ENGLAND'S NATIONAL CURRICULUM

England's National Curriculum

England's National Curriculum

Introduction

Education influences and reflects the values of society, and the kind of society we want to be. It is important, therefore, to recognise a broad set of common values and purposes and that is why GEMS' Core Values fit so well within this curriculum. Through the English National Curriculum GEMS sees education as the route to equality of opportunity for all, a healthy and just democracy, and a means to establish a commitment to the virtues of truth, justice, honesty, trust and a sense of duty to each other and our communities(Education Act, 1997).

The National Curriculum sets out a clear, full and statutory entitlement to learning for all pupils up to the age of 16. It determines the content of what will be taught and sets attainment targets for learning. It also determines how performance will be assessed and reported. While this is not in any way statutory in other countries other than England, the quality of the curriculum and the learning experiences make this a curriculum that is valued and respected world-wide (Statutory requirements, 2008).

An effective curriculum gives teachers, pupils, parents, employers and the wider community a clear and shared understanding of the skills and knowledge that young people will gain at school. The National Curriculum of England is regularly reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet the changing needs of pupils and society and GEMS keeps abreast of these changes, amending and adapting our planning accordingly. This year the revision principally reflects changes made to the Key Stage 4 curriculum (Secretary of State for Education and Skills, 2003). These changes enable schools to offer pupils greater choice, while ensuring they acquire the core of general learning and experience essential to later learning and employment. At Key Stage 4, young people should see how their studies will lead to further education and employment and be helped to develop competence in skills such as analysis, problem solving, reasoning and communication. In GEMS' schools we are committed, fully, to these principles and ensure extra curricular activities, a growing feature of the curriculum in England, features strongly in our schools (National curriculum, 2007).

Supplementary Entitlements

In all maintained schools, provision is made for the requirement to offer a course in Religious Education under the Education Act 1996. Parents have the right to withdraw pupils from this if they wish. In addition, at all Key Stages, the Department for Children, Schools and Families suggests that pupils are offered provision in Personal, Social and Health Education, although this is not statutory (Secretary of State for Education and Skills, 2003). In some Key Stages there are additional entitlements which form part of the National Curriculum, but for which prescribed programmes of study are not clearly set out.

The structure of The National Curriculum for England

For each subject and for each key stage, programmes of study set out what pupils should be taught, and attainment targets set out the expected standards of pupils' performance. It is for schools to choose how they ...