Backpack for Life

'If we do not change the way we teach, in 30 years we'll be in trouble. We teach our kids things from the past 200 years, it's knowledge-based, and we cannot teach our kids to compete with machines who'll be smarter.

We have to teach our kids something unique, so that a machine can never catch up with us: values, believing, independent thinking, teamwork, care for others - the soft skills - sports, music, painting, arts, to make sure humans are different from machines.'

Jack Ma, a former English teacher and founder of eCommerce giant Alibaba

Jack Ma's thought-provoking address at the World Economic Forum in 2018 has led to the unique development of what we've called Backpack for Life by The Croft. A forward-thinking curriculum to help children better prepare for the world they will inherit in the future.

Backpack for Life launched in September 2024 alongside the national curriculum (as standard) and is unique to The Croft. We hope that its success will pave the way for other educational institutions to follow.

It centres around self-discovery. We aim to help children find their hidden talent or what they enjoy doing most, and growing that to help stand them apart from others in the future.

It is also about understanding too. We believe that knowing yourself and getting to know others will help create individual or collective success.

The 'Backpack' consists of five areas or 'Pockets; each of which is dedicated to a soft skill for development. Children will be given a 'Passport' divided into each of these five sections and will be awarded a sticker upon demonstration of each of these skills throughout their educational journey.

The aim is to complete the 'Passport' to a full 'Backpack' by the time they leave The Croft.

The five 'Pockets':