Draft Primary Curriculum Framework

1 Draft Primary Curriculum FrameworkFor consultationprimardevelopmentsfor is sa bhunscola ochtPrimary Curriculum Review and Redevelopment2020 Draft Primary Curriculum Framework | Primary Curriculum Review and RedevelopmentContentsIntroductionThe rationale for reviewing the Primary Curriculum ..1 Developing the Draft Primary Curriculum Framework ..3 Timeline for developments ..4 The Draft Primary Curriculum Framework Vision ..5 Principles ..6 Key competencies ..7 Curriculum areas and subjects ..11 Time allocation.

2 15 Transitions, continuity and progression in children s learning ..19 Teaching and learning ..20 Assessment ..23 Supporting schools, teachers and school leaders ..26 References ..27 Appendix A: Suggested time Framework in the 1999 Curriculum ..29 Draft Primary Curriculum Framework | Primary Curriculum Review and Redevelopment1 IntroductionThe National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is reviewing and redeveloping the Primary Curriculum . Published twenty years ago, the Primary School Curriculum (1999) was a cutting-edge Curriculum informed by extensive research of its time.

3 It was published after a decade-long process of development and deliberation and has since been the focus of research, review and evaluation . This activity has provided insights into both strengths of and challenges with the Curriculum while at the same time, spotlighting the extent to which classrooms have changed in the intervening years . We also now know more about how children learn and what it is like to be a child growing up in Ireland . Society, too, has changed and continues to change with growing expectations of a Primary education.

4 And so, we need to ensure that the Curriculum can continue to provide children with relevant and engaging experiences as we look to the third decade and beyond in the twenty-first century . The remainder of this introduction sets out, in more detail, the rationale for reviewing and redeveloping the Curriculum and the process through which the Draft Primary Curriculum Framework was developed . It also provides a timeline for the next stage of work . The rationale for reviewing the Primary Curriculum Since 1999, the Primary Curriculum has provided a strong foundation for teaching and learning .

5 Among the Curriculum s many successes have been children s enjoyment of learning and teachers increased use of active learning methodologies, as well as improved attainment levels in reading, mathematics and science as evidenced in national and international assessments . But challenges too have been well documented, such as Curriculum overload too much to do and too little time to do it all engaging and supporting every child as a learner, and the challenge of using assessment in a meaningful way to inform teaching and learning as well as to report on children s progress and achievement.

6 The two decades since 1999 have seen an acceleration in the volume of research on children s learning and development in their early childhood and Primary school years . Much of this offers fresh insights into how children learn and develop across the areas of the Curriculum . Growing Up in Ireland, Ireland s first longitudinal study of children (www .growingup .ie), illuminates how children are developing in their social, economic and cultural environments and how these Draft Primary Curriculum Framework | Primary Curriculum Review and Redevelopment2rapidly changing environments, especially in recent years, have impacted on children s lives.

7 The NCCA recently commissioned a longitudinal study of Primary education looking, in particular, at children s experiences of school . Using a cross-sequential design and involving two cohorts in a nationally representative sample, this study charts and learns about children s experiences as they move from preschool into junior infants, through the eight years of Primary school, and transfer to post- Primary . Led by a research team in University College Dublin, the Children s School Lives study will feed directly into the NCCA s work in reviewing and redeveloping the Primary Curriculum in the coming years.

8 Studies such as this alongside other research enables us to see and better understand children s experiences of education in Ireland today . As well as the need to respond to Curriculum challenges and to take account of new and emerging research findings, there have also been calls for the Primary Curriculum to do more! Schools and the Curriculum , together, are often viewed as a critical site for responding to national priorities or needs and addressing societal problems . This is evident in calls for increased time to be allocated to existing Curriculum areas such as Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and to Physical Education (PE).

9 Additionally, there are demands to include new aspects of learning in the Curriculum such as Coding and Computational Thinking, Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics, Modern Foreign Languages, and to place a greater general emphasis on Wellbeing . Policy developments in other sectors are also relevant in looking again at the Primary Curriculum . The provision of two years of universal preschool education (2010 and 2018) and the introduction of the National Childcare Scheme (2019), the publication of Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (2009) and the Framework for Junior Cycle (2015) have led to changes in what children experience before beginning Primary school and in what and how they learn on leaving Primary school, highlighting the importance of connections and continuity in curricula along the educational continuum.

10 Reviewing and redeveloping the Primary Curriculum provides an important opportunity to build on what children bring to Primary school and to ensure connections with their post- Primary experience while recognising the uniqueness and importance of a Primary education in the learning journey . The publication in 2011 of Literacy and Numeracy for learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020 (Department of Education and Skills) re-adjusted the priorities for Primary education by providing more time for the teaching of language and mathematics.