ASCL comment on National Curriculum review

Responding to the report in the Daily Telegraph today on plans for the National Curriculum, Association of School and College Leaders General Secretary Brian Lightman says:

“ASCL has said all along that trying to put in place a new National Curriculum by 2013 was a recipe for disaster. We are pleased that it appears the government has listened to advice and is allowing a proper consultation and implementation phase, with introduction in 2014.”

“Without seeing the detail of the proposals it is hard to know what the impact will be. We hope that focus will be on achieving a broad and balanced curriculum, and the review will avoid falling into the trap of creating perverse incentives. Requiring all pupils to master specific tasks by a certain age would create a perverse incentives to focus on specific, detailed content at the expense of the rest of the curriculum.”

“There are advantages to using international comparison data and it is right to view the curriculum in an international context, but this must be put into perspective. We know the danger of putting too much stock in cherry-picked international statistics that do not factor in cultural context. The National Curriculum must be right for pupils in the country, not a ‘me-too’ model based on what other countries are doing.”

“It is encouraging to hear the DfE recognise that rushed and poorly debated curriculum change create chaos for schools by allowing them too little time to prepare. However this is exactly

what they have done with the change to terminal GCSE exams. We hope in 2012 the DfE will heed its own advice more often.”

19 December 2011