curriculum design | Aidan Severs

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Aidan Severs Consulting

Helping school leaders develop ambitious curricula, confident teachers and effective leadership.

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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.

Designing A Curriculum For Belonging And Inclusion

Designing A Curriculum For Belonging And Inclusion

Designing A Curriculum For Belonging And Inclusion

Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Phil Banks and Danielle Lewis-Egonu for an episode of their The Kitchen Table Podcast. We talked all about designing curriculum intentionally so that all children benefit. Here's a few snippets of the episode to whet your whistle: So much of this work is about adopting a can-do mindset, and not settling for less: But this work has to be done with teacher wellbeing in mind as well as what's best for the children: "If you can work out

Apr 272 min read

Curriculum Clarity: What The Curriculum And Assessment Review Says About Articulating Your Curriculum Well

Curriculum Clarity: What The Curriculum And Assessment Review Says About Articulating Your Curriculum Well

Curriculum Clarity: What The Curriculum And Assessment Review Says About Articulating Your Curriculum Well

Recently ( and actually, for a while now ), I've been banging on about how clear your curriculum needs to be , particularly with regards to ensuring your curriculum statements (objectives, key facts/information) are explicit and clear. And it's not just me who thinks this is important. I've recently carried out some curriculum reviews for different schools and organisations, and one piece of feedback I've given regularly is along these lines: Provide more explicit guidance in

Nov 24, 20255 min read

Curriculum design starts with desired outcomes for pupils

Curriculum design starts with desired outcomes for pupils

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. In other words, effective curriculum design starts with the end in mind. By this I mean that the starting point of any curriculum should not be what needs to be covered or how it is going to be taught, but what you want pupils to achieve when they are taught the content. What Do We Want Our Curriculum To Achieve? Knowing: If your desired impact is

Jan 21, 20254 min read

Starter for 10: Curriculum Development

Starter for 10: Curriculum Development

Starter for 10: Curriculum Development

On the face of it, curriculum development and design appears simple. All you have to do is work out what needs teaching and in what order, right? Well, yeah, kind of. But to have a really excellent curriculum there's much more to it than that. I often get called to help leaders to untangle their curriculum development work and have seen plenty of curriculum documents that have tied their creators up in knots! Over the years I've tried to provide school leaders, and inded anyo

Jun 20, 20243 min read

What Even Is A Curriculum Driver?

What Even Is A Curriculum Driver?

What Even Is A Curriculum Driver?

Let's keep this short and sweet. What is a curriculum driver? A curriculum driver is a principle that guides the development and delivery of that which is to be learned by the children . 'Principle': a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning' Curriculum drivers can also be thought of as foundations - that which we build the whole curriculum on. Did you know I offer a remote curriculum revie

Jun 18, 20242 min read

Curriculum: What Is The Best Kind Of 'Big Question'?

Curriculum: What Is The Best Kind Of 'Big Question'?

Curriculum: What Is The Best Kind Of 'Big Question'?

Unlock the secret to crafting the perfect 'Big Question Curriculum' with the ultimate guide. Learn the best question types and their impact.

May 21, 20246 min read

How To Write Good Curriculum Statements (And Why I'm Not Calling Them Objectives)

How To Write Good Curriculum Statements (And Why I'm Not Calling Them Objectives)

How To Write Good Curriculum Statements (And Why I'm Not Calling Them Objectives)

Learn how to craft effective curriculum statements and why they are more than just objectives.

May 13, 20244 min read

Curriculum Drivers and Disciplinary Knowledge - What's The Link?

Curriculum Drivers and Disciplinary Knowledge - What's The Link?

Curriculum Drivers and Disciplinary Knowledge - What's The Link?

Uncover the vital link between curriculum drivers and disciplinary knowledge.

May 7, 20244 min read

What Is A Spiral Curriculum?

What Is A Spiral Curriculum?

What Is A Spiral Curriculum?

I've written a new article for Third Space Learning entitled 'What Is A Spiral Curriculum: A Teacher’s Guide to What, How And When To...

May 3, 20231 min read

How I Work With Businesses On Their Education Outreach

How I Work With Businesses On Their Education Outreach

How I Work With Businesses On Their Education Outreach

As an education consultant, one of my roles is to help businesses like yours to develop education curricula to improve your outreach efforts. Educational resources such as lesson plans and activities can be an effective way for businesses to reach out, engage with their audience, establish their brand as a thought leader in their industry and most importantly, to give something back to the community. Goals and Targets The first step I take when developing an effective educati

Apr 9, 20233 min read

How The Local Area Can Inspire your Art Lessons

How The Local Area Can Inspire your Art Lessons

How The Local Area Can Inspire your Art Lessons

Although a school's local area is more often thought of when teaching geography and history, it can be a great source of inspiration in art.

Mar 23, 20233 min read

The 3 Cs of Curriculum Design

The 3 Cs of Curriculum Design

The 3 Cs of Curriculum Design

By thinking about continuity, correct coverage and consistency, school leaders can begin to think about how to design their curriculum.

Jan 11, 20235 min read

Curriculum How To: Developing A Concept-Based Curriculum

Curriculum How To: Developing A Concept-Based Curriculum

Curriculum How To: Developing A Concept-Based Curriculum

When developing curriculum, school leaders can use key concepts to map out cross-curricular links which promote learning.

Nov 17, 20226 min read

Curriculum Drivers: Have You Got Too Many?

Curriculum Drivers: Have You Got Too Many?

Curriculum Drivers: Have You Got Too Many?

Every curriculum is driven by certain principles; sometimes there are too many drivers, making curriculum delivery difficult.

May 23, 20225 min read

How To Achieve Both Curriculum Cohesion And Teacher Autonomy

How To Achieve Both Curriculum Cohesion And Teacher Autonomy

How To Achieve Both Curriculum Cohesion And Teacher Autonomy

Not that long ago, back when I was a teacher and before I had any SLT responsibilities, I worked in a brilliant school where we teachers had a lot of autonomy. Sure, there too existed many structures to ensure accountability, but we also had the freedom to make many decisions for ourselves. One such area of liberty was in curriculum planning. I struggle now to remember what was actually on the school's long term plan but I do remember half-termly after-school planning meeti

Apr 25, 20225 min read

8 Things To Consider When Designing A Primary Art Curriculum

8 Things To Consider When Designing A Primary Art Curriculum

8 Things To Consider When Designing A Primary Art Curriculum

Designing an art curriculum can be more complicated than it seems. In this article we explore 8 things to consider when developing yours.

Mar 10, 20227 min read

Curriculum Implementation: Learn, Adapt and Keep Improving

Curriculum Implementation: Learn, Adapt and Keep Improving

Curriculum Implementation: Learn, Adapt and Keep Improving

From Paper to Practice: A 3-Part Series Part 1: From Curriculum Intent to Implementation: Why Good Curricula Can Still Fail - Why a well-designed curriculum on paper still needs to be successfully implemented in classrooms. Part 2: How To Implement a New Primary Curriculum - Practical ways to help teachers turn curriculum intent into classroom practice. Part 3: Curriculum Implementation: Learn, Adapt and Keep Improving - How schools can learn from implementation and continue

Feb 10, 20225 min read

How To Implement a New Primary Curriculum

How To Implement a New Primary Curriculum

How To Implement a New Primary Curriculum

From Paper to Practice: A 3-Part Series Part 1: From Curriculum Intent to Implementation: Why Good Curricula Can Still Fail - Why a well-designed curriculum on paper still needs to be successfully implemented in classrooms. Part 2: How To Implement a New Primary Curriculum - Practical ways to help teachers turn curriculum intent into classroom practice. Part 3: Curriculum Implementation: Learn, Adapt and Keep Improving - How schools can learn from implementation and continue

Feb 9, 202211 min read

From Curriculum Intent to Implementation: Why Good Curricula Can Still Fail

From Curriculum Intent to Implementation: Why Good Curricula Can Still Fail

From Curriculum Intent to Implementation: Why Good Curricula Can Still Fail

From Paper to Practice: A 3-Part Series Part 1: From Curriculum Intent to Implementation: Why Good Curricula Can Still Fail - Why a well-designed curriculum on paper still needs to be successfully implemented in classrooms. Part 2: How To Implement a New Primary Curriculum - Practical ways to help teachers turn curriculum intent into classroom practice. Part 3: Curriculum Implementation: Learn, Adapt and Keep Improving - How schools can learn from implementation and continue

Feb 8, 20226 min read

Beware The Reverse-Engineered Curriculum (or The Potential Pitfalls Of Retrieval Practice)

Beware The Reverse-Engineered Curriculum (or The Potential Pitfalls Of Retrieval Practice)

Beware The Reverse-Engineered Curriculum (or The Potential Pitfalls Of Retrieval Practice)

Aren't Knowledge Organisers brilliant? Isn't Retrieval Practice just the bees knees? As for Powerful Knowledge... sigh - the stuff dreams...

Dec 14, 20214 min read

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