Leading The Curriculum
Melissa McMillan
Assistant Principal
Top 5 Tips…Leading on Whole School Curriculum
1. View the curriculum as a vehicle for social justice: An ‘ambitious curriculum’ is a phrase we use so regularly that we may need reminding of what it means. At BCA it means ensuring that all students regardless of their starting point and backgrounds have access to the whole curriculum. This means the entitlement to a full three-year key stage three curriculum and most importantly all students having access to all subjects when it comes to opting for their Key Stage Four subjects. An ambitious curriculum comes back to our aim for social justice for all students in our school community. Afterall, why should only some students have access to some subjects?
2. Develop an inclusive curriculum – We have a curriculum model where Key Stage Three are mainly taught in mixed prior attainment groups. Moving to this model was a big shift for us and we were heavily influenced by the work Becky Francis of UCL has done on this. Getting mixed attainment groups right ensures our curriculum can help support students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are often over represented in lower sets. It also ensures we don’t have a ‘race to the bottom’ mentality and that students are taught an ambitious and challenging curriculum from day one when they arrive in the academy. Students are challenged to rise to our expectations!
3. Build in time for curriculum development - Subject leaders are experts in their curriculum area. This doesn’t happen by accident. The importance we attach to curriculum means we make sure that time is given over for subject teams to work together on curriculum development. Our subject teams are given autonomy to make their own curriculum decisions and the aim is that all teachers are curriculum experts in their areas. Time is precious in schools, but spending time on curriculum means we are keeping it high profile and allowing our teachers to focus on ‘keeping the main thing, the main thing’, as Mary Myatt would say.
4. View the curriculum as an iterative process: Thinking about curriculum to the extent we do now is actually relatively new for those of us who taught thorough the cooperative learning and VAK years. So, it is important to keep this new priority high profile and ensure there is time for teams to discuss, debate, disagree and explore their curriculum decisions. The culmination of this for us is an annual ‘Curriculum Review Meeting’ whereby subject leaders and / or their teams are invited to discuss their curriculum decisions with SLT, the Principal and an external expert from the trust. These meetings allow staff to really show their deep curriculum understanding whilst also ensuring senior leaders have an overview of curriculum strengths in each subject area. It is often a humbling experience hearing teachers talk about their subject with such passion.
5. Ensure the Curriculum drives the timetable and staffing: Everyone says it is the worst job in the school. And at times I would agree. But it is also satisfying when it works and when it is aligned with what you are trying to achieve with your whole school curriculum strategy. The timetable shouldn’t be divorced from the curriculum, it is the part of the curriculum which ensures you have the right member of staff, teaching the right groups at the right time. It is also about allowing the school to work as efficiently as possible with the staffing resources we have. Timetabling for the next academic year starts straight away in September when considerations around staffing, rooming of extra classes, permanent classrooms for teachers who teach full timetables, ensuring everyone has a wellbeing period ….and then the additional requirements of working out who will be able to staff lunch duties, use time for ECT mentoring, primary liaison….the list is endless but these are the uses of time which make our school so successful so we need to ensure we can accommodate all of this. And my final thought is that with so many considerations for the timetable, you can’t please everyone….but you can try. And being nice to the person who makes the timetable always helps.