As the new Labour government highlights the importance of a broad and balanced curriculum, what is meant by this often-used term and how can your primary school achieve a curriculum which is broad and balanced?
Aims of a broad and balanced curriculum
A broad and balanced curriculum provides all children with the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to develop into well-rounded, informed individuals. In my experience, there is little disagreement that a broad and balanced curriculum is best, however the focus on schools developing a knowledge-rich curriculum over the last few years has, in some schools, caused a narrowing of the curriculum with little time for skills, imagination and creativity. Yet it is having all of these things through a wide range of subjects which is the key to a broad and balanced curriculum.
A broad and balanced curriculum, especially for those children in lower socially mobile areas, is crucial, as a narrowed curriculum can restrict children’s life choices and opportunities. A rich diet of learning experiences is undoubtedly the best way to develop well-rounded, happy individuals.
So how can schools ensure a broad and balanced curriculum?
Here are some of the ways you can begin to ensure your curriculum is both broad and balanced.
- Work from your principles
Make sure your curriculum principles reflect your vision for a broad and balanced curriculum. If you make this clear and you can articulate your intent, everything else builds from there. For example, one of your curriculum principles might be, ‘Our curriculum ensures all children have access to a broad and balanced curriculum with equal emphasis on skills and knowledge, creativity and innovation’. - Exploit the potential of first-hand learning experiences
First-hand learning experiences or memorable experiences can really help provide a broad and balanced curriculum. For example, a visit to an insect house to study minibeasts, will cover aspects of science, technology, SMSC, geography and literacy. Offering such experiences throughout the year gives plenty of opportunity for breadth and balance across your curriculum. - Consider your long-term planning
When planning for the long-term, make sure you have a spread of focus subjects for topics and projects. For example, over the course of a year, you might include two history focused topics, one geography focused topic, one art and design focused topic, two science focused topics and so on. This doesn’t mean you do just those subjects, but that you give children a broad menu of subject focus across the year. - Be creative with your medium-term planning
Make sure that your medium-term plans include coverage and content for all curriculum subjects, even if some take more of a priority than others. Medium-term plans are the place you can begin to be creative and make meaningful links across subjects. So, for example, in a science focused project, still aim to include a range of content from other subjects, making links in meaningful ways. - Plan for English and maths across the curriculum
Make sure you plan for English and maths across the curriculum, looking for opportunities to use and apply both subject skills in foundation subjects. For example, calculating pulse rates in PE or retelling a myth or legend using narrative techniques in history. - Be innovative with your timetabling
Of course, there are some subjects which require set times in the school week, for example, PE or ICT, but other periods of the timetable can be more flexible. Don’t set them as history, geography and so on, set them as ‘topic’ or foundation subjects. This will give you more flexibility when planning what you need to teach over the course of a week or half term. - Make a place in the year for specialist curriculum weeks
Where your curriculum lacks balance in any one subject, use specialist weeks to boost coverage. Science, arts and technology weeks are already popular, but this approach could also apply to other curriculum subjects including geography, history, RE or PE. - Coverage
Keep track of your curriculum coverage. This can be done using simple tick lists or by using more effective online tools such as the coverage checker on our online platform, Maestro. This enables schools to check the breadth and balance of their curriculum quickly and easily, as well as providing evidence for external visitors such as Estyn or Ofsted. - Assess the foundation subjects as well as the core
It’s important that all subjects have status within the curriculum. Yes, English and maths should be assessed in more depth and more frequently, but not exclusively. That’s why Cornerstones provides a comprehensive skills and knowledge progression framework from nursery to year 6 in both core and foundation subjects. Cornerstones Assessment enables schools to track how each child is attaining and progressing across the whole curriculum from EYFS to Y6. - Do your research
To convince others of the benefits of cross-curricular learning and a broad and balanced curriculum, make sure you are armed with information and evidence. If you’re going to have to argue your case, then you’d better know your stuff. Take a look at these source materials and case studies for more information.
- Cornerstones case studies
- Ofsted: Teaching a broad and balanced curriculum for educational recovery
- Ofsted: primary schools ‘place too much focus on three-Rs’
- Ofsted School Inspection Handbook
We can help
And finally, achieving an effective broad and balanced curriculum is a big job and can take years to achieve. Remember, you don’t always have to start from scratch or do it yourself. Get help. The Cornerstones Curriculum offers schools the opportunity to shape a broad and balanced curriculum using over 180 broad and balanced projects split between our thematic and sequenced curriculums. Also, the Cornerstones coverage checker saves schools hours when tracking their curriculum coverage.
Take a look at the range of curriculum projects here.
