This Week, Matt Way discusses the national curriculum and the recent review.
The new government has set up a curriculum review, a process that will take a couple of years. The last one, ten years ago, was under the Secretary of State for Education at the time, Michael Gove. He believed in the 'rigour' of his O Level (pre-GCSEs for those of us that are old enough!) and A Level experience, where the courses were content heavy and we learnt a traditional curriculum in traditional subjects.
This has the effect of putting teachers and timetables under pressure to cram in all the content of the courses, which in turn has the effect of putting pressure on our pupils. There is little or no time for tangential exploration under the demands of getting through the content. This is why many schools, including us, start core subject GCSEs in Year 9.
We are fortunate enough to have Professor Mick Waters on the Globeducate Global Advisory Board. Formerly the Head of the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and Chief Education Officer for Manchester, he is the current President of the Curriculum Foundation. I have been fortunate to engage with him on a number of occasions, indeed, he has been to Stonar. Aside from sharing a love of cricket, we agree on many principles related to our curriculum and the exam system. He has shared his thoughts on the curriculum in this article for Globeducate: Mick Waters Blog Post.
Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Fund, is leading the government’s education review. The fact that the panel is being led by and includes a group of professional experts such as Becky Francis and Mick Waters is a good start. Indeed, the government has hinted that they will look to strip out a crowded curriculum and put skills such as oracy at the heart of education instead of it being seen as a “nice to have”.
It is heartening to feel that the review is moving the curriculum towards one we deliver here at Stonar where there is a focus on the Arts, Drama, Sport and Music, acknowledging the importance of creativity, innovation and expression. It also seems that digital literacy will no longer be a luxury but a necessity with coding, data analysis and the safe use of technology integrated across all subjects.
- The Stonar Way