"Children are entitled to be provided with an appropriate curriculum"

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Louise Degregorio

“Children are entitled to be provided with an appropriate curriculum”

Children’s learning is divided into two curriculums: the Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum. Children aged 3-5 years are to be taught the Foundation Stage and children from 6-11 years are to be taught the National Curriculum. Children from age 3-11 years are entitled to be taught an appropriate curriculum regardless of gender, social class, disability, culture and ethnicity.

Both the Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum are going to be explained briefly but, the Foundation Stage has been chosen to be focused on in more detail.

The National Curriculum is a set guide from which teachers can refer back to. It was developed by the Conservative Government in 1989 following the Education Reform Act 1988 to assist teachers in the classrooms, then revised in 1995 by Dearing and further revised in 2000 by New Labour.

It is divided up into three core subjects: Mathematics, English and Science, seven non-core subjects: History, Geography, Music, Art, P.E, D.T, I.T, there are other requirements such as R.E, Sex education and non statutory guidance like P.S.H.E and citizenship, and foreign language (KS2). All these subjects are organised into four key stages. ‘For each key stage, programmes of study set out what pupils should be taught, and attainment targets set out the expected standards of pupils’ performance’. (DFEE (1999), p17)

The programmes of study set out what pupils should be taught in each subject at each key stage, and provide the basis for planning schemas of work. It is up to the schools to decide upon the programmes of study for each subject in order for the pupils’ to reach the attainment targets.

Attainment targets set out the expected standards of pupils’ performance. They range from level 1 to level 6 and are a way of assessing pupils’ attainment.

‘Levels of descriptions provide the basis for making judgements about pupils’ performance at the end of key stages 1, 2 and 3. At key stage 4, national qualifications are the main means of assessing attainment in National Curriculum subjects’. (DFEE (1999), p17)

All teachers have to plan and prepare a lesson before they can perform it. The purpose of planning is internally so all staff are planning together and working as a team for the children and externally to reassure the parents, inspectors and Government that the staff are delivering the National Curriculum. There are 3 types of term within the National Curriculum, long term (key stage and year plans), medium term (termly or half termly plans) and short term (weekly or daily plans). There are 5 principles which teachers must remember when planning: breadth and balance, continuity and progression, differentiation and match, relevance and appropriateness, and assessment opportunities. In order for teachers to meet the requirements they must include all the principles.

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Teachers must assess children to find out what they have achieved. They are assessed by doing national tests at age 7 and 11 years, and then the S.A.T.S are made public in league tables and checked by Ofsted inspectors.

Assessing children’s learning of the National Curriculum is performed by teachers observing, questioning, listening and marking the children’s work. When teachers assess children they write down their evidence, devise recording systems, produce tables of results, add information to the pupil’s profile and finally write reports for the child’s parents.

The Foundation Stage is a guide for early years ...

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