Pupils and staff of Wandesforde National School
Castlecomer’s Wandesforde NS, has been involved in the redevelopment of the primary school curriculum for the last number of years through their participation in the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA) Schools Forum.
Since 2018, the NCCA has been working with a network of primary, post-primary and preschools from across the country. The teachers and practitioners meet every four to six weeks as a ‘Schools Forum’ to guide and help shape the review and redevelopment of the primary curriculum.
In the words of one teacher, “the Schools Forum provides a space where, parents and teachers have an opportunity to ponder big questions such as what we value in education, what its purpose is, how and what children should be taught, what’s important in our current context and what the future might demand.”
Wandesforde NS Principal, Susan Peavoy, said it was an honour for their school to be involved in this process. “We represented both the small school and Church of Ireland perspectives at the Schools Forum. The NCCA were very keen to have a wide variety of perspectives. I would encourage as many people as possible to engage with the current consultation which is open until 7th June 2024.”
The Primary Curriculum Framework for all primary and special schools was launched last year by Minister of Education, Norma Foley. This framework sets out a new vision for primary education, as well as a structure for a new primary curriculum.
NCCA is now consulting on draft curriculum specifications in Arts Education; Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) in the Primary Language Curriculum; Social and Environmental Education; Science, Technology and Engineering Education; and Wellbeing.
Fiona Joyce, the Wandesforde NS nominee to the Schools Forum, believes the new curriculum has a lot going for it. “It provides more autonomy to schools and teachers. It focuses on what you want the child to achieve rather than what you must do with them, so it is much less prescriptive; it gives the destination for the child rather than a detailed map of how to get there.” Schools will have more flexibility in providing an education appropriate to their own contexts.
“It is also very child-centred with the holistic development of the child shining through.”
Seven ‘key competencies’ (ie. essential skills, dispositions or values) that should be developed through the teaching of all the subject areas, form the bedrock of this curriculum. , from science and languages to ‘being an active citizen.’
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