REVISED CURRICULUM

Foundation Stage

Young children come to school from a variety of different backgrounds, having had a range of diverse learning experiences at home and, for most, some form of pre-school education. The Foundation Stage aims to build on these learning experiences by providing children with an appropriate learning programme to develop their dispositions to learn. It also aims to provide them with the skills and competencies they will need to succeed in school and future life.

The Foundation Stage also endorses good early years practice where teachers have more flexibility in terms of what they teach. This flexibility allows teachers to follow the interests of the children, encouraging them to see links in their learning and to appreciate that the skills they learn in one area can be applied elsewhere.

Key Stages 1 and 2

Children at Key Stages 1 and 2 should build on and develop the experiences provided at the Foundation Stage. Continued emphasis should be placed on personal, social & emotional development as well an explicit emphasis on the development of skills in Communication, Using Mathematics, Using ICT and Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities. Children should be provided with opportunities to develop these skills through a range of worthwhile, challenging, relevant and enjoyable learning experiences.

Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3 the revised curriculum places emphasis on the totality of pupils' experiences across the curriculum and challenges teachers to make meaningful links beyond their subject emphasis. Subjects no longer stand alone with their own discretely defined areas of knowledge and skills. Rather they are set out as strands within Areas of Learning which share curriculum objectives with common key elements and skills outcomes.

Key Stage 4

The Education (Curriculum Minimum Content) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 will come into operation from the 1st August 2007 for pupils in Year 11 and from the 1st August 2008 for pupils in Year 12.

The Education Order (January 2007) states the statutory requirements relating to specification of the Northern Ireland Curriculum minimum content from Foundation Stage to Key Stage 4.

The curriculum is intended to be balanced and broadly based curriculum which:

  1. promotes the spiritual, emotional, moral, cultural, intellectual and physical development of pupils at the school and thereby of society; and
  2. prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life by equipping them with appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills.

In order to meet their statutory requirements, schools must provide learning opportunities in relation to the following:

  1. Religious Education – in accordance with the core syllabus drafted by the four main Christian Churches in Northern Ireland and specified by the Department of Education.
  2. the following Areas of Learning at Key Stage 4:


Areas of Learning

Contributory Elements

Language and Literacy

  

Mathematics and Numeracy

  

Modern Languages

  

The Arts

  

Environment and Society

  

Science and Technology

  

Learning for Life and Work

Employability
Local and Global Citizenship
Personal Development

Physical Education

Physical Education


For further information on the Revised Curriculum please visit www.nicurriculum.org.uk