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The Tanglin 3-14
from The Voice 36
THE TANGLIN 3-14 CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK: Everything You Need to Know
Tanglin introduced the brand new 3-14 Curriculum Framework in August and since then, there have been many exciting developments. John Ridley (Director of Learning), Claire Russell (Assistant Head of Senior School), Rebecca Morse (Deputy Head of Junior School) and Jo Osman (Deputy Head of Infant School) share more with us.
In August we were excited to launch the Tanglin 3-14 Curriculum Framework across the Infant and Junior Schools, and in a pilot group of four subjects in Year 8. The new framework has 5 ‘Milestones’; the first at the end of Year 1 and then at two-year intervals up to the end of Year 9. This means that Milestone 2 spans Year 2 and Year 3, and the transition into Junior School; Milestone 4 spans Year 6 and Year 7, and the transition into the Senior School. The overall aims of the new curriculum are to: •ensure clear, planned progression across the whole school, within each subject discipline •ensure that the curriculum is relevant to our students and our
Tanglin context •provide the best possible foundations for the Upper School and the Sixth Form, at Tanglin or elsewhere. Development of the new curriculum has involved over 50 curriculum leaders in all subjects, across all three schools, working together since August 2019. The result is a curriculum that is unique to Tanglin. Our independence from any national system or group of schools has allowed us to set our own curriculum objectives (Milestone Statements) using both a ‘building up’ and a ‘backwards mapping’ approach, using our experience with English National Curriculum and GCSE objectives but also looking at other models.
Whilst this has been a huge effort, all involved have enjoyed learning more about how their subject is taught in different parts of the school. There has been excellent professional dialogue in all subject areas.
The following examples give just a flavour of some of the results: •The English team have built their new framework around the concepts of ‘Understanding Language’, ‘Crafting to
Communicate’, ‘Communicating with Accuracy’ and ‘Making
Connections’, rather than the more traditional ‘Reading’,
‘Writing’, ‘Speaking’ and ‘Listening’ •The Geography team have included a concept area called
‘Patterns, Processes and Possibilities’ which draws on the key concepts from the IB Diploma Geography course •The Technology teams in Infants and Juniors have worked with both the Computer Science department and the Design Technology department in the Senior School to ensure that foundations are laid for both these subjects.
CONSISTENT ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING
Creating our own 3-14 framework has also given us the opportunity to design a consistent assessment and reporting system across this age range. Parents can look forward to reports with a similar format and language across the three schools. Assessment judgements will be based on how confidently students can apply the knowledge and skills they gain in each Milestone - moving from ‘Beginning’ and ‘Developing’ to ‘Advancing’ and ‘Mastering’.
Term 3 reports will include these judgements and our aim is for the majority of students to be judged as ‘Advancing’ or ‘Mastering’ in each concept area by the end of a Milestone. Any school report is necessarily a brief summary of all that a student has achieved; it is most useful as a reference point for conversations between parents and teachers. With that in mind, we have also made some adjustments to the reporting calendar, to allow time for those conversations after the reports are published.
ONGOING DIALOGUE BETWEEN SCHOOLS
Having Milestones that span the transitions between our Infant, Junior and Senior Schools marks a very different approach from our previous framework which was based on the English National Curriculum and its ‘Key Stages’; the curriculum progression was certainly planned but the structure did not encourage an ongoing dialogue between curriculum teams in different Key Stages. Whilst we have not officially launched the new curriculum in Year 7, Senior School colleagues have been very much involved in developing the framework, particularly Milestone 4, so that students currently in Year 6 will continue the new curriculum next year.
Computer Science, English, History and Music have begun the new Milestone 5 with the current Year 8 students, which gives us an opportunity to set up and test the new assessment and reporting systems required before the other Senior School subjects come on board in August 2022. » 21
The professional dialogue between the subject leaders has galvanised stronger links and a greater mutual understanding of both the opportunities and challenges presented by various aspects of the curriculum at each stage of the learning continuum. This empathy, as well as the consensus built around how our curriculum is designed to meet the specific needs of our community has resulted in enhanced authenticity, purpose and relevance.
In the Infant School we have worked tirelessly in the past to ensure continuity and coherence between our two quite separate curricula; the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (Nursery and Reception) and Key Stage 1 National Curriculum (Year 1 and Year 2). However, the very different curricular and assessment language has always presented a challenge, as it does for all schools that adhere to them, which can be confusing for both parents and staff. We are very proud that the new 3-14 curriculum finally realises true alignment across the school for the first time, providing a shared language and understanding in curriculum, assessment and reporting from Nursery right through into the Juniors and beyond. And all whilst painstakingly preserving the developmentallyappropriate, holistic expectations which necessarily underpin the earliest stages of Infant education, allowing all children to flourish.
The process of developing our curriculum has facilitated conversations between subject leaders across the three schools. This is particularly important in the Junior school, as we are the bridge between the other two schools. The new curriculum framework has allowed us to examine our choices of what we deem to be essential ‘sticky knowledge’ that children in the Junior School need to remember as they progress, and to make sure that this both builds upon what they have learned before in Infants and prepares them for ongoing success in the Senior School.
While our current reporting and assessment system uses a mastery approach, streamlining and aligning this across the whole 3-14 curriculum allows greater clarity for students, staff and parents about the progress they are making as they move up through the schools.
In the Senior School, our subject leaders have been working hard alongside colleagues in the Infants and Juniors to map out a clear sequence of learning, and progression of knowledge and skills through to the end of Year 9. Whilst our existing curriculum has a clear eye on effectively preparing students for the demands of the Upper school and I/GCSE courses, a new whole school curriculum has given us a fantastic opportunity to reflect, review and improve our provision with this onward journey in mind.
In addition, with Milestone 4 spanning Years 6 and 7, it has presented us with another excellent opportunity for subject leaders across both schools to work closely together to develop a common framework for learning and assessment. This closer working relationship between the schools means students benefit from a sharply focused and robust curriculum that effectively supports their transition into the Senior school in Year 7.
Finally, the new curriculum means a new approach to assessment and reporting across the three schools. Our mastery model will be a shared language of assessment that students will know and become familiar with, and as reporting becomes more consistent across the three schools, it will also be easier for parents to interpret these reports and know what it means for their child’s next steps and continued academic progress. ■
