Implementing the New National Curriculum in your School: Leading the
Change
The presentation contains the following sections:
Headlines – The new curriculum
Subject specific headlines (the key changes in each subject)
Copyright statement:
This document should be used within the purchasing organisation only.
© Focus Education UK Ltd. 2014
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Implementing
the New National Curriculum
in your school:
Leading the change
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Contents
5
Big picture: Curriculum
16
Subject specific headlines
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Big picture:
Curriculum
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What is the curriculum?
• Be clear about the place of
the NC in your school.
• Be proactive and decide
what your curriculum is.
• Whilst the NC is statutory, it is
not the total offer.
• This requires thought and
commitment from the staff
team to decide what is right
for your children in your
context.
Educational visits,
Church/Collective
worship, Buddy
system, Peformances,
ESB(?), P4C(?), KS1
Science
The
National
Curriculum
‘The sum total of all learning and experiences
that influence development and progress.’
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Who does it apply to?
• To be taught in all maintained schools from
September 2014 (see timetable).
• It provides the standard against which
academies and free schools can
benchmark their curricula, where they
choose to develop their own.
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Key themes linked to implementation of
the new National Curriculum
•
The combination of strong leadership and high quality teaching is critical to
success.
•
Schools need to articulate and embed high expectations.
•
Schools should have the freedom to develop more innovative & effective
approaches to learning.
•
Government want to embed a sense of ambition and love of learning for its
own sake.
•
Schools need to be ambitious for all children; regardless of background.
•
The curriculum should maintain both breadth and balance.
•
Each school should develop its own curriculum to achieve the above
aspirations.
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Timetable for the primary national
curriculum changes: This year
Key stage
& year
Core subjects
(En, Ma, Sc)
Foundation subjects
NC Tests
KS1
Y1
Current NC
NC disapplied, so current or
new NC can be taught
Y2
Current NC
NC disapplied, so current or
new NC can be taught
Y3
NC disapplied, so current
or new NC can be
taught
NC disapplied, so current or
new NC can be taught
No changes –
national tests &
reporting
arrangements will
reflect current NC
Y4
NC disapplied, so current
or new NC can be
taught
NC disapplied, so current or
new NC can be taught
Y5
Current NC
NC disapplied, so current or
new NC can be taught
Y6
Current NC
NC disapplied, so current or
new NC can be taught
KS2
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Timetable for the primary national
curriculum changes: 2014 – 2015
Key stage
& year
Core subjects
(En, Ma, Sc)
Foundation subjects
NC Tests
KS1
Y1
New NC
New NC
Y2
Current NC
New NC
Y3
New NC
New NC
No changes –
national tests &
reporting
arrangements will
reflect current NC
Y4
New NC
New NC
Y5
New NC
New NC
Y6
Current NC
New NC
KS2
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Timetable for the primary national
curriculum changes: 2015 – 2016
Key stage
& year
Core subjects
(En, Ma, Sc)
Foundation subjects
NC Tests
KS1
Y1
New NC
New NC
Y2
New NC
New NC
National tests &
reporting
arrangements will
reflect the new NC
Y3
New NC
New NC
Y4
New NC
New NC
Y5
New NC
New NC
Y6
New NC
New NC
KS2
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What are the expectations
and intentions?
Aims
• to ensure that the new National Curriculum
embodies rigour and high standards and creates
coherence in what is taught in schools
• to ensure that all children are taught the essential
knowledge in the key subject disciplines
• beyond that core, to allow teachers greater
freedom to use their professionalism and expertise
to help all children realise their potential.
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Why a National Curriculum?
•
Comparative data suggests that we are falling behind other nations
with little improvement seen in our performance in mathematics,
science and reading since 2007
•
One in five currently leaving schools without meeting the expected
standards in English and maths
•
All high-performing systems strongly emphasise the fundamentals of
core academic subjects and allocate them substantial time – yet in
England we have been moving away from this approach
•
Our primary curriculum in mathematics and science focuses
insufficiently on key elements of knowledge and is not demanding
enough
•
England is among the countries with the lowest levels of participation
for 16 to 18-year olds, with fewer than 20% of young people studying
mathematics to 18
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What will it look like?
•
English, mathematics and science are the building blocks of education;
improving our performance in these subjects will be essential
•
Curriculum reform alone is not enough. No education system can be better
than the quality of its teachers. We need to improve the quality of teaching.
We also need to press ahead with other reforms such as the pupil premium,
the extension of free pre-school learning and the growth of academies and
Free Schools
•
In mathematics there will be greater rigour. There will be a greater emphasis
on arithmetic, and the promotion of efficient written methods of long
multiplication and division. There will also be more demanding content in
fractions, decimals and percentages
•
In science there is a stronger focus on the importance of scientific knowledge
and language and a greater emphasis on the core scientific concepts
underpinning pupils’ understanding. For the first time primary aged children
will learn about evolution and inheritance.
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What will it look like?
•
The proposed English programmes of study will embody higher standards of
literacy. Pupils will be expected to develop a stronger command of the written
and spoken word. Through the strengthening of the teaching of phonics pupils
will be helped to read fluently.
•
The study of languages to be compulsory in Key Stage 2
•
Replace the current ICT curriculum with a new computing curriculum with a
much greater emphasis on computational thinking and practical
programming skills
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Flexibility?
•
It is essential to distinguish between the statutory National Curriculum and the
whole school curriculum. All schools must provide a curriculum that is broadly
based, balanced and meets the needs of all pupils.
•
Maintained schools must follow the statutory National Curriculum and teach
the subjects specified at the appropriate key stages. Academies and Free
Schools have the freedom to depart from the National Curriculum. All schools
must teach religious education at all key stages, and secondary schools must
provide sex education.
•
There are detailed programmes to be followed in English, mathematics and
science.
•
In other subjects and key stages we are aiming to give teachers more space
and flexibility to design their lessons by focusing only on the essential
knowledge to be taught in each subject.
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Subject specific
headlines
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Overview
Like the rest of the new curriculum, the programme of study for English is knowledge-based; this means its
focus is on knowing facts rather than developing skills and understanding. It’s also characterised by an
increased emphasis on the technical aspects of language and less emphasis on the creative aspects.
English is set out year-by-year in KS1 and two-yearly in KS2. Appendices give specific content to be
covered in the areas of spelling and vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. These are set out yearly
across both Key Stages. Within each Key Stage, schools are allowed to introduce the content earlier or
later than described in the programme of study.
Spoken language
Speaking and listening (now called Spoken language) has been slimmed down. The initial draft of the new
English curriculum didn’t have a programme of study for spoken language. After widespread criticism,
one was added to the final draft and published version. Unlike Reading and Writing, it isn’t agedifferentiated; a single, brief programme of study covers the whole of the primary age range.
Drama has been reinstated as a statutory requirement after being relegated to non-statutory status in
earlier versions of the draft programme of study.
Reading
Reading is to be taught using phonic strategies only. There is no longer a requirement for pupils to build up
a sight vocabulary of high frequency words, or to use syntax and context when reading for meaning.
Pupils across the primary age range are now required to learn a range of poetry by heart and perform it.
At KS1 pupils are expected to re-read books to develop fluency and confidence in word reading. Pupils in
years 1 and 2 now need to be able to make inferences from their reading. (This was previously not
covered until year 3).
Writing
There are a significant number of new requirements in the area of writing. However, there are a couple of
reasons why this may not be as challenging as it might first appear. Firstly, many of the new learning
objectives cover activities that are already common practice in the classroom; they’re simply being
stated explicitly for the first time. Secondly, the new curriculum is more specific about what pupils should
learn in the areas of spelling, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation.
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Spelling
In all year groups the new programme of study for spelling consists of learning the spelling rules
given in the appendix, learning to spell the words in the word lists, and performing dictation. An
additional requirement in Key Stage 2 is using dictionaries to check spellings and meanings, and in
upper Key Stage 2 pupils are also expected to use thesauruses.
Handwriting
All references to creating and presenting texts using electronic tools such as word processing
programs have been removed. The rest of the requirements are very similar to the old programme
of study, but more detailed, especially in Key Stage 1.
Composition
There are more specific objectives to do with the various stages in the writing process. These include
forming and articulating ideas and planning, drafting, evaluating and revising texts. None of these
will be unfamiliar to teachers – in fact, they’ve always been part of good classroom practice, but
most of them are newly specified in the curriculum.
In upper Key Stage 2, pupils are expected to summarise longer passages of text.
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
There is a very specific list of content to be taught in each year group, described in the appendices
to the programme of study. Much of the new content, although newly specified in the curriculum, is
not actually new to classroom practice. Here’s a list of the new content that’s most likely to be new
in practice as well as in theory:
Year 1: Question marks and exclamation marks
Year 2: Adverbs, exclamations and commands, exclamation marks, present and past progressive
(continuous) tenses, apostrophes of possession (singular only)
Year 3: The present perfect tense
Year 4: Fronted adverbials
Year 5: Parenthesis and commas for clarification
Year 6: Punctuation between independent clauses
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English – KS1
 Only phonic reading strategies required
 No specific mention of group work or drama
strategies
 References to ICT/typing removed
 Learning of poetry (including reciting poetry)
introduced
 Specific spellings, e.g. days of the week
 Joined writing expected in Year 2
 Proof-reading of own writing
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English – KS2
 Phonic decoding expected to be secure by Y3
 No specific mention of group work, drama
strategies or use of ICT
 Learning of classic & modern poetry (including
reciting poetry) introduced
 Specific spelling rules to be taught
 Précising and dictation
 Greatly increased expectations in grammar and
punctuation (detailed appendices)
 Clearly defines editing and proof reading as two
distinct processes and skills
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Aims of mathematics
Before looking in detail at the specifics in
the mathematics curriculum, it is worth
spending some time considering the
three stated aims of mathematics.
These are the basis for all mathematics
teaching. How do these stand up in your
school?
Aims
Fluency
Reasoning
Problem solving
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Mathematics – KS1
 Rounding to nearest 10 removed from KS1


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
Y1: No data handling required
Y1: Counting & writing numbers to 100
Y1: Write numbers words to 20
Y1: Number bonds to 20





Y2: Finding fractions of quantities
Y2: Adding two-digit numbers
Y2: Telling the time to nearest 5 minutes
Y2: Make comparisons using < > = symbols
Y2: Solve simple money problems using £/p
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Mathematics – Lower KS2




No ratio required in LKS2
Written division moved to UKS2
No calculator skills included
Carroll / Venn diagrams no longer required




Y3: Formal written methods for + & —
Y3: Compare, order & + & — easy fractions
Y3: Vocabulary of angles & lines
Y3: Time including 24h clock & Roman numerals




Y4: Recognise equivalent fractions/decimals
Y4: Solve fractions & decimals problems
Y4: Perimeter/area of compound shapes
Y4: Know multiplication tables to 12 x 12
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Mathematics – Upper KS2
 No calculator skills included
 No probability included
 Data handling greatly reduced content




Y5: Use decimals to 3dp, including problems
Y5: Use standard multiplication & division methods
Y5: Add/subtract fractions with same denominator
Y5: Multiply fractions by whole numbers





Y6: Long division
Y6: Calculate decimal equivalent of fractions
Y6: Use formula for area & volume of shapes
Y6: Calculate area of triangles & parallelograms
Y6: Introductory algebra & equation-solving
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Animals, including humans
Yr 1
X
X
Yr 2
X
X
Yr 3
X
X
Yr 4
X
X
Yr 5
X
X
Yr 6
X
X
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X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Electricity
Earth & space
Seasonal changes
Chemistry
Forces & magnets
Sound
Light
States of matter
Properties & changes of materials
Everyday materials
Rocks
Evolution & inheritance
Living things & habitats
Plants
Biology
Physics
X
X
X
X
X
X
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Science – KS1
 Some physics topics moved to KS2 only: Light &
Dark; Sound; Forces; Electricity
 Reduce requirement to know life processes
 No requirement to make predictions or fair tests
 Drugs as medicines removed
 Care for animals/others/environment removed
 Changing materials with heat moves to KS2
 Y1: Naming of plants and animals added
 Y1: Seasonable changes & weather added
 Y2: Introduce simple food chains
 Y2: Some study of movement on different surfaces
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Science – Lower KS2
 Some movement between Y3 and Y4: Skeletons to
Y3; Teeth & digestion to Y4
 Some units delayed to upper KS2: Forces;
separating mixtures; insulators; adaptation
 Requirements reduced in electricity units
 All KS1 content for sound & light moves to LKS2
 Y3: Fossils and soils content added
 Y3: Flowers as part of the plant life cycle
 Y3: Light reflecting off surfaces
 Y4: Introduce changes of state & water cycle
 Y4: Common uses of electricity
 Y4: Changing environments
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Science – Upper KS2
 Some movement between Y5 and Y6: e.g. Health
& Heart to Y6; Reversible changes to Y5
 Some units introduced earlier in KS2: Water cycle;
sound as vibrations to Y4
 Micro-organisms no longer required
 Y5: Life cycles of animals added
 Y5: Reversible & irreversible changes
 Y5: Planets, gravity and other forces added
 Y6: Classification of plants and animals
 Y6: New unit on evolution
 Y6: Diet, exercise, drugs & lifestyle added
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Art
 Greatly reduced detail in content, with much
of the broader detail included in the aims.
 Specific objectives include only 4 areas:
• Use a range of materials (KS1)
• Use drawing, paint & sculpture to share
ideas
• Develop techniques in colour, line, form,
etc.
• Learn about the work of artists, craft makers,
architects and designers
• Create & maintain sketch books (KS2)
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Computing
 Significant change in focus from digital literacy
and applications to control and programming
 Introduction to creating programs in KS1 (e.g.
roamer style sequences of instructions)
 E-safety included in both key stages
 Logical reasoning and problem-solving to identify
flaws in instructions and correct them
 Complex instruction systems and variables
covered in KS2
 Understand and use computer networks, including
the internet (KS2)
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Design & technology
 Broadly similar requirements at both Key
Stages for main aspects, although
slightly less specific detail:
o
o
o
o
Design
Make
Evaluate
Technical Knowledge
 Statutory requirement to include cooking at
both key stages
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Foreign languages
 Newly statutory at KS2
 No requirement to study from approved
languages (as was originally planned)
 Can include classical languages
 No mention of intercultural understanding in
programme of study
 Focus on four skills of Speaking, Listening, Reading
and Writing
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Geography
 Reduced emphasis on investigative Geography
 Increased focus on geographical knowledge
 KS1: name continents and home countries
 KS1: Compare local geography to UK & world
 KS1: Introduce key geography vocabulary
KS2: locate world countries; UK cities & regions
KS2: Identify world feature, e.g. poles, tropics, etc.
KS2: Comparison study in Americas and Europe
KS2: Study climate, vegetation belts, land use,
natural resources & trade links
 KS2:Use compass points & 6-figure grid references



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History
 Reduced emphasis on sources &
methodology
 Relatively little change at KS1, with slight
increase in national focus
 Reduced emphasis on diversity & culture
 Significant changes in KS2 breadth of study:






Victorians/Britain since 1930 & Tudors removed
Stone age added
Romans, Anglo-Saxons & Vikings all required
Slightly changes to ancient civilisation options
A non-European study must be included
One period of study that stretches past 1066
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Music
 Slimmed-down Programme of Study
 KS1 focus on experimentation with voice and
tuned and untuned instruments
 Musical elements (pitch, tempo, etc.) renamed as
“inter-related dimensions”
 KS2: Introduce staff and other notation
 KS2: Develop understanding of history of music
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Physical education
 Slimmed-down Programme of Study
 KS1 focus on mastering basic skills and playing in
team games
 KS2 includes discrete skills and in contexts of team
games and competition
 Less focus on evaluation, focus moves to
improving personal bests
 Swimming remains statutory at either key stage
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