The National Curriculum Balancing Act

David Adkins, Deputy Head at Thames Christian College comments on how he thinks the government should balance the critical subjects of Maths and English with personal growth subjects and the broader curriculum.

Following the Education Secretary, Michael Gove MP’s launch of a review of England’s National Curriculum, a consultation of parents and teachers on what should be taught in schools is underway. As the debate heats up I’d like to contribute the following thoughts on how the National Curriculum could be improved for 11-16 year olds.

I think that rather than reducing the number of subjects taught it would be better to consolidate the National Curriculum by slimming down the content of individual subjects. By reducing the volume of material children have to learn, teachers will have more time to concentrate on teaching in engaging and creative styles to ensure the essentials are deeply learned - yet students remain stimulated. They will also be able to spend more time on tasks which require students to work in teams; learning skills essential for the workplace and to make a positive contribution to society.

The re-shaped National Curriculum should ensure more time is available for the core subjects, English and Maths. Every child should have the opportunity to leave school with ‘better than the basics’: this is a realistic goal. If literacy and numeracy were taught every day through Key Stages 1-3, there would be enough time to teach students in more interesting, fun and effective ways and ensure learning is applied to real-life scenarios. At present too many students’ success relies on parents filling in the gaps with practice at home and additional tutoring. This sets many students at a disadvantage because they don’t have sufficient support at home.

In order to address these issues, within the constraints of the current National Curriculum, at Thames we introduced a whole school approach to literacy so none of our students leave without this crucial skill. We expect to see this bear fruit in our forthcoming GCSE exams. We will also be implementing this approach for numeracy next year. In addition, we have introduced iGCSE in some subjects as its reduced content enables skills to be taught in more depth which we believe gives a much better preparation for A-levels by reducing the current leap from GCSE. Currently too many students who are successful at GCSE’s find it hard to reproduce their success at A-Level because they have become good at learning content but lack the critical thinking skills to succeed at the higher levels.

To ensure pupils still receive a well rounded education the government could consider introducing more cross curricular days or even weeks for pupils. At Thames we have found cross curriculum weeks provide an ideal opportunity to present pupils with new challenges and real life business projects, designed to widen their skills and knowledge beyond the day to day timetable.

Cross curricular weeks are really well-received by pupils and not just because it’s a change from the normal routine. The children appreciate the opportunity to develop group work, leadership, problem solving and presentation skills.

Whatever else it does, I think it is so important that the National Curriculum leaves time for wider learning so that schools don’t just 'teach to test'. We need to focus on building the pupils' real life skills and widening their experiences to best prepare them for life in the real world.