Pioneer School
Curriculum Pioneer Schools
Ysgolion Arloeswyr Y Cwricwlwm
Whitchurch Primary School is proud to have been selected by the Welsh Government as a Curriculum Pioneer School charged with developing a new curriculum for Wales.
On 30 June 2015, the Minister for Education and Skills announced that the Welsh Government would accept, in full, all of the recommendations set out in Successful Futures, Professor Graham Donaldson’s independent review of the curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Building on the Digital Pioneers model announced on 10 June 2015, this document sets out how, working in a new way with schools, local authorities, regional consortia, Estyn, leading academics and employers as well as other key stakeholders we will together build our new curriculum in Wales.
As a Curriculum Pioneer school we work together as part of an all-Wales partnership team to design and develop the new curriculum for Wales.
The all-Wales partnership team is charged with designing the new Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLE), including progression steps, achievement outcomes, and assessment and reporting arrangements.
Going forward, as a Pioneer School we will play a key role as pathfinders for the new curriculum, supporting, leading and embedding realisation of the new curriculum framework both locally and nationally - sharing our vision, knowledge, understanding and experience of the new curriculum with other schools.
This is a very exciting time for us at Whitchurch Primary School.
Schools will have some flexibility in determining how and when they begin first teaching of the new curriculum. Our ambition is that by 2021 settings and schools will be using the new curriculum to underpin teaching and learning for children and young people aged 3-16. A New Deal for the Education Workforce will equip education professionals to deliver the new curriculum.
4 purposes
The 4 purposes will be at the heart of our new curriculum. They will be the starting point for all decisions on the content and experiences developed as part of the curriculum to support our children and young people to be:
- ambitious, capable learners ready to learn throughout their lives
- enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work
- ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world
- healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
Key elements
The new curriculum will include:
- 6 Areas of Learning and Experience from 3 to 16
- 3 cross curriculum responsibilities: literacy, numeracy and digital competence
- progression reference points at ages 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16
- achievement outcomes which describe expected achievements at each progression reference point.
The curriculum will be organised into 6 Areas of Learning and Experience:
- Expressive arts
- Health and well-being
- Humanities (including RE which should remain compulsory to age 16)
- Languages, literacy and communication (including Welsh, which should remain compulsory to age 16, and modern foreign languages)
- Mathematics and numeracy
- Science and technology (including computer science).