Six Steps of Curriculum Design Designing a curriculum is not easy. It is a complicated process that needs to be carefully thought through and involves much strategic decision making. With over 2000 schools now using the Cornerstones Curriculum, we have identified six crucial steps of effective curriculum design. These steps can be used by any… Read more
Cornerstones are excited to launch our new events held in venues around the coast. Each half-day event is FREE and includes lunch and refreshments. Who’s it for? How to design your primary curriculum is for primary headteachers, senior leaders and subject leaders at any stage of curriculum development, who want to learn the essential steps to… Read more
The importance of the much-used Ofsted term ‘curriculum intent’ and practical tips to help you achieve yours. Unless you’ve been hiding away for the last 12 months, you’ll most definitely have heard the phrase ‘curriculum intent’ by now. To its credit, the inspectorate has certainly done much to clarify the term, and debunk myths around… Read more
The new inspection framework focuses on how well schools design and deliver a broad, balanced and ambitious primary curriculum that values all subjects.
With inspectors undertaking ‘deep dives’ into subjects when judging curriculum quality, it’s natural to wonder how your curriculum coverage and progression will fare under scrutiny.
The good news is, Cornerstones has been ahead of the game in terms of making explicit the knowledge, sequence and progression of subjects in your curriculum. So if you’re a school using our materials and are now using Curriculum Maestro, you’ll already have access to the curriculum and development tools that deliver what Ofsted are looking for (read on to find out how).
‘The body of knowledge that children gain at the end of a topic should be deeper and wider than what is outlined on the knowledge organiser.’ In this blog, Caroline takes a closer look at a resource that’s gaining popularity in primary schools: the knowledge organiser. Have you noticed that knowledge organisers are making more… Read more
In this blog, Caroline Pudner introduces the new knowledge-rich curriculum projects from Cornerstones, explaining the rationale behind them and benefits for primary children. In her speech at the NAHT conference in May, Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, told schools that they do not need to rush to redesign or change their curriculum in light… Read more
Caroline talks to Mel Moore, Curriculum Director, about how to successfully thread big ideas or, as Ofsted call them, ‘larger concepts’ through a primary curriculum. We explore the role they play in the curriculum intent stage of planning and Mel shares her tips for ensuring coherence and connectivity throughout curriculum planning.
In the final episode of three special editions, Caroline talks to Katharine Birchall, Curriculum Lead and teacher at Reedness Primary School about her school’s curriculum journey using Cornerstones. Katharine shares her tips for using Cornerstones in a small school with mixed-aged classes and describes the positive impact on staff and children of adopting and adapting a curriculum to suit their unique setting.
A blog about the Cornerstones Curriculum, then and now.
Tom Sherrington wrote a great blog, Designing Curriculum: Values, quality, preferences-and sofa theory and it got me thinking that it was time to share important information about the Cornerstones Curriculum of now. You see, we’ve changed.
