Curriculum Futures Looking after learners, today and tomorrow To develop a modern world-class curriculum that will inspire and challenge all learners and prepare them for the future.

Co-development: The commitment for schools  take a fresh look at the way the curriculum is planned  take part in a disciplined approach to curriculum development  identify and share existing good practice  use QCA and other materials to identify areas for development  work with other schools in a network to develop aspects of the curriculum  keep QCA informed of developments through the networks  provide feedback on materials and progress in order to contribute to the development of a world-class curriculum

Co-development: The commitment for LAs co-ordinate work across the networks support schools in their development of the curriculum arrange local meetings and workshops as appropriate collate and synthesise information about developments provide a main point of contact for QCA

1) A conference for senior staff sets the scene and changes the conversation about the curriculum 2) A steering group of heads and LA personnel is set up to promote and co-ordinate activity across the city 3) Existing good practice is captured and disseminated 4) Networks of schools are set up to focus on particular project areas Setting the context

Changing the curriculum 1) QCA runs workshops for networks and smaller groups. 2) Networks and LA support further development 3) Schools work together to plan and implement actual changes to their curriculum within a disciplined approach

Evaluating the impact 1) Schools work through a ‘disciplined’ action research model 2) QCA gives support to this through time and materials 3) Networks co-ordinate date within their schools 4) Steering group works with QCA to capture overall impact, and to identify particularly effective practice

Contributing to change Providing examples of innovation and impact Developing approaches and materials Contributing to conferences and workshops in other local authorities Acting as mentors in other local authorities Building the case for change

Levels of commitment Extent Impact High Low

Common features of innovation (1):  Putting key skills such as collaboration, communication, problem solving, resilience, creativity and enterprise at the heart of learning  Developing the whole school as a learning organisation so that the curriculum is based on a clearly articulated and shared view of how pupils learn.  Creating “realistic” contexts for learning  Putting learners into open ended situations where they need to collaborate to solve problems  Creating different learning pathways so that learning is more personalised  Promoting ‘profound’ rather than ‘shallow’ learning through a cycle in which concepts are applied in different contexts Themed approaches focusing on key skills

Common features of innovation (2):  Providing wider curriculum options  Giving pupils more ownership of the learning process and responsibilities within the curriculum  Taking account of pupils’ emotional needs and removing the anxiety of getting things wrong  Making full use of outside agencies and strong links with the community  Harnessing ICT to assist learning

A narrow focus National Tests

A disciplined approach What impact are we hoping to make by this change? What is our starting point in terms of this impact? How will we know whether this impact has been made? What will this look like in the classroom or in pupils’ behaviour or performance? What targets are we setting for improvement? How will we monitor progress towards this target? How will we check for impact in other areas? What are these likely to be? How will we check for them?

Some indicators of problem solving Children may demonstrate that they can: understand the concept of cause and effect;  apply prior learning to a problem;  recognise and can talk (or otherwise communicate) about a problem;  consider a range of possible solutions;  ask questions and select and record information relevant to the problem;  plan the steps and strategies they will use;  predict possible effects of different solutions or modifications;  respond to a problem or task using trial and error;  use a cycle of trial, error and improvement; review what has been done and recognise the outcome (i.e. that the problem has been solved or a different course of action is needed).

An action research model