|
Curriculum 14-19: One independent school head's view
Peter Mason
Summary
The independent sector in education is an array of individual and extremely varied schools within affiliated organisations, each school valuing its own particular strengths and character, and perhaps even more, its independence.
Independent schools have been influential in the past in national curriculum developments but now lack a common approach to curriculum and its development. Factors influencing this are in many cases no different from those affecting schools in the maintained sector with high stakes assessment at GCSE and GCE being the major factor.
Local partnerships between maintained and independent schools have resulted in some useful stand-alone curriculum initiatives but these have not had widespread influence on schools' curricula in general.
The Tomlinson review was given a cautious welcome by independent schools and the space freed up from the reduction in over-prescription especially at KS4 could have been the stimulus needed to re-ignite curriculum innovation. However the government's response in its White Paper appears to have signalled much less radical change and could have removed the opportunity.
The Stamford Endowed Schools' own approach to curriculum has been generally traditional. The Tomlinson review and other internal factors provided the stimulus and opportunity for a re-evaluation of the schools' approach to curriculum and its development.
FILE DOWNLOADS
Curriculum 14-19: One independent school head's view
PDF File [171.05
K] DOWNLOAD |
|
< Back
|
Copyright ©
The Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education, All Rights Reserved
^ Top of Page
|
|
