St James First, Colehill First, Hayeswood First, Queen Elizabeth High School and St Michael’s Middle are working together to adapt their respective curricular to respond to the raising of expectations of achievement for all pupils nationally and the new curriculum guidance effective from September 2014 in all Years apart from Year 2 & 6. Meetings between English, Maths and Humanities co-ordinators were held before the summer of 2014 for the primary age range and there are termly meetings of all subjects at the secondary age ranges. The process will continue as we firm up ambitious levels of expectation for our pupils and share with parents how we will assess pupils’ mastery of the curriculum.
The national curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential 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. It also seeks to celebrate the best of what it means to be British in a modern context.
The national curriculum is just one element in the education of every child. In each school there is time and space during the school day and in each week, term and year to range beyond the national curriculum specifications so that all pupils enjoy a range of wider opportunities which contribute to the overall learning experience.
The national curriculum provides an outline of core knowledge around which teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills as part of the wider school curriculum. As a pyramid of schools we consider it essential that we liaise closely on the content and challenge in our respective phases of the curriculum so that pupils build on what they know and are able to extend that knowledge as they move up through the pyramid.
A key feature of this liaison is to establish the right assessment model so that pupils are supported and challenged at age appropriate levels. We want our pupils to master the skills and knowledge they have acquired making them stronger for each next stage in their learning. Currently we are working together to identify what it would look like for a child to be secure in the knowledge for their age group and how we can deepen that understanding.
Parents should know that the new curriculum will be assessed differently to the old system and that there are skills and knowledge which are required at a younger age. The old system of levels is therefore changing and we are moving to a clearer system where you will be able to identify how your child is performing relative to their age group: e.g. is your child emerging, developing, secure or exceeding in the knowledge of their age group. As pupils get older and we move towards GCSE’s we want to continue to make sure that pupils are on track to make outstanding levels of progress and are looking at assessment models which help staff, pupils and teachers recognise when pupils are ready to be moved towards a more ambitious final goal.
For more curriculum information please check back regularly as we will update our latest work termly.