Draft Primary National Curriculum

What would change?

EnglishWhat’s out?

• Speaking & Listening no longer appears as a strand

• Drama is not mentioned• No mention of ICT• No method for teaching

reading other than phonics (i.e. context., etc.)

What’s in?• Year-by-year objectives (34

pages)• Required spelling & grammar

objectives & wordlists (16pp)• Priority for phonics in both

key stages• Focus on reading for

pleasure• Reciting poetry• Priority on transcription

English – an example Y5/6 page

English – Year 3/4 wordlists

English – Grammar objectives

MathematicsWhat’s out?

• Ma1 – Using & Applying• Mathematical reasoning• Communicating maths• Data handling in Y1• Use of ICT• Use of calculators

except in exceptional cases in upper KS2

What’s in?• Yearly objectives (40 pages)• Tables to 12x12 by end of Y4• Standard written methods• Focus on fractions • Y5 convert decimalfraction• Telling time in Y2; using

Roman numerals in Y3• Area of triangles &

parallelograms in Y6

Mathematics – what’s when?•Multiplication tables:

Y2: 2, 5 & 10 times tables Y4: all tables up to 12x12Y3: 3, 4 & 8 times tables

• Standard written methods:Y3: Column addition and subtraction Y5: Short divisionY4: Standard column multiplication Y6: Long division

• FractionsY1: Introduce ¼ and ½ Y4: Add + Subtract fractionsY2: ¾ and 1/3. Find ½ of a number Y5: Use mixed numbersY3: Add and order simple fractions Y6: Add & Multiply fractions

• AlgebraY6: Simple formulae, finding missing numbers, etc.

ScienceWhat’s out?

• Much less content at KS1: No mention of medicines, electricity, light & dark, or material changes caused by temperatures

• No forces before Y6 (except looking at simple magnets work)

What’s in?• Yearly objectives (34 pages)• Broadly similar to the old

QCA units in a slightly different order• Continued emphasis on

investigation across all areas• Evolution in Y4 & Y6• Classification into kingdoms

at Y6

ArtWhat’s out?

• Evaluating work• Requirement to

collaborate

What’s in?• A single page curriculum for

KS1-2 combined:–Use a range of materials,

including sketchbooks in KS2–Develop techniques–Learn about the great artists

ICT ComputingWhat’s out?

• The name ICT• Very little mention of

presenting ideas or information

• No mention of cross-curricular use of ICT

What’s in?• Changes to “Computing”• Largely based around the

old Control elements, e.g. In KS1: “understand what algorithms are, how they are implemented as programs on digital devices, and that programs execute by following a sequence of instructions”

• E-safety mentioned at every Key Stage

Design & TechnologyWhat’s out?

• No planning / generating ideas at KS1

• No mechanisms at KS1• No mention of working

from a brief at KS2• No use of ICT required

What’s in?• Healthy cooking to be

covered at every Key Stage (with regard to available cooking facilities)

• Development of repair & maintenance skills (!)

• Understanding of key turning points in history, e.g. Industrial Revolution

GeographyWhat’s out?

• No investigative questioning

• No KS1 comparison with other UK locations

• No mention of environmental sustainability

• No African, Asia or Australasian geography

What’s in?• Factual knowledge, e.g.

continents & oceans at KS1• UK focus at KS1, plus one

non-European comparison• Europe & the Americas

covered at KS2• Identification of rivers,

mountains, etc. in UK• OS four-figure grid

references

HistoryWhat’s out?

• Personal timeline history

• Historical enquiry skills• Britain since 1930s• Victorians• Aztecs, Incas, etc.• Diversity in the UK &

the world

What’s in?• KS1: Concepts of monarchy,

parliament, civilisation, democracy and war & peace

• KS2: Strictly chronological progression through history of Britain from early Britons to Glorious Revolution (1688)

• Requirement to teach Ancient Rome & Greece

Just work your way through....Early Britons and settlers, including: • the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages • Celtic culture and patterns of settlement

Roman conquest and rule, including:•Caesar, Augustus, and Claudius • Britain as part of the Roman Empire • the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire

Anglo-Saxon and Viking settlement, including: •the Heptarchy • the spread of Christianity • key developments in the reigns of Alfred, Athelstan, Cnut and Edward the Confessor

Norman Conquest and Norman rule, including: • the Domesday Book • feudalism • Norman culture

•the Crusades Plantagenet rule in the 12th and 13th centuries, including: •key developments in the reign of Henry II, including the murder of Thomas Becket •Magna Carta •de Montfort's Parliament

Relations between England, Wales, Scotland and France, including: •William Wallace•Robert the Bruce •Llywelyn and Dafydd ap Gruffydd •the Hundred Years War

Life in 14th-century England, including: •Chivalry •the Black Death •the Peasants’ Revolt

... all of this in four years!The later Middle Ages and the early modern period, including: •Chaucer and the revival of learning •Wycliffe’s Bible •Caxton and the printing press •the Wars of the Roses •Warwick the Kingmaker

The Tudor period, including:•religious strife and Reformation•the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary

Elizabeth I's reign and English expansion, including: •colonisation of the New World •plantation of Ireland •conflict with Spain

The Renaissance in England, including:•the lives and works of individuals such as Shakespeare and Marlowe The Stuart period, including:•the Union of the Crowns • King versus Parliament •Cromwell's commonwealth, the Levellers and the Diggers • the restoration of the monarchy • the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London • Samuel Pepys and the establishment of the Royal Navy • the Glorious Revolution, constitutional monarchy and the Union of the Parliaments.

Foreign LanguagesWhat’s out?

• Freedom to select any language

• Focus on inter-cultural understanding

• Links to English literacy

What’s in?• Statutory foreign languages at

Key Stage 2, selected from:French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin or Ancient Greek

• Teaching should focus on making progress in 1 language

• Includes a balance of all four skills and a focus on developing accurate pronunciation

MusicWhat’s out?

• Description of ‘elements’ (now called inter-related dimensions!)

• No mention of collaboration at KS1

• No requirement to respond to listening

What’s in?• A single page curriculum

for KS1-2, largely focussed on singing & playing instruments

• Use of staff and other forms of notation in KS2

• Develop an understanding of history of music at KS2

Physical EducationWhat’s out?

• No evaluation at KS1• No mention of health &

fitness• No specific games at KS1

What’s in?• A focus on competitive

games• KS2 Swimming: “perform

safe self-rescue in different water-based situations”

What you can do...• Consultation runs until 16th April (i.e. After Easter)• Complete the form at

www.education.gov.uk/nationalcurriculum• Write to your MP (could be via

www.theyworkforyou.com• Respond to Subject Association consultations, e.g.• History• Mathematics• Geography