How to Reduce the Volume of Content in the Primary Curriculum
Updated: 1 day ago
Have you been following the news about the government's Curriculum and Assessment Review?
Is it putting a hold on your primary curriculum development as you wait to see what they say?
You can be doing something about the volume of content in your primary curriculum now, and you don't have to wait for the outcome of any review. Particularly in foundation subjects, revisit the National Curriculum, each subject's aims and purposes, and then the content. How much does your curriculum range beyond what is required?
You can be doing something about this now, and that you don't have to wait for the outcome of any review. Particularly in foundation subjects. Revisit the NC - each subject's aims and purposes, and then the content. How much does your curriculum range beyond what is required?
Why Does the Primary Curriculum Have Too Much Content?
Primary curriculum-makers have been trying to outdo each other for years, stuffing foundation subject curricula full of content, ignoring the actual aims and purposes of teaching these subjects. Some of them have been doing it to sell a product, others because it makes their own school look good.
BUT we have to hear the voice of those actually teaching these things - there is too much.
Part of the problem is that we are OBSESSED with half-term-long units of work. Why?
If it can be taught in 2 weeks, don't stretch it out. There is no need to create content just to fill time.
It has coincided with another obsession: content.
We have forgotten about who we want children to be, and what we want them to be able to do, the attitudes we want them to have, the mindset we want them to have. This is why I think curriculum-making needs to start with the end in mind: what do we ultimately want pupils to gain from studying this subject?
And we have focused too much on what we want them to memorise.
Content should only ever be a vehicle to help us deliver those grander aims and purposes, which is why starting with the end in mind matters when designing a curriculum.
And it is this content obsession which has led to the current no-mans land that is assessment in the foundation subjects. No, we absolutely won't assess against every objective or piece of key knowledge. But what should we assess against? With no true aims and purposes we have nothing.
If we had a clear idea of what we wanted for children (beyond knowing facts) by the end of a programme of study, we'd have something to begin to measure. We could look at progress towards those aims.
Read these blog posts for more on this:
How Can Primary Schools Reduce Curriculum Content?
Apart from some 'intent statements' we have largely forgotten why we teach foundation subjects. And in lieu of any real aims and purposes, content has become king. Content should only ever serve a greater purpose, and a greater purpose than just accumulating facts. Having real aims and purposes will help us give a good answer when pupils ask why they have to learn this.
Our curriculum should be ambitious and knowledge-rich, but those things are not the goal, they can only ever be the means by which the goal is scored. There is nothing else without knowledge, but knowledge isn't everything. It should only ever serve a greater purpose.
How Can I Help You Review Your Curriculum?
If your curriculum contains too much content, or you're not sure what can safely be taken out, I can help you review it and make decisions about what really matters.
Your 3-step plan for a more manageable curriculum:
Have a phone call with me to talk about your school
We'll work together to clarify what your curriculum needs to achieve and decide what content is worth keeping
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