Most schools are now aware that there are changes ahead for the curriculum. The Curriculum and Assessment Review group has completed their consultations, and we are told, now bringing together the feedback to inform their future work. A first look at the findings will be available to schools early this year (2025), with a full report due later in the year.
In my previous blogs about the review, I’ve shared my ideas around some of the potential changes. In this blog, I’ll set out how we’re working here at Cornerstones to address some of the issues we know are coming. Here’s what we know and what we’re doing about it.
1. Slimming down curriculum content
During the curriculum roadshows there was much discussion and feedback about the difficulties of managing such a crowded curriculum. This sentiment reflects what schools tell us, that subjects such as history and English are overwhelming, both in terms of the amount of content and their ambition. So, we’re introducing some new mini history projects which teachers can easily fit into each half term. We’re also streamlining other subjects such as art and geography to a similar six lesson format so that teachers can more easily plan and teach the content of the curriculum.
2. Maintaining our focus on skills and knowledge
We know that Labour’s plan has always been to achieve a balance of skills and knowledge within the curriculum. We think this is great because this has always been important to us. Our curriculum is already based on a comprehensive knowledge and skills progression framework, which enables us to do this. When the new national curriculum is released, we’ll review our framework to make sure we have all the right skills and knowledge covered and match it to our curriculum so that you don’t have to.
3. Including even greater diversity
The ambition to make the curriculum more diverse, so that it reflects modern Britain, and its diverse communities and histories is a clear priority for The Labour Government. But it has long been something we’ve been working on. We’ve already made sure there is a diverse range of people and places children study as part of the Cornerstones Curriculum, and we work closely with schools to help them localise their curriculum. But we can always do better. So, we’re revisiting subjects such as history, geography and art to see if we can add greater diversity, including looking for opportunities for children to learn about people with disabilities and how they have contributed to past achievements and modern-day Britain. We’re also providing resources and guidance to help schools plan for local history studies which will also help them add important aspects of their local community history into their curriculum.
4. Prioritising opportunities for oracy across all subjects
Literacy has always been embedded within the Cornerstones Curriculum. We know that the Labour Government is keen to ensure children have the skills and confidence they need to be excellent communicators and have the skills they need to be employable and sociable.
So, as part of our revisions, we’ll make sure that there are greater opportunities for children to discuss, debate, present and articulate their thoughts and ideas. We’ll also make sure that there are more engaging ways to learn for example, through role-play and drama.
5. Closing the gap for children with SEND
Provision for children with SEND is a major issue for all schools. The curriculum review has a firm emphasis on helping children overcome barriers to learning the curriculum. While we already help teachers to do this by enabling our lesson plans to be adapted using Maestro’s functionality, we’re also looking at better ways to help children access the curriculum. More to come soon about this exciting development.
6. Helping schools reduce the workload associated with curriculum change
A mantra of the curriculum and assessment review is evolution not revolution. However, we know, that any change, no matter how small can have a huge impact on teacher workload. Many teachers are already letting us know that they feel incredibly frustrated by the prospect of the changes ahead. So, we promise to make the changes you’ll need to make sure your curriculum is fully up to date with the new national curriculum requirements. We’ll also provide you with the functionality through Maestro to continue to customise, adapt and use our curriculum flexibly and efficiently. We’ll also be here to support you every step of the way with our free online support, webinars and Help Centre.
7. Providing quality resources
A new curriculum means new resources. This is often a forgotten part of curriculum change. Resourcing the curriculum can also be expensive, time-consuming and frustrating for teachers who have already spent time and money buying or making the resources they need. So, for schools and teachers just wanting lesson plans or resources and not a full curriculum, we’ve developed Quick Teach. A new resource platform which teachers can access themselves without the need for a Maestro licence. As the curriculum changes, we’ll continue to add new resources to Quick Teach which cover new content of the curriculum.
Summary
Governmental change often means change for schools. It’s just something we can’t avoid. How much change is ahead, is still not 100% clear and we will have to wait a little while to see the nuts and bolts of what’s in store.
Our ambition is to help all schools face the curriculum review with clarity and confidence. We want to help save you time and keep your workload to a minimum. And we want to be there to help you when you need it. If you’re already a Cornerstones’ customer, then hold firm, we’ve got you. If you’re not, well then it might be time to give us a call and see how we can help.