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 development as you wait to see what they say?

Image taken from the Schools Week's coverage of the government's latest curriculum review update.

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?

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.

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.

Pupils will forget the 'fingertip knowledge' - it's the 'residue knowledge' we should be aiming for (thanks Christine Counsell for that terminology - very useful).

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:

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

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

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.

Getting your curriculum right, now, is something I'd love to help you with.

Your 3-step plan for enriching your curriculum for your pupils and teachers:

1. Drop me an email

2. Have a phone call with me to talk about your school

3. We'll work together to empower you and your staff to enhance teaching and to enrich your pupils' lives

Take a weight off your mind today - let me spin a couple of your plates!