Implementing a personalised curriculum

St Mary’s R.C. Primary School is in Wrexham local authority.  There are 395 pupils on roll aged 3 to 11 years, including 42 who attend part-time in the nursery.  The school organises pupils into 14 single-age classes and two nursery classes.  About 5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is considerably below the national average of 18%.  The school identifies about 8% of pupils as having additional learning needs which is below the national average of 21%.  The majority of pupils come from an ethnic minority background and around a half the pupils have English as an additional language.  This is notably above the national average of 6%.  A very few pupils speak Welsh at home.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice 

For around three years, the school has been involved in a number of collaborative projects in order to prepare for the new curriculum.  Coming from a very traditional approach, the leadership team evaluated the impact of the projects and recognised the opportunity to make radical changes to planning and delivering the curriculum.  Monitoring exercises showed increased engagement and enthusiasm when pupils were given the freedom to choose topics or themes and when taught in mixed ability groups.  This pupil feedback was the driving force for significant change.

Foundation phase pupils had already been planning ‘Chilli Challenges’, where they choose the difficulty and challenge of their tasks.  This was further developed to allow them to choose the context for learning through the topics or themes of their choice.

In key stage 2, where a more ‘subject- based’ curriculum was in place, the leadership team recognised that a change of approach in line with foundation phase pedagogy needed to be introduced and carefully managed, including supporting staff development.  The Year 6 teachers were keen to trial child-led planning in their own classes and were given the freedom to experiment with planning the curriculum and class organisation.  They liaised closely with the leadership team and provided ongoing whole staff support and training to roll out the practice systematically.  All staff were pleased at the impact on both pupil and staff wellbeing, engagement and enthusiasm.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The school has worked collaboratively to develop an innovative, personalised curriculum, embracing the four purposes of the curriculum for Wales, to engage and enthuse all pupils to become mature, ambitious, capable and independent learners.

• Initially, teachers select a broad, open-ended topic or theme to ignite the pupils’ interests.
• Pupils then work individually, with ‘talk partners’ or in groups to present what they would like to learn about such as using mind maps.
• Teachers collate the information and match the pupils’ ideas into the curriculum’s areas of learning using the programmes of study to ensure appropriate skill coverage.
• Teachers and pupils then formulate a series of possible ‘Big Questions’ stemming from the pupils’ plans, ensuring that learning is real and purposeful.  Good examples included ‘will orang-utans be extinct by my 21^st birthday?’ and ‘why do we get stormy weather?’ and ‘should we ban plastic in school?’  
• Each ‘Big Question’ planning cycle lasts for approximately two or three weeks depending on the pupils’ interests and the way in which the theme develops.
• Teachers keep an ongoing record of skills by highlighting in the programmes of study.  This enables teachers to track coverage and informs future theme choices based around one of the four purposes of the curriculum.
• These are used to create ‘challenges’/ ‘challenge boxes’, which are holistic, learning experiences with literacy, numeracy and ICT skills carefully interwoven.
• Teachers use every opportunity to provide real purposes and contexts for learning, for example emailing companies of the own choice to persuade them to use sustainable palm oil in their products.
• Pupils work either with their ‘talk partner’, in groups or independently on the challenges. Teachers have high expectations and provide effective ‘live’ feedback throughout to support and extend the learning.
• Effective use is made of assessment for learning strategies such as pupil-generated success criteria, toolkits, working walls, learning powers and zones to support pupils’ independence.
• Teachers provide higher-order spelling and vocabulary lists for each ‘Big Question’ to immerse the pupils in rich language so that they can discuss and engage with the topic at the highest level.
• There is emphasis on using workshops, visitors, visits (including ‘virtual field trips’) to enhance the pupils’ learning.
• Pupils often have the freedom to choose how to complete challenges in their workbooks, using a variety of apps.
• An online portfolio of pupils’ learning experiences is used extensively across the school.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

• Involving the learners as key partners in planning has had a significant impact on their self-esteem and enthusiasm.  This has resulted in improvements to pupils’ well-being, progress and standards.
• Pupils are not afraid to take risks and persevere to challenge themselves.  This creates an environment in which pupils readily accept the responsibility to work hard, do their best and try without fear of making a mistake.
• Fully inclusive tasks ensure success for all learners allowing them to exceed their expected levels.
• Holistic experiences equip learners with essential life skills.
• Classrooms are a hive of purposeful activity, where learners use the flexible school day to decide how to organise their time to achieve a higher level and explore at greater depth

How have you shared your good practice?

• In-house staff development led by SDP (school development plan) teams, leaders and individual teachers has shared successful practice across all classes within the school.
• The school’s ‘Leader of Teaching and Learning’ has provided support and training for teachers during their planning and preparation time, working alongside staff in their own classes modelling effective practice.  This has provided a comprehensive package of support ensuring a consistency of practice across the whole school.
• Year 6/7 cluster transition meetings with the secondary school have strengthened links with colleagues.  The high standards in pupils’ books highlighted the impact of the innovative approach and rich curriculum provided.  This led to focused visits from secondary colleagues from the maths, English and science departments to observe in upper key stage 2.
• Parents have been fully involved in the process through information workshops, ‘bring your parent to school’ days.
• Governors have been informed through curriculum meetings, learning walks, ‘listening to learners’ monitoring exercises and informal visits to the school.