Curriculum Manager

Curriculum choices

This bulletin is about how you construct your students’ curricula and how you evaluate the success of the provision you make

Encouraging a reflective workforce

This edition considers the part that research and reflective practice have to play in school and professional development

The role of ICT in the curriculum

As we await the framework for ICT assessment and qualifications, and therefore clarification about whether ICT will be more fully integrated, or have greater stand-alone status as a subject, we consider how to assess the current role of ICT in your curriculum

Using assessment data to improve your school

One of the commonest things Ofsted inspectors recommend schools do to improve is ‘use assessment and student-progress data to inform curriculum and lesson planning’. This ebulletin offers a pragmatic approach, enabling both formative and summative functions to be well served

Assessing Pupil Progress (APP)

The context and potential significance of Assessing Pupil Progress are much wider than the introduction of procedures for standardisation and accountability. Below are some ideas for how you could maximise the impact of introducing APP to your school

A quick roundup of the main political parties’ school manifesto points

What do the four main parties (Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green) have to say about education?

Planning for effective learning

Angela Dewsbury looks at the role of teacher planning in successful lessons and learning events

Rarely cover and one-to-one tutoring

This first edition of our Curriculum Management E-bulletin deals with, first, reducing cover for absence and, second, one-to-one tutoring

Developing a curriculum for Assessment for Learning

This edition focuses on strategies for developing whole-school formative assessment or assessment for learning (AfL)

Reflecting on PLTS

Personal learning and thinking skills are an integral part of the secondary curriculum. We reflect on previous attempts to introduce cross-curricular strands to the curriculum and look at a few examples of PLTS in action

Developing the role of support staff to boost learning

Angela Dewsbury, editor of Curriculum Management Update, looks at how curriculum managers can work with support staff to boost the learning of their pupils

Changes to GCSE and formal assessment in general

This bulletin is about changes to GCSE assessment and to the whole edifice of qualifications in the UK. Technical details are given, and suggestions made about how to respond

The new Ofsted framework

Successive Ofsted regimes have made changes to the inspection framework. This e-bulletin looks at the latest one, which came into use in September 2009, and suggests some issues for you to consider

Facilitating a culture of collaboration and creativity

This is the first issue of Optimus Education's new fortnightly e-bulletin, Curriculum Management Update

Teaching primary schools MFL

Teaching languages in primary school will become compulsory in 2010. So what support and resources are available to teachers dealing with primary modern foreign languages?

Linking sport to positive behaviour

Teachers are becoming increasingly convinced that that taking part in regular physical activity can have a significant impact on children's behaviour. Crispin Andrews discusses

Integrating sports psychology into PE

Integrating sports psychology into the PE curriculum can increase motivation and improve performance, with benefits for students and the wider community. Lisa Symonds discusses and outlines ready-to-use motivation exercises

Helping students who want to work in sport

For students interested in sport, playing for or coaching a famous team are not the only ways to work in a vocational sport position. Lisa Symonds has advice on supporting students who want to work in the the sport industry

Developing an enquiry-based curriculum

Two teachers involved in a project to develop an enquiry-based curriculum in their school share their thoughts about the process. Victoria Bonner and Kerry Lane are both English teachers at Bedlingtonshire Community High School in Northumberland

Achieving global dimension: a case study

Sir John Lawes School in Harpenden, Hertfordshire shares how it has taken an all-encompassing approach to incorporating the global dimension both within and beyond the whole-school curriculum

Making global learning central to your curriculum

It is essential that schools help equip young people to live and work in the 21st century. Increase your understanding of when and where global learning can be included in your curriculum and how to deliver it to achieve maximum benefit, with in-depth advice from Douglas Bourn

How to develop independent student learning

Does combining SEAL, Philosophy for Children (P4C) and thinking skills seem like a recipe for effective independent student learning? If so, read Kate Mawer's description of William Parker School's curriculum development for Year 7s

Lesson planning: a case study

A whole-school approach to lesson planning gives teachers licence to take risks and be more engaging, encouraging well-paced learning, as Saint Benedict School and Performing Arts College in Derby discovered

The secret to successful lessons: planning

Curriculum managers' planning is vital for successful lessons. Lynn Maidment discusses her recipe for effective lesson planning

2012 Olympics: promoting primary PE

Schools can use the 2012 Olympics to promote sport, tackling PE participation problems. Primary headteacher Angela Youngman looks at how

Curriculum organisation: grouping subjects

Reorganising your curriculum into grouped subjects can encourage development in facilitated learning. Jim Donnelly explains

The future of primary maths

What does the future hold for primary mathematics following the Williams review? Caroline Slissolf looks at the review of framework in detail and asks how recommendations on primary maths training and specialism will translate into reality

Sport spotlight: Orienteering

Lessons in orienteering at school could provide cross curricular benefits to children of all ages. Lisa Symonds explores

A new curriculum for girls' PE

Girls are increasingly disengaged in PE. In order to combat this, Gerald Greggs explores an alternative curriculum for girls' physical education

Sport spotlight: Mini-basketball

Mini-basketball — basketball for young children — is a school sport played by millions of primary PE pupils across the world, under the age of 12. It was was introduced internationally in 1964

A qualification for life skills development

Do your pupils struggle to reap the benefits of GCSEs? Would your school benefit from courses which reward your students' personal effectiveness and social skills? Bedminster Down School in Bristol feels that it did

Using ASDAN to reward PSHE

The ASDAN curriculum offers pupils a unique opportunity to achieve recognition for personal and social development skills. Chief Executive Roger White charts the development and benefits of this curriculum framework and explains why it is as relevant today as when it started

Curriculum planning: a new start

Jim Donnelly looks at where schools can make a start on curriculum planning, in the light of the new Secondary National Curriculum which gives teachers a more flexible framework in order to raise standards

Inspiring interest in literature with Manga

Manga is a Japanese style of print cartoon or graphic novel. Angela Youngman looks at how Manga novels might be used to inspire children in school towards an interest in literature

Making personalised learning a reality

The Personalisation by Pieces (PbyP) system, a personalised learning scheme to give learners control over their own progression, is being used by forty schools around the UK. Its designer, former deputy head Dan Buckley, shares some of its achievements

Renewed support for headteachers

Raising standards and improving pupil progress are at the heart of every school's work, and the renewed Secondary Frameworks are aimed at helping headteachers and their staff and schools do just that, says Clive Bus, National Strategies National Director, Secondary

How can schools achieve a creative curriculum?

Chris Fenton enthuses about the possibilities of reintegrating the curriculum, and making it more creative and relevant to children

Advancing learning through KTP

The knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) at Bedlington Community High School aims to improve learning for staff and students at Key Stage 3. Anna Reid describes the two-year project and how it aims to develop an assessment framework for enquiry using ICT

The importance of subject-based teaching

Whilst a topic-centred approach to teaching has its advantages, we must not forget the central importance of subject-based concepts, says David Leat

Engineering diploma: a case study

This case study describes the journey of an all-girls school that piloted the first engineering diploma, hoping to encourage creativity, thinking skills and teamwork. Liz Allen, Head of Newstead Wood School for Girls in Bromley, describes their aims and experience

Delivering new diplomas: key curriculum issues

Diplomas can provide your students with a teaching and learning programme that helps to equip them with vocational skills - but only if curriculum managers know how to deliver this new qualification. Glynis Frater guides you through

Encouraging citizenship values through sport

Helping primary students engage with the key stage 2 citizenship curriculum can be challenging. One tactic is to use sport as a vehicle for understanding rules and fairness. This example looks at cricket

Sport spotlight: Cheerleading in schools

Cheerleading is the fastest growing spectator sport in Britain. A form of school athletics which has not always been popular in Britain, cheerleading is being recognised as a competitive sport which is exciting to watch

Vocational activities for SEN

Vocational and extra-curricular activities for students with special education needs is an important aspect of curriculum development. Michael Jones looks at one school's provision

Education employment law: statutory leave and pay entitlements

Do you know your way around educational employment law? Does your school's pay and remuneration package meet or exceed minimum standards? Tamara Ludlow gives a legal overview of essential information for both leadership teams and staff

Using data to target learner success

This case study showcases a school that uses management information systems (MIS) and data analysis to equip staff to take teaching and learning to the next level

Management information systems can transform teaching and learning

Management information systems (MIS) and the analysis of data can lead to significant improvements in teaching and learning - as long as curriculum managers analyse and apply the findings effectively when considering pupil achievement, says Anthony Powell

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Curriculum Manager