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Curriculum (all phases)
35 articles
Deliver remote learning
- Coronavirus: how to support reading remotely Stay on top of remote reading to fully support any pupils who need to learn from home. Get tips from reading expert Alex Quigley on how to make sure all pupils have access to age-appropriate home-reading texts.
- Digital education platform hub The Department for Education expects all schools to use a digital platform to provide remote education for pupils who cannot be in school due to coronavirus restrictions. To help you meet this expectation, you can apply for DfE-funded support to get set up on a free-to-use platform: G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education. Learn what these platforms can do for you and use our impartial feature comparison to help you make a call, then apply for funded support.
- Feature comparison: Google Workspace for Education and Office 365 Education Get to grips with how these digital education platforms can solve your remote learning problems, so you can make an informed decision about which to go for. If you've got one of these already, remind yourself what it can do and how else you might use it.
- Get set up on your digital education platform The DfE is offering funded support for you to get set up on one of two free-to-use digital education platforms: G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education. Find out exactly what's on offer, whether you're eligible and how to apply.
- G Suite for Education: instructions for pupils, parents and staff Share our factsheets for Google Classroom (part of G Suite for Education) with your pupils, parents and staff, so they can easily get set up and start engaging if they need to self-isolate.
- How 4 primary schools are making excellent use of G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education These schools and trusts are using digital education platforms in different ways to keep pupils and teachers connected and support children to learn at home. See whether one of these approaches would work for you, whether you're new to using these platforms or looking to do more.
- How 4 secondary schools are making excellent use of G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education These schools and trusts are using digital education platforms in different ways to keep pupils and teachers connected and support children to learn at home. See whether one of these approaches would work for you, whether you're new to using these platforms or looking to do more.
- How to deliver live lessons to pupils learning from home and in school Learn from computing lead and teacher, Ben Chaffe, about how his school is approaching live lessons to reduce teaching workload and keep pupils at home engaged. Find out how he incorporates pupils who are learning from home into lessons in school – and get practical tips on how to make this work for your school.
- How to track the quality of your remote learning: strategies and templates Get a clear picture of the quality of your remote provision across your school for pupils who need to learn from home. Learn how to carry out virtual pupil pursuits and remote lesson observations with our downloadable templates, to make sure your staff are getting the support they need.
- Live lessons and 1-to-1 video calls: template risk assessment Use our risk assessment to help you put measures in place to keep pupils and staff safe during video lessons and 1-to-1 video calls.
- Mythbuster: 7 misconceptions about digital education platforms Wary of moving to a digital education platform? Put your mind at ease with this fact-checker on the common concerns we hear about moving to G Suite for Education and Office 365 Education.
- Office 365 Education: instructions for pupils, parents and staff Share our factsheets for Microsoft Teams (part of Office 365 Education) with your pupils, parents and staff, so they can easily get set up and start engaging.
- Remote and blended learning Whether you're delivering remote learning to self-isolating bubbles or individual pupils, use these resources to help you.
- Remote learning: alternative methods for providing laptops Get a list of organisations that can help you access devices for your school, either for free or at a reduced cost.
- Remote learning: how 5 primary schools use formative assessment in live lessons From gamified quizzes to treasure-coin rubrics, see if the approaches these primary schools are using could help you check pupils’ understanding during live lessons.
- Remote learning: how 5 secondary schools use formative assessment in live lessons From free whiteboard tools to simulating a walk around the room, see if the approaches these secondary schools are using could help you check pupils' understanding during live lessons.
- Remote learning: how to deal with ‘over-supportive’ parents Parents aren't teachers - they won't always know how much support is the 'right amount' when it comes to helping their child learn at home. See the strategies that 4 schools are using to help discourage parents from doing their child's work for them, and learn how to use it to your advantage if parents insist on getting over-involved.
- Remote learning: how to keep pupils with EAL on-track Find out from The Bell Foundation experts how to provide high-quality remote provision for pupils with English as an additional language (EAL). Learn how to make remote lessons accessible, keep conversation skills going, and get the most out of free online translation tools.
- Remote learning: how to make the best use of small group sessions Whether they're in lessons or having a break, pupils learning remotely can benefit from small group activities. See how video calls and breakout rooms can give your pupils opportunities to talk, play and work together while they're learning at home.
- Remote learning: how to provide effective feedback Small group sessions, real-time feedback, voice notes, emojis and more – get top tips from 8 schools across the country to help you deliver vibrant and engaging feedback, both during and outside of live lessons.
- Remote learning: how to provide opportunities for peer interaction Social interaction is an important part of going to school for pupils, and it has a host of mental health, motivation and learning benefits for them too. Get ideas for how to make sure your pupils are still able to interact with each other, both in and out of lessons, while many are learning from home.
- Remote learning: how to support disadvantaged pupils Find out how to help hard-to-reach families support their child during home learning, and make sure your remote lessons and activities are suitable for your most disadvantaged pupils.
- Remote learning: how to support parents of pupils with SEND It’s going to be harder for some pupils to access your remote learning without support from their parents. Here are some suggestions for helping these families, while remembering that parents are not teachers.
- Remote learning: how to support parents who are struggling For parents with limited time or language skills, supporting their child’s remote learning can feel overwhelming. Find out how schools are helping them, and read our case study to learn how one school adapted its remote learning offer to suit the needs of its high proportion of families with EAL.
- Remote learning: how to support pupils with SEND Experts from nasen (National Association for Special Educational Needs) explain how to provide high-quality remote provision for this vulnerable group. Find out how to support parents, get the most out of support staff and make resources accessible.
- Remote learning: loaning IT equipment to pupils and staff Here's what you need to think about and do when loaning laptops and tablets to staff and pupils so they can work and learn from home. Download our template loan form to keep track of your equipment, and our template loan agreement for staff and pupils.
- Remote learning: monitoring pupil engagement Here's how you can work out whether remote pupils are engaging with the work you're setting so that you can provide additional support if necessary.
- Remote learning: programmes and webinars offering additional support While more pupils are returning to school, many will continue to learn remotely. Find out where you can get extra help with your remote learning provision - with guidance from other leading schools, and digital education providers like Google and Microsoft.
- Remote learning: self-evaluation form (SEF) Use our SEF to rate your school's remote learning provision - it's based on the DfE's expectations and review framework, evidence-based recommendations from the Education Endowment Foundation and advice from top school leaders. The criteria here will help you identify areas for improvement, plan your next steps and review progress throughout the year.
- Remote learning: strategies to tackle low engagement Find out what steps you can take to help pupils and their parents/carers overcome barriers to engagement.
- Staff briefing: how to design and deliver remote lessons Download, customise and present our staff briefing to give your teachers the confidence to plan and deliver good remote lessons – and share our handout to help them adapt any classroom lesson for remote delivery.
- Top tips for making blended learning more manageable From making sure teachers don't have to do two lots of lesson planning, to working out how to provide live lessons to pupils at home - blended learning can be tricky to manage. Here are some ideas to help make it a little easier.
- What’s your top tip for getting started with G Suite for Education? Share your tips on getting started with G Suite for Education to help thousands of school leaders across the country.
- What’s your top tip for getting started with Office 365 Education? Share your Office 365 Education top tips here to celebrate what you’ve learned and help thousands of school leaders across the country.
- Why every school should use a digital education platform Stay connected, re-create the vibrancy of your classrooms and give children a sense of normality again by moving to a digital education platform. They're simple to set up and use, and you can uphold your school's quality of education – whatever your learning ambitions.
23 articles
Structuring the curriculum
- Anti-racism: how to review and re-frame your curriculum Learn how to make diversity central to your curriculum, not just a bolt on, and make sure BAME history and achievements are taught all year round. Use our review tool to question and adapt what you’re teaching so your curriculum accurately represents Britain's diverse past and the society we live in today.
- Bloom's Taxonomy: summaries Are there simple summaries of Bloom's Taxonomy? In this article, we refer to summaries from a school and local authority. We also look at how Bloom's Taxonomy is used in lesson planning in schools.
- Classroom displays: effective practice What makes an effective classroom display? We look at what to include in classroom and whole-school displays in a variety of school settings. We also include guidance on Ofsted's consideration of displays, tips on building displays and examples of displays from schools.
- Covering LGBT content in your curriculum The DfE expects all pupils to be taught lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) content, but you can decide when and what is appropriate. Find out how you can make your curriculum more inclusive.
- Curriculum accessibility for pupils with SEND: checklist To help pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reach their full potential, they first must have equal access to your curriculum. Use our checklist to stay compliant with the Equality Act and SEND regulations.
- Curriculum audit: gender and LGBTQ+ inclusivity Use our curriculum audit to help instil a cross-curricular sense of inclusivity, and question and adapt what you’re teaching so your curriculum represents the diversity seen in modern Britain in terms of gender and sexuality.
- Curriculum maps: templates and examples Download and adapt our curriculum map templates to save you the hassle of creating your own. Also, see examples from other schools.
- Curriculum provision in PRUs and APs Pupil referral units (PRUs) and alternative provisions (APs) aren't required to follow the National Curriculum, but they do have to provide a good alternative curriculum. Find out what this includes, and see examples of curriculum offers from other PRUs and APs.
- Curriculum requirements: academies NewIf you're reviewing or updating your curriculum, find out what you need to cover to stay compliant with requirements and meet DfE expectations.
- Curriculum requirements: maintained schools NewAll maintained schools must follow the National Curriculum. If you're reviewing or updating your curriculum, find out what you need to cover to stay compliant with requirements and meet DfE expectations.
- Developing spiritual, moral, social and cultural education How can we develop spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) education? This article includes Department for Education guidance on the requirements for SMSC provision, and advice on ways to develop SMSC provision. You will also find a case study from a teaching school.
- English genres in the National Curriculum Maintained schools must cover the genres of literature and writing set out in the National Curriculum. Learn what you have to teach for reading and writing in Key Stages 1 to 4, and see examples of what other primary and secondary schools teach.
- How to design a curriculum Be clear on how to design an effective curriculum with guidance on the principles of curriculum design, and see how other schools map out their curriculum.
- How to promote British values across your school Get tips on how best to incorporate British values into your school, both through the curriculum and holistically through your wider culture, vision and ethos.
- How to review your curriculum Use our step-by-step guide to review your curriculum, whatever stage you're at.
- Implementing a knowledge-rich curriculum Understand what a knowledge-rich curriculum is and prepare for common challenges you might face when implementing one. See approaches from 3 schools to help you get started.
- PE teaching hours: guidance and examples Find out the number of PE teaching hours recommended by the DfE's healthy schools rating scheme, and take a look at how much PE other schools teach.
- Quality first teaching: guidance Is there any guidance on quality first teaching (QFT)? We summarise guidance from two archived National Strategies publications that outline the characteristics of QFT and how to put them into practice. We also look at how two schools practice QFT, and link to examples of resources.
- Relationships and sex education: how to audit your curriculum New requirements for RSE are coming in. Use our audit tool to find out which of these you’re meeting already and where there are gaps you need to fill.
- Requests to withdraw a pupil from RE Can pupils be withdrawn from RE lessons? We relay guidance on parents' right to withdraw their children from religious education (RE), religious worship in school or trips to places of worship. We also look at schools' duty to provide alternative education for pupils withdrawn from RE.
- School reopening and getting learning back on track: where to start You won't have time to teach every lesson pupils missed during school closure, so you'll need to make some tough decisions on what to recap and what to let go. Get advice from curriculum experts Mary Myatt and Tom Sherrington on how to prioritise key concepts, spot gaps in pupil knowledge, and run effective consolidation lessons.
- Whole-school curriculum audit Use our audit tool to help you look at the big picture when it comes to your curriculum, so you can make sure you’re offering your pupils a broad and balanced education.
- Withdrawing pupils from subjects Find out which subjects parents can withdraw their children from and how these rules apply to maintained schools, academies and independent schools. Plus, get advice on disapplying pupils from the National Curriculum.
7 articles
Subject monitoring
- Classroom provision for pupils with SEND: checklist UpdatedDownload our checklist to evaluate classrooms as suitable learning environments for pupils with SEND, including ASD and PMLD. See how other teachers and schools manage their classrooms to maximise opportunities for these pupils.
- Evaluate your subject/department: SEF checklist Download and adapt our checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of your subject or department. It's divided into the 2019 Ofsted framework judgements, and is designed to work alongside our curriculum evaluation tools.
- How to do your own subject deep dive Follow our step-by-step guide to help you collaborate with staff to carry out your subject deep dive, so you can make improvements to your curriculum.
- Planning scrutiny: template Download and customise our template to help you scrutinise teachers' general and topic-specific plans.
- Pupil-led work scrutinies: guidance and example questions Find out how to make sure your pupil-led work scrutinies are set up for success. Download our example questions to help staff embed pupil voice into the process.
- SMSC audit: template and examples Use our template to audit your spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) provision, and look at examples of completed audits from schools.
- Work scrutiny: how-to and template Follow these steps to make sure your work scrutinies have an impact and lead to improvements in your school.