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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
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
Aidan Severs
Apr 272 min read
What's It Like To Work With Aidan?
Teachers' and leaders' testimonials can help you to learn more about how I will work with you and your staff.
Aidan Severs
Jan 146 min read
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
Aidan Severs
Nov 24, 20255 min read
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 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. Knowing: If your desired impact is simply that pupils finish a year group, phase or school knowing certain pieces of information then you can crack o
Aidan Severs
Jan 21, 20253 min read
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.
Aidan Severs
Jan 7, 20253 min read
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
Aidan Severs
Jun 20, 20243 min read
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
Aidan Severs
Jun 18, 20242 min read
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.
Aidan Severs
May 21, 20246 min read
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.
Aidan Severs
May 13, 20244 min read
Curriculum Drivers and Disciplinary Knowledge - What's The Link?
Uncover the vital link between curriculum drivers and disciplinary knowledge.
Aidan Severs
May 7, 20244 min read
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...
Aidan Severs
May 3, 20231 min read
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
Aidan Severs
Apr 9, 20233 min read
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.
Aidan Severs
Mar 23, 20233 min read
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.
Aidan Severs
Jan 11, 20235 min read
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.
Aidan Severs
Nov 17, 20225 min read
Curriculum Drivers: Have You Got Too Many?
Every curriculum is driven by certain principles; sometimes there are too many drivers, making curriculum delivery difficult.
Aidan Severs
May 23, 20225 min read
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
Aidan Severs
Apr 25, 20225 min read
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.
Aidan Severs
Mar 10, 20227 min read
From Paper to Practice: Beyond Curriculum Intent, and Into Implementation (Part 3)
Before reading this, make sure you've caught up on the prior blog posts in the series: Part 1 Part 2 Curriculum Implementation: Learning From Mis-Implementation Mis-implementation will occur. It’s what you do after it’s occured that really matters. All of the previously-mentioned parts of the implementation process present the risk of things not going to plan. Some undesirable things happen that weren’t even considered during the planning phase. When I arrived at my last sc
Aidan Severs
Feb 10, 20225 min read
From Paper to Practice: Beyond Curriculum Intent, and Into Implementation (Part 2)
Before reading this, make sure you've caught up on the first blog post in the series: Part 1 Curriculum Implementation: Getting Implementation Right By... The good news is, that you as head teachers will already be doing everything that you need to do in order for your curriculum implementation to be successful. You are already providing training to staff on a variety of matters. You are already giving staff planning time. You are already supporting in the development of tea
Aidan Severs
Feb 9, 202212 min read
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