Is teaching happening as you planned?
Hello Curriculum Thinkers,
You’ve planned it together, agreed how you’ll teach it and done some practice.
But how do you know it’s happening?
This week: 6 strategies to help you see if your curriculum is being taught consistently.
Why are we sharing insights about “curriculum delivery”?
The Curriculum Subject Goals Survey 2023/24 revealed improving it was top priority for you.
It’s also why we are running…
📆 Subject specific meetups about improving consistency of curriculum delivery.
Your team have different experiences and expertise. Your students’ attitudes are more complex than ever. Limited resources mean you have to do more with less.
While we know there are teaching strategies you can apply in every subject, we also know that every subject is different.
That’s why we are hosting a series of subject-specific meetups, where you can share how you achieve greater consistency in curriculum delivery in your department with others.
Starting week beginning 18th March. See you there!
All dates, hosts and links at the bottom of this email.
6 strategies to help you see if your curriculum is being taught consistently.
Before we get going, a bit on how to use this compilation:
Borrow what you like.
Leave what you don’t.
Let presenters know in the comments under sessions and resources how useful they were - they love hearing from you. Comments like Emma’s mean a huge amount to them.
1. See it in action when on learning walks.
The good news is: the annual, high stakes formal observation is seen less and less these days.
The not so good news is: doing learning walks well is really tricky.
Who decides which class? What do you look for? How do you make sure everyone gets seen? How quickly can you turn feedback around? How do you make sure it’s useful?
Ark Bollingbroke shared their answers to all of those questions, and more, through their use of digital forms.
It’s helped them achieve huge gains in efficiency, insight and development.
⏯️ Watch their master class here
📝 Download learning walk resources here including
learning walk template, guidance and schedule
Power Bi forms set up guidance
🙏 Thank you, Tom Tye, Rosie Breckon and Catherine Tibbetts, for sharing your work.
2. Ask your students through student voice.
Too often we forget to ask the most important people in schools - your students - about their experience.
We get it, time is tight and finding space for kids to do a panel or fill out a survey is at a premium.
But if you can make it happen (and do it well), the insight is worth it’s weight in gold.
So how do others do it?
Here are the questions Harris Academy Battersea have asked their students.
⏯️ Watch their master class here
📝 Download student voice resources here
🙏 Thank you, Daniel Opoku, for sharing your work.
3. Schedule time to look at the work in their books.
As community member Sallie Stanton said recently: “making inferences about what's going on in people's heads about an invisible process” is hard.
Getting into students’ books to see if what you planned, and how you taught it, turned into work that shows they know, and can do, what you hoped is hugely valuable.
Kings Academy Binfield shared how they do it…
📝 Download moderation resources here including
schedules
moderation templates
summaries learnings from subject wide moderation
🙏 Thank you, Jess Richards, for sharing your work.
4. Talk about the quality of the walk during moderation.
If improving the consistency of curriculum delivery is your aim, you need to make time to discuss what you see, why you’re seeing it, what went well and what can be improved.
It takes preparation and guidance.
Ark Acton shared how they do it.
⏯️ Watch their master class here
📝 Download student work analysis resources here including
🙏 Thank you, Ruthie Jacobs, Oli Knight and Sammy Clark, for sharing your work.
5. Discuss it with your team through curriculum conversations.
When reviewing practice to better understand how you can improve it, there are two traps you risk falling into.
Not triangulating all the data you have at your fingertips
Creating lots of paperwork
“How can I avoid them both? You cry.
Curriculum conversations is one way.
Advantage Schools use them to avoid falling into both by leaning on Kim Scott’s “Radical Candour”
⏯️ Watch the master class here
📝 Download resources here including
Outline of QA approach
Conversations pro forma
🙏 Thank you, Sallie Stanton, for sharing your work.
6. Track and celebrate successes.
When you are always trying to improve, it can be easy to forget to celebrate the wins.
Forest Gate Community School has a number fun and informal ways they celebrate excellent teaching.
⏯️ Watch the Explicit Direct Instruction master class here
📝 Download resources here including
Outline of Explicit Direct Instruction at the school
Year long staff training overview and schedule
🙏 Thank you, Thahmina Begum, for sharing your work.
Want practical curriculum resources like this direct to your inbox every week?
14 meet-up events on subject-specific approaches to consistent curriculum delivery across your dept
All are welcome to take part in discussions so feel free to extend the invite to your team and line manager.
If you can’t make the date and time, add a quick comment on the event to be kept in the loop on the replay and resources shared on the call.
📚 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in English
Mon 11th Mar, 4-5 pm | RSVP here>
Hosted by Dena Eden, Director of Secondary English at Inspiration Trust
🧠 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Social Science
Mon 11th Mar, 5-6pm | RSVP here>
📊 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Maths
Tues 12th Mar, 4-5pm | RSVP here>
Hosted by Rhiannon Rainbow, School Improvement Leader for Maths at Greenshaw Learning Trust
🧭 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in RE
Tues 12th Mar, 5-6pm | RSVP here>
Hosted by Melissa Thraves, T&L Lead for RE at Richard Hale School
👋 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Languages
Weds 13th Mar, 4-5pm | RSVP here>
📐🥗 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Design Technology & Food
Thurs 14th Mar, 4-5pm | RSVP here>
Hosted by Susan Hutcheson, Lead Teacher of Design and Technology at Chiswick School
🎭 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Performing Arts
Thurs 14th Mar, 5-6pm | RSVP here>
🎨 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Art
Mon 18th Mar, 4-5pm | RSVP here>
⚖ Consistent Curriculum Delivery in PSHE
Mon 18th Mar, 5-6pm | RSVP here>
📅 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in History
Tues 19th Mar, 4-5pm | RSVP here>
Hosted by Emily Folorunsho, Head of History at Barking Abbey School
🌍 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Geography
Tues 19th Mar, 5-6pm | RSVP here>
🏆 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in P.E.
Weds 20th Mar, 4-5pm | RSVP here>
Hosted by Sarah Newman, Head of PE at Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School
💸👩💻 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Business, Comp Sci & IT
Weds 20th Mar, 5-6pm | RSVP here>
🧬 Consistent Curriculum Delivery in Science
Thurs 21st Mar, 4-5pm | RSVP here>
Hosted by Christopher Smye, Assistant Headteacher & Faculty Leader for Science at The Chase
Sent with ❤️ Curriculum Thinkers Team at We Are In Beta.
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