S1 to S3 stage
In order to design a curriculum for S1 to S3 which meets the purposes and principles, secondary schools will plan a blend of activities and courses, making full use of the expertise and resources which partners can contribute, and based upon
- curriculum areas and subjects
- interdisciplinary learning
- opportunities for personal achievement
- and learning related to the ethos and life of the school.
Schools will be able to organise the experiences and outcomes in ways that meet the needs of their own young people and the national expectation of an entitlement to a broad general education.
Planning for improvement
There is a great deal of scope for innovative approaches to the design of the curriculum as a whole during this phase.
A key step is to use the school's improvement planning process to develop or design high quality learning programmes, based upon the experiences and outcomes. Existing successful programmes should be built upon, including joint programmes between primary and secondary.
Schools will need to develop a framework which enables progression for all and provides for the different kinds of choice.
To provide access for all young people to the learning described in the experiences and outcomes, schools will be working in partnership alongside, for example, colleges, employers, youth work services and the voluntary sector.
Specialist teachers and facilities in the secondary school provide a rich and stimulating environment in which young people can progress their learning. At the same time, the opportunities presented for planning of learning and teaching across the S1 to S3 phase will include pathways which go beyond traditional subject groupings or year groupings.
Patterns of organisation
Most learners will progress towards the fourth level experiences and outcomes in many aspects of their learning, laying strong foundations for further learning. Given the focus on literacy and numeracy, most young people should achieve outcomes at level four in these aspects.
Most young people should also achieve outcomes at level four in a range of curriculum areas. This may involve following "subject lines" within curriculum areas. It will also permit interdisciplinary groupings of experiences and outcomes from two or more curriculum areas.
Decisions about patterns of organisation need to take account of the purpose and nature of the learning and make best use of the expertise and resources available. Different patterns of organisation can contribute to pace, progression and coherence.
For example, some aspects of the curriculum may lend themselves to being taught continuously (for example English, maths and PE). Others may be organised across short or longer time periods, continuously or as discrete courses and the school's approach to the place and purposes of interdisciplinary studies will need to be established.