The Government wants the new National Curriculum for primary English, mathematics and science to set out the very highest expectations for all pupils and to be on a par with the highest-performing education jurisdictions in the world.
The proposed changes to the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for these subjects have been informed by the report of the Expert Panel which advised the review during 2011, the Department’s analysis of curricula of high-performing jurisdictions, advice from subject experts, responses to the Call for Evidence and the wider evidence base.
The drafts of the Programmes of Study have been published alongside the Secretary of State’s letter to Tim Oates - chair of the Expert Panel – responding to the panel’s recommendations for the primary curriculum. The drafts can be accessed from the associated resources section below.
As the letter explains, the drafts are deliberately ambitious about what we should expect our primary school children to achieve in these three subjects. They are also very specific about the content to be covered, given the fundamental importance of these subjects as a foundation for further study and as the basis for our system of school accountability.
We envisage that the National Curriculum documents for other primary subjects will be much shorter and allow for the maximum level of innovation at school level over the content to be taught in those subjects.
The aim of publishing the drafts at this stage is to start a debate on the content of the primary curriculum with key stakeholders, including learned societies, subject associations and teacher unions. This will inform any changes to the content in readiness for the full public consultation in early 2013.
