Changes to Primary Curriculum from 2011

Proposed changes to Primary Curriculum come into effect from September 2011, but you can buy the Rawmarsh Schemes NOW, confident in the knowledge that they will still be as relevant then as ever they have been in the past!

(Beware! - many of the other different Schemes currently being used in schools all over the country don't reflect the original National Curriculum, and therefore don't embody many of the learning outcomes referred to in the new curriculum. This means that alternative resources will have to be found and implemented).

It has been 10 years since the last review of the framework for 5–11 year olds – the National Primary Curriculum.

The National Curriculum does not tell teachers in what order they should teach subjects, nor how long to spend on different topics, nor how much homework to set. Teachers are free to use different kinds of books and materials in their lessons; the curriculum does not tell them which materials to use in their classrooms.

In 2008 the Government set up a review of the primary curriculum. This review was led by Sir Jim Rose, a distinguished education expert. The review listened to the views of teachers, parents and the public, and the team had help and advice from many other experts and specialists.

The review set out plans to change the curriculum. The public is being asked for views on the detail, and MPs will have to approve the plans by changing the law. If the plans are agreed, there will be a new National Curriculum in primary schools from September 2011.

Six new areas of learning
Subjects will be grouped into six new areas of learning – to help related subjects support each other. This will also make it easier for teachers to organise lessons spanning more than one subject.

The six areas of learning will support subjects; they will not replace them.
The six areas of learning are:

- Mathematical understanding
- Historical, geographical and social understanding
- Understanding English, communication and languages
- Scientific and technological understanding
- Understanding the arts
- Understanding physical development, health and wellbeing.

Understanding physical development, health and wellbeing
This area of learning covers a variety of skills, knowledge and attitudes that help children to lead happy and healthy lives, as well as team and individual sports. Indoor and outdoor activities should include working as a team, as well as outwitting opponents and winning competitions. There should be at least five hours a week of sport and activity.

Children will learn about their changing bodies and the importance of nutrition and rest, helping them make informed choices and lead healthy, balanced lifestyles.

Through team and individual sports, games and enjoyable physical activities, they will learn to increase body control, coordination and dexterity. They will learn to reflect on and evaluate their own performance, and see the links between how their bodies work and healthy lifestyles.

Children will learn about their responsibilities both as individuals and members of groups, and about what is right and wrong. They will learn to compete fairly and to cooperate as individuals and in groups and teams, understanding their own and others’ roles.

Children will learn how to recognise and control feelings and emotions. They will explore why people work and the different jobs they do, and start to learn about managing money.

In later years, sensible attitudes towards alcohol, relationships and balanced lifestyles will be explored. To enjoy healthy, active and fulfilling lives, children must learn to respond positively to challenges, to recognise and manage risk and to develop their self-confidence and physical capabilities. Such learning lays the foundations for long-term wellbeing and contributes to children’s mental, social, emotional, economic and physical development.

For more details of the review and the new curriculum please see
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/primarycurriculumreview/
and www.qca.org.uk/curriculumconsultation

This information is taken from Changes to the Primary Curriculum, A Guide for Parents and Carers, published by the Department for Children Schools and Families

Sharon Robinson, the author of the Rawmarsh School Complete Schemes of Work, has looked closely at the changes to curriculum, and where the Rawmarsh Schemes sit in light of the Rose Review:

The revised National Curriculum for keys stages 1 and 2 does not identify PHYSICAL EDUCATION as a specific subject area.  In the text which refers to ‘Understanding physical development, health and wellbeing’, however, there is ample evidence of the reviews support for a physical education experience for all children based on the original National Curriculum’s six areas of activity.

“They [children] should participate in a range of activities that promote physical skilfulness and development through indoor and outdoor activities including creative play.  They should take part in physical activities that involve competing with and outwitting opponents, accurate replication of 
actions, optimum performance and creative problem solving.  Children should be able to swim a minimum distance of 25m and refine skills within aerobic activities and ball games.”

The explanatory text accompanying the above quote refers directly to games, gymnastics, dance, athletics and swimming, and to particular outdoor and adventurous activities i.e. expeditions and camping. “Dance is also included in Understanding the arts”.

The format of the revised National Curriculum may be different but the suggested vehicles through which children become physically educated remain the same.

The Core Strands
The revised National Curriculum for keys stages 1 and 2 does not refer directly to the original four core strands i.e.

1. acquiring and developing skills [a/d]
2. selecting and applying skills, tactics and compositional ideas [s/a]
3. knowledge and understanding of fitness and health [kufh]
4. evaluating and improving performance [e/i].

Nonetheless, the ‘Essential knowledge’ and ‘Key Skills’ identified within ‘Understanding physical development, health and wellbeing’ and ‘Understanding the arts’ include many elements which reflect the skills, knowledge and understanding encapsulated by the original core strands.  For example:-

Essential knowledge:

1. “healthy living depends upon a balance of physical activity…”  kufh
2. “physical competence and performance can be improved through practice, control and dexterity as well as creative thinking and commitment”  a/d; s/a; e/i
3. “challenge and risk can be managed through well-informed choices that lead to safe, full and active lives”  s/a; kufh
4. “how creative ideas can be developed in response to different stimuli and imaginative thinking” s/a
5. that designing, creating and performing require discipline, control, technique and practice” a/d

Key skills:

1. “reflect on and evaluate evidence when making personal choices or bringing about improvements in performance and behaviour” s/a; e/i
2. “generate and implement ideas, plans and strategies, exploring alternatives” s/a
3. “move with ease, poise, stability and control in a range of physical contexts”  a/d
4. “explore, investigate and experiment from a range of stimuli and starting points…”  s/a
5. “create, design, devise, compose and choreograph their individual and collective work”  s/a
6. “improvise, rehearse and refine in order to improve their capability and the quality of their artworks”  a/d; s/a; e/i 

The following are just a small sample of quotes from ‘Curriculum progression’. They further reflect the continuation of the nature of the learning outcomes on which the original core strands were based:

1. “ to identify and talk about their own and others’ strengths and how to improve”  e/i
2. “to work independently and in groups, taking on different roles and collaborating towards common goals”  s/a
3. “take responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others…”  kufh
4. “to perform physical movements and complex series of movements with increasing control, coordination, precision and consistency”  a/d
5. “to understand the particular benefits of different physical activities for promoting health”  kufh
6. “to learn, practice, refine and perform dance phrases with physical control, expression, rhythmic timing…”  a/d; e/i
7. “to draw upon different dance styles to compose dances and communicate meaning”  s/a

The original core strand nomenclature may have been omitted but the skills, knowledge and understanding they described remain essential elements within the revised curriculum.  The core strands embody much of what is still considered to be good practice in teaching and learning across the curriculum generally, and within in ‘Understanding physical development, health and wellbeing’ and ‘Understanding the arts’ in particular.

The ‘Primary personal, learning and thinking skills’ which underpin the revised curriculum also strongly reflect the skills, knowledge and understanding reflected in the original core strands.  For example ‘investigate’, ‘create and develop’, reflect’, ‘set goals’, ‘negotiate’, ‘work collaboratively’ are all part of the process of selecting and applying;  ‘evaluate’, identify their strengths’, ‘communicate’, ‘reflect’, give constructive support and feedback’ are integral elements of the ‘evaluating and improving’ process.

The Rawmarsh schemes of work cover five of the six areas of activity included in the revised curriculum.  Their basis of the core strands ensure approaches to teaching and learning which are entirely in accordance with those embedded in the revised learning outcomes.  They are as relevant now as they have always been and provide an invaluable means of ensuring high quality physical development, as well as encouraging the fundamental skills, knowledge and understanding which permeate the whole of the new primary curriculum.

Extracts from Sharon Robinsons assessment may be reproduced for non-commercial research, education or training purposes on the condition that the source is acknowledged.
For any other use please email jane@rabbitdesign.co.uk