(Title Image: Welsh Government, Crown Copyright)
Education & Young People Committee
Stage 1 Report: Curriculum & Assessment Bill (pdf)
Published: 4th December 2020
- Broad agreement that a new curriculum is needed, but concerns over possible big variations between schools.
- At least 14 petitions were submitted to the Senedd calling for specific topics to mandatory elements.
- Recommendation that mental health, Welsh history and BAME history are specifically included in statutory guidance and codes.
- Committee says the Senedd should have a binding vote on the new Relationship & Sexuality Education code.
The Curriculum & Assessment Bill will introduce a new national curriculum for Wales, which – if the Bill passes next year – will be phased in from September 2022.
There was broad agreement from witnesses that the national curriculum needed to change, but there was hesitancy from parts of the teaching profession, with a preference for a tweak of the existing curriculum over wholescale reform. Young people’s top priority was a curriculum to prepare them with life skills.
Another concern was the move away from individual subjects to broader areas of learning, which has already resulted in some schools merging departments and the loss of some specialist subject teachers.
The headline conclusion from the inquiry was a concern that the in-built flexibility within the new curriculum will lead to a great deal of difference between different parts of Wales and different schools depending on the available resources.
While there was praise for how teachers are to be given the freedom to be more creative – and assurances that the basics (numeracy, literacy etc.) won’t be ignored – there were worries that radically different teaching approaches and priorities could lead to gaps in knowledge – widening the attainment gap between haves and have-nots. There were additional concerns about how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted teacher training ahead of the new curriculum’s roll-out.
Teaching unions believed it was important to keep the curriculum non-prescriptive (not forcing certain topics or subjects to be taught).
At least 14 separate petitions have been submitted to the Senedd demanding that topics as diverse as water safety, mental health first aid, LGBTQ+ history and menstrual well-being are included as compulsory elements of the curriculum. This is alongside higher-profile demands such as Welsh/BAME/post-colonial history and life-saving skills.
The Committee recommended that explicit references to mental health, Welsh history and BAME history/diversity and identity are included in the guidance and codes which will be published once the Bill becomes law.
Elsewhere, the Committee backed moves to remove references to English as a compulsory element of the curriculum concerning Welsh language immersion for the under-7s.
The Committee also supported holding a binding Senedd vote on the new Relationship & Sexuality Education (RSE) Code.
However, the Committee didn’t believe this Bill was the best place to address collective acts of worship in schools. They further concluded that headteachers’ power to amend the curriculum for individuals (such as those with additional learning needs) shouldn’t be used to deny choice or inhibit asperations.
