Proposals for Wales Curriculum 2008
This document presents the views of the Education Effectiveness Service in the City and County of Swansea.
Whilst many of the proposed changes are commendable and will be welcomed by teachers, we feel that it is deeply regrettable that both development work and consultations appear to have taken place within the existing subject framework. Thus the declared intentions of the Welsh Assembly Government to create ‘a single coherent framework for curriculum, assessment and qualifications’ and to have subject orders which ‘are manageable and reflect whole curriculum characteristics’ are put in jeopardy. There are very few indications that the curriculum has been looked at as a whole. Manageability and coherence will never be achieved fully until the National Curriculum is examined and reviewed in the same way as, for example, a teacher of 30 seven year olds, a Primary headteacher or a head of Year 7 trying to provide a progressive, continuous and stimulating curriculum to meet the wide range of needs and interests of the pupils in our classrooms.
The following points elaborate the above as succinctly as possible.
- In general the proposals represent a missed opportunity for a more radical and far-sighted review reflecting both the spirit and the content of ‘The Learning Country’.
- Many of the changes to the subject orders are ‘fine tuning’ and do not address the issue of content overload. Whilst each subject order has much to commend it, the issue of ‘coverage’ will still inhibit the creativity of teachers in their quest for learning experiences of high quality.
- Whilst the Foundation Phase is already inspiring many teachers, there is little in the new orders that is likely to impact quickly and positively on pupils’ learning in KS2 and KS3 through improving the quality of teaching.
- The proposed curriculum will still leave too little opportunity for schools and individual teachers to respond to pupils’ needs. More emphasis must be placed on teachers’ freedom to teach in a way that best suits individual children and maximises their learning. The ‘subject content coverage’ framework still discriminates against children with ALN.
- It must be remembered that, between the ages of 3 and 11, most of our children in Wales will be educated in Primary schools. The proposals do very little to promote coherence within the Primary phase.
- There is a very real probability of discontinuity between the Foundation Phase and KS2. Unlike the Foundation Phase, there is no clear educational and philosophical rationale for KS2. Not enough recognition has been given to this vitally important transition particularly in relation to the development of skills, attitudes and dispositions. Even the name ‘KS2’ emphasises the discontinuity in the absence of a ‘KS1’.
- In addressing the previous point, it is essential that a clear overall statement is produced, emphasising that from the age of 7, the subject orders should be used to develop both key skills and subject skills. In other words, skills are developed through subject content. To assist in this, the Skills Framework should be made statutory as soon as possible.
- Reference to Key Stages (therefore ages) are unhelpful and should be removed from the Skills document.
- There must be a precise alignment between the Skills of the 2008 curriculum and Estyn’s Key Skills. This surely must be an opportunity to remove, rather than increase, the current confusion and insecurity.
- Bilingualism should be given the same high status within KS2 and KS3 as it is currently afforded within the Foundation Phase.
- There is a danger that ‘number’ as a key skill will be interpreted more narrowly than numeracy. It is difficult to understand the reasons for this proposed change.
- The subject orders should make it clear that creativity and creative skills are integral to Thinking Skills.
- The framework still does too little to address the real issues of continuity and progression from KS2 to KS3.
- Too little attention has been given to assessment for learning. There is still an over emphasis on summative testing and levelling rather than on methods of assessment that support learning for individual pupils.
- The format of level descriptions is unhelpful. A continuum would be more appropriate.
- Large ‘overview’ posters are needed to communicate clearly, both to the profession and the public, key and inspirational messages about the nature of the curriculum in Wales.
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