CONSULTATION
RESPONSE
Department for Education
Informal consultation on the National Curriculum draft
Programmes of Study for primary English, mathematics and
science
August 2012
1. The NASUWT welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the informal
consultation on the draft Programmes of Study for primary English,
mathematics and science.
2. The NASUWT is the largest teachers’ union representing teachers and school
leaders in the UK.
COMMENTS
3. The NASUWT notes that this is just an informal consultation and that a formal
consultation about the draft Programmes of Study will be conducted later in
the year. Therefore, the exact purpose of the consultation is unclear. For
example, it is not clear how feedback from the informal consultation will be
used and whether it will result in any changes to the draft Programmes of
Study or the National Curriculum reforms more generally.
4. The NASUWT contributed to the Department for Education (DfE) consultation
meetings
that
were
held
in
February
and
March
to
discuss
the
recommendations made by the Expert Panel. The Union was well-represented
by practitioner members and officials at each of the five meetings to which it
was invited. As a result, the NASUWT has a very clear picture of what was
discussed at each meeting and the views of those present. The NASUWT also
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held consultation meetings with teachers and school leader members and
attended other curriculum-related events.
5. The DfE did not share drafts of the Programmes of Study with teachers and
school leaders who attended the consultation events about the Expert Panel’s
recommendations, even though some of the questions for discussion at those
meetings focused on the Programmes of Study, including, for instance, the
organisation of the Programmes of Study. Michael Gove’s letter to Tim Oates,
Chair of the Expert Panel, setting out the Coalition Government’s plans for the
National Curriculum, takes no account of the views expressed by the vast
majority of teachers and school leaders who participated in the DfE
consultation meetings and other curriculum-related events. The proposals set
out in the letter also ignore the issues raised in the NASUWT’s written
submissions to the DfE. All of this suggests that Ministers are not listening to
the views of teachers and school leaders but are pursuing reforms that have
been predetermined.
6. Feedback from teachers and school leaders indicates that they are extremely
worried about the impact that the planned reforms will have on education in
the future. They believe that, if implemented, the reforms will undermine
education standards, alienate learners and de-professionalise teachers. In
light of this, the NASUWT urges the DfE and Ministers to delay the curriculum
reform process so that full and proper account is taken of national and
international evidence about the curriculum. This should include a proper
examination of the recommendations made by the Expert Panel for the
National Curriculum review. Teachers and school leaders should also be
actively engaged in the reform process and decisions about National
Curriculum reforms should draw on their professional knowledge and
expertise.
7. The timescale for the informal consultation is very short and the timing of the
consultation (at the end of the academic year) means that the NASUWT has
not been able to consult teachers and school leaders widely. However, the
Union has consulted members of its Primary Advisory and Education
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Committees. This response includes some of the key concerns about the
Programmes of Study that members of these Committees identified.
8. The NASUWT will be organising focus group events for teacher and school
leader members in the autumn. This will enable us to provide a more
substantial response to the consultation. The Union would hope that such
feedback will feed into and influence the National Curriculum reform process.
Aims, values and purposes of the National Curriculum
9. In its previous written submission, the NASUWT stressed the need for the
National Curriculum to build from a clear set of aims and values and for the
purpose of the National Curriculum to be clear. The NASUWT agreed with the
Expert Panel’s recommendation that aims should be expressed at three levels:
as system wide aims for school curricula, more particular purposes for school
curricula and goals in Programmes of Study.
10. The existing aims, values and purposes of the school curriculum that are
published on the DfE’s website1 provide a useful starting point for considering
the aims, values and purposes of the National Curriculum at system-level,
school level and as goals in Programmes of Study. These aims, values and
purposes were established following extensive consultation with teachers, and
other key stakeholders. The NASUWT believes that stakeholders should be
consulted about the aims, values and purposes of the National Curriculum.
The Union recommends that this should include an examination of the Expert
Panel’s recommendations about the aims and purposes of the curriculum and
assessing whether the existing aims and purposes of the curriculum need to
be revised.
11. It is extremely disappointing to see that the draft Programmes of Study for
primary English, mathematics and science have been drafted before the aims,
values and purposes of the National Curriculum have been agreed. This points
1
Web link: www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/b00199676/aimsvalues-and-purposes/aims.
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to a fundamental weakness in the planned reforms. The NASUWT urges the
DfE and Ministers to suspend further work on the Programmes of Study until
the aims and purposes of the National Curriculum have been agreed.
12. The NASUWT notes that the introduction to each draft Programme of Study
includes reference to purpose of study, aims, spoken language, school
curriculum, inclusion and Attainment Targets. However, the information does
not link to aims, values and purposes for the National Curriculum and school
curricula. The goals for Programmes of Study should follow from the agreed
aims, values and purposes for the National Curriculum and school curricula
and they should influence and shape the design and content of the
Programmes of Study.
Breadth, balance and relevance
13. In its written submission to the DfE consultation on the recommendations of
the Expert Panel, the NASUWT said that the National Curriculum should set
an entitlement for every pupil to receive a broad, balanced and relevant
curriculum. The Union also said that the entitlement should include
opportunities for practical learning that are appropriate to children’s needs, and
the development of skills and dispositions such as social and emotional skills,
critical, creative, independent thinking and problem solving skills. The
NASUWT rejects the idea that breadth, balance and relevance can be
achieved solely through the study of academic subjects.
14. International evidence from the world’s leading nations emphasises the
importance of a curriculum for the 21st Century that recognises breadth and
balance as an entitlement.2 International evidence also stresses the need for
curricula to cover four broad areas of learning:

ways of thinking: creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, decisionmaking and learning;

ways of working: communication and collaboration;
2
OECD (2012), Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century: lessons
from around the world, Paris, OECD..
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
tools for working: information and communications technology (ICT) and
information literacy; and

skills for living in the world: citizenship, life and career, and personal and
social responsibility.3
15. The NASUWT believes that the National Curriculum should provide an
entitlement to these broad areas of learning. The Union notes that education
systems that are judged to be high performing in international assessments,
for example Singapore, are seeking to introduce national curricula that
provides opportunities for students to take a more active role in their learning
and develop creative and entrepreneurial skills.4
16. As they are currently drafted, the Programmes of Study fail to provide pupils
with an entitlement to the forms of learning cited that international evidence
identifies as important. There is a real danger that the drafts will actually lead
to a much narrower curriculum. For example, the draft Programmes of Study
are likely to take up a substantial amount of teaching time, making it very
difficult for schools to incorporate the other National Curriculum subjects and
broader areas of learning into the curriculum. The NASUWT believes that the
current drafts need to be revised substantially and that the revised
Programmes must support a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum as a
whole.
Learners’ needs
17. Feedback to the NASUWT indicates that many teachers and school leaders
believe that the draft Programmes of Study and National Curriculum reforms
more generally take insufficient account of learners’ needs. The National
Curriculum Programmes of Study should provide the flexibility to allow
teachers to make effective use of their professional skills, knowledge and
3
Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills project, referenced in OECD (2012), ibid.
Further information can be obtained from www.atc.21s.org.
4 The evolution and nature of school accountability in the Singapore education system, in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, Volume 22, pages 275-292, 19 August
2010. Published online by Springer (page 279).
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expertise to take account of pupils’ abilities and level of understanding. There
are concerns that the drafts encourage styles of teaching that will not suit
many pupils and that this risks disengaging pupils from education. The
NASUWT emphasises the need for the Programmes of Study and National
Curriculum reforms more generally to be based on evidence about how
children learn and develop. The Union urges the DfE to review how the
reforms will take full and proper account of pupils’ needs.
18. Linked to these points, teachers and school leaders said that there would be
significant work involved in transforming the Programmes of Study into lessons
that are relevant to and engaging. The NASUWT stresses the need for the
National Curriculum to be designed in a way that supports teaching and
learning, promotes the professional autonomy of teachers and avoids
unnecessary bureaucracy and workload.
Year-by-year curriculum
19. Like many other respondents to the National Curriculum review, the NASUWT
opposes the plan to introduce a year-by-year National Curriculum in primary
mathematics, primary science and KS1 English. Teachers and school leader
members have told the NASUWT that it is important for teachers to have the
flexibility to teach ideas, including mathematical ideas, over time and in
different contexts. Given the opposition to the original proposal from both
professionals and experts, the decision to introduce a year-by-year curriculum
must be challenged. The NASUWT urges the DfE to review and revise the
draft Programmes of Study and that curriculum content be organised on a key
stage basis.
Content and level of prescription in the draft Programmes of Study
20. Feedback to the NASUWT indicates that teachers and school leaders have
major concerns about the detail, content and level of demand of the draft
Programmes of Study. They expressed particular worries about how the
Programmes would impact on some groups of learners.
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21. Teachers identified the Programme of Study for English to be especially
problematic. They noted that speaking and listening is absent from the draft. In
contrast, the English Programme of Study for the 1999 curriculum includes
speaking and listening. As a result, the current draft omits a range of important
knowledge, skills and understanding from the curriculum. For example
teachers identified the references in the 1999 Programme of Study to group
discussion and interaction, and opportunities to ‘use language in imaginative
ways and express feelings when working in role and in drama activities’ as
being extremely important. The NASUWT believes that this omission reflects
an approach to curriculum reform that seeks to remove any reference to skills
from Programmes of Study. This is extremely dangerous as it suppresses any
recognition of individuals’ needs and of the importance of skills and aptitudes
such as working collaboratively and creativity. The Union urges the DfE to
undertake a radical review of the National Curriculum design process so that
the
curriculum
recognises
the links between
knowledge,
skills and
understanding. In relation to the draft Programme of Study for English, the
NASUWT recommends that the Programme is revised to include an explicit
section for speaking and listening and that this include specific reference to
drama and creative speaking and listening activities.
22. The draft English Programme of Study places great emphasis on the teaching
of phonics. The NASUWT opposes the Government’s plans to increase the
focus on phonics, including the introduction of the phonics screening test.
Teachers must be free to use their professional judgement about the
strategies that they use to help children learn to read. In 2010 the Union
undertook a survey of members views on the Government’s plans to introduce
the phonics screening check. The survey findings provide clear evidence of
the profound concerns about the way in which the Government planned to
embed the use of systematic synthetic phonics in schools.5
5
NASUWT (2011), Phonics Screening Check – Survey Results, NASUWT, Rednal.
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23. The introduction of the phonics screening test, its inclusion in the Ofsted
inspection framework and, now, its inclusion in the draft Programme of Study
indicates that Ministers are interfering very directly in the curriculum
development process. This undermines Ministers’ pronouncements that
Government should not tell teachers how to teach. The NASUWT believes that
the draft English Programme of Study should be amended and that references
to the teaching of phonics should be removed.
24. The NASUWT is extremely concerned about the impact that the draft
Programme of Study would have on some groups of learners, most notably
some pupils with SEND and pupils with EAL. As indicated above, the
curriculum content pays no attention to pupils’ different needs. Focusing on the
inclusion of systematic synthetic phonics within the Programme of Study for
English, feedback to the NASUWT indicates that teachers are worried that
some learners would experience significant difficulties in accessing the
curriculum. Teachers stress the importance of using their professional
judgement to determine how they should best meet pupils’ needs. The
NASUWT urges the DfE to undertake a review of effective teaching strategies
for helping pupils with (1) EAL and (2) SEND to read. The results of the
analysis should be shared with teachers and school leaders so that they can
keep up-to-date with research and evidence about good and effective practice.
The NASUWT believes that it should be left to teachers to determine how they
use this evidence in their teaching practice.
25. The NASUWT agreed with the Expert Panel’s recommendation that oral
language development should be included in the National Curriculum and that
it should include both discrete and focused elements within English and across
National Curriculum Programmes of Study. The Union is concerned that the
drafts of the Programmes of Study do not include content that relates to oral
language development and recommends that the Programmes are revised to
include explicit references to oral language development. This should include
references to oral language development in the content of each Programme of
Study as well as in any overarching aims or goals at the beginning of the
Programme.
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26. The NASUWT has a number of concerns about the Programme of Study for
Mathematics. The draft Programme of Study no longer includes ‘using and
applying mathematics’. Feedback from teachers indicates that there are
significant concerns about this omission. Teachers said that it is crucial that
pupils have opportunities to use and apply maths as this helps to build their
understanding. Not including the use and application of mathematics within the
Programme of Study sends a very strong signal that it is not important. In the
context of a high-stakes accountability system and very detailed National
Curriculum content, there are fears that there would be very few opportunities
for pupils to use and apply what they have learned. The NASUWT
recommends that the Programme of Study for mathematics is revised and that
using and applying maths is included as an area of study.
27. Teachers noted that significant elements of the current KS3 curriculum for
mathematics have been included in the draft Programme of Study for primary
mathematics. This will place inappropriate demands on pupils. It will mean that
teachers will need to cover curriculum content at a faster pace, something that
has implications for pupils’ level of understanding. Teachers were concerned
that pupils would not be able to develop a deep understanding of concepts.
Similarly, they were concerned that the greater demands in relation to the
maths curriculum will impact on the curriculum as a whole. Their fear was that
the curriculum would be narrowed. They were especially concerned about the
impact that this would have on some groups of learners, most notably some
pupils with SEND.
28. The NASUWT recommends that the Programme of Study for mathematics
includes ‘Using and applying mathematics’ but believes that a more substantial
review of the content, including the level of that content, is also needed so that
the Programme does not impact adversely on other areas of the curriculum.
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Transition from EYFS to the primary National Curriculum
29. The relationship between the draft Programmes of Study and the Early Years
Foundation Stage (EYFS) is extremely problematic. The EYFS covers both
learning and development and focuses on the whole child. It focuses on
knowledge as well as skills. In contrast, the National Curriculum focuses on a
narrow range of knowledge. Early years teachers and primary teachers
working with KS1 pupils pointed to a significant tension between the two
frameworks. They were especially concerned that the links between the
National Curriculum and high-stakes assessment would mean that schools
and early years settings would be under extreme pressure to ‘prepare’ pupils
for the National Curriculum. This would be likely to skew the EYFS curriculum,
particularly in Reception. The NASUWT believes that the National Curriculum
should build from the EYFS and that the primary National Curriculum should
cover the development of skills as well as knowledge.
Attainment Targets and progression
30. Michael Gove’s letter to Tim Oates about the National Curriculum review
provides no indication of what the Attainment Targets will look like. However,
comments made by Ministers and Tim Oates, Chair of the Expert Panel
suggest that Attainment Targets will be closely linked to National Curriculum
knowledge. As a result, they are likely to be very prescriptive. Whilst Ministers
criticise teaching to the test, the relationship between the National Curriculum
and assessment is likely to mean that teachers will be forced to teach to the
test as assessment will drive curriculum priorities. The NASUWT is extremely
concerned that this will limit the opportunities for teachers to contextualise the
curriculum to take account of pupils’ abilities and interests. It is also likely to
constrain the school curriculum, limiting opportunities for schools to offer a
broad and rich curriculum. The NASUWT urges the DfE to actively engage
teachers in work to develop the National Curriculum Attainment Targets. The
Union also stresses the need for this work to be guided by the aims, purposes
and values for the curriculum and guided by a clear set of principles about the
purposes of assessment.
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Equality matters
31. The National Curriculum must both recognise and promote equality and
diversity. The incorporation of an inclusion statement in each Programme of
Study is welcome. However, the inclusion statement simply refers to what
teachers and schools should do. It is not enough to expect teachers and
schools to take account of the needs of particular groups of pupils. The
National Curriculum and the Programmes of Study need to be designed in a
way that supports and enables inclusive practice. Failure to do this generates
unnecessary work for teachers and schools as they need to design a school
curriculum that may rub against the grain of the National Curriculum rather
than builds from the National Curriculum.
32. The NASUWT notes that the inclusion statement only refers to race, gender
and disability. The statement should be revised so that it recognises all
protected characteristics.
Chris Keates
General Secretary
For further information on the Union’s response, contact Sonja Hall, Principal
Official (Education).
NASUWT
Hillscourt Education Centre
Rose Hill
Rednal
Birmingham
B45 8RS
0121 453 6150
www.nasuwt.org.uk
nasuwt@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
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