IMPLEMENTING THE POLICIES

IMPLEMENTING THE POLICIES
1.  The nature and scope of the curriculum
•  A school’s complete curriculum includes the national curriculum together with all the activities
planned to promote the mental, personal, spiritual, moral, social and physical development of its
pupils.
•  The curriculum is expressed through the school's ethos, namely:
◊  the aspects and values which are reflected in its organisational patterns;
◊  the relationship between teachers and pupils;
◊  the extra-curricular activities promoted;
◊  the links with educational institutions and other agencies;
◊  the community in general
2.  Managing Teaching Time 
•  Implementing the National Curriculum calls for effective time management in order to offer a
broad and balanced education and raise performance in the key skills, particularly in literacy
and numeracy. Careful planning is necessary to ensure that each subject receives an adequate
allocation of time and is thoroughly taught.
When planning the curriculum, schools are required to bear in mind the percentage of teaching
time recommendedeach week in the NAW (Welsh Office) 43/99 Circular.
3.  Curriculum features
Breadth
•  The whole curriculum should be broad so as toenable every pupil to receive a range of
educational experiences in terms of knowledge, skills, concepts, values and attitudes.
Balance
•  The school should ensure that the curriculum provided is well balanced and that all aspects are
given an appropriate share of time and resources.
•  Whole-school long-term planning should reflect a curricular balance within themes and units of
work. This will entail the use of a variety oflearning methods and classroom organisational
patterns.
Relevance
•  The curriculum, which is based on the Education Authority's policies and the statutory
requirements, should be relevant to the needs and expectations of the pupils, the parents and the
community in general.
•  Activities should be arranged that are relevant to everyday life and build upon the pupils’
previous experiences and understanding.
Differentiation
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•  Successful planning involves ensuring differentiated provision bycarefully preparing activities
for individuals and groups, taking account of their needs. Expectations will vary according to
the teachers’ knowledge of the pupils’ different needs. The nature and degree of support and
assistance provided for pupils will vary according to need.
•  The school should ensure that programme content, learning methods and materials suit the
individual needs of pupils, and that the work is challenging enough to extend each pupil to
achieve his/her full potential.
•  Schools will need to consider:
-  classroom organisation;
-  the use of time within learning sessions;
-  access to the whole curriculum;
-  the school's planning and assessment schemes.
Cohesion
•  Although the framework of the National Curriculum is based on individual subjects, it is
important that they are all integrated into one complete and cohesive programme of experiences.
•  Whole-school policies need to be established inrelation to learning and teaching strategies and
assessment and recording methods.
Progression and development
•  Schools should provide suitable opportunities and experiences in order to ensure that supporting
and promoting pupils’ development is a continuous process.
•  Whole-school plans are required to ensure progression and development in knowledge, skills
and concepts across all subjects.
•  The school’s assessment scheme should be based on acknowledgement of pupils’ successes and
on assisting them to build on their strengths and overcome their difficulties.
•  As pupils are transferred to another school, the information transferred about them should be
brief and coherent.
Bilingualism
•  Every school is expected to implement the Education Authority’s bilingual policy