Curriculum Development

Creativity and the primary curriculum

While the future direction of education policy hangs in the balance Dave Weston argues the case for keeping the creative ethos of recent primary reviews very much in mind

Curriculum choices

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

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

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?

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

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

Secondary curriculum: guide for governors

Modular changes to A-Levels and the introduction of diplomas are just a few changes that have come to the secondary curriculum since September 2008. David Marriott offers a related guide for governors

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

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

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

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

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

Personalised learning: the core curriculum

Delivering different pathways within your core curriculum can enable pupils of varying abililties and skills to follow a personalised learning route, say deputy headteachers Paul Ainsworth and Josephine Smith

Working with an International Primary Curriculum

Carol Hodge offers some ideas for activity based cross-curricular learning within an International Primary Curriculum (IPC)

How can we make science more exciting?

The government says that learning science should be more engaging and exciting. Crispin Andrews investigates their claim and questions how science can be made more fun for pupils

Sport spotlight: Schools football

This article looks at the English Schools Football Association (ESFA), which organises a range of football games and competitions for primary and secondary schools in partnership with the FA

The Children's Plan: the primary curriculum

For headteachers the new Children's Plan poses yet more new challenges, with possible changes to the primary curriculum, flexible school start and greater involvement between school and family. Angela Youngman investigates

Behind the buzzwords: Creativity

Demands for a more creative curriculum are emerging thick and fast, but what do we mean by this and how might it be achieved in teaching? Rachel Lofthouse reports

Observing, recording and planning young children's learning

What is best practice when it comes to facilitating young children's learning? Stephanie Mathivet, curriculum and standards manager for the Pre-school Learning Alliance, discusses this issue

EYFS: where to start

How does the EYFS framework fit into an early years setting in reality? How should early years education now move forward? Abigail Steel discusses

Raising achievement by transforming learning

In a bid to help students raise their achievement and know success, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust initiated Raising Achievement Transforming Learning (RATL). David Crossley explains the school-to-school mentoring scheme which allows teachers to learn from the success of others

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Curriculum Development