This is an excerpt from a longer article I published yesterday in my free newsletter, Digital Education. Link given below.

Cover of the curriculum and assessment review — Click the pic for the full review

As you might expect, I haven’t had much of a chance to go through the final curriculum review with a fine toothcomb, but for now there are a few things to note:

Firstly, AI and pitfalls like fake news are recommended to be included in other subjects where appropriate, such as Citizenship, and explicitly included under the headings Digital Literacy and Media Literacy.

In summary, it recommends:

“Reviews where digital skills and technologies have become an integral part of subject disciplines other than Computing. Where this is the case, it should determine whether to include this specific digital content in those subjects’ Programmes of Study, sequenced and aligned with the Computing curriculum.”

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A good idea, though easier said than done. When I was head of ICT and Computing and ICT Co-ordinator I found that two approaches worked well. One was to try and work with other departments, both on some of the curriculum content and also inviting members of their department to run training sessions for my staff. For example, one guest trainer was a teacher from the science department who explained how studentsw are expected to use data in science subjects.

The challenge with devising cross-curricular units of work was that the sequencing between their subject and mine was different, ie we covered the topics at different stages of the curriculum.

Another challenge was that they typically required a less advanced understanding and knowledge than my subject did.

The other thing I did which proved quite useful was issue a half-termly bulletin to staff stating what transferable skills the students had learnt in Computing in the various Year groups, and what we were about to embark on in the new half-term.

Secondly, it recommends a wider GCSE Computing qualification:

“Engagement with computing experts and organisations during the Review highlighted the potential benefits of a broader GCSE in Computing. Such a qualification could better reflect the range of knowledge and skills young people need and address current shortages in the digital economy. Research shows that nearly one in four (23%) businesses face skills gaps in basic digital skills, rising to over one in three (37%) with gaps in advanced digital skills.154 Expert stakeholders have therefore called for the GCSE to cover a wider range of topics beyond Computer Science in order to appeal to a more diverse student population and to meet society’s broader needs.”

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What an excellent idea. Perhaps we could call the new qualification something like, oh I dunno, Information and Communications Technology perhaps?

I’ve had a quick glance at English: I like this:

“We are clear that a thorough knowledge and understanding of grammar is crucial to success, not just in English but across all subjects. We therefore recommend that the grammatical content in the primary Programmes of Study should be reviewed and streamlined in order to place greater emphasis on content that supports pupils’ ability to read and write effectively. This should include a stronger focus on using and applying grammar rather than on identifying theoretical constructs by name, which is not developmentally appropriate or meaningful.”

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Absolutely! Most authors had never head of the phrase “fronted adverbial”, including myself until 2014. I can’t say that hearing about it has enhanced my reading or writing skills*.

There is an emphasis on classic English texts and a recommendation to broaden the options for teachers to select more “diverse” literature. I put that in quotation marks because I think literature should be selected because it is good, regardless of where it originated. I understand the intent, and agree with it, but worry that some schools will be tempted to adoipt a tickbox approach which, in my opinion, doesn’t help anyway.

I didn’t know it before, but apparently the Department for Education is working on a new writing framework. Let’s hope it will be voluntary, because if the usual substandard writing we often see emanating from the DfE is anything to go by, it will be the last thing anybody needs.

Anyway, the link is here:

Final curriculum and assessment review (pdf)

Finally, yes I know I could have parsed the report into NotebookLM and obtained a summary, podcase and video summarising it, but that to me seems a bit like the old definition of teaching: the process by which information is transferred from the teacher’s notes to the pupils’ exercise books without passing through the heads of either party. I will do that, but I always prefer to read the thing first so I can impose my own biases on my interpretation before taking on those of the AI!

To see the full article, and to comment, click here.

*While I am on the subject of writing, I thought you might be interested in a course I’m teaching next year. It is called The 60 Minute Writer, and is online. Each week, for eleven weeks, we cover a different aspect of creative writing. I ran the course in January, and I will give a few examples of what we covered. I am running the course again next January, but I will be doing different areas, so that anyone who took the course last year will still benefit from doing it again. I haven’t finished preparing the new course yet, but here are a few things I’m considering:

Playing with time and sequence, eg writing the ending first;
Epistolary writing;
Acrostics and other tricks;
How to create atmosphere.

Last time I included topics such as:

Choosing the exactly right word (using work by David Foster Wallace as an example);
Using dialogue to tell the story (using work by Gay Talese as an example);
Employing cinematic techniques (using work by Truman Capote as an example).

Each session lasts only an hour, so it’s ideal for busy people. The way I structure the hour is along these lines: