Curriculum Planning and Design
Other Curricular Considerations
On this page
To ensure your pupils have access to a broad curriculum that meets their needs, you may wish to consider the following:
- structuring option blocks at transition points in ways that give pupils as broad and free a choice as possible;
- providing wider curricular activities for any pupils taking fewer courses at Key Stage 4;
- offering qualifications that are expected to be in demand in local, national and international labour markets;
- encouraging pupils to choose qualifications that have a level of demand appropriate to their potential and which provide firm foundations for possible next steps, avoiding duplication;
- providing tailored advice to pupils with special educational needs about access to courses and qualifications that meet their unique needs;
- taking care not to overemphasise exam success in a way that has a detrimental effect on pupils and reduces the number of options and experiences available to them; and
- evaluating curricular provision regularly, attempting to close any attainment gaps in the school by aiming to:
- provide a flexible curriculum that highlights connections with pupils’ own lives, experiences and aspirations, for example if there is underperformance among boys; and
- use enrichment to engage and support any pupils who are socially disadvantaged or disaffected.
Questions for curriculum planners
- How do you make sure that the curriculum your school offers optimises pupils’ choice?
- How do you ensure curriculum connections across and between subjects?
- How do you promote a sense of community, belonging and associated values among pupils in ways that link to the school’s ethos and culture?
- What do you do to influence pupils' attitudes and dispositions?
- Are you ‘timetable mechanics’ or ‘timetable visionaries’?