The Primary Curriculum Leader's Handbook


Book Description

At a time of renewed focus on the schools curriculum, Roy Blatchford has brought together some of the sharpest thinkers in education in a brilliant mixture of both practical and conceptual essays about what makes for a positive primary curriculum, 4-11. Perfectly timed to reflect the new Ofsted framework, the contributions reflect a range of thinking, planning and delivery, as schools do it now and will for the future. It is a compendium of proven practice, offering tips to less experienced/adventurous middle and senior leaders. Featuring contributions from: Katherine Benson; Kate Dethridge; Koulla Anslow; Mary Myatt; Aidan Severs; Marc Rowland; Siobhan Horisk; Claire Lotriet; Kate Atkins; Tim Coulson; David Ingham; Lilian Bell; Sean O'Regan; Colin Lofthouse; Janine Ryan; Simon Knight; Penny Slater.




Authentic School Improvement for Authentic Leaders


Book Description

Authentic School Improvement for Authentic Leaders charts a full improvement journey of a school from a ‘Requires Improvement’ Ofsted rating, through a second, to a resounding ‘Good’. It reveals the impact that a school leader can have on the motivation and engagement of teachers, parents and pupils and how this translates not just to their overall happiness, but on academic standards and systemic, long-lasting school improvement whilst maintaining their own well-being. Bringing together a wide range of accessible and relatable school improvement practices, the chapters cover all aspects of school leadership, from operational systems to academic standards and staff morale to pupil numbers. Full of strategies, takeaways, observations and anecdotes, the book illustrates that being authentic and leading with integrity is possible for all and provides tangible results that may support positive Ofsted outcomes but are not driven by them. Including a Foreword by Ross Morrison McGill, this is essential reading for all headteachers and senior leaders in primary and secondary, mainstream and specialist, maintained and academy schools.




The Primary Curriculum Design Handbook


Book Description

Schools across the world are struggling to balance the statutory requirements of a National Curriculum with their desire to provide the wide, engaging and exciting curriculum that they know children need. Concerns about standards often lead to a narrowing of the curriculum and many schools lack the confidence and approach to design that would enable them to resolve what seems like an impossible dilemma. In this authoritative yet engaging book, Brian Male looks at how schools can meet the requirements of a National Curriculum and yet be flexible enough to meet the needs, interests and concerns of pupils, to be rooted in their lives and localities and to give scope for teachers to use their own creativity. The Primary Curriculum Design Handbook is a practical guide on how to design a curriculum that will engage children's interest, excite their imaginations and at the same time provide them with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to live successfully in the 21st Century.




The Leader in Me


Book Description

Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.




Curriculum Simplexity: A Practical Guide for Developing Your Primary Curriculum


Book Description

Are you a busy teacher, subject lead or senior leader looking to improve your curriculum? Based on the theory of simplexity, the idea that clarity and logic can make even the most complex tasks manageable, Curriculum Simplexity offers a practical and systematic planning aid, guiding readers through the process of building a robust, coherent whole-school curriculum. Recognising the role of teachers’ autonomy and professional judgement, this essential read provides space for the flexibility and creativity needed for teachers to reflect their own values, content, aims and outcomes within the curriculum. Divided into a series of easily digestible chapters and filled with templates, worked examples and planning formats, this book unpacks the process of creating a curriculum. Topics explored include, but are not limited to: The importance of pedagogy Good subject leadership Building a curriculum progression framework Implementing, delivering and evaluating your curriculum Assessment Highly practical and written in an accessible style, teachers are encouraged to reflect on their curriculum planning, development and delivery. This is an essential read for any teacher, subject lead or senior leader who wishes to improve their curriculum and support positive learning outcomes within their school.




Curriculum to Classroom: A Handbook to Prompt Thinking Around Primary Curriculum Design and Delivery


Book Description

Curriculum to Classroom is the ideal book for senior leaders and curriculum leads who are in the process of establishing, refining and reviewing their school curriculum. It provides an overview of the curriculum design and delivery process in the Primary phase in its entirety. It also provides research-based evidence, practical examples and short/medium and long term solutions for your school in light of the 2014 National Curriculum as well as expert opinions from a number of renowned educators on different elements of the curriculum including: creating a powerful and ambitious vision for your school's curriculum intent; how to promote character development; how best to support and empower subject leads; and the fundamental building blocks in terms of implementation of the curriculum. This book will enable you to consider the many facets of curriculum design and support strategic decision making so your curriculum is meeting and exceeding the expectations of the National Curriculum as well as being unique and bespoke to your school community. An easy-to-read handbook to prompt thinking and reflections on your school's curriculum and provide practical tools and strategies to take it forward.




Primary Huh: Curriculum conversations with subject leaders in primary schools


Book Description

There’s plenty to do when planning the curriculum in primary schools. If it feels daunting, then one of the most helpful things is to talk to other people about how they have developed the curriculum for their particular subject or key stage. This is what John Tomsett and Mary Myatt have done. After the secondary ‘Huh: Curriculum conversations between subject and senior leaders’ was published, they were flooded with requests to produce a primary version. They enlisted the help of renowned primary specialists, Rachel Higginson, Lekha Sharma and Emma Turner to have conversations with primary teachers and key stage co-ordinators who are doing great curriculum development work. Each chapter provides insights into the importance of individual subjects and the unique contribution each makes to pupils’ cognitive and personal development. The subject chapters discuss the steps colleagues take to ensure that there is a coherent thread across the year groups, as the discrete subjects deliver, collectively, the primary curriculum. These conversations show how the craft of creating a rich, challenging curriculum for every subject is not a quick fix. This is a nuanced piece of work, and there are many ways of approaching it. Each chapter also contains links to subject associations and helpful resources. Primary Huh has been written for subject leaders and key stage co-ordinators; it has also been written for senior leaders, as they prepare to have supportive conversations with their colleagues who are responsible for curriculum development. Primary Huh is offered as a prompt rather than the last word. Informed debate is, as they say, the fuel of curriculum development. And why have John and Mary called it ‘Huh’? Well, John discovered that Huh is the Egyptian god of endlessness, creativity, fertility and regeneration, and they thought that was a pretty good metaphor for their work on the curriculum!




School, Family, and Community Partnerships


Book Description

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.




Implementing the Primary Curriculum


Book Description

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.