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?

David Harrison

david.harrison@qcda.org.uk

info@qcda.gov.uk