How an Oxfordshire school created its own enriching baccalaureate

‘This is about social justice,’ says Wood Green’s headteacher, Rob Shadbolt. It all started at a meeting where local employers disagreed with the priorities of their then MP, David Cameron. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

At Wood Green school in Witney, Oxfordshire, a group of year 7 pupils are trying to convince classmates that scientists have taught spinach to send emails. Next door another class is being challenged to speak for 40 seconds, along the lines of Radio 4’s Just a Minute, on the subject “what is under the bed?”

Their peers might be doing a public speaking class, a session focusing on their own health and wellbeing, or taking part in community service or a Duke of Edinburgh award, which all pupils are expected to complete.