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Thursday, 30 April 2020

Back To Basics

Here is a guest post from Penny Nash a Science Lead at a school in South Wales.


Guest Post



Why back to basics matters? 

This is a post about my use of Rosenshine’s Principles to improve teaching and learning within my faculty.

(Credit and thanks to Tom Sherrington)

Rosenshine's Principles in Action 

Following a difficult period of time due to unavoidable staff absence, as a faculty we were left a little unconfident. There were also new curriculum changes to GCSE and a change of focus on top of all this. The staff absence meant that certain Key Stage 3 classes were left without a specialist teacher as we tried to cover as many Key Stage 4 classes as possible. It left us unsettled, underperforming and unsure. It came to a head when I was reading the exam feedback and our walled garden data. Our firefighting had been successful for our most able students, but the rest of the cohort should have been more successful. I have good teachers within my faculty, but we had lost our way. We needed to regroup, evaluate and plan for improvement.
We started by looking at the data together. Despite being three subjects, they all had similar issues. Our students had gaps in subject knowledge and were unwilling to make mistakes and during their GCSE examination they were unable to complete any questions if they had not seen a similar question before. We were not alone as reading the WJEC feedback for the whole of Wales stated students did not have a secure understanding of the fundamental scientific concepts and terminology.
It was clear, we needed to go back to basics! We needed to look at genuine good teaching and learning rather than proxies of  good good teaching and learning. Following some research, we decided to develop these basics by using Rosenshine’s Principle of Instruction as a vehicle for improving standards. If delivered effectively we believed it would lead to sustained improvements in resilience and achievement. It would also give us a consistent approach to discuss the quality of teaching and learning which we needed within the faculty. 
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As with any new approach, we had to be realistic. Change had to be managed and controlled. One change at a time. This allows for time to embed and ensure the quality assurance focussed on this change before tackling other areas. We wanted our faculty to improve but some staff were still feeling pressure to complete the specified content of the course.
1. Daily Review, Weekly Review and Monthly Review
Start each lesson with a 5 question retrieval task. 
It sounds easy but we soon realised that embedding new routines takes time. The issues that arose were typical. I had students who had not completed the homework and so did not do well on their daily review. Reading the questions out for one student helped him improve his vocabulary. Another student needed physical flashcards and needed additional support to learn the key language on several occasions. My SEN class needed the questions to be True/False at the start because they lacked confidence and were afraid of trying for fear of being incorrect. I was also too ambitious at the start with my KS 4 classes by not specifying the topic in the questions. As a department we had to reduce the range of key language to ensure students were successful and growing in knowledge and confidence. 
Modelling was key to supporting the students' understanding of the different techniques to be able to achieve that 80% success rate - our mastery target. Slowly and surely, as these techniques were embedded, students slowly gained a better grasp of the key language they needed to explain their thinking. It changed the beginning of lessons. Students now have and accept these clear expectations of them for the start of lessons and why they’re important to their success. They like to feel successful and it sets a positive and purposeful atmosphere within the class. 
It was time to raise the bar and look at further changes. We split slightly to try two different techniques. The science faculty had been attending the #15MF within our school, a weekly professional development forum. We decided to look at modelling and guiding student practice. The chemistry department decided to change their approach to a mastery approach at KS 4 and physics looked at student practice. 
2. Presenting new material, Modelling and scaffolds
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The chemistry faculty spent the whole of the autumn term teaching particles, equations and the periodic table, ensuring that the students fully understood the concepts before moving on. This has meant they understand the key concepts and are more willing to try more challenging tasks because they have a sound grasp of the theory and vocabulary. These small incremental steps we employed helped raise the confidence and resilience in our students. Their mock results were much better despite sitting a full past paper they were willing to attempt questions on unusual topics. We saw this as progress.
3. Guiding Student Practice 
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Often in physics, we now revert to the I do, we do and you do approach. We initially struggled to find enough examples for the students. We have had to ensure that the students can do the tasks without the scaffold. This has been useful in foundation classes as we realised we needed to change our schemes of work to ensure that we are not constantly moving on to the next section without ensuring that the new knowledge is embedded and time planned for retrieval practice. These questions are now being added to the starter questions to ensure they continue to practice.
4. Questioning
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  • Although we left this until last,  we felt that our questioning was good but we knew we could improve further. However, we decided to use 3 types of questioning that was aimed at improving our ability to gauge whole class understanding. We have invested in mini white boards to support this approach. The three strategies, based on Teach Like A Champion techniques we selected were: -

  • Pose, pause pounce and bounce
  • No opt out
  • Hinge questions

At this point I wish I could tell you we have been successful in introducing these, but I can’t. We are now in lock down and these strategies take time. I can tell you that as a result of using these principles we are putting pupil learning at the heart of what we do. Our practice is changing, and we are having discussions about pedagogy. Will we have to continue our journey after lockdown? Yes, but I am glad they will be based upon research informed principles. 

Penny Nash

The case for A National Flashcard Platform


Here is a Feature Post from Mathias Maurer about his idea for a National Flashcard Platform.


Feature Post


A National Flashcard Platform 

Hwb offers Welsh pupils access to unique digital learning opportunities, but its true potential for supporting the learning of Welsh as a second language is yet to be unlocked. 
I would like to suggest the creation of a national digital flashcard platform, accessible through Hwb and tailored to the needs of English medium pupils in Wales. 

Context: One million speakers
In the Cymraeg 2050 strategy paper, the Welsh government sets out the vison of one million Welsh speakers by 2050. The strategy consists of three interdependent themes: 
  1. Increasing the number of Welsh speakers
  2. Increasing the use of Welsh
  3. Creating favourable conditions – Infrastructure and context
As a primary teacher in the English medium sector, my professional interest lies in particular with the expectation on English medium schools to contribute towards increasing the number of Welsh speakers. The official target for English medium education is that, by 2050, 50% of all pupils finishing English medium education should report themselves as Welsh speakers. This sounds significant, but the number is difficult to put into context, as I have so far been unable to find current corresponding figures that could act as a base line. (Maybe the uptake of A-levels in Welsh as a second language can act as an indicator for the popularity of the subject: in 2015/16, 1.3% of pupils in English medium education entered A-levels for Welsh as a second language, the target for 2021 is 3%. We might be some way off.)
It is clear that, in order to have any chance of achieving such an ambitious target, we must draw on the very most effective methodology and resources for teaching Welsh as a second language. In the following, I am going to outline how Hwb could facilitate the use of smart technology for supporting the teaching of Welsh as a second language.

Flash cards: using technology the smart way
I suggest a bespoke flashcard platform that combines the best features of commercially available retrieval platforms with up to date language acquisition theory and methodology, creating an effective and child friendly learning tool. High-quality pupil management and data analysis tools will allow teachers to adapt children’s individual accounts to their needs, and to monitor progress and time spent practising.

From my childhood days learning first French then English, to learning Welsh with Welsh for Adults, Say Something in Welsh and Cardiff University as part of the Welsh in a Year sabbatical scheme, I have always used flashcards. In fact, most successful language learners of my personal acquaintance are using flashcards following the Leitner system in one way or another. While a few still sort actual cards into real boxes, just as I did many years ago as a school child, many, including myself, have moved on and now embrace the opportunities technology offers in the form of digital flashcard platforms. The advantages are manifold, from portability to the use of highly sophisticated algorithms and the gleaning of formative data, to mention just a few. 
Daisy Christodoulou, author of Teachers vs Tech, has written about the potential for spaced retrieval platforms in teaching, and about her personal use of the flashcard platform Anki (my personal choice as well). Her posts and the many positive conversations I have had with colleagues and fellow learners about the topic, I have been encouraged to write this blog.
Here is what a purpose built flashcard platform could look like:

One platform for all
A national flashcard platform for all pupils learning Welsh as a second language. All pupils have a personal account which they can access through Hwb. This account stays with them for the whole duration of their school career. The platform follows the nationally agreed language continuum envisaged in Cymraeg 2050 and supports all learners throughout their school career, from KS2 onwards. One platform for all. 

A pure flashcard platform
Daisy Christodoulou identifies adaptive learning platforms that use a spaced repetition algorithm as one of the most effective ways to study. Most retrieval platforms like Quizlet and Memrise use multiple choice options or give various other clues that reduce the retrieval effort and make it easier to find the answer. 
Pure flashcard platforms on the other hand, like Anki, require the learner to remember or predict the back of the card without providing any clues. This is the option I consider most effective.

Hear the Welsh – say the Welsh
Both sides of the cards contain print and a voice recording, the front English, the back Welsh. The learners read and listen to the English side before working out the Welsh translation and trying to say it aloud. Only then do they turn the card over to check if they were right. For beginners in particular, it is important at this point not to just check the print, but to also listen to the Welsh voice recording, as it provides them with repeated exposure to correctly pronounced Welsh. This is essential for shaping their own pronunciation and internalising high frequency language patterns. 

Adaptive learning
After answering a flashcard, the learner decides where to sort it back into the queue. The platform will strike a balance between using a highly sophisticated algorithm, and keeping the sorting procedures simple and child-friendly. The basic principle is this: a card the learner needs to learn or re-learn goes back to the front of the queue and returns after only a short interval. Cards they are more confident with go to the middle or the end of the queue, and return after medium or long-term intervals respectively. Retrieval intervals grow with increasing competence. 

Interleaving and cumulative learning
As the learner progresses, old and familiar patterns and vocabulary are revisited and interleaved with new material, guaranteeing spaced revision and cumulative learning. In this aspect, the principle is similar to the successful Say Something in Welsh method.
The crucial difference is that the platform is adaptive and reacts to the learners’ performance.  

High frequency chunks
Whilst having single words on each side might be an effective way to learn individual words, recalling single words and grammatical conjugations in isolation does not develop speaking fluency. New words should be introduced and practised in a meaningful context, as part of a sentence or a key communicative pattern (chunk). 
Most of the cards on the platform will use full sentences and chunks combined with interchanging relevant vocabulary. 

Allowing for young learners’ needs
Making the increased cognitive effort of retrieving the back of the card without clues leads to better long-term memory and stronger retrieval paths, but it also comes with the price of higher effort and frustration levels. This can be a challenge for primary school age children in particular.
I therefore suggest using the flashcard platform only from Key Stage 2 onwards, and only if the continuous investment is made to train and monitor the children in the effective use of  it. Most children do not have the same self-regulatory proficiency as successful adult language learners, and for many, the temptation to race through the cards by being disingenuous about their performance will be too great a temptation to resist without support. 

Effective pupil management
Effective pupil management tools are essential. For each pupil, teachers will be able to monitor time spent practising and individual progress. Teachers will have the essential option of setting additional cards, or reducing the amount of cards according to pupils’ prior attainment and progress through the continuum. This procedure will be quick, straightforward and easy to use for all teachers. 

Achievement awards: a different approach
Most educational retrieval apps offer achievement awards based on the learner’s progression through the learning material. In many cases, learners can speed up their progress towards the awards by choosing to undertake additional practice. Often, this comes at the price of shortening the time space between retrieval attempts, and forfeiting the benefits of spaced retrieval. This is not desirable.
In my opinion, achievement awards can play an important role in enticing and motivating young learners, but only if they reward for time spent practising, following fixed retrieval intervals, and if there is no option of shortening the time space between retrieval attempts. 
The platform will provide child-friendly rewards for time spent practising, rather than for achieving progression targets. 

Pre-empting frustration: study breaks
A word of warning: Anki can be a bully. Whenever I have not been practising for a few days, I am greeted in the morning with a long list of cards to work through. This is not practical for young learners. 
The flashcard platform will offer a pause feature or a way of limiting practice, so that learners who do not have the means or motivation to work on weekends or through school holidays can pick up where they left once back in school, without having to deal with a pile up of cards. I believe this to be a reasonable compromise. 
Putting in additional work at home will be a voluntary option, not an expectation.

What’s on the market?
In order to make this idea work, I consider all above specifications as essential. I have spent considerable time on market research, but I am yet to find a commercial platform that offers everything in one package. Anki is a strong contender, but it falls short on child-friendliness and pupil management options. 
The strongest tool comes from Germany: Phase 6 (https://www.phase-6.de) allows pupils to choose the language textbook their school is following, and then provides them with matching vocabulary flashcards, including audio, using an effective spaced repetition algorithm. Unfortunately, there is no class management tool, which renders it unsuitable for our purpose. 

A case for a prototype
This blog contains a lot of technical information. I believe that a fully functional prototype would be a better way of demonstrating the strengths of the flashcard platform I propose.  
I therefore am considering building such a prototype in collaboration with my brother, Andreas Maurer, who is a German IT specialist with considerable programming expertise (currently with some spare time on his hands due to the Covid19 situation.)
Our aim is clear: one platform for all, following the nationwide agreed language progression envisaged in Cymru 2050. Pupils access their account through Hwb and keep it for the duration of their school career. 
We are still planning. If you yourself have specialist knowledge in any of the domains this blog draws on, and would be able to offer support in the form of constructive feedback, suggestions or collaboration, then please get in touch via direct message @MaurerMathias.
Thank you!

Diolch o galon
Through exploring several pathways whilst learning to speak Welsh myself, I have encountered a rich variety of methodologies and resources. These experiences have fed back into my own teaching of Welsh as a second language to primary children. 
Although the skills and experiences acquired along the way give me a broad perspective and good understanding of the different domains contributing to an effective language platform, I am equally aware of the limitations of my own knowledge. 
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the following fabulous people for all I have learned through them: Barri Mock @BarriMoc,  Dr Gianfranco Conti @gianfrancocont9, Daisy Christodoulou @daisychristo, Damian Benney @Benneypenyrheol, Lowri Davies @davieslw_lowri and her team at @ysgolygymraeg , Aran Jones @aranjones from @DailyWelshWords, Emma Dermody @EmmaDermody1 from @CSC_Cymraeg, Andreas Maurer (serious programmer – and my big brother!) and Sonia Maurer  @SoniaMaurer (Learning Technologist, Flashcard pro and wife to the author). 

All of you have far deeper specialist understanding in your domains than I have, and will no doubt have identified aspects in need of correcting or challenging.  Please do so! We welcome your feedback and support.  

Mathias Maurer

Monday, 27 April 2020

CfW - Does a knowledge rich curriculum fit?


Guest Post from Damian Benney, a Deputy Headteacher at a compehensive school in South Wales This is another must read for all teachers and leaders regarding Curriculum for Wales.


Guest Post

Curriculum for Wales. Does a knowledge rich curriculum fit?




The new CfW will begin in September 2022 (Covid delays not withstanding). In this blog I want to explore what I think are the strengths of the new curriculum and what I consider to be the areas of concern. Ultimately, does a knowledge rich curriculum fit in CfW?

The curriculum has been deliberately designed to be a framework. The lack of prescription is deliberate and means that the school’s individual curriculum can be tailored to suit your school context. It could be argued that this is the curriculum’s greatest strength. I will return to this point later. But this lack of prescription is a double edged sword and it could be argued that this is the curriculum’s greatest weakness. There will be potentially 1600 different curriculum models in Wales. 1600 different ways to get it right. 1600 different ways to get it wrong. Do pupils in Swansea really need a totally different curriculum to pupils in Pembroke and Abertillery and Wrexham? The lack of specific content is a concern I have. Could some schools deliver a deficit model where they remove key cultural capital from their students because they aren’t relevant to “our pupils”? Let us hope not but it could happen. Whilst it is positive that Shakespeare gets a specific mention in the Languages, Literacy and Communication documentation, it is only as an example of illustrating depth, alongside 5 other writers and poets. The debate about what content should be delivered is a fierce, passionate and fascinating debate (and we will leave that for another day).

Perhaps my biggest area of concern about how the new curriculum will be realised is in the push for interdisciplinary learning, subject expertise is sacrificed. The new curriculum looks to make authentic links between subjects (absolutely) but just how far will this be taken? When the draft curriculum was launched there was much talk about breaking down the “false barriers” between different subjects. Talk of breaking apart the narrow silos that characterise other countries’ curricula. At what cost?

“Subjects are derived from the great traditions of knowledge construction in academic and artistic fields, each with its own rules of enquiry and evidence, its own traditions of arguments and debate or its own standards of performance and judgement. Each echoes a distinctive quest for truth and each carries accumulated wisdom that must be mastered if its wider ways are to be opened up.” Christine Counsell. This links beautifully to what Martin Robinson said at CymruED: that if we remove the borders between subjects it takes away choice, and it’s the borders that allow pupils to have freedom and preferences, i.e. I prefer History to Geography.  And then the borders again within each subject i.e. Irish History or Russian Revolution.

To my mind, the only way of making CfW  in schools truly successful would be to deliver a knowledge rich curriculum, full of powerful knowledge, rich in cultural capital and one that has been designed, sequenced and then delivered by subject experts. I believe this will be far more effective than a skills based curriculum or a thematic curriculum or a project based curriculum. Of course, there is a place for these approaches but we must consider the differences between how novices and experts learn first. This is also where the choice of the main pedagogical delivery is crucial.

And here is my case for the defence. In “What makes great teaching?” 2014 (and great teaching is defined as that which leads to improved student progress) Coe, Aloisi, Hiigins and Major review the underpinning research and set out 6 components of great teaching. Number 1 is pedagogical content knowledge. This means knowing your subject and knowing how students think in your subject.  Number 2 is quality of instruction. In a secondary school you would expect those to be bread and butter for the subject experts. The quest for interdisciplinary learning has many merits but we can’t deny that it comes at the expense of this subject expertise. You potentially lose the 2 most important aspects of great teaching by pursuing this route. Schools may choose to deliver humanities lessons where the content (a mix of the traditional content of History, Geography and RE) is delivered by 1 teacher. Of course, it is possible to make this successful. Some schools would argue that this more integrated approach leads to a more holistic, joined up understanding for the learners. Perhaps. I am yet to be convinced. But pursuing interdisciplinary learning comes at the expense of subject expertise. This cannot be argued. Only a science specialist will appreciate the misconceptions that can arise when the topics of cells is first taught. Pupils need to see photos of tissues made up of many cells before going on to label a single animal/plant cell. Failure to do this will lead to many pupils believing cells are single entities, floating around in the ether. Subject expertise matters.

What is wrong with teaching themes or projects that are delivered by subject experts in individual subject areas? I have seen many cross subject projects that have been designed to be delivered by subject experts. They are nearly always superbly well designed. On the surface they seem to get the balance right between interdisciplinary learning and subject expertise. The problem is that when you look beneath the surface, the topics taught in each subject area (each part of a wider topic) are placed in that moment in the curriculum to benefit the project but they may then be totally out of sequence with the narrative of the individual subject. For instance, if a Science & Technology project is on plastics and as part of that project, in science they will learn about polymers. To learn about polymers, pupils need to understand (and remember) atomic structure. To understand atomic structure they need to understand (and remember) kinetic theory. But they may well not have covered these (yet). And if not, the new knowledge about polymers will potentially be superficial and quickly forgotten.

Should CfW focus on Knowledge or skills?

A curriculum cannot truly focus on skills. Stephen Tierney states that knowledge and skills are 2 sides of the same DNA molecule. Research shows that you can’t be skilled at something unless you have the domain knowledge. You can’t learn to be good at the skill of analysis (other than learning a useful heuristic) and then go off and analyse a character in a Dickens book. Successful analysis will only come from knowledge of that character in the book. We can’t teach the generic skills of evaluation. We can’t teach critical thinking (though again, there is real merit in learning heuristics). The more knowledge someone has in their long term memory and the better that schema is organised, the more skilful that person should be on applying that knowledge as a skill. 

Is reading a skill? This excellent blog by Rob Randel talks about the importance of getting reading instruction right, particularly in the early years of schooling. Is reading a skill? If I asked you to read this:

Japan's Mamiko Higa has the clubhouse lead at the US Open after a weather-delayed second round, which included lightning striking a tree on the 18th hole.

Higa, 25, led after the first round and is one shot clear of American Jessica Korda after a birdie on the final hole.

France's Celine Boutier is tied for third on four under (alongside US amateur Gina Kim) with four holes left.

I dare say that you would have no problems in changing the graphemes into phonemes. You should easily decode every word. But can you truly read it? If you knew lots about golf then you would understand it completely. If you knew a little bit and had some knowledge of other sports then you may be able to make some inferences. But some people, despite being able to read and sound out every word would not be able to read it. The big five (as mentioned in Rob’s blog) elements of reading are phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. If you lack the vocabulary depth for terms such as 18th hole, birdie, tied for third then you won’t comprehend the passage. If you can’t comprehend the text then you can’t truly read it. We think of inference as a skill but it is completely dependent on background knowledge (something to infer against) and so I am not convinced that we can teach the skill of inference.

Take this quote from the 2019 AQA English Language examiner’s report “The best responses are characterised by students engaging with the ‘big ideas’ (politics, economics, gender, aesthetics, class, morality, psychology and philosophy) and framed in their own perspectives in this larger context, which enhance the overall quality of their argument.”  When we teach knowledge we deepen our students’ vocabulary and make them better readers. As the examiner’s report also shows, we make them “cleverer”. This is surely what we want CfW to achieve?

If we want CfW to deliver equity and excellence for our learners, if we want to develop rich schema in the brains of our learners then we need to view curriculum design as a box set (to steal Clare Sealy’s phrase). Compare Black Mirror to Line of Duty. LOD is a serial. It has a clear narrative. The story is linked through time rather than a series of random “one offs” like Black Mirror. There is a clear narrative over time. There are sub plots (within episodes/lessons), main plots (over a scheme of learning/season) and a clear story arc (over the course of 5 years or the entire run of seasons). I have completely stolen that analogy from someone else. The point is, every lesson and sequence of lessons should have its place in a carefully sequenced curriculum, rather than a huge catalogue of (albeit) enjoyable episodes that are all about fun and engagement but not about building schema.

If a curriculum has no discernible narrative, with topics chosen with no rhyme or reason and no thought of teaching in a sequential way, then the gap will widen between the pupils lucky enough to be exposed to lots of background knowledge at home and those that are not. The Matthew effect in action. Knowledge is “sticky”. Knowledge begets knowledge. The more someone knows the easier future learning becomes. The gap between the “haves” and “have nots” will only get wider.

To quickly lean on the work of the Bjorks and the concept of desirable difficulties, learning that lacks a foundation of secure background knowledge will be forgotten quickly and will not easily be relearned. We want pupils to learn from the curriculum and not merely experience it.

Careful, thoughtful, planned structuring and sequencing of the curriculum will also mean that (with quality teaching) students build the types of schema that we want them to build. By using some of the best bets of research such as spacing and retrieval practice, we can make future learning easier by ensuring that our leaners have more prior knowledge accessible in their long term memories to knit their new learning onto. The new curriculum must be underpinned by findings from cognitive science. A common understanding of how we learn must be front and centre. This is why recent events such as ResearchEd Cymru have been so well attended by a profession that wants to be evidence informed.

And as far as I am concerned, this is where the good news kicks in. An evidence informed, knowledge rich, carefully structured and deliberately sequenced curriculum is not at all at odds with CfW. This is where the framework nature of the new curriculum can be viewed as a strength. We haven’t been given a prescriptive curriculum overladen with specified content that we may have taken exception to in terms of inclusion. We have not had a forced 21st century skills curriculum dropped on us (though this may be the route that some choose to take). We have been given a framework, within which, a knowledge rich approach fits very comfortably

Take these statements directly from the Science and Technology AoLE:

“Progression of learning is not linear but cyclical with learners revisiting existing knowledge, linking this with their new learning, and adjusting schema in light of new discovery.” This is a great statement and comes closest to actually describing how we learn. The discovery statement does not refer to discovery learning; rather it describes new or extended knowledge being acquired.

“Schools should, where relevant, facilitate learning through active and practical experiences. Practical learning of a specific, thematic or multi-disciplinary nature should strengthen learning and conceptual understanding, not simply engage learners in engaging and enjoyable tasks”. This statement is excellent. It makes it clear that whether the current focus is specific, thematic or multi-disciplinary, practical work should enhance learning and have a clear focus rather than because it is fun. No engagement for engagement’s sake (at least not as a rule).

“The planned sequencing of science and technology learning and teaching should consider the development of the knowledge or skills learners’ need, in advance of engaging them in more practical activities or inquiry”. This puts to bed the idea that this AoLE is a discovery learning area (though there may be elements of guided “discovery”) and reemphasises the importance of a solid foundation knowledge.

This is why the statements of what matters in this area have been designed with strong interdependencies, and should not be considered separately in school curriculum design and planning”. This statement is very important. This can be interpreted that designing a more joined up curriculum is key.

So what could this joined up curriculum look like (again, thanks to Clare Sealy for her ideas)? For me, the key is to explicitly map out the vertical, horizontal and diagonal links of the curriculum. The key here is that each department sequence their curriculum in a way that new knowledge builds on background knowledge in a carefully structured and sequenced way. Departments should be able to justify and explain the narrative of their curriculum. What does the progression of knowledge and skills look like? They should be planning and exploiting the vertical links that exist between the topics as pupils travel through the school (from year group to year group). There then needs to be a whole school overview so that the horizontal links (links between different subjects in the same year group) and vertical links (links between different subjects in different year groups) can be mapped and then exploited in class. So a teacher delivering the reformation in History will have the knowledge from the map about when pupils studied Catholicism and can build on this knowledge. Nothing has to be left to chance. This will be particularly important for subjects within AoLEs but also for subjects in different AoLEs. This map will stand alongside other whole school maps for coverage of the cross curricular responsibilities.

Cluster working is also going to be key. I was fortunate to spend some time in a whole cluster inset at Ysgol Bro Edern. They are a model on how a cluster should work together. I watched a presentation for the whole cluster by Ceri James. It referenced Hirsch, Wilingham and Wiliam (and the “magic” of Harry Potter). Influenced by Gareth Rein, they are mapping their whole cluster curriculum and looking at the golden threads that run through from nursery to Year 9. We should watch this cluster’s developments with genuine interest.
So in summary, a well thought out, structured, sequenced curriculum will build the schema we want in our pupils. By making links explicit (and this requires lots of work between department HoDs) we can make links between the schema that pupils have for different topics in different subject areas/AoLEs. This is our ambitious, capable learner. It is what our learners deserve.

Damian Benney

Further Reading:

Rob Randel’s blog on reading and CfW.

Christine Counsell’s blog: The Dignity of the Thing

David Didau blog on Novices and Experts.

Stephen Tierney’s blog on Education for Wisdom.

Clare Sealy’s blog on the 3D Curriculum.


The Science of Learning by Deans for Impact.

Bro Edern blog on Cultural Capital (Ceri James)

Many thanks to Rob Randel and James Stanford for their help with editing and further suggestions, additions and tweaks.