Curriculum Blog Posts
Build Confidence in an ECT’s First Years of Teaching (From Survival to Success)
Starting your career as an Early Career Teacher (ECT) is exciting — but it can also feel overwhelming. Every teacher has been through that journey. The transition from training (where support from mentors is close at hand) to becoming the class teacher with full responsibility is a significant step. Suddenly, you’re expected to manage behaviour, … Build Confidence in an ECT’s First Years of Teaching (From Survival to Success)
14 September 2026
Small Curriculum Changes That Can Make a Big Difference in September
As September approaches, many school leaders are reviewing plans for the new academic year. While major curriculum redesigns occasionally have their place, some of the most effective improvements I have seen throughout my career have come from relatively small changes implemented consistently over time. Curriculum development does not always require a complete rewrite. Sometimes a … Small Curriculum Changes That Can Make a Big Difference in September
24 July 2026
How to Spot Gaps in Your Primary Curriculum Before the New Term
As the summer term draws to a close, many school leaders begin looking ahead to September. Staffing, timetables and school improvement priorities often dominate the conversation, but this is also one of the best times of year to review your curriculum. The reality is that no curriculum is ever finished. Schools evolve, communities change and … How to Spot Gaps in Your Primary Curriculum Before the New Term
22 July 2026
Why Curriculum Conversations Matter at the End of the School Year
As another school year draws to a close, many school leaders find themselves reflecting on outcomes, reports, transition arrangements and plans for September. Amid all of this activity, there is one conversation that deserves particular attention: curriculum. The end of the school year is one of the most valuable opportunities schools have to review what … Why Curriculum Conversations Matter at the End of the School Year
20 July 2026
Looking Ahead: Curriculum Priorities for the New Academic Year
As one academic year draws to a close, those of us in school leadership find our minds naturally wandering towards the next. The summer break offers a rare, quiet window to step back, take a breath, and reflect on what worked, what felt a bit cluttered, and how we want to reset before the doors … Looking Ahead: Curriculum Priorities for the New Academic Year
17 July 2026
Why Curriculum Simplicity Can Be a Strength in Primary Education
In education, there is often a temptation to believe that more is better: more content, more objectives, more assessment, more resources, more documentation. Yet some of the most effective curriculums I have encountered throughout my career have not been the most complicated. They have been the clearest. As schools continue to review and refine their … Why Curriculum Simplicity Can Be a Strength in Primary Education
17 July 2026
How to Keep your Curriculum Ambitious without overloading your Staff.
We’ve all been there. You read a brilliant new research paper, scroll through education Twitter, or come back from an inspiring conference, and your brain starts buzzing. You think, “Yes! This is exactly what our children need.” So you sit down and map out an incredibly rich, interconnected, deep-dive curriculum. It looks gorgeous on paper. … How to Keep your Curriculum Ambitious without overloading your Staff.
14 July 2026
Making the Primary Curriculum Accessible, Ambitious and Meaningful
One of the biggest challenges facing school leaders today is finding the right balance between ambition and accessibility. We rightly want children to leave primary school with strong knowledge, vocabulary and understanding. We want them to be curious, confident and well-prepared for the next stage of their education. However, ambition should never be confused with simply adding more … Making the Primary Curriculum Accessible, Ambitious and Meaningful
3 July 2026
How to Plan Lessons That Build Knowledge Over Time
One of the biggest shifts in education over the past decade has been the growing focus on curriculum progression. Most schools now spend considerable time mapping out what children should learn and when they should learn it. However, one challenge remains: ensuring that individual lessons genuinely contribute to long-term learning rather than simply covering content. … How to Plan Lessons That Build Knowledge Over Time
1 July 2026
Primary Curriculum Review Checklist for School Leaders
With curriculum reform on the horizon and discussions around the future National Curriculum continuing to gather pace, many school leaders are taking the opportunity to review their current provision. While every school’s curriculum should reflect its own context and community, there are some key questions that can help leaders evaluate whether their curriculum is truly … Primary Curriculum Review Checklist for School Leaders
29 June 2026
How to Balance Creativity, Courage and Progression in Your Curriculum
As a supply teacher, one of the unexpected benefits of stepping into so many classrooms has been seeing just how differently schools interpret their curriculum. Some schools have embraced creativity wholeheartedly. Children were building, debating, performing, investigating and creating. You could walk into a classroom and immediately sense the excitement. In other schools, the curriculum was equally ambitious and carefully … How to Balance Creativity, Courage and Progression in Your Curriculum
25 June 2026
How to Make Primary Learning More Relevant to Children’s Lives
Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to visit more than fifty primary schools as a supply teacher. It has been fascinating. Walking into so many different classrooms has given me a fresh perspective on what teaching and learning currently look like across our schools. I have seen some wonderful practice, incredibly dedicated teachers and some genuinely … How to Make Primary Learning More Relevant to Children’s Lives
24 June 2026
How School Leaders Can Strengthen Curriculum Intent in Primary Schools
One of the phrases we hear most often when discussing curriculum is ‘curriculum intent’. Without meaning to, it can sometimes become a statement that sits on a website or school improvement plan rather than something that genuinely shapes what happens in classrooms every day. In my experience, the strongest curriculum intent is something that is developed collaboratively, understood … How School Leaders Can Strengthen Curriculum Intent in Primary Schools
23 June 2026
What does Curriculum Impact Really Mean in Primary Education?
Impact has become one of the most-used (and most misunderstood) words in primary education. It’s easy to reduce it to a spreadsheet, a set of attainment scores, or a neat statement for a report. But curriculum impact is bigger than a data point. In the UK context, the National Curriculum provides the statutory framework for what pupils should be taught. The real question … What does Curriculum Impact Really Mean in Primary Education?
19 June 2026
Helping Children See Links Across Subjects in Primary School
I have always believed that some of the best moments in teaching are those where learning stops being a set of separate lessons and starts to feel inter-connected. That is what I have always tried to build in my classrooms and in the schools that I have worked with. Not necessarily a ‘themed curriculum’ where … Helping Children See Links Across Subjects in Primary School
17 June 2026
What Engaging Primary Teaching Really Looks Like
“Make it engaging.” It’s something we hear all the time as teachers, but it’s sometimes misunderstood. I have been guilty of this too, but often, we think engagement means entertainment (or edutainment as my old colleague used to say) – a fun task, a busy lesson, something that looks good on the surface, but doesn’t … What Engaging Primary Teaching Really Looks Like
15 June 2026
How to Encourage Curiosity Across the Primary Curriculum
I’ve been in many schools, both in the UK and internationally, and I’ve always noticed that curiosity is at its strongest in the early years. It can then seem to fizzle out as the pupils get older, and this is where I’ve started to spot barriers to learning: lack of resilience, lack of recognition of how this learning is meaningful for them, … How to Encourage Curiosity Across the Primary Curriculum
4 June 2026
How a Strong Curriculum Can Support Staff Confidence
One of the most overlooked aspects of curriculum design is its impact on staff confidence. We rightly spend a great deal of time discussing outcomes for pupils, but those outcomes are closely linked to how supported, knowledgeable and empowered teachers feel themselves. A strong curriculum does far more than organise content. It provides clarity, direction and the confidence for teachers to … How a Strong Curriculum Can Support Staff Confidence
29 May 2026
Supporting Meaningful Classroom Discussion in Primary Schools
Throughout my teaching career, one thing has remained consistently clear to me – children learn best when they are given opportunities to talk meaningfully about their learning. As both a class teacher and school leader, I have seen first-hand how high-quality classroom discussion can transform confidence, deepen understanding and improve outcomes across the curriculum. Some of the most significant … Supporting Meaningful Classroom Discussion in Primary Schools
28 May 2026
Why Curriculum Development Should Be an Ongoing Conversation
One of the biggest misconceptions about curriculum development is the idea that it is something a school eventually finishes. In reality, the strongest curriculums are always evolving. They respond to the children in front of us, the community around us and the changing world beyond the school gates. Any curriculum should be a living conversation within a … Why Curriculum Development Should Be an Ongoing Conversation
27 May 2026
Why Polarisation Doesn’t Help Pupils (and What We Can Do Instead)
I read a TES daily update recently about the legacy of Nick Gibb and the ‘traditional vs progressive’ wars. “Oh no. Not this again,” I thought. Not because teaching methods don’t matter (they absolutely do, and in a big way) but because how we talk about them can turn a profession full of thoughtful, tired, brilliant humans into two cartoon armies, … Why Polarisation Doesn’t Help Pupils (and What We Can Do Instead)
18 May 2026
SATs Week: The Pressure Teachers Don’t Always Talk About
Around this time every year, primary schools across England begin to change. Corridors become quieter, displays are checked and covered, and timetables are adjusted. As a former Year 6 teacher, I remember the pressure of SATs week very clearly. Not because of any panic per se, but because I cared deeply about the children and wanted them to do as well as they could. Like many teachers, I … SATs Week: The Pressure Teachers Don’t Always Talk About
13 May 2026
CURRICULUM DEPTH
Let’s take the analogy that a good curriculum is like a swimming pool; we want our pupils to be confident enough to swim both widths and lengths across its breadth. We want them to see connections between subjects and understand that each subject has links that support others. We also, however, want our pupils to be confident enough to put … CURRICULUM DEPTH
6 May 2026
The Day My Head Nearly Burst !
There are days in teaching when you feel like an actual professional: calm, purposeful, armed with a whiteboard pen and a plan. Then there are days when you’re fairly sure your head is going to burst like an overfilled balloon, spraying the contents of your brain in every direction. I’m talking about the kind of day where your “to-do list” isn’t really a list at all. It’s a living organism. … The Day My Head Nearly Burst !
27 April 2026