Primary curriculum: video case studies
Explore our video case studies for inspiration when it comes to reviewing your primary curriculum. Each one offers bite-sized CPD for teachers, with accompanying handouts and resources.
Find inspiration for English and maths
See how school leaders get pupils excited and engaged when it comes to their English and maths curriculum, including reading and writing.
5 strategies for designing an effective primary maths curriculum
By starting with a review of your curriculum intent and vision, develop a primary maths curriculum that encourages all pupils to be enthusiastic mathematicians. Shannen Doherty explains 5 strategies you can use to create a highly effective curriculum that will excite your pupils. Learn how to really embed the use of models and mental strategies, plus how to place problem solving at the heart of maths lessons.
How to design a powerful primary English curriculum
Want to create a knowledge-focused English curriculum that boosts cultural capital for all your pupils? Try reconsidering the texts you’re using to broaden your 'literature spine', modelling the writing process of real authors, and encouraging pupils to reflect on and edit their own work. That's Lekha Sharma's advice for making sure your English curriculum is as inclusive and effective as it can be. Get ideas for how to improve modelling and call on prior knowledge to turbo-charge literacy teaching at your school.
How to achieve high-quality writing (primary)
Strengthen your school’s teaching of writing – in a way that really works and is rooted in research. Shareen Wilkinson shares tried-and-tested strategies to support your pupils to make rapid progress and produce sensational pieces of writing. From teaching children to proofread and edit at any age, and the importance of teaching from a whole text, to recommendations of high-quality texts to use to inspire brilliant writing, Shareen sets out the steps to success.
How to boost reading enjoyment and engagement
Get your school community fired up about reading – from reluctant parents/carers to hard-to-reach groups like Key Stage 2 boys. Eve Cairns Vollans shares a number of creative approaches that sparked a reading frenzy at her school. Learn how to use social media to encourage reading at home, create a community bookshop to make reading more accessible, and swap outdated paper reading journals for video reading diaries – something that increased home reading in Eve’s school by 38%.
Browse our range of foundation subject talks
These bite-sized videos are packed with CPD for teachers of all subjects, with practical ideas for designing a high-quality curriculum.
How to develop a rich primary history curriculum
Alex Pethick, director of curriculum for the Knowledge Schools Trust Primaries and director of the Primary Knowledge Curriculum (PKC) Partnership, explains how to bring the depth and breadth of history into your classrooms by focusing on chronology and sequencing – while also amplifying marginalised voices and bringing your local area to life.
How to design an effective geography curriculum
Strip your geography curriculum back to basics and focus on the fundamentals that will help all pupils succeed. Emma Lennard explains how to introduce and build on these key skills across the primary curriculum, and suggests ways to make best use of your local area to provide your pupils with all of the skills they’ll need to become successful geographers.
How to design an amazing primary computing curriculum
Learn how to create a computing curriculum that will equip your pupils with digital skills for life. Director of digital learning, Cheryl Shirley, shares top tips on how to structure your curriculum, embed computing in other subjects and upskill your staff on the trickiest parts of teaching the subject. Cheryl also signposts a number of resources to support teachers and enhance teaching.
How to design a progressive primary MFL curriculum
Specialist language teacher Ellie Chettle-Cully explains how to structure your modern foreign languages (MFL) curriculum, with a focus on vocabulary, grammar and phonics. Make sure your pupils make progress and leave primary school as successful linguists, whatever MFL you teach.
How to design an engaging, exciting art and design curriculum
Help your budding artists by developing an art and design curriculum that will teach your pupils the skills, processes and concepts they need to flourish. Naomi Pilling covers how to connect your topics, plan in progression and how to develop the key skill required of any artist: the art of looking.
How to get the most out of your design and technology curriculum
Take your D&T curriculum beyond ‘making’, and put design and evaluation at the heart of everything your pupils do, while keeping costs manageable. Tom Turnham explains how. You'll also hear about sequencing your curriculum to build pupils’ skills, and how to make use of your local community to give pupils even more opportunities to learn.
How to design a PSHE curriculum that promotes wellbeing
PSHE expert and former teacher John Rees shares his expertise to help you tackle the trickier parts of designing or updating your PSHE curriculum. Discover how to approach the sensitive topic of relationships and sex education with parents and carers, learn about pedagogy your teachers can use, and ways to incorporate skills and values, as well as knowledge.
How to design and deliver a powerful RE curriculum
Find out what goes into creating a dynamic RE curriculum, and how to do it yourself. Adam Smith takes you through the key considerations when designing your curriculum. Learn how to strike a balance between breadth and depth, nurture concepts and stories across the Key Stages, and assess your RE curriculum.
Review your curriculum with confidence
Whatever the lens, find inspiration from school leaders to help you take steps to improve your curriculum.
How to design a knowledge-rich curriculum from scratch
There’s nothing a brilliant curriculum can’t do. It can even help transform an undersubscribed school in special measures into a school that’s ‘good’ and oversubscribed – as Cassie Young found out. Here she explains, step-by-step, how to create a brand new curriculum to increase inclusion and continuity, and give pupils confidence and cultural capital. Learn how to make sure your curriculum suits your pupils’ needs, and how to embed it using knowledge organisers and a curriculum wall.
How to ‘inclusify’ your primary curriculum
Make sure all pupils in your school feel seen with these ideas for promoting inclusivity throughout your curriculum. Kyrome Adams suggests quick changes you can make to your resources and bookshelves, as well as more long-term planning and collaboration tips to really embed a feeling of belonging for all children, regardless of their race, religion, disability, gender, body type or sexual orientation.
5 actions to develop a strong curriculum for foundation subjects
Get to grips with how to create a curriculum for your foundation subjects that’s every bit as ambitious and well-designed as for your core subjects. Primary school deputy headteacher Andrew Percival shares the key actions that leaders can take to develop and strengthen their foundation subjects, check recall and review content, with examples from his school of what this looks like in practice.
How to create an ambitious EYFS curriculum
There’s no need to be limited by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework – you can have a curriculum that pushes children to achieve higher goals. Hear from EYFS leader Jane Weatherston as she explains how ambitious progression planning, strong relationships with children and parents/carers, and teamwork with your subject leads and SENCO can all lead to an EYFS curriculum where pupils can achieve their full potential.
Upskill your subject leaders
Find top tips from school leaders to help you boost your team's confidence and expertise in their subjects.
Upskill your subject leaders with ‘curriculum portfolios’
Great subject leaders help everyone stay on the same page in their approach to the curriculum. But how? Well, you can start by actually making that page. Headteacher Raakhee Tailor explains how to create digital ‘curriculum portfolios’ that will empower and inspire middle leaders to take charge of their subject – and use these living documents as launchpads for creative, cross-curricular collaboration.
3 principles to drive strong curriculum leadership
Strong curriculum leadership needs the right conditions to thrive. Kat Howard – senior leader at an all-through and author on this topic – sets out steps to create the perfect climate for curriculum work, from making time to have the conversation, to checking gaps in knowledge. Drawing on her experience, she shares effective ways you can support, educate and challenge your subject leaders to develop curriculum excellence at your school.
How to develop primary subject leaders' subject knowledge
Boosting staff subject expertise is a win-win way to invigorate the curriculum and strengthen your school’s teaching provision. Sallie Stanton, chief education officer at Advantage Schools Trust, shares the practical steps a primary school took to build teacher and leader knowledge, from working with subject associations to allowing teachers to specialise.
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