What do we mean by ‘curriculum’?

The curriculum includes all subjects, courses, enrichment, and other activities planned by the school. These may be delivered in conjunction with partners.

(Ofsted New Inspection Framework)

“It is easier to change the location of a cemetery than to change the school curriculum” Thomas Woodrow Wilson

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To look at some of the key changes in the new draft curriculum.

Examine what schools need to do next.

Outline the content of the seminars on Curriculum Design and planning.

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Every state-funded school must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based and which:  

promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

All state schools are also required to make provision for a daily act of collective worship and must teach religious education to pupils at every key stage and sex education to pupils in secondary education. jmoffatlearningsolutions

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All subjects in the current National Curriculum remain, although ICT has been renamed ‘computing’ to reflect the greater emphasis on practical programming skills.

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Languages are now to be compulsory at Key Stage 2.

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How to teach the programmes of study:

the programmes of study state in outline what is to be taught, but not how it is to be taught.

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Which aspects of a subject pupils will study in depth

– the requirement is that schools cover the programme of study, but it is for individual teachers to decide which aspects they wish to emphasise. 

How long to spend on each subject

– it is for schools to decide how they are going to organise their timetable.

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How to arrange learning in the school day

– there is no requirement for subjects to be taught discretely – they can be grouped, or taught through projects. 

What additional curriculum

content they wish to teach beyond the statutory programmes of study.

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 2.3

All schools should make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), drawing on good practice. Schools are also free to include other subjects or topics of their choice in planning and designing their own programme of education.

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3.2”The National Curriculum is just one element in the education of every child. There is time and space in the school day and in each week, term and year to range beyond the National Curriculum specifications. The National Curriculum provides an outline of core knowledge around which teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons.”

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3.4The Secretary of State for Education is required by legislation to publish programmes of study for each National Curriculum subject, setting out the ‘matters, skills and processes’ to be taught at each key stage. Schools are free to choose how they organise their school day, as long as the content of National Curriculum programmes of study is taught to all pupils

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Page 6 Draft Curriculum 2014

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   Promoting skills is a key feature of the current National Curriculum and are embedded in the programmes of study.

communication, application of number, information technology, working with others, improving own learning and performance, problem solving

The new proposed curriculum

emphasises the need for teachers to develop pupils’

spoken language, reading and writing

as integral aspects of the teaching of every subject and to use every relevant subject to develop pupils’

mathematical fluency

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The emphasis is on core knowledge, the ‘nuts and bolts’ of subjects that will ensure pupils have ‘a strong basis on which to build future learning’. Other subjects are treated in a more light-touch manner, although the level of detail in, for example, the history curriculum is still substantial.

There is no mention of the development of thinking skills which is embedded in the current national curriculum .

 3.1The National Curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the core knowledge that they need to be educated citizens. It introduces pupils to the best that has been thought and said; and helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement. jmoffatlearningsolutions

 Levels and level descriptors have disappeared and the expectation is that children should have a secure grasp of the concept by the end of each key stage.

The Government has already announced its intention to [reform] how we report progress. “

We believe that the focus of teaching should be on subject content as set out in the programmes of study, rather than on a series of abstract level descriptions. Parents deserve a clear assessment of what their children have learned rather than a ‘level description’ which does not convey clear information … Approaches to the assessment of pupils’ progress and recognising the achievements of all pupils at primary school will be explored more fully within the primary assessment and accountability consultation which will be issued shortly.’

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    The programmes of study for English are set out year-by-year for Key Stage 1 and two-yearly for Key Stage 2. The programmes of study for maths and science are set out year-by-year in KS1 and KS2. Schools are, however, only required to teach the relevant programme of study by the end of the key stage. Within each key stage, schools therefore have the flexibility to introduce content earlier or later than set out in the programme of study. In addition, schools can introduce key stage content during an earlier key stage if appropriate. All schools are also required to set out their school curriculum for English, maths and science on a year-by-year basis and make this information available online. By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study .

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• •    Speaking and Listening is no longer a separate strand. Specific requirements for pupils to discuss what they are learning and to develop their wider skills in spoken language form part of the English programme of study and there is a greater emphasis on the development of discussion and debating skills in KS2.

Great emphasis on the teaching of phonics.

Increased emphasis on the teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling. The spelling appendix contain statutory word-lists for Year 3& 4 and Years 5& 6 which children are expected to learn.

The appendix on grammar and punctuation focuses on the teaching of Standard English and the table shows when concepts for word, sentence, text and punctuation should be introduced to and when.

Programmes of study for writing no longer specify which text types children should study or write about. jmoffatlearningsolutions

   Greater emphasis on keeping key maths fundamentals such as recall of time tables and number facts a key focus through varied and repeated practice. At the end of Year 4 children will be expected to know their times tables up to and including 12x12.

A strong emphasis has been placed on mental and written calculations of whole numbers, decimal and fractions.

Renewed emphasis on problem solving. The first draft was roundly criticised for stating the importance of developing the ability to problem solve, but not following through on this in the detail. This has now been addressed, with an emphasis on problem solving in all areas.

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    Data handling no longer is statutory in Year 1 .

Children in Year 3 will be expected to read the Roman numerals 1 to 12 on a clock and in Year 4 they will be expected to read the numerals from 1 to 100.

Use of calculators is restricted and should now only be introduced near the end of KS2. Calculators will be banned in the KS2 maths SATS papers in 2014 Expectation that children can read and spell mathematical vocabulary at a level consistent with their word and spelling knowledge.

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   There have been some changes to the science Programme of Study since the first draft, mainly around the way in which ‘working scientifically’ is treated. Following strong criticism that the knowledge based approach had gone too far in science, the balance between fact based objectives (‘identify and name…’) and enquiry-style objectives (‘observe and describe …’) is more even.

The recommendation in KS1 is that most of the learning about science should be done through the use of first-hand practical experiences.

Questioning is also highlighted as an important aspect of the learning.

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Much of the content is familiar, although some topics has been re-organised and moved across a key stage. For example, sound, electricity, and light have been taken out of Key Stage 1 and are now taught only in Key Stage 2 in the primary curriculum.

There is some new content particularly on the solar system, speed and evolution. Forces is now not introduced until Year 6.

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 The guidelines for all other subjects are much less detailed than those for English, maths and science, simply outlining the aims of each subject and listing the content to be taught at each key stage.

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How is the curriculum being slimmed down?

Mr Gove says there will continue to be requirements for the teaching of art and design, design and technology, geography, history, ICT, music and physical education across all the primary years. "Programmes of Study in these subjects will, however, be much shorter to allow for the maximum level of innovation at school level in the development of content in these areas

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 Investigative questioning  No KS1 comparison with other UK locations.  No mention of environmental sustainability.

 No African, Asia or Australasian geography What is no longer included  Factual knowledge, e.g. name and locate the continents & oceans at KS1  UK focus at KS1, plus one non European comparison.

 Europe & the Americas covered at KS2.

 Identification of rivers, mountains, etc. in UK.

 OS four-figure grid references What is new jmoffatlearningsolutions

A revised draft is being circulated but not yet published.

A major rewrite" is likely to see more emphasis given to world history alongside the mainly British focus originally suggested by the Department for Education (DfE). Schools will also be given much more freedom – current mandatory requirements will become suggestions.

Five- to seven-year-olds will not have to learn about the Victorian poet Christina Rossetti, as suggested in the current draft, but instead could be told about the more modern figures of LS Lowry, Neil Armstrong.

Five- to seven-year-olds will no longer have to grapple with "the concept of the nation", as controversially suggested in the February draft, but instead should be taught about "changes within living memory".

Guardian Paper June 21st

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   The newly statutory Key Stage 2 languages curriculum specifies the teaching of one of the following languages:

French, German, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Latin or Ancient Greek.

The teaching should provide an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and enable the children to make substantial progress.

Modern language teaching is to focus on practical communication, and Latin or Ancient Greek teaching to provide a linguistic foundation for learning modern languages and for reading comprehension.

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  The current Programmes of Study and attainment targets for all foundation subjects in Primary schools will be disapplied from September 2013, as will those for English, maths and science in Years 3 and 4 (‘to give teachers greater freedom to prepare pupils for National Curriculum tests in these subjects when they reach Year 6’). Teachers in Years 1, 2, 5 and 6, however, will need to continue to following the current Programmes of Study for English, maths and science, in order to prepare children appropriately for SATs.

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  All learners and schools have different characteristics. Schools need to ensure the curriculum is appropriate within the context of the community it serves.They should take account of the individual needs of all children in the school, the local context, the particular skills and enthusiasm of the staff, the distinctive ethos of the school, the resources available in the wider community, and also their knowledge of good practice and what delivers results The new statutory requirements will need to be incorporated into the curriculum but there is no one way or model that should be imposed .

Each school should develop a vision for the curriculum made up of:

-the statement of curriculum intent; - the agreed aims and outcomes of the curriculum; values and beliefs about learning, which will underpin the school’s approach to curriculum design; - the key principles that will determine what an effective curriculum looks like in practice; - the key skills and competencies they want to develop.(core essentials ) jmoffatlearningsolutions

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Audit current provision, content and structure against agreed aims and outcomes:

• Analyse long term plans and identify; -areas of strength and how you know; -aims and outcomes which are not being met; Ascertain the views of the pupils on the current curriculum Armed with this analysis schools can then start creating a Framework of Learning Expectations for each year group.

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The course will set out to cover the following questions

:  1 . How do we go about designing a curriculum, which sets out clearly what we want the children to learn and the experiences by which they will learn it and builds upon the current good practices within the school?

 2 How should the learning be organised most effectively to achieve the above?

 3. How will the success of the curriculum be measured?

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       How effective individual schools’ current curriculum provision is and how they know

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The key learning principles and values which should underpin the design of an effective curriculum and the key skills and competencies that run through all subject areas.

How subject knowledge, skills, understanding and personal development can be integrated through meaningful learning experiences.

Ways of overcoming the perceived constraints of content, time and structure.

Ways of embedding higher order thinking skills to deepen children’s learning.

Learning opportunities outside of the classroom.

Ways of evaluating how successful a curriculum has been in enabling the children to learn what was intended.

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