Hello, Jannath.

I would make the focus developing engaged and empowered inquirers over Years 7-9.

This would allow you to use the Portrait of an Engaged and Empowered Inquirer at Year 6 (see below) as a starting point for Year 7.

You would then be able to use the Portrait of an Engaged and Empowered Inquirer at Year 9 (see below) and the Portrait Attributes Developed Through Inquiry in Years 7-9 (see below) to frame their development over this time according to your specific circumstances, and bearing in mind that the skills listed in the Portrait Attributes Developed Through Inquiry in Years 7-9 – which link to Empire State Information Fluency Continuum graphic organisers – are indicative, and not prescriptive.

In terms of the inquiry process, the FOSIL Inquiry Cycle Skills Sets (see below) could be helpful in identifying a more specific focus for each year, as could the FOSIL Priority Skills in Transition Years (see below).

For example, our Year 9 Interdisciplinary Signature Work Inquiry at Blanchelande College has developed as its specific focus reading and reasoning within each stage of the inquiry process, which requires use of and reference to reliable sources, with a view to an oral presentation and Q&A for their GCSE English Language NEA. This is different to the Year 9 Individual Project that we developed at Oakham School, which had as its specific focus formally presented persuasive/ argumentative writing based on evidence uncovered in reliable sources in response to a personal inquiry question formulated by each student.

The Signature Work inquiry, or equivalent, in Year 9 serves, then, as a culminating project.

Portrait Attributes Developed Through Inquiry in Years 7-9 (PDF download).

FOSIL Inquiry Cycle Skill Sets | Download as PDF or PNG

FOSIL Priority Skills in Transition Years (PDF download)