The changing curriculum and STEM
February 2010
You will find out about
• what‟s new and what‟s changing in the new primary curriculum
• linking the curriculum across primary & secondary
• opportunities and implications
In this session
The Primary Curriculum: What’s changed and why
Reasons for reform
• Need for the curriculum to
evolve to meet changing
needs
• EYFS provision secured and
secondary reforms completed
• Increased expectations on
schools
• Enormous changes in use
and application of technology
• 10 years since the last review
Response
• Children are at the heart,
supporting Every Child Matters
agenda
• Less prescription, giving
schools more flexibility
• Focus on meeting the needs of
all children and ensuring their
good progress
• Builds on current good practice
Key messages of the new primary curriculum
Meets the needs of
and promotes good
progress for all
learners
Is integrated with
teaching, learning
and assessment
Ensures a broad
and balanced
learning
experience
Ensures wellbeing
alongside academic
achievement
Secures essential
literacy and
numeracyAids transition from
early years, and
into secondary
Reflects increased
expectations of children‟s
ICT capability
School improvement is central
The new curriculum provides…
“…an opportunity for all primary schools to evaluate
their curriculum and think again about the teaching and
learning in the context of school improvement ”
Introducing the new primary curriculum
Feb 2010
QCDA and DCSF
Take the curriculum tour
The aims of the secondary
curriculum should be
extended to the
primary curriculum
to enable all
children to become:
• successful learners
• confident individuals
• responsible citizens
Curriculum aims
The essentials are embedded
throughout the whole
curriculum
They are:
• literacy, numeracy
and ICT capability
• learning and thinking skills,
personal and emotional skills
and social skills
Areas of learning
The full primary curriculum also includes religious
education as a statutory subject.
Reflect, discuss, respond
• What implications do these
changes have for your work?
• How can you support schools
using STEM as a way of :• Integrating ELL within the curriculum
• Developing cross-curriculum
connections
• Designing compelling learning
experiences
• Recognising STEM skills through
APP
The key outcomes
As a result of the new primarycurriculum, children are enabled to:
1. Achieve high standards and make better progress
2. Excel in the basics
3. Understand how to learn in life and work
4. Develop a commitment to learning throughout their lives, therefore
5. Breaking the link between disadvantage and attainment
Specifically, the secondary curriculum is intended to help young people to:
1. Achieve high standards and make better progress
2. Narrow the gap and enable those not achieving age-related expectations at age 11 to catch up with their peers
3. Have and be able to use high-quality personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) and become independent learners
4. Have and be able to use high-quality functional skills
5. Be challenged and stretched to achieve their potential
6. Have increased commitment to and enjoyment of learning leading to participation to 19 and beyond.
Specifically, the secondary curriculum is intended to help young people to:
1. Achieve high standards and make better progress
2. Have and be able to use high-quality functional skills
3. Be challenged and stretched to achieve their potential
4. Have and be able to use high-quality personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) and become independent learners & 6. Have increased commitment to and enjoyment of learning leading to participation to 19 and beyond
5. Narrow the gap and enable those not achieving age-related expectations at age 11 to catch up with their peers
.
Secondary Curriculum:
What has changed and why (2008)
•Greater flexibility and coherence
•New focus on aims, skills, key concepts and key
processes
•Less prescriptive content
•New curriculum opportunities
•Personalised assessment, e.g. Assessing pupils‟
progress (APP)
The secondary curriculum
Schools say
Many schools have taken advantage of the new flexibility provided
to develop a curriculum that better meets the needs of their learners.
In particular, some innovative approaches in the early part of key
stage 3 include:
• development of personal, learning and thinking skills to ensure
they‟re taught both discretely and through subjects
• dimensions that develop cross-curricular connections, help young
people make sense of the world and reflect the major ideas and
challenges that face individuals and society
• a different use of time that can help deepen learning and create new
kinds of learning experiences teachers working together across the
curriculum.
Learners say
When asked how the curriculum could be improved further, learners
said their priorities were:
• discovering how to become the person they want to be – developing
an identity, a sense of value and self belief
• understanding how to make and sustain relationships – especially
with family and close friends
• knowing what they need to get on in school, work and life –
qualifications and a range of skills – functional skills; personal,
learning and thinking skills; and other useful skills
• learning how to contribute and make a difference – being a positive
citizen in local, national and global communities
• experiencing a varied curriculum that allows for some personal
choice – 14 to 19-year-olds would like more opportunity to go more
in-depth within subjects.
Ofsted says
Research by Ofsted shows that the new secondary curriculum is having a positive impact on schools and learners.
In the report Planning for change: The impact of the new key stage 3 curriculum (June 2009), Ofsted found the following:
• the most successful schools are involving all staff in developing a vision of and model for a coherent whole-school curriculum. They are introducing the curriculum in a way that promotes coherence across knowledge, skills and understanding in subjects, underpinning these with the cross-curricular skills and dimensions
• leaders in these schools focus on making the aims of the curriculum central to the learning of all involved with the school. They involve teachers, and young people and their families in setting out what they want to achieve, and engage them in collaborative approaches to building their curriculum so that everyone understands it and feels they have a say.
Planning for change can be downloaded from
Ofsted‟s website at www.ofsted.gov.uk.
New GCSE Science Criteria (Sept 2011)
The revisions to the GCSE science criteria aim to:
• meet the aims of the government STEM agenda
• incorporate key elements of 14-19 curriculum developments
• meet the requirements of the GCSE qualification criteria
• update the content of GCSEs
• encourage innovative teaching, learning and assessment
• ensure that GCSEs complement the new Diplomas
• ensure that standards are maintained
• ensure the criteria do not put unnecessary barriers in the way of students with disabilities
• address issues about current GCSE science specifications raised by Ofqual.
Ofqual link - http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/2627.aspx
GCSE mathematics from 2010
QCDA is:
• implementing a new single GCSE in mathematics
• developing a second GCSE mathematics pathway based on a
linked pair of GCSE mathematics qualifications.
Pilot of a linked pair of GCSEs
• Each is distinctive and of comparable demand
• Together cover the programme of study
• 3 year pilot beginning 2010 alongside new GCSE
• Independent evaluation
• Ministerial decision about roll out (2015 at the earliest)
• ACME and JMC involved in development
• Unitary Awarding Bodies in England and Wales to offer pilot pair
Progression pathways 11-19+
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19+
16-19
14-16
11-14
Employment
11-14 key stage 3
Higher education Further education
Other work-based
learning
(eg BTEC, OCR,
NVQs)
Advanced
Apprenticeships:
apprenticeships
(work-based
learning)
Advanced Diploma
(equal to 3.5
A-levels;
Foundation and
Higher Diplomas
also available)
A-levels;
International
Baccalaureate
GCSEs
Higher Diploma (equivalent
to seven GCSEs at grades
A*-C)
Other work-related learning
(e.g. BTEC and others)
Young Apprenticeships
(work-based learning)Foundation Learning 14-19
Foundation Diploma
(equivalent in size to five
GCSEs at grade D-G)
Functional skills in all 14-19 learning routes
(Functional skills at Level 2 are required for both level Higher and Advanced Diplomas)
Key features of Diplomas
• To include:• learning in a „realistic‟ work environment/context
• 10 days in the workplace (generic employability)
• a project at all levels (extended project - a stand-alone qualification at Advanced
level).
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Advanced and Advanced Progression
Higher
Foundation
Available at
three levels
Generic (functional skills and personal, learning and thinking skills)
Principal (sector-related skills and knowledge)
Additional/Specialist (including NC subjects)
Three areas
of learning
Structure
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Principal learning Generic learningAdditional and
specialist learning
Work experience (minimum 10 days), project
Skills, knowledge and
understanding
central to the chosen
Diploma
Employer and
university designed
and endorsed
Functional skills:
English,
mathematics, ICT
Personal, learning
and thinking skills
Optional units
Can broaden and
deepen learning
programme
Clear progression
pathways
Review of GCE AS/A Levels
• Changes introduced September 2008.
• Stretch and Challenge• Assess quality of written communication through extended writing
• More challenging questions in all A2 assessments
• Introduction of A* grades for all A levels (not AS) - Summer 2010
• No structural changes made to the applied A levels – only
incorporation of stretch and challenge at A2 and A*
• Mathematics qualifications to be revised for first teaching
2011/2012- but include A* from Summer 2010
Diploma lines of learning
• Humanities
• Languages
• Science
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September 2008 September 2009
September 2010 September 2011
• Information Technology
• Society, Health and Development
• Engineering
• Creative and Media
• Construction and the Built Environment
• Environmental and Land-based Studies
• Manufacturing and Product Design
• Hair and Beauty Studies
• Business, Administration and Finance
• Hospitality
• Public Services
• Sport and Active Leisure
• Retail Business
• Travel and Tourism
Diploma line of learning first teaching:
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Phase 4 Development timeline
• Awarding bodies developing specifications
• QCDA curriculum guidance available March 2010
• Ofqual accredits principal learning qualifications in
summer 2010
• Specifications available in centres in autumn 2010
• (Add one year to timescales for Advanced Diploma
in science)
Project
Range of outcomes e.g. report of an investigation, dissertation,
artefact, performance
• All include written component that outlining research, justifying
decisions and evaluating outcomes
• Students produce presentation of findings
Extended Project is a qualification that
• is equivalent in size to about half an A level
• will provide a „tool kit‟ of skills that better prepare students for higher
education and employment
• Carries UCAS points, i.e. A* 70 points, A 60 points, B 50 points etc
Examples of projects
• Are ASBOs an effective method of solving antisocial
behaviour?
• Can science explain the nature of happiness?
• How important is body image in society today?
• Is digital switch over akin to decimalisation?
• Is surgery the answer to cosmetic defects?
• Origins of animal life - God or Science?
• What is the self-perception by Asians post 9/11?
Reflect, discuss, respond
• How can you support the aims of the new primary and
the secondary curriculum through STEM?
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