 of Presentation 1.1.)
Some assumptions students might generate are:
We go to school to:
• learn about academic subjects
• learn appropriate social behaviours and how to cultivate relationships
• find out about what we are interested in doing as a career
• get the basic skills we need to secure employment
• learn responsibility and other character-building qualities.
2 Now ask students about your own school’s purpose and how the school carries out that
purpose. How does the school approach the learning (both academic and social) process?
How does it measure and ensure success?
As you work through steps 1 and 2, share your school’s mission statement with your students.
3 Finally, ask students what (if anything) they would do to improve or change your school’s
approach to learning.
Acquaint
4 Share the article ‘The 14 most innovative schools in the world’ with your students. Ask the to
work in groups of three to write a mission statement for each school using approximately 40 of
their own words. (This task appears on slide 3 of Presentation 1.1.) Note: encourage students
to find their own unique way of describing the school’s mission or purpose as they understand it.
5 For homework, have pairs/groups write down any questions they may have about the schools
in the article, below each mission statement. For example, if the school is for students up to
grade 8 (age 13–14), students might wonder how well those students might get on in
traditional schools after leaving, or they might wonder where they go if not to a traditional high
school.
LESSON 2
1 Working in groups of three, students discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each school
featured in the article. Ask them to record these observations in the table in section A of their
worksheet (Worksheet 1.1).
2 Once the table is complete, ask them to highlight the features of the schools that excite them
the most. They should be somewhat selective at this stage. (In other words, they should avoid
highlighting every feature!)
Engage
3 Now that students have a vision for what an ‘ideal’ school looks like, it is time to present them
with their challenge. Tell students that they will be designing and presenting their idea for a
‘perfect’ school. Their purpose will be to convince the audience to attend their school. Their
audience will be a panel of teenage judges who will select a challenge winner at the end of
the task.
4 The focus question and instructions for this activity are as follows (see also presentation
slide 4):
If you could design your own school, what would it be like and why?
Combine the concepts of three ‘innovative’ schools to create your own learning environment
and justify your choice of features.

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5 Ask groups to think about the benefits they found most exciting and to begin creating a
framework for their school:
• Who will go to your school?
• Why will students go to your school?
• How will they learn at your school?
• What is the goal of learning for students at your school?
6 They should record their answers in section B of the worksheet. Students can consider how
these questions apply to the innovative schools from the article, to help them apply the
questions to the school they are designing themselves.
7 With this information, ask students to write a mission statement that represents the
purpose/goals of their school (‘why do we exist?’). They should also give their school a
provisional name (this may change later in the process and that is OK!).

LESSON 3
1 Groups now need to select features from no more than three schools from the list. They are
also free to create their own features if a school inspires such innovation! Ask them to think
carefully about their combination of features, as they should aim to set their school design
apart from other designs by other groups!
2 For each feature, ask groups to justify why it is relevant to the mission statement. Record
features and justifications in section C of the worksheet.
3 As students select and apply features to fit their mission statement, remind them to consider
the local environment surrounding the school. Just as the innovative schools on the list
demonstrate, the purpose of their school should meet its audience’s needs (i.e. the context)!
4 Now that they have their features, ask students to think about why someone might not like
these features. What are their limitations? Record this analysis in section D of the group’s
worksheet in the ‘Limitations or objections’ column.
5 Ask groups to think about why someone might not want to attend their school. What concerns
might they anticipate from the judging panel and how might they handle these? Students
should have a plan of action for dealing with concerns and responding to them to position
their school as the ‘best’ possible option. Record these analyses in the ‘Response’ column in
section D of each group’s worksheet.
6 If they have not done so already, ask students to revisit the name they gave to their school.
As they have made various decisions during the design process, the focus of their school may
have shifted or changed. Evaluate their design information to ensure the name matches the
intentions of the school.
7 Groups should begin preparing an engaging presentation to communicate their design with
the audience. Use the presentation checklist in section E of the worksheet to review with them
the expectations of the assessment.
Assess
8 For the judging panel, seek out between three and five former students from your class and
have teachers in other subjects volunteer or recommend students to judge the competition.
You could also ask parents to judge the competition, as they are also involved in the decision-
making process for where their children go to learn!
9 The judging panel should use the presentation checklist (section E of the worksheet – also on
presentation slide 5) to assess students and provide feedback. Set rules in advance to avoid
going over the time limit and discuss appropriateness of feedback, interference or distraction
from other groups, and so on.

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LESSON 4
Reflect and connect
1 Read Chapter 1.1 with students and officially introduce the course. As you work through the
chapter together, make connections between the skills students used in the Utopia High
School activity and the skills required in the course. This can help them understand abstract
terms like ‘analyse’ and ‘infer,’ for instance. This may also be a good time to preview the list of
command words which appear in the course syllabus or by simply referring to the section
entitled 'command words' in Chapter 1.2 D Understanding the task of the coursebook.
2 See Teacher tips for additional reflection suggestions.

Teacher tips
1 This project intends to give students a topic they are familiar with and have an opinion about.
It also gives them a chance to be creative while practising the skills of the course. Most
importantly, it exposes them to a contemporary issue and gives them a voice in the matter.
2 As an introductory activity, this is a great way to get to know the various learning styles of
your students. Following this activity, talk with your students about what engages them most
as learners and where you can try to incorporate their preferences as part of this course. Set
goals together for learning, and design a path accordingly. You may also want to take this
time to lay some ground rules. If, for example, students enjoy working in groups, you might
agree to incorporate more student-driven learning if they keep to certain standards, such as
on-task working, full group participation and so on. As these standards are set, ask students
how these standards can be measured to ensure learning takes place!
3 Another follow-up option for this activity is to ask students to write their own individual essays
which address the activity’s focus question. They are welcome to use the ideas from their
group or they may include their own personal touches that may not have been accepted in the
group situation. These essays could serve as a starting point for you to get to know the initial
writing capabilities and needs of your students.
4 Allow students ample time to complete their task and be sensitive to nervousness when
students are presenting in front of an audience for the first time. Since it is a challenge, they
will be excited about sharing their ideas and ‘winning’. Remind them to be sensitive to other
groups’ ideas and encourage a sportsmanlike approach. The competitive edge, however, can
be a nice point of reference throughout the year when learning how to deal with different
perspectives, for example.
5 Allow students different media for presenting. For instance, they may put together a
promotional video to feature their school, or a live PowerPoint ‘pitch’, as long as they meet the
aims of the task. This can be a great way to introduce the idea of criterion-referenced
assessments.

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