Curriculum

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Aidan Severs Consulting

Empowering, Enhancing and Enriching in Education

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Along with being a primary school teacher and leader, blogging is where this all started for Aidan. If it wasn't for his passion for writing and sharing his learning and experiences, he wouldn't be working as an education consultant with schools across the country today. Shared best practice should be available to all and here on the Aidan Severs Consulting blog you can get ideas for making a difference in your own school. The blog is also a great place to learn exactly the kind of work that Aidan can partner with your school on.

Curriculum For All: What Schools Need To Know About What The Curriculum Review And The New Ofsted Framework Say About Inclusion

Curriculum For All: What Schools Need To Know About What The Curriculum Review And The New Ofsted Framework Say About Inclusion

Curriculum For All: What Schools Need To Know About What The Curriculum Review And The New Ofsted Framework Say About Inclusion

The key thing you need to be aware of with regards to the final report from the government-commissioned Curriculum and Assessment Review is right there in the title: Building a world-class curriculum for all . The writers of the review are at pains to communicate that the biggest change that needs to happen is with regard to inclusivity - a curriculum which works for all children. This, by the way, tallies with Ofsted's latest inspection framework that has specific headings

10 hours ago4 min read

Now That We Have The Curriculum And Assessment Review Report, Should Schools Get On With Rewriting Curricula?

Now That We Have The Curriculum And Assessment Review Report, Should Schools Get On With Rewriting Curricula?

Now That We Have The Curriculum And Assessment Review Report, Should Schools Get On With Rewriting Curricula?

The title really should read: 'Now That We Have The Curriculum And Assessment Review Report , And The Government Have Responded , Should Schools Get On With Rewriting Curricula?' If you're not sure what's in the documents I've linked to above, there are a plethora of summaries online, including mine aimed at primary school leaders and teachers: https://www.aidansevers.com/post/what-primary-schools-need-to-know-from-the-curriculum-and-assessment-review (or you could go and re

Nov 63 min read

What Primary Schools Need To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review (Updated Based On Government's Response)

What Primary Schools Need To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review (Updated Based On Government's Response)

What Primary Schools Need To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review (Updated Based On Government's Response)

The only Curriculum and Assessment Review headline that really matters is this: It's c200 pages of suggestions FOR THE GOVERNMENT, not for you, your school, your trust or your educational organisation. However, most of us want to remain abreast and poised, ready to make changes when the time comes. So, what is there to know?

Nov 514 min read

Rethinking Differentiation: The Mixing Desk Model for Responsive, Inclusive Teaching

Rethinking Differentiation: The Mixing Desk Model for Responsive, Inclusive Teaching

Rethinking Differentiation: The Mixing Desk Model for Responsive, Inclusive Teaching

The Challenge of Meeting Every Child’s Needs You know that the children in your class(es) have needs which are many and varied. You want to meet those needs. But meeting all the different needs is difficult, time-consuming and draining. But it's got to be done. Why ‘What Works for Pupils with SEND Works for All’ Isn’t the Whole Story You've heard that "what works for pupils with SEND works for all pupils" but can't shake that nagging feeling that it's not that simple. Becaus

Nov 45 min read

Stop Writing Vague Curriculum Objectives, Instead Define What Pupils Should Actually Learn

Stop Writing Vague Curriculum Objectives, Instead Define What Pupils Should Actually Learn

Stop Writing Vague Curriculum Objectives, Instead Define What Pupils Should Actually Learn

This is essentially just a new and improved title for the following blog post: https://www.aidansevers.com/post/one-common-curriculum-mistake-you-might-be-making-and-how-to-avoid-it In it I outline a problem I see time and time again which I look at schools' curriculum documentation: vague objectives that don't: explain exactly what teachers should teach children and therefore state explicitly exactly what children should learn give a crystal-clear indication of what children

Oct 282 min read

Why You Don't Need An Intent Statement (But Why It Is Actually Useful To Have One)

Why You Don't Need An Intent Statement (But Why It Is Actually Useful To Have One)

Why You Don't Need An Intent Statement (But Why It Is Actually Useful To Have One)

Why don't you need an intent subject for your subject's curriculum? Because no one says you have to, not even Ofsted... However, whilst ‘intent statements’ aren’t a necessity they can help curriculum makers and teachers. How so? Well, they provide a touchstone (a test, or benchmark) for any curriculum development and teaching.

Oct 64 min read

Why We Should Prioritise The Teaching Of Tier 2 Words

Why We Should Prioritise The Teaching Of Tier 2 Words

Why We Should Prioritise The Teaching Of Tier 2 Words

Tier 2 words are a really important part of academic language, even at primary level - assuming children will learn all the correct meanings of these words without them being explicitly taught them is leaving a lot to chance. Best get them planned in so that you can ensure they are deliberately taught.

Sep 303 min read

How To Select Key Vocabulary For Your Subject's Curriculum

How To Select Key Vocabulary For Your Subject's Curriculum

How To Select Key Vocabulary For Your Subject's Curriculum

Words are the building blocks of all learning. If we don't know what individual words mean, we won't understand the meaning of the phrases and sentences that they make up. Whether we read or hear information, we need to understand the meanings of individual words to truly understand the information we are receiving.

Sep 226 min read

One Thing Your Curriculum Documentation Doesn't Need (Unless You Also Provide Lesson Plans)

Garbled title aside, this blog post is a very simple one. And the message is this: You don't need to mandate pedagogical choices. You...

Sep 162 min read

One Common Curriculum Mistake You Might Be Making (And How To Avoid It)

One Common Curriculum Mistake You Might Be Making (And How To Avoid It)

One Common Curriculum Mistake You Might Be Making (And How To Avoid It)

I've looked at a few primary curricula in my time, and there's one thing I see fairly often - a common mistake made by the curriculum-maker. Let's start with an example, and see if you can spot what's wrong. Imagine if your KS1 geography curriculum documentation stated: Pupils should be taught to name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans. That's an example you might recognise - it's taken directly from the National Curriculum. If you've not spotted the prob

Sep 104 min read

Continuous Provision in KS2: FAQs

Continuous Provision in KS2: FAQs

Continuous Provision in KS2: FAQs

This blog explores how KS2 continuous provision - based on EYFS principles - can foster independence, creativity, and deep learning. It addresses common questions on adapting the approach to meet curriculum demands, setting up purposeful provision areas, ensuring progression and challenge, integrating effective assessment, and managing behaviour. Grounded in careful planning and adult guidance, it offers practical steps for implementation.

KS2 Continuous Provision

Jun 246 min read

Curriculum: The Sticky Problem of Sticky Knowledge

Curriculum: The Sticky Problem of Sticky Knowledge

Curriculum: The Sticky Problem of Sticky Knowledge

Icky name aside, the idea of identifiying sticky knowledge on behalf of pupils is a tricky one. The Origins of Sticky Knowledge I think...

May 266 min read

Replacing Onerous Primary Assessment with Better Monitoring and Evaluation (Part 1)

Replacing Onerous Primary Assessment with Better Monitoring and Evaluation (Part 1)

Replacing Onerous Primary Assessment with Better Monitoring and Evaluation (Part 1)

If you read my recent post on assessing foundation subjects in primary and were left wondering about the lack of evidence and data that...

Subject Leadership

May 194 min read

Reducing the Volume of Content in the Primary Curriculum - You Can Do It Now!

Reducing the Volume of Content in the Primary Curriculum - You Can Do It Now!

Reducing the Volume of Content in the Primary Curriculum - You Can Do It Now!

Have you been following the news about the government's curriculum and assessment review? Is it putting a hold on your primary curriculum...

May 123 min read

Why You Might Need To Rewrite Your Curriculum (and Why You Might Not)

Why You Might Need To Rewrite Your Curriculum (and Why You Might Not)

Why You Might Need To Rewrite Your Curriculum (and Why You Might Not)

You've spent ages writing your primary foundation subject curriculum and by now you've probably spent time rewriting it too, or at least revising it. Curriculum rewrite: assessment Now it's time to have a think about how to assess the pupils, what with the content all done and dusted. But the more you think, the more you realise it's not that easy. Especially since there are a few things you know you must avoid: Endless APP-style grids Massive teacher workload Paperwork for

Mar 313 min read

Assessing Foundation Subjects In Primary: How Would I Do It?

Assessing Foundation Subjects In Primary: How Would I Do It?

Assessing Foundation Subjects In Primary: How Would I Do It?

After working with a couple of deputies from two different schools in a trust over the course of two days, one of them asked me this:...

Mar 33 min read

Curriculum-Making: Start With The End In Mind

Curriculum-Making: Start With The End In Mind

Curriculum-Making: Start With The End In Mind

Curriculum-making begins with thinking about the desired impact, or outcome, before you start thinking about the how and the what. By...

Jan 213 min read

2025: The Year of the Realistic Curriculum

2025: The Year of the Realistic Curriculum

2025: The Year of the Realistic Curriculum

Explore how schools can embrace a realistic curriculum in 2025. Learn strategies to refine your realistic curriculum for effective teaching.

Jan 73 min read

From SEND To Greater Depth: Taking Everyone On The Journey (And Getting Them All To The Destination)

From SEND To Greater Depth: Taking Everyone On The Journey (And Getting Them All To The Destination)

From SEND To Greater Depth: Taking Everyone On The Journey (And Getting Them All To The Destination)

Imagine your next unit of work as a journey into a city centre. In this post I'll use a journey into the centre of London because it was when working with a school there that I started to use this analogy. You want all your pupils to experience a visit to Buckingham Palace, so you plan a route on the tube. You plan the best route - its economical, its efficient, and, after checking the tube map for stops with wheelchair access, its accessible to all pupils. But you know there

Dec 10, 20245 min read

A KS3 Curriculum To Support Transition

A KS3 Curriculum To Support Transition

A KS3 Curriculum To Support Transition

A version of this blog post was first published in Transition Talks Issue #4 and with kind permission is now being re-published here....

Dec 3, 20245 min read

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