What can the NACE Curriculum Audit Tool be used for?   

How can the tool help to improve more provision in my school?

How can the tool help schools focusing on curriculum development?

How can the tool help schools in Wales focusing on curriculum reform?

How will the tool complement other self-evaluation methods used by schools in Wales?

Who would use the Audit Tool to carry out self-evaluation?

What benefits will teachers and support staff gain from using the Audit Tool?

Can learners participate in the curriculum audit process?

Jon Murphy, Executive Headteacher of Llanfoist Fawr and Llanvihangel Crucorney Primary Schools, explains why he’s optimistic about the new freedoms presented by the draft Curriculum for Wales 2022.

While observing an inspiring Year 5 lesson as part of an assessment for the NACE Challenge Award, my eye was drawn to a statement above the whiteboard: “Who says the sky’s the limit when there are footsteps on the moon?” Push beyond our thin and fragile atmosphere, escape the boundaries created by gravity and a whole new exciting world of exploration, discovery and possibility emerges. Those words have remained with me and have become a guiding principle in my work with more able and talented (MAT) children.  

The national curriculum defines parameters within which to operate, bringing both benefits and limitations. Key phases create their own “gravity” which can hold teachers and learners within fixed boundaries. Over-prescribed curriculum content stifles creativity, exploration and discovery, particularly for those with an independent spirit and capability. Boundaries create barriers to learning.

However, with the new Curriculum for Wales, we are being provided with the wonderful opportunity to change the way we teach our young people. We are on the verge of the introduction of a totally different approach, which promises the removal of boundaries, resulting in the creation of exciting educational discoveries that will challenge the way we think, the way we teach and the way we prepare our young people for the future. The significant change needed for curriculum reform will challenge us as professionals and by the same token will allow us the freedom to transform the way we challenge our more able learners.

The story so far…

30 April 2019 saw the publication of the draft Curriculum for Wales 2022. Within the Federation of Llanfoist Fawr and Llanvihangel Primary Schools, preparation for curriculum reform started long before the publication of the draft orders. Professor Graham Donald’s Successful Futures report, the catalyst which led to curriculum reform, provided the starting point for our own journey of curriculum transformation. We followed its progression through to the white paper, Our National Mission: A Transformational Curriculum, which gave us sight of the legislative proposals for Curriculum Wales 2022. 

Although the details of the new Curriculum for Wales have only recently become available to all schools in draft form, carefully considered strategic planning has provided us with a head start in our preparations for implementation. Fundamental to the new curriculum are the Four Purposes which guide educational priorities and underpin teaching and learning to ensure learners become:

• Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives;
• Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work;
• Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world;
• Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

Already the Four Purposes are a regular and natural part of the everyday new curriculum vocabulary used by pupils and staff. The purposes chime so well with the aspirations we have always held for our more able learners. We have created a vision and aims that are aligned to the purposes of the new curriculum, and although early days, we are already striving to ensure our vision ultimately comes to fruition through the introduction of new pedagogical approaches. We have moved away from the traditional subject coordinator role and allocated staff to the six Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLE) – expressive arts; health and wellbeing; humanities; literacy, languages and communication; mathematics and numeracy; science and technology – creating curriculum teams which bring together colleagues’ existing skills, knowledge and expertise.

Preparing for change: the role of the PLL

Although not a Pioneer School involved in the initial shaping of the curriculum, we have worked closely with our Pioneer colleagues to keep abreast of innovation and change. Pivotal to our work with Pioneer Schools has been the internal appointment of a Professional Learning Lead (PLL) – an initiative introduced by the South East Wales Consortium (EAS). Due to the significant changes in pedagogical approach needed to deliver the new Curriculum for Wales, it is essential to appoint a PLL with extensive skills, knowledge and experience in child development to ensure the curriculum is designed to meet the needs of every individual pupil, regardless of ability.

In addition to success as a subject leader across a number of areas, our own PLL has extensive experience as an Additional Learning Needs Coordinator and is also our More Able and Talented Coordinator. A key role for the PLL is to oversee the development of the 12 Pedagogical Principles across the six AoLEs, which are at the heart of curriculum reform. Currently our PLL is developing staff knowledge and understanding of the “what matters” concepts in each AoLE – headline statements that outline and organise learning. The “what matters” statements make connections to the Four Purposes to ensure learners acquire the appropriate knowledge, skills and experiences in each AoLE.

An operational starting point for staff has been involvement in the redesign of our planning templates to address the elements of the new curriculum framework. We are now making our first attempts to pilot planning and curriculum design for delivery of the new AoLEs.

Ensuring consistency and coherence

Successful implementation of the new national curriculum will be dependent on the quality of professional development provided for staff, upskilling them in the pedagogical approaches needed for effective delivery. Our PLL attends curriculum reform professional development opportunities facilitated by Pioneer colleagues, the EAS and other providers. She acts as a conduit bringing back into school new developments and good practice to be shared in senior leadership, staff and governors’ meetings and through facilitating school professional development days.

As a school we are already finding that professional development gained through participation in the NACE Challenge Development Programme is complementing and enhancing our curriculum reform work. We are looking at change holistically, and as a result we are carefully aligning curriculum reform with other work streams, including our transition to the six elements of the revised NACE Challenge Framework and amendment of our self-evaluation processes to address Estyn’s five inspection areas. This strategic alignment of the different systems and processes we use in school is ensuring that they work together as a coherent whole.

The freedom to let learners fly

Within the draft orders for the new curriculum are details of the principles for progression. These guide the progression of learning within each of the six AoLEs; the outlined progression steps contain achievement outcomes which can be used to identify progression of what a pupil can do as they progress in their learning. Unlike the current curriculum, which almost ties learning into key phases demarked by outcomes and levels, the progression steps are a true continuum and allow children to progress more in line with their ability – without the boundaries which can suppress progress. For more able learners there are no false ceilings; they can fly. 

Teachers will need to teach differently, developing new pedagogy, assessment processes and the confidence to “let go of the reins”. Young people will have a greater say in what and how they learn. Enrichment and experiences which are an integral part of the new curriculum will allow learners to have a greater voice in how they design, guide, investigate and lead their own learning: a tantalising thought for more able learners, who will be provided with even greater opportunities to spread their wings. Through the freedom intended in the new curriculum, Welsh Government is handing us the scissors with which to cut the apron strings.

Grounds for optimism

The new Curriculum for Wales will provide a continuum of learning; the restrictive key phases present in the current curriculum will no longer exist. Transition will become smoother but at the same time will require even greater partnership and tighter transition plans to ensure a successful and seamless move for pupils from primary to secondary schools. With a learning continuum, it follows that work, which has traditionally been seen as the domain of the secondary sector, will permeate its way more readily into primary practice, an exciting prospect for more able learners who will access increasingly challenging concepts earlier in their primary career.

There is a great deal of optimism in Wales surrounding the introduction of a new curriculum. Naturally, there are concerns about resourcing and the pace and extent of change. Overall, educational professionals realise that we are on the verge of a new educational system that is non-prescriptive, boundary-free and which offers the freedom to develop learning opportunities that are genuinely bespoke to meet the needs of all learners, preparing them for work and life. We all have a lot to gain from current educational reform, and none more so than more able and talented learners.

Six steps to implement in your school

1. Put in place an action plan in response to self-evaluation and research evidence, which includes performance measures.
2. Set whole-school end of key stage targets, using national benchmarks, which can be measured.
3. Use the same or higher targets for interim school years.
4. Set quantitative performance data targets, with attention to closing gaps in achievement between different year groups and subjects.
5. Include targets for defined groups of learners including: gender; ethnicity; EAL; SEND and disadvantage.
6. Identify other schools where performance is better in target areas and seek to work in collaboration or acquire support, dependent on needs.

Reviewing outcomes for more able learners

• Are historic attainment outcomes in line with or better than average for similar schools or family of schools? 
• What actions will lead to higher attainment and what quality assurance milestones can be put in place?
• Do more able learners make the same or better progress than other learners, relative to their starting points, and is this true regardless of learner groups?
• Have targets been put in place for all year groups and for all subjects?
• Are there any subjects or year groups where progress and attainment measures lie below whole-school targets and what specific action is in place to monitor and measure improvement?
• Have the targets been communicated effectively to middle leaders and have they acted to make changes which will lead to further improvements?
• When reflecting on the school’s position in relation to more able learners, there is a balance between where the school has been historically and what might be achieved if all barriers were removed.

Jon Murphy, Headteacher of Abergavenny’s Llanfoist Fawr Primary School, explains how the NACE Challenge Development Programme has helped the school achieve improved outcomes for more able learners, while nurturing skills for lifelong learning and success.

School leaders constantly wade through the latest wave of educational initiatives flooding the market. Through carefully considering, selecting and undertaking the NACE Challenge journey, we were provided with the support, structure, knowledge, skills and resources to challenge our more able to become effective learners in all areas – be it academic, sporting, artistic, cultural, spiritual, musical or social. 

The whole-school approach of the NACE Challenge Framework has allowed us to strategically plan for and implement effective provision for our more able. The carefully considered standards of the framework and accompanying NACE resources, including innovative webinars, have provided our school with an invaluable structure to develop purposeful, bespoke learning. This has without doubt helped to enhance the life chances of many of our more able learners, allowing us to equip them with the skills needed to succeed in life.

Establishing the foundations for success

The NACE Challenge Framework provides a structure to develop strategy and provision for more able learners, whilst at the same time allowing scope for individual and creative approaches. At Llanfoist Fawr, we have used the framework to holistically develop whole-school policy and provision, as well as specifically focusing on character development.

Academic learning only takes place if the conditions are right and children can cope with the pressures and challenges of school and life beyond. Until young people know themselves, they do not really appreciate what they are capable of and how they can use and maximise their skills and talents. Learning qualities and values such as tenacity, resilience and courage impact positively on so many areas of development – promoting exciting, engaging and enriching experiences for all.

Undertaking the NACE journey has provided wonderful opportunities to develop character and to take pupils’ learning to exciting new heights. We have used the framework to identify individuals who show exceptional leadership skills, and develop strategies to enable them to realise their potential. Developing character traits for effective leadership has yielded some of the greatest impact in our provision. Who could fail to be impressed when watching Year 5 pupils leading and instructing the Duke of Cambridge in a challenging teamwork and thinking skills task during his visit last year to launch the SkillForce Prince William Award? 

Evaluating impact and learner outcomes

To measure the impact of the NACE Challenge Framework we monitored and evaluated a wealth of performance indicators such as attendance, frequency of behaviour incidents, national test results and teacher assessment. All performance indicators reflected impressive measurable improvements. At the same time, as with many of the most effective influencers in education, the best and most important cannot have a number or a score attached to them. 

Attainment in the core subjects at expected Level +1 (Outcome 6+ in Foundation Phase and Level 5+ in KS2) remains consistently high and shows our high aspirations for learners materialising into reality. Following a focus on developing the resilience and tenacity of our more able mathematicians, the performance measures for mathematical attainment have demonstrated a continuing journey of improved standards.

Our success in enhancing outcomes for more able learners can be directly attributed to our application of the NACE Challenge Framework. Staff have been trained, pupil ability nurtured, behaviours developed and provision shaped through our adoption of NACE’s holistic whole-school approach to challenge.

Most impressive has been the impact on more able learners’ perception of themselves, the happiness they gain through challenging learning, the self-belief and confidence that positively radiates from children who are challenged to give of their best and who are comfortable within their own skins.
The Challenge Framework has provided a pathway to reinforce and consolidate our high expectations across all areas of operation. We have high expectations of all our learners, and they in turn take great pleasure in emulating our expectations!

Find out how the NACE Challenge Development Programme could support your school.