Hello Curriculum Thinkers,
As leader of curriculum in your area you’ll spend most of your time thinking about what you want your students to learn, how you’re going to teach them and then checking it’s worked.
But the bedrock of your ability to do this is making sure you get the right teachers in the right places so your curriculum is workable and offers your department, and school, value for money.
Not very sexy, I know. Or it is?
“It’s hard to make #CLFP sexy CPD but @WeAreInBetaPod w/#MikeHoad @walton_academy gave it a good go - just wish I had it before the resubmission of the #NPQH #TASK2 fiasco… but have it for the day job so #WinWin” VP Niamh McGuiness on Twitter.
Thanks, Niamh! 😂 🙏
Why is it useful to know about?
Whether you’re a teacher, subject leader or senior leader it’s useful to know what it is and how it works to help you do what you do best within the limited resources you have.
Not least of all because it will help establish a common understanding and satisfaction between all members of staff about why certain choices are made within the very real constraints schools face. So…
✅ What is it?
An approach to staff planning based on the desired curriculum model.
A tool to support the efficient deployment of specialist teachers.
A step in the curriculum implementation/timetabling process.
A means to critically evaluate the value for money of a curriculum by producing comparable benchmarking data.
❌ What is it not?
A timetable.
A stick to beat people with.
A redundancy/staff restructuring tool or process.
⚠️What pitfalls should you avoid?
Avoid planning a curriculum around the staff that you have - start with the curriculum you want to deliver first.
Avoid completing the CLFP in isolation - do it in partnership with timetabling.
Don’t try to be perfect on every benchmark - establish your hierarchy of compromises.
Don’t own it too tightly - work with your faculty line managers and subject leaders throughout the process.
Want to learn more about it from this week’s masterclass and how Walton Academy and Diverse Academies Trust have used CLFP to save and invest in more pastoral care and new classrooms?
Resources shared by VP, Mike Hoad (Walton Academy, Diverse Academies Trust) include:
The CLPF tool (Excel template)
The CLFP annual to do list with deadlines
Director of Finance CLFP FAQs
📺 How to get your students to revise effectively - the best techniques and whole school strategy.
Teaching the curriculum is one thing. Getting students to remember it is another. Regular practice and retrieval help. So does revision.
But do your students know how to revise? And do they get the same messages consistently from all departments?
Join us to learn the best revision techniques MEA Central chose according to the evidence and how they rolled out a whole school strategy that increased use, effectiveness and consistency across all stakeholders.
📅 Tues 10th May
🕞 4.15pm
If you need a hand accessing any resources in this email, hit reply and we’ll get it sorted.
Sent with ❤️ from the Curriculum Thinkers Team at We Are In Beta.
Sent this by a friend?
Curriculum Thinkers quick links.
🔎 National Curriculum SLT Directory of Practice
💬 National Subject Leader Directories and Groups
🎥 Master classes recordings and Curriculum Thinking Week talks
🆕 New here? Welcome! Catch up on previous editions of Curriculum This Week via the archive