Assignment 3 – the Curriculum
Assignment 3 – The curriculum
1. Explain what is meant by the term National Curriculum.
All pupils in England except those at independent, private or public schools are required to adhere to the National Curriculum. It is a guideline for teachers, pupils and parents to follow and gain knowledge of the skills and knowledge that children will be taught through their school years. Every school has National Curriculum documents for each subject which contains the materials they must teach at different ‘key stages’. Here are the four key stages of the Curriculum:
Key stage 1 – Age 5-7 (taught in primary schools)
Key stage 2 – Ages 7-11 (taught in primary schools)
Key stage 3 – Age 11-14 (taught in secondary schools)
Key stage 4 – Age 14-16 (taught in secondary schools)
Although there are specific topics and skills teachers must teach in all of these stages they plan their own lessons and decide in what order they wish to teach the syllabus.
The National Curriculum consists of core and foundation subjects, the core subjects are English, Science and maths which are the leading subjects in schools because they are important to achieve for the future. Leaving school having passed these three subjects increases your chances of going onto college and university as most courses have an entry requirement of ‘C’ and above. The foundation subjects are design and technology, ICT, history, geography, art and design, music, physical education, modern foreign languages and citizenship. These are the subjects which are available for pupils to choose to continue with when they reach year 9, usually they will choose the subjects they most enjoy and may be of help to them in the future when choosing a career path.
At the end of Key stages 1, 2 and 3 pupils will take part in standard Assessment Tests, commonly known as SATs which are aimed to test how a child is performing and whether or not they are achieving or underachieving. The subjects tested are the core
1. Explain what is meant by the term National Curriculum.
All pupils in England except those at independent, private or public schools are required to adhere to the National Curriculum. It is a guideline for teachers, pupils and parents to follow and gain knowledge of the skills and knowledge that children will be taught through their school years. Every school has National Curriculum documents for each subject which contains the materials they must teach at different ‘key stages’. Here are the four key stages of the Curriculum:
Key stage 1 – Age 5-7 (taught in primary schools)
Key stage 2 – Ages 7-11 (taught in primary schools)
Key stage 3 – Age 11-14 (taught in secondary schools)
Key stage 4 – Age 14-16 (taught in secondary schools)
Although there are specific topics and skills teachers must teach in all of these stages they plan their own lessons and decide in what order they wish to teach the syllabus.
The National Curriculum consists of core and foundation subjects, the core subjects are English, Science and maths which are the leading subjects in schools because they are important to achieve for the future. Leaving school having passed these three subjects increases your chances of going onto college and university as most courses have an entry requirement of ‘C’ and above. The foundation subjects are design and technology, ICT, history, geography, art and design, music, physical education, modern foreign languages and citizenship. These are the subjects which are available for pupils to choose to continue with when they reach year 9, usually they will choose the subjects they most enjoy and may be of help to them in the future when choosing a career path.
At the end of Key stages 1, 2 and 3 pupils will take part in standard Assessment Tests, commonly known as SATs which are aimed to test how a child is performing and whether or not they are achieving or underachieving. The subjects tested are the core