Teach-Primary-Issue-19.3

Opportunity knocks Reforming the national curriculum presents an opportunity to specify the key content and concepts that children should learn to make progress in each subject. The vagueness of the current programmes of study can easily cause schools to overload their individual curriculums. Although spaced repetition is widely considered a powerful pedagogical tool, it is difficult to put its potential into effect when teaching sequences – with all good intentions to deliver progress and ensure coverage – that continuously introduce new content. Curriculum reform is an opportunity to identify which concepts are critical at specific points in children’s learning, and to suggest how they can be revisited in different contexts in each subject. The sequencing of the curriculum also makes a huge difference to children’s learning. When we talk about conceptual development, we are describing how children’s schema grows over time. Multiple examples of the same concept in different contexts, such as the water cycle in geography or nutrition in science, have the potential to grow deep and interconnected schemata when new learning is deliberately connected to prior understanding. Reforming the curriculum to prioritise content linked to the essential concepts of each subject would provide teachers with increased clarity about what to teach; guidance on the examples to use and the order in which to introduce them would support pupils in making significant and ambitious progress. Quality over quantity Identifying the building blocks of each subject, and designing the roadmap from novice to expert, requires substantial subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge from curriculum designers; it requires an understanding of the content, its connections, and the way knowledge is constructed. This poses an incredible – and often insurmountable – burden on primary teachers that is felt strongly across the sector. Whilst retaining some opportunity for curriculum innovation is important, so too is the need to collaborate with subject experts, so that any reforms to the national curriculum are evidence-informed and ensure that specifications focus on the key concepts in each subject. The government also has an opportunity to support primary teachers by investing in high-quality curriculum materials to accompany the implementation of any reforms. Be the change Our school ethos is ‘a place everyone loves to be’, and in 2018 we used this as a lens through which to look at our curriculum. Did children love learning it? Did teachers love teaching it? It was OK but…no. There was also a question bugging us – is this content the best use of the limited time we have with the children? So much of the ‘best bits’ seemed to sit outside the day-to-day curriculum. And then there was the amount of time (60 per cent? 70 per cent? More?) dedicated to maths and English. Was this really what our children needed to thrive in the 21st century? This was pre-Covid, and even then the figures around physical and mental health were stark. Not to mention the unique qualities of our community – 97 per cent of whom are multilingual. Making the decision to entirely overhaul your curriculum is not one to take lightly. It is fair to say there were more than a few raised eyebrows. But we were convinced it was the key to helping us reach our goals. If I were to do it all again, I’m not sure I’d change much, but we certainly learned a lot along the way, including... • Culture and ethos: we had spent time creating a culture of innovation at the school. One of our strategic goals was, ‘innovate’ and one of our guiding principles was, ‘thinking about what we do and why’. These mindsets being part of the fabric of the organisation meant people were on board with the changes from day one. • Time: I was fortunate to be able to free up one of my assistant heads for two years. One to research and one to implement. It is unthinkable now but, seven years ago, it was just possible. However you resource it, putting sufficient time into understanding what needs to change and then into implementing it is key. • Implementation: we staggered the introduction of different elements of the curriculum – starting with physical health. This allowed time to test and refine. It also meant time to invest in professional development. • Professional development: changing what we teach takes time. For us, we were moving away from the traditional curriculum and so there weren’t ready- made resources out there. We had to – and continue to have to – prioritise professional development to support curriculum knowledge. • Workload and wellbeing: making these changes and enacting them successfully in classrooms takes time and energy. We stripped away workload that had minimal impact on children to create space for teachers to focus on getting this right. • Storytelling: as with any successful change process, telling the right stories to bring people along with you is a game changer. Why are you making these changes? And what are the stories that bring it to life? Ben Levinson OBE is headteacher at Kensington Primary School (Primary School of the Year 2020), and chair of the Well Schools initiative. @mrlev tinyurl.com/tp-WellSchools 38 | www.teachwire.net