You can quickly show your age in teaching these days simply by making reference to the “new curriculum”, despite it being over 10 years old.
As we move into the second decade of the current national curriculum, there are plenty of teachers around who know of little else, other than perhaps their own experience as a pupil - and even fewer who remember the previous curriculum reviews in years gone by.
You don’t need to have experience of other curricula, though, to have an opinion on the current iteration, and surely all of us have at least one pet peeve that we’d like to see changed.
For some, there might be the desire for a complete overhaul, while others may just yearn for a tweak here and there. And for once, teachers have a chance to have their say, whether that’s about Roman numerals or the whole English curriculum.
The curriculum review: call for evidence
The most recent curriculum review, in the early years of the coalition government, was a rushed affair, driven in significant part by the pet projects of ministers at the time, so you could be forgiven for being somewhat cynical about a government consultation.
After all, the support for the 2014 review was hardly overwhelming, and yet the ministers got their way. But this time it’s worth a second look.
For a start, the process for the new review of curriculum and assessment is starting not with a first draft to be nodded through but with a call for evidence that tries to gather information from the sector about what’s working well and what needs to change.
So whatever your viewpoint, there’s an opportunity to get it across - and there is a certain urgency now, too: the call for evidence closes on Friday 22 November, and it might be another decade before you get another chance.
Secondly, there is clear consideration of assessment this time around, too. After the disaster of “interim frameworks” and the first new curriculum tests in 2016, hopefully the Department for Education has learned some lessons about planning for assessment alongside curriculum.
With new statutory assessments throughout primary, there is surely no shortage of opinions on the phonics check, times tables check, key stage 2 tests and all the implications of them on the curriculum at large.
But with only a few days to go before the consultation closes, you might be thinking you haven’t got the time to respond - particularly when you glance at the 54 questions in the consultation document.
Fear not: there’s no need to answer every question - indeed, it’d probably be madness to try. I skipped whole sections about KS4 and 5 requirements, and I didn’t have much to offer on social justice elements, but you can be sure I threw in my two penn’orth when it came to assessment and accountability.
Maybe your views fit best under the question asking “Is the volume of statutory assessment at key stages 1 and 2 right?”
Or perhaps you’re more motivated by aspects of the curriculum where “there is too much content” or “need for greater flexibility”. You may have some views on “any barriers in continuing to improve attainment, progress, access or participation for learners with SEND”.
And if not that, then the catch-all question at the end gives everybody the chance to make their views known.
Sadly, I don’t think my own personal ambition - to see the return of the traditional colours for each national curriculum subject - will make the final cut. But, given the first opportunity to share my feedback since 2014, I’m certainly not going to miss the chance to have my say. And nor should you.
Michael Tidd is headteacher at East Preston Junior School in West Sussex
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