Www.worcestershire.gov.uk Primary Curriculum Leaders

www.worcestershire.gov.uk

Primary Curriculum Leaders


Primary Curriculum

• Identifying what we value - the curriculum design process and making choices

• Curriculum leadership and outstanding practice LUNCH

• Feedback and reflection• Supporting high quality lesson planning and

assessment• Developing what we value back at school

2[Slideshow Title - edit in Headers & Footers]


Aims

• To support Primary Curriculum Leaders to lead curriculum development and innovate successfully in their schools.

• To share a ‘toolkit’ of CPD and other resources• To facilitate collaborative working across

schools.• To support the development of a curriculum

which raises standards.



Vision

• All schools with a curriculum that matches the needs of their pupils.

• Answers to the question, “What does it look like in reality?”

• A shared understanding of high quality curriculum design for leaders and teachers.



Adversity Versus Opportunity• The function of education is to teach one to

think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.

• Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

• All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.

• I have a dream…



Models of curriculum design



Key elements of the toolkit• Planning process cards• Models of curriculum design• QCA Co-Development File and related materials• Learning and Teaching DVD• Various models including trees and streams• Published research, reports and articles• Coaching questions and prompts• Audit and planning tools• Your own contributions and case studies• On-going support and development



Exploring the design process

Whole school and classroom level.



Common questions asked when planning

• How many weeks do I need to fill?• What have I got to do?• What resources do I need?• How will I make that lesson suit ‘bright spark X’

and ‘struggler Y’• How will I assess what they know at the end?

• Can I face doing the same thing again...?• Why on earth am I doing this.....?



Questions like these can result in learning like this...









Design Activity

• Consider whole school curriculum design and classroom curriculum design.

• Place the cards in your pack in a design sequence. (you may want to use the strips to help you explain the sequence)

Discuss• Are there missing questions? • Are all the questions necessary?• Do some questions need rephrasing?



First the overview



The different elements – the stream

• Currents within the stream are always present in the form of:• Basic skills• Subject skills• Personal learning and thinking skills• Attitudes and attributes



The different elements – the bridge• The bridge represents an overarching theme

• It has the potential to help us on our learning journey.• It could help us to make links and build ‘big ideas’ and

concepts.• It could offer a bridge between the learning of skills and

their application in a motivating context.• However, in the wrong hands the bridge simply takes us

from one bank to another whilst the learning flows by…• Use of the bridge does not guarantee exposure to the

currents in the stream – it could even be a barrier• The theme represented by the bridge may not take you

where you want to go on your learning journey.



The different elements – the banks

• The banks are the solid ground that must be present:• The social and emotional ethos of the classroom• The grounded pedagogy of the expert teacher• Everyday assessment practice that guides the stream

of skills development



Bridge and Stream

The solid banks to guide

The overarching bridge to help you plan your journey

The currents in the stream that take you somewhere in life


How do we link the bridge and stream?

• Use the Bridge and Stream model to reflect on your current curriculum design. Do you:• Place sufficient value on the different elements?• Make the most of possible links between the different

elements?

The sheet in the toolkit supports this activity.



plenary

• These are the tools so far• What would be a useful staff meeting• Blank time line of curriculum design



Break time!



Big ideas




At the moment the some

of our teachers

plan in this way:

This is because:

Therefore we need to:

(Give specific

examples)

When we have achieved our

aim, the majority of our teachers will:

XXXX Primary SchoolLearning and Teaching Audit

Name ___________ Class/Year Band__________



At the moment

the majority of

our learners:

This is because:

Therefore we need to:

(Give specific

examples)

When we have achieved our

aim, the majority of our learners will:

XXXX Primary SchoolLearning and Teaching Audit

Name ___________ Class/Year Band__________





QCDA tool adapted by Callow EndAt the moment the majority of our

learners:Therefore we need to: When we have achieved our aim, the

majority of our learners will:

Team workersWould rather work on their own than as part of a teamDislike working with people outside their immediate friendship group.Are either over-confident and take over or are too nervous to join inDon’t listen to others’ viewsFind it hard to agree on anythingDon’t adapt their behavior to suit different roles and situationsAre inconsiderate and even rude when providing feedback

Give children opportunities to work in a variety of different groupingsAssign roles to groups members to ensure they all have a role to playTeach specific listening and speaking skills

Happily work with others, including those outside their friendship groupBe able to work confidentially and sensitively as part of a teamListen to and take account of different viewsBe able to manage discussions and reach agreementAdapt to different contexts and rolesProvide constructive support and feedback to others.

Reflective learnersAny reflection is very superficialUnable to make links between learning to take their thinking forward.Are task-orientated. They believe work is finished on the first draft and have no desire to improve their work.Find it hard to comment effectively on their work and that of others.

Give children time to reflectGive a checklist of success criteriaDo not accept work that is of a poor standardEncourage children to continuously reflect.

Able to reflect in a meaningful and worthwhile way on their work and that of others – 2 kisses and a wish.Have a desire, and be more aware of how, to improve their work.Be independent learnersSet goals with success criteria for their development and work.

Callow End CE Primary SchoolPersonal Learning and Thinking Skills


Ofsted ‘outstanding’ paraphrased…

An outstanding curriculum:• Memorable experiences• Rich opportunities• Customised to meet the needs of individuals and

groups• Tailored programmes• Breadth and balance• Highly coherent• Relevant

28Brian Pengelly 2010 Sustainability Conference


Where schools are most successfulTeachers and head teachers have found ways of valuing:• Personal Learning and Thinking Skills• Subjects – knowledge and skills• Basic skills• Big ideas (concepts)• Values• Links with the real world• Creativity• Determination and resilience• Fun – happy children learn more



Successful schools have a curriculum that is

• Coherent from the pupils point of view• Part of a cycle of review and improvement• Constantly evolving to meet changing needs and

make the most of opportunities• Led by teachers with good subject knowledge,

high expectations and who understand how to help their children make progress.



What do we mean by ‘Outstanding’?


Outstanding lessons: the key feature

“pupils make exceptional progress....(because marking and) dialogue between teachers, other adults and learners are consistently of a very high quality.”

Ofsted Evaluation Schedule, 2009



Progress in learning....

• Deepening understanding

• Broadening understanding

• Becoming independent• Transferring and

applying learning to new contexts

• Mastering complexity


Give an actual example of what each of these indicators might look like in a classroom.


5 Indicators of progress

• Can she do something independently that she could only do with help before?

• Can she apply skills/knowledge/understanding to new and unfamiliar contexts productively and appropriately

• Can she undertake the skill more accurately than before – is she coping with increased demands/complexity?

• Has her understanding moved from rote to connection to exploration to critical reflection

• Does she know something now that she didn’t know before?



Activity

What evidence can you find in this lesson extract of progress in learning?

Outstanding dialogue


Reverse Brain Storming

• Create a list of the worst possible ways to encourage quality dialogue and progression in learning.

• List as many ideas as you can.



The place of dialogue in The revised Model



What evidence can you find here of progress in learning?

Watch these extracts from the DVD and identify any evidence of progress in learning?

Look at the dialogue – what are the features that make it effective in each case?



Features of outstanding dialogue: learners

• Learners contributions to dialogue are well developed, build on or are informed by the ideas of others and demonstrate high level thinking and progression in learning.

• Learners are comfortable with whole class dialogue and are

confident to take the lead in initiating and building on dialogue. • Learners in whole class and group contexts are confident to take

risks and think aloud, to challenge the ideas of each other and be challenged.

• Learners reflect on the dialogue process and know how to get the

most from it.



Features of outstanding dialogue: teachers

• Whole class and group dialogue is an integral feature of the lesson. • Dialogue is deployed to raise levels of engagement, to facilitate learning and

to develop independence. • The teacher’s intervention in dialogue is minimal as learners are well

practiced in whole class and group discussion. • The teacher will frequently challenge learners’ thinking by using middle and

higher order questioning and tasks (i.e. application, synthesis, analysis and evaluation).

• The teacher will probe answers and will prompt learners to justify and

develop answers and will sometimes answer questions with a question for learners' consideration.



Key questions to consider

• Is this a model for CPD in your own school?• Where might this fit in your timeline?• Are there general actions and leadership actions

emerging on your time line? ( identified by different colours?)

• Which tools will you need to adapt/ use to complete your timeline?



Reflection time

• What are some of the key actions emerging for you and your school?

• Who can support you?• Do you have anything you want to add or

remove from the ‘Park it board’?• What are the key elements to your vision?



“So what’s wrong with old-fashioned planning?”

• Teacher centred planning or “Who wants to be a dinosaur then?”



Write a dinosaur poem

Once there lived a dinosaurHe played among the grassThe ground was sometimes slippery



Once there lived a dinosaurHe played among the grassThe ground was sometimes slipperyBut at least there was no glass



Measure the dinosaur

• How can we squeeze a bit of maths into this?



Is it the Assessment, Pedagogy or Curriculum that I need to change?

Knowledge of the child

Knowledge ofpedagogy

Knowledge of subject/curriculum

Learning oppor-

tunities

Motivation

Feedback

Optimum pedagogic approach


Three circles as a leadership tool


Knowledge of the child

Knowledge ofpedagogy

Knowledge of subject/curriculum

Learning oppor-

tunities

Motivation

Feedback

Optimum pedagogic approach


Evaluation of planning

• Examine this planning and check it against the ideas on the sheet…• Enquire• Create and / or develop• Evaluate • Communicate

• Now think about progress – see side 2

• Using the Coaching Prompt sheet, what are the supporting questions that you might ask?



Photograph something that has had a significant impact on you learning.



Skills – Build a wall!

On the pieces of paper can you write a skill that you think you need. Then build a skills wall with

the ‘easiest’ skills along the bottom.



A wall our children built


Listening

Decision making

Group work



Independent Skills Audit Tool


Example of planning

• Look at this planning and then watch the lesson in action.

• Use the audit process cards to discuss the planning.

• Are there any gaps?• Are there some questions that need more

emphasis• Is this a process you could use back in school to

discuss planning?



Possible contexts…. A key outcome for my learners of our curriculum work will be raising the general levels of

engagement of our learners…

We just can’t seem to get our learners to work effectively together. As a result we don’t access a key context for learning…

We want to introduce enquiry into our lessons, but if I’m honest I’m not sure what ‘enquiry’ means in real terms…

We want to provide more opportunities to learn actively, but when we have tried that in the past, we’ve succeeded in creating some fun activities that have kept the youngsters busy, but I’m not sure there’s been a lot of learning..



Conference ideas – starters!

• Deciding / Sharing what we value• raising the levels of engagement of our learners• helping our learners to work effectively together. • introducing enquiry into our lessons• increasing opportunities for active learning• developing:

• independent learners• confident learners• (create your own)



Plenary!

• Finish off time line• Share ‘further reading’• Identify Edulink web link



Inspiring Learning

Definition of ‘inspire’ –To fill with enlivening or

exalting emotion: To draw in (air) by inhaling.



It isn’t about how many breaths you take, but how many times your breath is taken away(Mick Waters 2010)


Contact Details

• [email protected]

• [email protected]

• 01299 873969


Documents

Www.worcestershire.gov.uk Primary Curriculum Leaders