Transcript County Curriculum Conference September 2012 Issues for Hampshire The Sabre Tooth Curriculum was invented by New Fist. He posed the question: what things.

County Curriculum
Conference
September 2012
Issues for Hampshire
The Sabre Tooth Curriculum was invented by New Fist.
He posed the question: what things do future
tribespeople need to have full bellies, warm backs and
minds free from fear?
He concluded that they needed to catch fish with their
bare hands; they needed to club the woolly horses to
death and they need to scare away the sabre tooth
tigers, with fire.
He designed a curriculum to do these things and it
worked. The tribe was happy in the possession of
adequate meat, skins and security. It was the first
example of the ‘Cave to Work’ programme. And New
Fist was revered across the land.
Some time later the ice sheets reached the headwaters
of the valley in which the tribe lived.
The streams grew muddy and no one could see the fish
that could be grabbed with bare hands. The climate
changed and not to the liking of the woolly horses and
they fled south. The dampness in the air gave the sabre
tooth tigers pneumonia to which they succumbed and,
even worse, they were replaced by marauding glacial
bears.
The bears were not afraid of fire and could not be driven
away by even the most advanced methods taught in the
tiger-scaring courses in the schools.
The community was in crisis. There were no fish, no
hides for clothing and no security from the hairy death
that stalked across the land.
Fortunately, the tribe was blessed with Fist Change who
was the first to tie a chard of flint to an elongated horse
club and make a weapon that could kill the ferocious
glacial bears. This would solve the skin and security
problem with one telling thrust, he said.
He even suggested that spear making and bear killing
should be added to the Sabre Tooth Curriculum in
schools.
“Oh no,” said the elders. “With all the intricate details of
fish grabbing, horse clubbing and tiger scaring, there
isn’t enough room for these other things.
We can’t add fads and frills like flint chard making and
bear killing to the Sabre Tooth Curriculum.
New Fist would turn in his grave”
Burial Cairn of New Fist, Founder of the Sabre Tooth Curriculum, c 7982 BCE
“Training to catch non-existent fish with bare hands is the
best way to achieve muscular coordination and agility;
training in clubbing horses that do not exist is an education
in stealth and ingenuity; practising to frighten tigers that do
not exist develops courage.
These things are fundamental and sacred in education and
must not be changed.”
They said.
written in 1939
“The new world does not need container loads of
young men and women whose knowledge is
narrowly academic and subject-specific which they
can then regurgitate in splendid isolation in exams.
It needs people who have genuine understanding
not just in one but in several academic domains,
and who comprehend how these different fields
relate to each other.
It needs people who can work collaboratively, with
advanced interpersonal skills, as opposed to those
who just hold a large body of data in their
memories.”
“We need to prepare children for the tests of
life, not a life of tests.”
The curriculum has to be made to be
relevant and that is one of the jobs of the
teacher…….. and generally, teachers in
Hampshire are good at that!
“We don’t serve neutrinos” said
the barman. A neutrino walks
into a bar.
Word List for Year 5 and 6 (A-M)
accommodate affection analyse ancient apparent appreciate atmosphere
attitude average awkward bargain believe blemish boundary bruise
career celebrate century challenge committee convince correspond coward
create curious debate deceive decimal definite demonstrate deprive destroy
develop electric embarrass emigrate encounter encourage endure engineer
enrol envelope equator equip especially estimate Europe European
evidence exaggerate excavate exceed explanation favour festival flavour
forbid foreign forty fruit garage genuine germ govern(ment) gradual granite
guarantee harass haughty haunt hearty height hinder hindrance hoax
honour horizon humility hurricane identify illustrate imagine imitate immense
impress imprison include index industry inferior influence inhabitant
instrument interfere interrupt interview introduce investigate jealous juice
junction jury knead knuckle lawyer lecture legend leisure length lenient
lightning liquid magazine majesty majority manage manufacture marvellous
medium military mineral minor miracle mischief mischievous modern
modest moisture mosquito
The curriculum is far more than is written
down
“We’ve known for a long time that the Conservative
Party is a very broad church. The problem is that not
enough people currently worship in it “
1998
What does PISA really tell us?
• Not much difference between 2006 and 2009 – except for higher
achievers in maths (fewer)
• Shanghai, Korea, Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada,
New Zealand, Japan and Australia all score statistically higher
than UK in reading, maths and science (Shanghai and
Singapore did not participate in 2006)
• A large number of countries score statistically about the same
and a large number worse than the UK.
• In science there are only 7 countries with a greater proportion of
higher achievers than the UK
• In reading and science the UK’s problem is its long tail which
does not compare well with the highest scoring countries. The
UK has a relatively large proportion of under-achievers
compared with the strongest countries.
If England is to compete on the world stage it must
focus on two related challenges: raising the
performance of the lowest achievers and breaking the
link between family income and educational
achievement
The evidence from world-leading systems shows that
excellence can only be achieved by having an equitable
system…….and a system that believes its children can
achieve.
“A Long Division; IPPR: September 2012”
The Issue in Hampshire
Children whose prior attainment is described as ‘high’ make very
good progress.
Children whose prior attainment is in the middle range make about
the same progress as made nationally.
Overall, lower attaining children make poor progress against that
made nationally.
This applies equally in primary and secondary schools
There is a close correlation between low attainment and eligibility
for free school meals
What kind of schools do we need?
Descriptor of School School Ethos
Key Process
Talent Refineries
School must provide Ensuring good
opportunities for
teaching and
students to show
curricular coverage
what they can do
Talent Incubators
All students can
learn but not all can
achieve high levels
Drawing out what is
within the student
Talent factories
All students can
achieve at high
levels
Whatever it takes
We know what doesn’t work
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
School Uniform
Block scheduling or timetabling
Grouping by prior attainment or ability
Teaching assistants
Performance pay
NB. Evidence is stronger for some than others and full report gives
further information on phase and subjects
www.suttontrust.com/research/toolkit-of-strategies-to-improve-learning/
We know what works
1. Effective feedback
2. Meta-cognition and self regulation strategies, teaching
‘bouncebackability’
3. Peer tutoring and peer assisted learning
4. Early intervention
5. One to one tutoring
6. Homework
7. ICT
8. Assessment for Learning
9. Parental involvement
10. Summer schools
11. Sports involvement
12. Reducing class size
Soldiers are we whose lives are pledged to Ireland
Some have come from a land beyond the wave.
Sworn to be free, no more our ancient sire land,
Shall shelter the despot or the slave.
Tonight we man the gap of danger
In Erin’s cause, come woe or weal,
Mid cannon’s roar and rifle’s peal
We’ll chant a soldier’s song.
Sinne Fianna Fáil
Atá faoi gheall ag Éirinn
Buíon dár slua
Thar toinn do ráinig chughainn
Faoi mhóid bheith saor
Sean-tír ár sinsear feasta
Ní fhágfar faoin tiorán ná faoin tráill
Anocht a théam sa bhearna baoil
Le gean ar Ghaeil chun báis nó saoil
Le gunna scréach faoi lámhach na bpiléar
Seo libh canaig Amhran na bhFiann
The most successful school systems
• understand what leads children to attain, achieve and grow into
successful adults and organise the schools around those things
• never talk about ‘helping children to realise their potential’
because their potential cannot be known and has to be
assumed to be limitless
• don’t talk about ability and are more interested in zero failure
than value added – value added is a useful tool but it can trap
children in the conditions of their disadvantage
• share their knowledge of how children grow to be successful with
the children themselves and their families – if you can’t do
something yet it’s because you haven’t practised it enough and/or
you need someone to show you what to practise
• understand that earlier interventions have more effect. (If every
secondary school was outstanding the gap in attainment between
rich and poor would only narrow by 20%)
They set out explicitly to…………
• teach how to learn, memorise, plan, review, organise, practise
effectively – showing children how to become confident
• teach how to cope with setbacks and how to bounceback
• teach how to self regulate their behaviour, how to defer their
gratification, how to ask for help and how to use that help
• make these things part of their curriculum not, in some way,
hidden in pedagogy
• share what they know about how children succeed with their
parents/carers
What is already happening?
• Pilot project on improving self regulation in 8 early years settings
• New guidance on writing Personal Education Plans setting out
what to do
• 50 schools involved in the Hampshire Hundreds Project
• Launch of a new Partnership with the Centre for Real-World
Learning at the University of Winchester
“Whatever it
takes”