Next steps for the curriculum
Well hello there, and welcome to update #107!
In my last post, ‘Look how far we’ve come!’ I reflected on the gains which have been made in terms of planning and implementing the curriculum over the last few years.
Curriculum development can feel slow. However, small gains compound over time and it’s good to pause and reflect on progress because this gives us the energy to continue the work.
These are some of the areas that I believe hold most promise for leverage in terms of improving outcomes for all pupils.
For example:
Taking account of the ‘Faster read’ research from the University of Sussex A couple of examples of schools running the ‘Faster read’ in their schools, with similarly impressive results: Nene Park Academy and Gloucester Road Nursery and Primary School (free to access).
Extending the use of high quality texts and raising the bar for reading across the curriculum: research summary here.
Developing diversity in our curriculum planning and resources that reflect the full range of characteristics and achievements of all of us. Bennie Kara has unpacked why this is important for all pupils, whatever their background and provides reassurance for colleagues concerned about making mistakes: Bennie’s conversation with Rachel Higginson for the diversity series on Myatt & Co provides a great starting point (£/free trial).
Using greater discernment about providing pupils with resources that make them think as opposed to just filling in gaps.
Considering high quality materials for teaching, that draw on the original sources of the domain, for example, showing pupils real mosques, such as the Süleymaniye Mosque.
Developing oracy with pupils learning the curriculum both through exploratory talk as well as showing what they know through presentational talk.
Framing KS3 as the ‘intellectual powerhouse’ of the secondary school. In some contexts, it’s been treated either as a mini KS4 or as an afterthought. It deserves to have our full curricular attention, because if we get this right, pupils will be set up well for the exam courses if they are following the subject into KS4. And if not, they will have had a terrific grounding in the subjects.
Resources to support teacher subject knowledge: the quality of the materials we use to teach are an unexplored element of subject knowledge development. It makes a difference if I’m using high quality texts, images and artefacts with my pupils, compared to worksheets where pupils might only have to fill in the blanks…
Ongoing commentary on assessment - there’s still a lot of time wasted on tracking and collecting data. I’ll be doing some online sessions in January 2025 for primary colleagues, registration here.
Curriculum coherence across the key stages, particularly between primary and secondary. There are some missed opportunities here, both for professional learning and for providing curricular coherence for our pupils.
Light touch insights from research that help teachers to help pupils to learn the curriculum - such as the power of curiosity, the fact that our brains privilege stories, that we are a challenge-seeking species mean we can refine what we offer to make it more compelling as well as more demanding.
Lessons from SEND, particularly adaptive curriculum design and pedagogy, for example Gary Aubin’s ‘automatic doors’ approach to the curriculum - useful for all pupils and essential for some.
Until next time
Mary
PS Giglets are doing a spotlight webinar on 'Finding My Voice' with Rachel Higginson and me on Monday 20 January 2025 15.40-16.30. Free to register!