Welsh Government has published its new draft school curriculum

A draft of the new school curriculum has been unveiled by the Welsh Government today in what it has described as a “major milestone.” 

The proposed new curriculum will signal the biggest reform to Welsh schools in decades.

Teachers from so called “Pioneer” schools across Wales including Connah’s Quay, Hawarden and Flint High Schools have been working on the draft framework since 2015.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams said “today marks the culmination of years of hard work by our teachers and experts from both inside Wales and beyond.”

The new framework will see schools move away from a “prescriptive, narrow and outdated curriculum first introduced in 1988” instead there will be six ‘areas of learning and experience’ (AoLE’s).

Teachers will be given more flexibility to develop a curriculum in their school that meets the needs of their learners, the government says.

These Areas of Learning and Experience will cover:

Mathematics and Numeracy;

Science and Technology;

Humanities;

Languages, Literacy and Communications;

Health and Wellbeing;

Expressive Arts.

Qualifications will change as a result of the new curriculum, independent regulator Qualifications Wales will ensure any changes “make sense” for learners, teachers, parents and employers.

Then government has set aside £44 million to support schools and teachers as they prepare for the new curriculum.

This includes £20 million for development and implementation and a further £24m – the single biggest investment in support for teachers in Wales since devolution – for professional learning.

Launching the draft curriculum, Education Minister Kirsty Williams said:

“Today marks the culmination of years of hard work by our teachers and experts from both inside Wales and beyond.

What we’re publishing today is very different to what most of us will have experienced and it’s a big culture change. We’re moving away from an outdated, narrow curriculum that sets out subject by subject, topic by topic and hour by hour what pupils should be learning. This isn’t a rule book.

Using their considerable knowledge, experience and expertise, teachers in Wales have instead built a framework that sets out the fundamentals of a truly twenty-first century education.”

Teachers union the NASUWT issued a warning last week over the implementation of the new curriculum saying it will be jeopardised unless continued “underfunding and unnecessary cuts to teachers’ jobs and working conditions” are addressed. 

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:

“In anticipation of the changes to the curriculum, too many schools have engaged prematurely in unnecessary staffing restructuring, threatening teachers’ jobs and the loss of payments for subject leaders.

“This is causing turbulence and uncertainty in schools for teachers and pupils.

“The Welsh Government is relying on the capacity, dedication and skill of the teaching profession to make its reforms a success, yet it is doing little to support and invest in those who are at the frontline of change.

“A failure to invest in the workforce is making ministers’ laudable ambitions for the education service in Wales ring increasingly hollow.

“The growing number of teacher redundancies in Wales threatens to destablise the implementation of the new curriculum.

“The Government needs to act now to address this but if it fails to then the NASUWT will.”

UCAC – Wales’s own education union – said it was is proud of the fact that “we will have a curriculum that is specific to Wales.”

Dilwyn Roberts-Young, General Secretary of UCAC said:

“Without doubt, today is an exciting day. For the first time, the work of hundreds of teachers and experts in developing the new curriculum will see the light of day.

Thousands of teachers, other education professionals, parents and employers will now have the opportunity to express their opinion and influence the framework that will form the basis of our children’s education from 2022 onwards.”

A major consultation around the draft curriculum framework will run until 19th July.

Kirsty Williams said: “I’ll soon be embarking on a National Mission Tour around Wales and finding out what the education workforce has to say.

We’re also calling for the widest possible range of views on this draft framework – from Universities and Colleges to industry; from youth organisations to businesses and employers from across the public, private and third sectors. Make sure you join the conversation.”

The draft curriculum framework will be available to view here.