SLT review, reflection and discussions:

1. We revied History Curriculum content. The content was already streamlined.

2. We have carefully developed Historical themse to track through the Curriculum and ensure prior learning and sequences are clear and robustly understood.

3. We have developed a Historical retrieval quiz (for one topic per year) to help us measure memory retention and retrieval over time for TWO reasons:

i) to measure the impact of history teaching and learning.

ii) to support the retention and retrieval (sticky memories) of History.

We have considered the workload, time an effort to get to this stage for just part of one subject to be robust in it;s teaching and assessment. It is not scalable. What are out options?

1. TRAD: return to a more traditional and less precise approach to Foundation subject teaching and learning - trying to do every subject as a subject and not doing ana amazing job with 'accurate' foundation assessment. Too often, teacher assessment is reliant on children's RWM abilities and presentation abilities and their critical thinking skills are lost. (We do not like this idea.)

2. Develop a more focused UNIVERSAL PURPOSE to our foundation teaching ensuring:

   1. Subject integrity - smaller quizzes for all learning with sample quizzes created to map impact (as with History - we deem this manageable over time (24-25))

   2. Subjects Specific knowledge drives these core elements and, at primary, are the tool to driving the ability to critically think/ voice and have subject specific knowledge and experiences to think within - so we need a Critical Thinking Curiosity Curriculum built on the subject specific knowledge and experiences. (  more finely detailed subject specific skills will be built more effectively on a bedrock of critical thinking and oracy. We prioritise making sure that the foundations of critical thinking and oracy are embedded for children - Discuss this with Secondary colleagues - what do they want us to focus on?)

If option 1, then we return to general assessment approaches cognitively overloading stretched teachers across 14 subject areas.

If option 2, (recommended by SLT Curriculum) then the next steps are

i) Develop a Critical Thinking and Oracy Rubric for assessment (example linked Page 13.)

This would mean all subjects are an opportunity to evidence critical thinking and justifications - and to promote this wider critical thinking skill

This builds nicely on planned work with Amanda Slavin around engagement (See Level 6)

Potential Risk - we lose subject integrity

Risk Mitigation: 

• Subjects remain taught as subjects and core subject vocabulary (already mapped on atomic tracker) becomes a core checklist tool for subject planning and coverage.) 

• Subject leaders monitor their subjects in the same way and subject quizzes offer evidence of knowledge retention as sample and planning and books remain a source of evidence for teaching quality

Potential Benefits:

• Teaching and Learning is focused on the core primary elements (and we feel priorities) of 

  • Reading - the ability to engage with the world

  • Writing - one way of communicating with the world

  • Maths - a way of measuring and understanding the world -a  new language

    • Oracy - a range of ways of communicating/performing/being in the world

    • Critical Thinking - a way of justifying ideas in the world; finding the best ways forward  and fighting for truth and morality against self interest and corruption! Citizens of the future finding and using their reasoned voices! Kind, Safe, Positive, Learning.

  • Both Oracy and Critical Thinking will be planned, taught and impact evidenced across the curriculum meaning

    • reduction in administrative workload for skills assessment - if a child can justify a material in DT they have the transferable skill of justifying a moral stance in PSHE or justifying a colour choice in art. 

      • Evidencing an element of these across the curriculum will give robust evidence tat subject integrity is robust and offer children a simpler understanding of the CORE skill involved in all learning - a universal (think of the synthetic phonics approach now in place supporting children to understand the foundations and apply this to all reading.)

      • teachers and curriculum focused on 5 core aims using the subjects as vehicles for these core effective human elements