A Curriculum Guide for Middle Leaders

Intent, Implementation and Impact in Practice

Richard Steward

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000328899
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

A Curriculum Guide for Middle Leaders is a comprehensive guide to the curriculum for middle leaders and subject leaders. Designed to support middle leaders in both primary and secondary schools, it explores every aspect of successful curriculum leadership beginning with intent and moving on to cover implementation and impact. It is closely aligned to the new inspection framework and demystifies key terminology including selection, sequencing, progression, and interleaving.

Written in an accessible Q&A format, the book equips readers with the tools and the knowledge they need to construct an imaginative and effective subject curriculum, and prepares them to take part successfully in 'deep dives'. There are also templates and practical tools drawn from good practice across the country that can be easily adapted for individual subjects and schools.

Addressing the key concerns of both experienced leaders and those new to the role, this essential resource encourages readers to think deeply about the curriculum and how it is taught, enabling them to make a significant contribution to whole school improvement.

Part 1

Intent

1
What is meant by ‘intent’?

‘Inspectors ask about what leaders intend pupils to learn.’¹ This somewhat bland statement disguises what is in fact an exceptionally complex topic. A few years ago, a head of department or curriculum leader would have had no hesitation in providing an answer to the question, ‘What do you intend your pupils to learn?’ The answer was obvious: the material set out in the National Curriculum and the knowledge needed to prepare for national tests. In primary schools, the curriculum is shaped to prepare pupils for the Key Stage 2 tests; in secondary schools, GCSEs and A-Levels provide the direction of travel. In practice, of course, it is not that simple. The increasing importance of national testing, and the accompanying high-stakes accountability culture, encouraged – some might say forced – teachers to focus on examination specifications. However, the inherent commitment and professionalism of teachers has meant that very few focused solely on the demands of the tests. There has always been a great deal of discussion in schools covering almost every aspect of the curriculum. The tests may well provide the end points for both primary and secondary schooling, but the journey to get to those points is a long one.

Teachers have always been able to adapt the National Curriculum programmes of study to suit the needs of their pupils; they have been able to select, emphasise and, sometimes, disregard the suggested skills and topics. They have been able to spend more time on the topics they consider to be of most use and value to pupils, and less on those that seem to have little relevance. They have also been able to bring their own areas of interest and expertise into the classroom, whether by introducing new topics, say, in history or science, or simply by the choice of a new class reader aimed at firing the imagination. Examination syllabuses are obviously more restrictive – pupils need to be well prepared for all the topics likely to occur in the examination papers – but good teachers seek ways to make the material more accessible and more stimulating. Whether this is done by relating topics to contemporary situations, or finding time to insert additional topics, it is clear that in practice, teachers do a great deal more than simply deliver examination specifications.

The introduction of the Education Inspection Framework (EIF) has, however, made discussions of the curriculum much more explicit. Many colleagues will probably not have considered the choices they make regarding their day-to-day teaching as curriculum decisions even though, in effect, that’s what they are. A school curriculum is much more than a list of skills and topics, and all good teachers go well beyond National Curriculum programmes of study or examination specifications in their teaching.

The notion of ‘intent’ is therefore a complex one. It does cover, of course, the intention of delivering the programmes of study and the examination specifications as effectively as possible in order to achieve the best outcomes for pupils, but it also includes a wide range of other curriculum decisions:

• What skills and topics are to be taught?
• When should they be taught?
• In what years?
• At what point in the year?
• At what level should they be taught?
• How long should each topic last?
• In what order should they be taught? How should they be sequenced?
• Does each topic build upon previous topics? How are skills to be steadily developed over the course of a term, year or Key Stage?
• Is each topic to be assessed?
• How is the curriculum content to be differentiated? Should all topics be taught to all pupils or are some more suitable to groups of pupils?
• How does curriculum content relate to ability?
• In planning the curriculum is attention being paid to high ability pupils, those with special educational needs, those with English as an additional language etc?
• Are the planned skills and topics sufficiently challenging?
• What adaptations are to be made to ensure that less able pupils do not fall behind and are able to catch up if they do so?
• How does the curriculum connect with what has gone before or coming next? In other words, does Key Stage 2 prepare pupils for Key Stage 3, and does Key Stage 3 build upon the work done at Key Stage 2. Similarly, does the work planned for Years 10 and 11 prepare pupils not only for GCSEs but for A-Levels too?
• Does the curriculum seek to equip pupils with the cultural capital they need to be able to really benefit from the new learning?
• What extra-curricular opportunities will be available to enhance pupils’ understanding of the topics covered?
• What literacy and numeracy skills will need to be covered to enable pupils to cope with the various topics?
• Are there any cross-curricular opportunities to consider?
• In subjects such as science and design technology, are there any safety considerations?
• How relevant is the curriculum to the context of the school and its pupils?
• What are the expectations of parents regarding subject content and skills progression?
• What adaptations would have to be made to enable non-specialists to deliver the curriculum effectively?

These are all questions which teachers will always have considered as part of their day-to-day teaching and planning but probably not in such explicit terms. The task now for middle leaders is the careful analysis of good practice and good intentions. They need to be able to explain the thinking behind their decisions and thus develop a clear rationale for the work of their departments. Drawing together the intentions of colleagues into a coherent approach to the teaching of a particular subject is indeed a challenge. The questions outlined above provide a good starting point and will enable leaders to shape a common approach to the curriculum. Such an approach provides the coherence needed in subject departments, or within primary settings, to ensure that all pupils benefit equally from high quality teaching.

The complexity of the notion of intent may seem somewhat overwhelming when set out a series of questions like those suggested above, but the discussions undertaken as a result are bound to be both stimulating and worthwhile. The introduction of the EIF has certainly thrown a spotlight on the work of middle leaders but it has also helped to ensure that colleagues across the country are discussing the curriculum in much more detail than ever before. This has not only helped to raise the status of middle leaders, but also will undoubtedly lead to much more joined-up thinking in subject areas and across schools.

Note

1 School Inspection Handbook, Handbook for inspecting schools in England under section 5 of the Education Act 2005, (2019); updated September 2019, Reference no: 190017, Crown copyright 2019, p. 26.

2
Do I have a vision for my subject?

Most schools now have a vision statement, and the need to develop one features strongly in training programmes for senior leaders. Many of these statements are little more than vague aspirational summaries full of good intentions. Most are values-based, highlighting characteristics such as perseverance and resilience, and very few focus specifically on teaching and learning. They usually aim to enable pupils, in the words of the cliché, ‘to become the best version of themselves’. Departmental or subject visions can be more explicit and directly focused on teaching and learning.

I think it is true to say that most teachers enter the profession partly driven by the love of a subject. They may well be attracted to teaching per se, and they may have a wish to work with young people, but very few do not already have a passionate attachment to the subject they have spent three or more years studying at university. It is from this attachment that their subject vision originates. Whether it derives from an appreciation of the world’s great literature, the wonder of scientific enquiry, or simply the sheer enjoyment of physical activity, what drives most teachers into the profession is the desire to pass on what they know and to share their enthusiasm for their particular subject. They want the children in their classes to experience the joy and fascination of English literature, or geography, or music. Put simply, they want to inspire them with a thirst for learning.

Having studied a subject in depth, teachers entering the profession already have a good idea of what they consider to be its most important aspects. It is these they will want to pass on. An understanding of the intersection between the needs of pupils and the fundamentals of a particular subject takes a while to develop. However, as they become more experienced, teachers begin to appreciate which aspects of the subject will be most relevant to their pupils, and which will be the most inspiring. Programmes of study and examination specifications may point the way in terms of relevance, but the inspirational aspects come from the teacher’s own engagement with his or her subject area.

In this way, teachers develop a vision for passing on their subject knowledge. They may have never expressed it explicitly – they may not even have thought about it in these terms – but very few teachers lack a subject vision. The task of the subject leader is to explore the views of colleagues in order to shape a broader vision to be shared by all. This can be a demanding task in a large department in a secondary school which may have ten or more teachers, or in a primary setting where a subject is taught by everyone in the school, but a shared understanding is essential if the subject is to be a success.

As always, the starting point is a discussion. There will, of course, be general areas which everyone agrees are important. In the teaching of reading, for example, few would disagree with the need to develop fluency, or to facilitate the acquisition of a broad vocabulary. There will also be agreement with regard to what it is hoped children will get out of learning to read: a love of reading, the ability to communicate effectively, the skills they need to access learning in other subjects, etc. In effect, the basic vision for the subject is there already. The discussion becomes much more interesting, however, when the details begin to be explored. What is an appropriate balance between helping pupils develop the functional skills they need to communicate effectively, and simply reading for pleasure? In the teaching of writing, how much time should be spent on creative writing and how much on technical skills? In every subject, there will be similar issues to explore. In science, how much time...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: Intent
• Part 2: Implementation
• Part 3: Impact
• Appendices