Curriculum for Wales - 4 Crucial Qs
2 - Should all six AoLEs be given equal weighting?
Our second blog in a series of 4 on crucial questions schools need answered.
Should all six AoLEs be given equal weighting?
What the 'White Paper - Proposals for a new legislative framework' says:
"[There is a] duty on the Welsh Ministers, Local Authorities, Governing Bodies and Head Teachers to deliver a curriculum that contains the named AoLEs."
That's as specific as any of the draft curriculum documents gets in terms of the weighting or prominence that schools give to each AoLE. Our new curriculum is underpinned by subsidiarity, where "power stays as close as possible to the action". So, if schools are going to deliver the curriculum that their pupils actually need they will need to decide exactly how to organise the content of their local curriculum.
Schools will need to decide:
- Are all AoLEs of equal importance to our pupils?
- Do our pupils need equal exposure to the learning contained in each AoLE at this stage in their learning journey, in order to excel?
- How will we organise our timetable around the time allocation we feel is required for each AoLE?
All of the above questions are value judgements. Judgements that will determine what teachers and schools feel is of greatest importance to the learners in their care. Judgements that highlight the breadth and depth of the autonomy that teachers and schools will have from September 2022. To decide on these concerns schools will also need to know the exact content that will be the focus of teaching in each. For example, should all KS2 pupils experience Shakespeare? Is it essential that pupils understand the origins and elements of democracy? Should pupils study the works of Picasso, Mozart, Dylan Thomas? Without a clear understanding of the content it will be impossible to accurately assess how much time each AoLE requires.
How much emphasis each school places on individual AoLEs and the content within, will have a direct effect on the quality of learning and clear implications for teacher recruitment, timetabling, professional learning, budget allocation and curriculum planning.
The potential implications for schools:
For all schools:
- Is the current allocation of time and prominence to each AoLE sufficient to address our pupils’ needs?
- Is the progression of our pupils within each AoLE sufficient?
- What more do we need to do to ensure progress against the AoLE Achievement Outcomes?
In addition, secondary schools should consider:
- How will our timetable need to change to allow for the time pupils need to excel in each AoLE?
What schools need now:
Headteachers and senior leaders need to be absolutely clear on what the goal is for the learning of each child, what the learning needs of each individual and the school population are as a whole, and what plans they need to make in order to marry the two.
Education Endowment Fund research¹ has shown that areas such as effective communication and self-regulation are crucial to closing the attainment gap in early years. So, for catchment areas of significant social disadvantage an initial weighting towards LLC and HWB may address real learner need in terms of progress. There is also significant evidence² to show that early success in reading has a remarkable impact on progress and learning across the curriculum, so a weighting towards LLC and the text heavy subjects may support mastery and depth of learning elsewhere.
Schools need to make informed choices about, not only what content to include in their curriculum, but also how much emphasis to place on each AoLE at every step of a learner’s journey through their schooling.
References:
¹ - https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/attainment-gap/#closeSignup
² - Matthew Effects in Reading: Some Consequences of Individual Differences in the Acquisition of Literacy – Stanovich, 2017.
Next blog on: Which research underpins the implementation of CfW?
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