inside out curriculum
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THE INSIDE-OUT
CURRICULUM
INTRODUCTION
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 6
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 7
Introduction
Why 'The Inside-Out Curriculum'?
Any truly effective curriculum must have a built in flexibility and be
able to fully meet the needs of all the children, through all subjects,
and at all times. It should be designed with this in mind, therefore, to
meet the needs of all children, individual and groups – from the inside
to the outside.
This publication has been fully updated since the inception of the new
Department for Education and the coalition government. It still keeps
the same concepts of flexibility, creativity, and an emphasis on the
development of children’s life skills. It takes schools on an exciting
journey in creating a curriculum personalised for its own pupils, leading
to high levels of enthusiasm, interest, fascination … and progress.
In the dim and distant past, all teaching was planned through thematic
“Topic Webs” which indicated lessons that might be taught over the
coming term. The term teaching is used here deliberately, as there
seemed to be little emphasis on the child’s learning, just on the
teacher’s actions to impart knowledge.
There were very few references – if any – to subjects, and apart from
English and maths, very few basic skills were required to be taught.
Coupled with little or no assessment, lack of differentiation, and regard
to the needs of every child, this led to significant lack of progress, and
underachievement for very many pupils. I have no doubt that the
majority of children enjoyed what they did, but also little doubt that
the ways in which they acquired new knowledge left very little room for
the acquisition and development of basic skills.
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 8
The National Curriculum, national strategies and QCA planned units of
work took most schools down the route of teaching discrete subjects,
and many teachers would argue that this severely detracted from
children’s enjoyment and engagement in their learning. Yet standards
in core subjects have continued to rise … but with a corresponding loss
of standards in some subjects – notably geography or history – which
have lost their essential core elements.
This book is an attempt to combine the enjoyment of the thematic
curriculum with a stringent approach to raising standards – in key
skills, and in all subjects across the curriculum.
What do we mean by “the curriculum”?
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 9
The Main Purpose of this Book:
The National Curriculum lays down the minimum expectations of the
ground to be covered for Primary Schools. The QCA subject documents
go further, to some extent indicating the methods which should be
used, and making statements about these aims. In other words,
The National Curriculum has become a written prescription …
It starts with the book and is then taught to the children – and that
sums up the main dangers behind it: schools have become tempted to
teach the curriculum and to varying extents ignore the needs of
the child.
This book aims to turn this ideology on its head: let’s start with the
child and the needs of that child, and then turn to the book for help,
support, and guidance. This publication is not meant to be a statement
of intention, but rather a guide for schools when designing and moving
through the curriculum. It presents not an existing state of affairs, but
rather a curriculum of change and opportunity.
Through the use of this book, schools will become familiar with
strategies for
teaching the child, not the curriculum!
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 10
THE INSIDE–OUTCURRICULUM
CHAPTER ONE
Rationale for
Change
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 14
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 17
Ofsted and Curriculum Change
The Ofsted Inspection process has a renewed focus on the levels of
attainment which children reach – not only within core subjects, but
also across the curriculum. The following table1 shows how attainment
will be judged – with every indication that work in other subjects
should be taken into consideration – see especially the emboldened
criteria.
HIGH
Large majority for
final key stage
SIG+ as indicated
in RAISE overall
judgements
ABOVE AVERAGE
Majority for final
key stage SIG+ as
indicated in RAISE
overall judgements
AVERAGE
Generally not SIG-
LOW
General pattern is
SIG- This includes
National Challenge
benchmarks
School data SIG+
Pupils‟ work
indicates high
attainment
School data above
average
Pupils‟ work
indicates above
average
attainment
School data
indicates average
attainment
Pupils‟ work
indicates average
attainment
School data
indicates low
attainment
Pupils‟ work
indicates low
attainment
SIG+ for core
subjects
SIG+ for sizeable
groups of pupils
Key subjects
generally not SIG-
Sizeable groups
generally not SIG-
Key subjects
generally SIG-
Sizeable groups
generally SIG-
SIG- rare for core
subjects
SIG- rare for
sizeable groups ofpupils
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1 Tables taken from: Self Evaluation Matters, by the same author. Published by GAL Education 2009
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 19
2 This and all other tasks are replicated on the disk supplied.
2
Take in children’s work in English and the humanities, from a random
selection of children and age groups:
How well are we using the foundation curriculum to develop
pupils’ life-long skills?
o Is there enough emphasis on independent thinking and learning, or
over emphasis on worksheets and mundane tasks?
How well are high attainers in writing upholding these
standards in other subjects?
o Do children drop their own expectations when writing in history, for
example?
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 25
TASKHow good are the curricular opportunities offered by our school?
OUTSTANDING
The curriculum provides
memorable experiences
and rich opportunities
GOOD
The curriculum provides
well organised,
imaginative and
effective opportunities
SATISFACTORY
Some of the features of
the curriculum may be
good
INADEQUATE
The curriculum has
significant shortcomings
Broad range ofexperiences which
contribute to academic
and personal
development
Provides adequatepreparation for the next
stage of children’s lives,
whatever their starting
points
High quality learning inacademic and personal
development
May be at the forefront
of successful, innovative
design
Broad and balanced,
and pupils get their full
entitlement
Customised to meet thechanging needs of
individuals and groups
Adjusted effectively tomeet the needs of most
groups
Adequately matched topupils’ needs, interests
and aspirations
Does not adequatelymeet the needs of pupils
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 30
Creativity and Innovation
Creativity in the curriculum is not a just a measure of how well children
are doing in the creative and aesthetic subjects such as art, music and
dance. It also focuses on a creative approach to learning – children
becoming interactive and involved, not being “taught at” or having to
listen for long periods of time.
Creativity prepares pupils for life:
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THE INSIDE–OUTCURRICULUM
CHAPTER TWO
Key Principles
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 37
What are the rules?
The Programmes of Study in the National Curriculum remain a
minimum requirement. Remember that the National Curriculum
is an entitlement curriculum – in other words this is only a basic
minimum and schools should build on these basics when
designing the school’s own curriculum.
There is no allotted time for each subject, moving well away
from the days when each subject had around 32.5 hours per
year which had to be devoted to it! If it’s possible, and
appropriate, to minimise learning in a particular subject, then
this is totally acceptable. For example, if most children play an
instrument at home, then music might have a smaller time
allocation given to it. On the other hand, the school might decide
to use these strengths, and devote more time to this subject.
QCA guidance – not just the QCA documentation – is not
statutory, and neither is the Primary Strategy for the delivery of
literacy and maths; the use of the Primary Strategy, however, is
strongly recommended. Units of work can be from earlier or
later stages, depending on the standards of attainment of the
children. The school might, for example, choose to teach Year 2
children within the KS2 curriculum for word processing (ICT) but
within the KS1 curriculum for data handling.
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 40
TASK
TIMETABLING: What is the most effective way to
arrange learning in the light of the specific school
characteristics?
What are the immoveable aspects ofour timetable?
Can this be adapted in any way?
Are there any other barriers to
flexibility?
Can this be adapted in any way?
Are there any ways in which we can
be creative about time?
EG: Maths. Setting in maths each day has been effective. This isnot the time to change this.
EG: Maths usually lasts for just over an hour. This could be cut
to 45 minutes with consolidation later in the day or week.
EG: The hall is timetabled for PE, as is the ICT suite.
EG: Staff could “book” the ICT in advance for best use.
Consider:
An open timetable. This is fleshed out as the week
develops, or even in retrospect, to ensure a balance
across the weeks. (See Page 33)
One whole day each week given to the theme, in
addition to other sessions
Flexible playtimes – the class teacher takes the children
outside when they are ready.
Many primary schools are able to vary their approaches to time, to
take full advantage of each day. The main approach is to block periods
of time to teach cross curricular studies, including whole days outside
the classroom. An “open” timetable can contribute to this – see the
next page for an example.
THE INSIDE–OUTCURRICULUM
CHAPTER THREE
Big Decisions
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 44
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 49
Big Decisions …. Content
The National Curriculum offers choices as to some of the programmes
of study which will be covered. The following tables cover these
choices for history and geography. Which choices will be the most
appropriate for our children, after considering the discussions in the
previous chapters? Remember It is sometimes useful to make choices
which come from the experience, faith, culture, and expertise of
particular teachers in the school.
Key Stage One
Subject
History
Geography
Breadth of Study
Generic:
Children should study:
Changes in their own lives and the way
of life of their family or others around
them
The way of life of people in the more
distant past who lived in the local area
or elsewhere in Britain
The lives of significant men, women,
and children drawn from the history of
Britain and the wider world
Past events from the history of Britain
and the wider world
The locality of the school
A locality that has contrasting physical
and / or human features
Key Question
Specific:
Adapted for our school:
Examples:
Recent inward
mobility from
Eastern Europe
Local famous
person from history
Famous person
from history
relating to our
culture
What is our choice
of locality?
Why have we made
that choice?
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 50
THE INSIDE–OUTCURRICULUM
CHAPTER FOUR
Long Term
Planning
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 64
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 65
Chapter Four
Long Term Planning
Personalised Content
Once the tailored aspects of the curriculum have been decided, the
content of the thematic curriculum will be taken from the National
Curriculum Programmes of study, in Long Term and Medium Term
planning. The whole of the science programmes of study should be
covered in their entirety. However it is still possible – and advisable –
to personalise the content by making specific choices which reflect the
identity of the school. This can involve choices on:
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Y3 Charlotte’sWeb
Science
The IronGiant
Humanities
FabulousFood
Science
Humanities
Fire!Science
SuperSchool
Humanities
5,4,3,2,1!Science
RE:
Festivals
RE:
Families
Long
ThemeWeatherand the
Seasons
Sub Theme: Sub Theme: Sub Theme:
The following table represents how one Year Three class have arranged
their themes.
Six main themes have been identified and
balanced across the year. (It is only
coincidence that there are six half terms inthe year.) Each theme is planned for 4 – 5weeks, leaving some weeks “free”.
THEMES
Two RE themes areplanned each year,to be delivered in
the days beforeEaster andChristmas. The
school has ensuredthat the localsyllabus can be
covered this year,within otherthemes.
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010
Each class choosesone “Long Theme”which can regularly be
dipped into atdifferent times acrossthe year.
Keeping the main themesdown to 6 – 8, with shorttime spans, leaves room
for the teacher to makefree choices (Sub-Themes) about other
elements of thecurriculum. (See the nextpage for details).
Page 70
THE INSIDE–OUTCURRICULUM
CHAPTER FIVE
Planning The
Learning Journey
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 76
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 77
Chapter Five
Planning the Learning Journey
The themes are set, and the planning is outlined for each year group.
The next stage is to flesh out each theme into the actual teaching and
learning which will happen. There are several stages in this process.
STEP ONE:
A Mind Map to show the breadth of possible coverage. (For some
teachers, this will appear very similar to the Spidergrams of the 70s
and early 80s.) It is important to do this exercise quite quickly, and
not deliberate too much about it. Contents at this stage are a “sweet
shop” of ideas, and may not all be used.
The teacher plots in all ideas, to see which subjects naturally come to
mind. It is not important at this stage to cross check with the NC
document for other subjects than the main driver – this will be done at
a later stage. Avoid dragging in subjects where links are tenuous; it
doesn’t matter if a subject is not taught within a theme.
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 83
STEP SIX:
Planning sessions of learning
The first thing to bear in mind here is that the word session has been
deliberately used in place of the more usual word lesson. This is
because each session may last over a number of traditional lesson
spaces on the timetable – perhaps a whole day, perhaps two or three
afternoons.
Each session is a mini guided purpose or guided question to take
the children’s learning forward.
Each session has key teaching points
Each session has a learning task through which children can
demonstrate their learning
Learning outcomes are differentiated for the children to give both
support and challenge
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 85
Challenge for the teacher:
It is a challenge to provide the correct amount of guidance without
providing too much direction. Direction is needed to help learners
identify areas of difficulty but too much direction detracts from their
sense of ownership of the learning project.
The discovery approach in practice:
Kolbs learning cycle
Step One:
• Children are made aware of what they know and what they don’t
know about any theme. They then consider what they are going
to learn. Learners are stimulated to think, and make small steps
to self direction.
Step Two:
• Children consider how they are going to find out about things
they don’t know. They make the first steps in discarding sources
and making appropriate selection. They have to think about
issues related to types of data, ease of sourcing, etc.
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 86
THE INSIDE-OUTCURRICULUM
CHAPTER SIX
Recording and
Assessment
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 90
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 91
Chapter Six
Recording and Assessment
As you have plotted where the National Curriculum Programmes of
Study will be taught in detail, you already know that you have full
coverage of the content. This will be reinforced in the medium term
(learning journey) planning. At the end of each theme of work,
highlight or tick what you have actually covered using a colour code
for each year group. It is best to do this on a photocopy of the National
Curriculum. This record then travels with the children throughout
school.
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 93
Use Default Assessment
Avery simple way to record assessment in foundation subjects, is to
make use of the default assessment strategy. In the examples below,
planning was differentiated to different NC levels – children work by
default at these levels. So, we can see that Sarah works at a higher
level in science than she does in ICT.
SCIENCE L1
Una Verona
William Xanthes
Yolande Zarin
Oliver Peyton
SCIENCE L2
Arron Blaydon
Carol Dennis
Eric Flynn
Quentin Rhodes
SCIENCE L3
Graeme Harris
Imogen Jones
Kerry Lamb
Mary Norton
Sarah Teasdale
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THE INSIDE–OUT
CURRICULUM
CHAPTER SEVEN
Skills Ladders
and Sample
Plans
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 98
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 99
Chapter Seven
Skills Ladders and Sample Plans
NB: Example only. The full skills ladders can be found on the
attached disc. Sample plans are also reproduced on the disc,
rather than within this publication. [GAL Education have
produced a working electronic copy of the skills ladders
including the APP AFs. Visit the website for details]
The skills ladders on the following pages take subject specific
skills from the back of the National Curriculum document,
and break them down into smaller components, as an aid to
planning.
As an example, a teacher planning some history to support
learning might decide to focus specifically on chronology,
rather than planning or presenting evidence. By looking at
the skills table, this teacher will be able to quickly identify
appropriate learning and teaching points and activities.
Assessment of children’s learning will, therefore, be against
these skills, and not against any specific scientific
knowledge.
NB: Assessment in all subjects other than English, maths
and science should be from broad attainment targets, and
not from separate components, which are included here as
an aid to planning, differentiation, and challenge.
© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 100
HISTORY
Chronological understanding
LEVEL 1
Can place a
few events
and objects in
order
Use everyday
terms about
the passing of
time
LEVEL 2
Use terms
concerned with
the passing of
time
Use this to place
events and
objects in order
LEVEL 3
Realise that the
past can be
divided into
different periods
of time
Recognise some
similarities and
differences
LEVEL 4
Describe
characteristic
features of past
societies and
periods
Identify changes
within and across
different periods
LEVEL 5
Describe
features of
past societies
and periods
and make links
between them
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© Liz Greensides Autumn 2010 Page 103
Bibliography
Stenhouse, L (1975)
An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development
Published by Heinemann Educational Books Ltd
Raths, James D (1971)
Teaching without specific objectives.
Educational Leadership April 714 – 720
Excellence and Enjoyment
DfES Publications
Ref: DfES/0377/2003
The National Curriculum
Greensides, Liz (2009)
3D Evaluation
GAL Education
Greensides, Liz (2009)
Self Evaluation Matters
GAL Education
Greensides, Liz (2010)
Make Monitoring Matter: A diagnostic approach to school improvement
GAL Education
For information about other publications, products and services
provided by Liz Greensides and GAL Education, please visit our website
www.gal-education.com