New Secondary Curriculum

This section briefly outlines the changes to the national Secondary Curriculum, with its increased emphasis on improving the English, mathematics and IT skills and knowledge of all learners at Key Stages 3 and 4, and provides links to useful websites.

The new curriculum for Key Stages 3 and 4 places a strong emphasis on the development of skills for life and work. These include a new framework for personal, learning and thinking skills, along with Functional Skills, which may be incorporated into English, mathematics and ICT.

The curriculum encourages teachers to contextualise skills and knowledge development to enable their learners to function more effectively in their everyday use of English, mathematics and IT.

Hence the new Functional Skills qualifications are designed to assess the capability of learners in these subjects.

The National Strategies have launched a new website that includes renewed Frameworks for secondary English, mathematics, science and ICT. DCSF Secondary Frameworks Professional Development

In addition, the National Centre of Excellence for the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) has created a team of professionals in the North East who are developing and piloting professional development materials in Functional Mathematics.    You can join here. NCETM North East Functional maths