Keep Calm and Carry On!

1. Keep Calm and Carry On! Amanda Moore Katy Melville Education Officers Warrington Museum and Art Gallery

2. Reaction so far • In July emailed five Heads of our regular user schools for feedback re the proposals and if they would be changing their history curriculum • Feedback varied-one indicated that content in humanities had been stream-lined already, another history in a state of flux & teachers concerned re changes, another that adaptations as the year progressed but no major changes, another has developed a new curriculum map for history and geography tying into new curriculum • All keen to have our support, would benefit staff • Met Senior Advisor in Warrington (Warrington LEA in a rare position of still having several advisors) said that Warrington schools are strongly committed to a creative, skills driven curriculum and that many Heads will ignore the new orders especially for the non core subjects. So advised us to not panic or react too quickly!

3. An overview of National Curriculum History In Key Stage 1 there are FOUR subject content areas In Key Stage 2 there are NINE subject content areas Four areas are prescribed and take British History chronologically from Stone Age to 1066. Within each area there is no expectation of coverage, just several non-statutory examples Two areas are non-prescriptive, one a local study and the other national in focus from 1066 Three areas are prescribed World History areas with specific choices but no statutory coverage

4. Key Stage 1 History

5. Key Stage 2 History

6. Freedom! • Choice in two areas (local study and national theme) • Scope to keep old favourites (Tudors, Victorians & World War 2) but develop a more honed (reduce coverage) thematic focus • Flexibility for schools to decide the depth of a study- a “light touch” may be all that some schools opt for eg. a homework task, an Assembly or a literacy task

7. Skills Across the Curriculum History feeds into the development of: Reasoning skills Articulating responses Developing a critical mind Forming opinions & challenging ideas Using observation skills Devising valid questions Using a range of sources to build up knowledge Presentation of information and ideas

8. What can museums/sites offer schools? The WOW factor (loans and visits) for a Learning Challenge driven curriculum where children initiate & steer learning through their own questions/enquiry- RE-ENERGISE topic based learning Reassurance, guidance & direction for teachers that a chosen theme is a “valid” interpretation of an area (teachers can cling to non-Statutory guidance) Advice for clusters of schools in authorities where there are no subject specialist advisors- Breakfast Briefing for Heads/Senior Leaders in Warrington- Deputy Heads usually have responsibility for the curriculum Artefacts & archive material supports all AIMS/KEY SKILLS in History and across all curriculum areas Specific intervention projects- use Pupil Premium funding (£900 per child who has been in receipt of free school meals in the last 6 years- set to rise)- literacy programmes, behaviour etc

9. Other Curriculum Areas • Science- very specific, detailed progression of content for each year group. Identified three aspects we offer sessions for- Yr 3 Rocks and Fossils, Year 4 Teeth & Diet, Year 6 Evolution & Inheritance • Art & Design- content slimmed dramatically with focus on traditional media- sculpture and painting-in Key Stage 1 “be taught about the work of a range of artists, craft-makers and designers” and Key Stage 2 “be taught about great artists, architects and designers in history”-lots of scope • Design & Technology- “through evaluation of past and present design & technology, develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world”-lots of scope • Geography-often studied through history- Seaside Holidays for human/physical geography, Settlement for local history around River Mersey- trade links & natural resources- will fit in well with new prehistory session at Warrington- very general, no order as to when taught • Music- in Key Stage 2 children “should be taught to develop an understanding of the history of music”- virginal and recording • In English- Drama techniques such as improvisation, role play and DEBATE mentioned specifically • PE- Dance has a very sketchy mention within PE- Olympic legacy means £150 million available over next two years to invest in PE/Sport & Dance.

10. Cultural Education Review 2013 “The arts are the highest form if human achievement. Through art we not only make sense of ourselves and the world, we also make our lives enchanted. Art allows us to celebrate our common humanity and communicate across boundaries. Artistic endeavour marks us out from the rest of nature as creators and celebrators of beauty.” (Foreword by RT HON Michael Gove MP and Ed Vaizey MP) “The new national curriculum will be in schools this autumn for first teaching in 2014. Creating a slimmer, high-quality curriculum in these subjects (cultural) will improve cultural education as schools and teachers use their new freedoms to design and adapt their provision to match the needs and interests of their pupils. (museums and art galleries specifically mentioned as part of access to a high quality cultural education) page 37 Ofsted recognises the role the Arts play as a vehicle for raising achievement –especially in disaffected teenagers and in very young learners- BUT no hard data to support/measure the impact of arts programmes- need this to embed provision. Pupil Premium is being spent on arts programmes and in disadvantaged children accessing cultural visits- schools have to outline expenditure on website.

11. The Heritage Schools programme Part of the Cultural Education Review is this project with English Heritage with £2.7 million invested to 2015. Aims to enable children to spend more time learning outside the classroom making use of local heritage resources. Two thousand teachers to take part in training programmes across 190 schools to make them confident in making effective use of local heritage resources in delivering the curriculum. The THREE aspirations are: Embedding the local historic context within the school’s curriculum Nurturing children’s pride in where they live Developing children’s understanding of how their local heritage relates to the national story. These aspirations may influence what we all provide for schools.

12. Amanda Moore New Opportunities

13. New Workshops

14. Prehistory • New content for 2014 • Make use of local collection that is under used • Can link with KS2 fiction (i.e.. Stig of The Dump) • Links with KS2 Human and Physical Geography • Good resources available

15. Resources • Historic Environment Records. Held by all Local Authorities. • Relevant site reports, maps, environmental reports, photographs etc. • Great examples for creative storytelling like… Boris the Bronze Age Weevil!

16. Art Support • Found and met with Arts advisor in WBC • Discussed funded project using Art in a pilot project with 4 local schools • Focus on speaking, doing, making and sharing • Resulting in all participants gaining Arts Award ‘Explore’ Award after I train as an Arts Award Advisor

17. Art Pilot 2014 • Local emphasis(Local artists and designers) • Literacy skills(Tours, notebooks, presentation night) • Pilot to be rolled out to all next year

18. More Talking please! • Ofsteds new whole school inspection framework places greater emphasis on cross Curricular Literacy. • “…in planning and drafting writing in English, for example, should be capable of being extended when the same teacher sets an extended piece of writing in history or geography” ‘Moving English Forward, Ofsted rep. 2012

19. Re branding what we do • Explicitly highlight opportunities for writing and speaking / listening within workshops. • We have stopped using worksheets and moved towards open ended booklets to collect key thoughts, ideas, feelings and facts.

20. Re Branding what we do • Instructions for making a clay oil lamp • Spoken discussions: Should we keep objects form different countries here? • Writing guides to exhibitions, galleries, the whole museum • Make and practice a short tour of the art gallery for the class • Etc. etc.

21. Contact Details • Amanda Moore (Wed – Fri) amoore@culturewarrington.org • Katy Melville (Mon – Tue) kmelville@culturewarrington.org