Page: Welcome / Theoretical background / Education / National Curriculum
Historical background
Key stages
School subjects
Teaching methods
Attainment targets
Advantages of the National Curriculum
The basic principle of school education is that it should provide a balanced and broad curriculum which is suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude, and to any special educational needs which he may have. This balanced and broadly-based curriculum has been defined by the Education Reform Act of 1988 and consolidated by the Education Act of 1996. It is supposed to :
· promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and in society
· prepare pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
The National Curriculum aims to raise educational standards by setting targets for pupils’ learning. These targets, though demanding, should be achievable.
In the 1980s, the Conservative Government became worried about standards in education. They felt that there was not enough control of what was taught, and not enough similarity between what children of the same age in different schools could do.
In fact, schools in Britain used to be completely free to teach exactly what they wanted to. There was no centrally-decided Ministry of Education curriculum. Of course, most schools taught more or less the same subjects because they wanted to provide a useful education. Maths, English and Physical Education, Sports, were always included. However subjects like Music, Art, Geography, Science, History and Religious Education were taught in very different ways, and some schools concentrated on some subjects and did not teach others. Before 1988 what was taught in schools was up to the teachers who worked there.
So the Conservative Government implemented the National Curriculum in the late 1980s. This identified a number of subject areas, such as Technology, English, Maths, and set out detailed programmes of study for each age-group. The 1988 Education Reform Act created a framework that stated legally what subjects should be taught in schools and to what standard.
Much importance was given to the idea of assessment, evaluation, and record-keeping inside individual schools. The government also wanted national tests in Key areas at the ages of 7, 11 and 14. The results would be published and compared as for the football results in the League Tables.
All these decisions were very controversial and revolutionary. Many teachers and educational professionals were worried about them. Some people disagree about details of implementation, others with the general ideas.
The original National Curriculum was introduced in 1988. The problems were immediately obvious : it was too complicated, there were too many documents. The teaching professionals had not been consulted enough, and they did not think that the curriculum was very practical. It was impossible to cover all the subjects in the time allowed, both for the pupils and the teachers. They were many protests.
In 1992/1993, Sir Ron Dearing was asked to report on the National Curriculum and to revise it, this time consulting the teachers. The report was published in 1993. It reduced the work load, and the curriculum became more manageable. Teachers have now more freedom : the guidelines for schools now allow up to 20% of « free » time, outside the curriculum subjects, for instance modern foreign languages. At the same time, many teachers feel that the Dearing Report has helped them to become better professionals.
There are still disagreement over what exactly should be taught and how it should be tested. But there should be no major changes to the existing system until at least the year 2000.
Although schools in the private sector do not have to follow the National Curriculum, many do so, at least as the minimum education for their pupils. For all other schools - LEA, voluntary aided, grant maintained and so forth, the National Curriculum forms the basis of pupils’ education from ages 5-16.
Key stages
Under the National Curriculum, pupils’ education is arranged in four phases, known as Key Stages. School year descriptions also have been standardised, with the first year of primary school now known as Year One.
|
Key Stage |
School Year |
Age |
|
1 |
Year 1 |
5-6 |
|
|
Year 2 |
6-7 |
|
2 |
Year 3 |
7-8 |
|
|
Year 4 |
8-9 |
|
|
Year 5 |
9-10 |
|
|
Year 6 |
10-11 |
|
3 |
Year 7 |
11-12 |
|
|
Year 8 |
12-13 |
|
|
Year 9 |
13-14 |
|
4 |
Year 10 |
14-15 |
|
|
Year 11 |
15-16 |
School subjects
The National Curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2 consists of ten subjects. Three of these, English, Mathematics and Science, are known as the core subjects because of their central importance. The other subjects are known as foundation subjects and include History, Geography, Design and Technology, Information Technology (the use of computers), Art, Music, and Physical Education.
The teaching of a modern language is compulsory only from Key Stage 3.
For pupils in Wales, the study of Welsh is also part of the National Curriculum.
The National Curriculum subjects are not considered to form the complete curriculum. The curriculum should, at appropriate stages, include careers education, health education, and other aspects of personal and social education.
Schools may also cover areas such as economic awareness, environmental education, political and international understanding, including an awareness of European identity and European historical, cultural, economic and social aspects.
The Education Act 1996 requires all maintained schools, except nursery schools and nursery classes in primary schools, to provide religious education and a daily act of collective worship, although parents have the right to withdraw their children from these activities.
All local religious education syllabuses must reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. The majority of acts of collective worship are required to be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character.
Each local education authority (LEA) to establish a Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE). Each SACRE must comprise representatives from several groups including religious groups, teachers’ associations and the LEA or Funding Agency for Schools.
The governors of all primary schools which are maintained schools must decide whether and at what stage sex education should be introduced in the curriculum. They must keep an up-to-date written statement of the policy they choose to adopt.
If they decide sex education should be provided, they must publish in their school prospectus a summary of the content and organisation of the programme. They must also inform parents about the procedures for withdrawing their child from these lessons should the parents wish to do so. However, parents do not have a right to withdraw their child(ren) from lessons dealing with the biological aspects of human development and reproduction which form part of the National Curriculum for science.
Certain aspects of drugs education - including tobacco and alcohol as well as illegal drugs « are compulsory as part of National Curriculum science. Guidance on drug prevention and the preparation of policies on drugs education and dealing with drug-related incidents in contained in a DfEE Circular.
All subjects are made up from programmes of study. These describe in detail what pupils should be taught for each Key Stage. The programmes of study set out the skills pupils should be developing and practising, the content they are expected to learn and the concepts they must understand. They do not, however, say how the subject should be taught. This is for teachers to decide. They will use the programmes of study to plan their own schemes of work..
Teaching methods
Teaching methods and learning materials are decided by the class teacher, in consultation with the headteacher and subject co-ordinators (classroom teachers, who, in addition, have responsibility for a particular subject area and who give help and guidance to their colleagues within the school).
The teacher is responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient opportunities for ensuring that there are sufficient opportunities for differentiated work for pupils of all abilities. The teacher is supposed to provide learning experiences which are matched to the needs, capabilities and previous learning of individual pupils.
Teaching normally takes place in mixed ability groups or classes, but pupils may be grouped by ability for some subjects, this practice being known as « setting ».
Teaching does not necessarily have to be organised and delivered within subject boundaries. At primary level, teachers often organise their work in an integrated way, using thematic work as a way to teach several subjects at once. There are no prescribed texts for primary pupils. All schools have computers available for use by pupils. Teachers may also use audio-visual equipment such as TV, video, slides and audio recordings.
Attainment targets
Under the Education Act 1997, all maintained primary schools must adopt a baseline assessment scheme, chosen by the LEA or headteachers. These schemes enable an evaluation of each child’s knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills on entry to primary school. This will allow staff to plan the curriculum appropriately and to provide learning activities that match the child’s needs. Baseline assessment also provides a reference point for the measurement of school performance.
To help monitor and judge pupils’ progress, there are attainment targets for each subject. The titles of the targets reflect the titles of the programmes of study. Each attainment target is written as a series of level descriptions. These are used to judge a pupil’s performance at the end of a Key Stage. They describe the types and range of performance which pupils working at a particular level should demonstrate. Teachers will use their knowledge of a pupil’s work to judge which level description best fits his or her performance.
Across Key Stages 1-3 there are eight levels, plus a description of exceptional performance above Level 8. On average, a pupil is expected to advance one level for every two years at school. This is illustrated in the following chart.
The Government has announced the following targets for 2002 :
· 75% of 11-year-olds to reach the standards expected for their age in maths ;
· 80% of 11-year-olds to reach the standards expected for their age in English
What about the assessment arrangements ? They cover each attainment target in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science and consist of both teacher assessment and national tests and tasks.
The Teacher Assessment of each pupil is based on observations of practical and oral work in the classroom and written work completed in class over the course of the key stage.
On top of that, at the end of key stages, pupils undertake practical classroom-based tasks and written tests in English and mathematics The science test will be taken only at the end of key stage 2. These tests are marked by the class teacher, but set and audited by an external agency.
National tests complement teachers’ own assessment and schools’ internal tests and examinations. They enable each pupil’s progress to be measured against national standards in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science.
National tests at the end of Key Stage 2 are not used to assess the ability or aptitude of pupils for the purpose of selection for secondary school. Selective secondary schools, commonly known as grammar schools, set their own tests for this purpose, and these are usually administered earlier in the school year than the key stage 2 tests.
During the summer of 1997, a new national pilot test was introduced for 9-year-old pupils in England - in Year 4, the middle of key stage 2. This test, consisting of papers in reading, writing, spelling, mathematics and mental arithmetic, is non-compulsory and is intended to give schools a clear notion of whether students are on target to do well in the statutory tests at the end of key stage 2, age 11.
In England, the national teacher assessment and test and task results are published by the Department for Education and Employment DfEE each year. At school level, the national results provide a sound basis for schools to measure pupil performance and set targets for improvements.
Advantages of the National Curriculum
All this sounds complex, but, once you understand the framework, it provides a way of talking about teaching and learning that is the same for all schools.
All maintained schools must keep educational records for all registered pupils and provide copies of records on request. The record covers their academic achievements, other skills and abilities and progress in school. This record must be transferred to any school or training establishment to which the pupil transfers, on request.
When a child moves from one school to another, the new teacher can have, on a single sheet of paper, a detailed record of progress to date. The new school has clear and reliable information about the standard that child has reached.
Within the National Curriculum, schools must send parents at least one written report every school year and have minimum information about :
· the pupil’s progress in all National Curriculum subjects studied
· his progress in all other subjects and activities
· his general progress and an attendance record
· the pupil’s National Curriculum assessment results at the end of key stages
· how his results compare with results of pupils of the same age in the school
· national comparative information about pupils of the same age
· arrangements to discuss the report with the school.