Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Enriching Life

Through Learning

There’s something wrong when a person is able to do some things really very well, but is not considered smart if those things are not connected with school success.” Howard Gardner

Enriching Life

Through Learning

What does the word curriculum mean to you? Do you think of the national curriculum, the subject programmes of study, a set of content to cover?

If the curriculum is to be inspiring and challenging and fit for the 21st century, we need to think of it as something more than that. It has to be dynamic, responsive to change, relevant and engaging.

'The curriculum should be treasured. There should be real pride in our curriculum: the learning that the nation has decided to set before its young. Teachers, parents, employers, the media and the public should all see the curriculum as something to embrace, support and celebrate. Most of all, young people should relish the opportunity for discovery and achievement that the curriculum offers.'Mick Waters, Director of Curriculum, QCA.

Enriching Life

Through Learning

QCA has developed a curriculum big picture to reinforce the concept of curriculum as the entire planned learning experience of a young person. This would include the lessons that they have during the school day, but also recognises how much young people learn from the routines, the events, the extended school day and activities that take place out of school. These are as much a part of the curriculum as the lessons.

“Work to create a curriculum for the future is moving from concern about content towards enabling schools to design and build a curriculum that will be most effective for their learners.” Mick Waters, Director of Curriculum, QCA.

Enriching Life

Through Learning

QCA has developed a curriculum big picture to reinforce the concept of curriculum as the entire planned learning experience of a young person. This would include the lessons that they have during the school day, but also recognises how much young people learn from the routines, the events, the extended school day and activities that take place out of school. These are as much a part of the curriculum as the lessons.

“QCA needs to balance the quest for knowledge, understanding, skills and personal development within a curriculum that includes events, daily routines and out-of-school activity,

as well as lessons.” Mick Waters, Director of Curriculum, QCA.

Enriching Life

Through Learning

“The future is challenging: can we build on recent progress and capitalise on the willingness in the system to see rejuvenation and modernisation? If we want to see a nation that improves its economic position, improves the life chances of its people and achieves social cohesion, we must.”

Mick Waters, Director of Curriculum, QCA.

Enriching Life

Through Learning

“The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done. “

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Swiss cognitive psychologist.

Enriching Life

Through Learning

What are we working on now?

•The content & organisation of the KS2 curriculum• The content & organisation of the FS/Year1 curriculum•How children learn & therefore how teachers should teach•Taking the curriculum outdoors•The skills that children need to learn•How we assess the impact of teaching and learning at Leven•Co-Development partner with QCA – working on new National Curriculum

ALVIN TOFFLER: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Enriching Life

Through Learning

What will we be working on in the future?

•The content & organisation of the Year 2 curriculum• The ongoing development of the curriculum (this is a job that will never be finished!)•The continual updating of staff understanding about how children learn•The development of the school grounds to facilitate the development of outdoor learning•The development of Philosophy for children (thinking skills, questioning skills)•The continual refining of how we assess what children have learned

ROGER LEWIN: “Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.”

Enriching Life

Through Learning

How do we ensure progression?•The Key Stage 2 curriculum is designed around a 4 year cycle•History, Geography, Art, PE, Music, Citizenship, PSHE, D&T,MFL, RE•Science is based on a 2 year cycle•Maths & English is based on the National frameworks for the age of the children

I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.Chinese Proverb

Enriching Life

Through Learning

The FS / Year 1 Curriculum……•The work’s too hard and there isn’t any sand•Learning environment•The curriculum•Ensuring progression

DOUGLAS ADAMS: “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”

Enriching Life

Through Learning

"Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century."

Perelman

Education is more than filling a child with facts. It starts with posing questions.D.T. Max