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Schools all over the country are going to be preparing for the new curriculum, so what
can you do to make sure that your school is ready for curriculum change? One of the key
things is thinking about how effectively you can evaluate and audit your own provision.
You might want to work as a whole school team, or perhaps as a literacy coordination team.
And think about working through some questions. Have you got enough space for example on your
timetable for explicit teaching of spelling, punctuation and grammar? How are you going
to embed that within your existing teaching? How can you make links for the learners between
the spelling, punctuation and grammar that they're going to need to know and the teaching
of reading and writing and talk, so the learning is connected for them?
Have you got a structured teaching programme in place already? If so, don't throw the baby
out with the bath water. You may be able to take what you've got and incorporate the new
emphases within it.
Another big one I think is the subject knowledge of grammar. We know that lots of teachers
are very anxious about the grammar in the new curriculum. It's not teachers fault that
they don't know the grammar. We've now got two generations of teachers that weren't taught
grammar themselves. But it is important for schools to acknowledge this and think about
how they're going to provide support as a team to help each other with grammar terms
and understanding what they mean.
Our own research has shown it's not just about identifying and labelling. Teachers struggle
to explain things to children, and they struggle particularly with the kinds of questions children
ask them, so looking at your subject knowledge is going to be important.
And what resources have you got? Are they engaging enough for 21st century children?
Are they playful or are the dull, boring worksheets? Think about what you can do to make the teaching
for the new curriculum as creative as possible.
And finally, think about how you can involve children's parents a lot more. How do you
help them to know how they can support their children? How are you going to communicate
to them the change in curriculum? Because children's parents can be our greatest allies
as teachers.
And remember, the content of the curriculum may be changing, but good teaching stays the
same.