[suzygudgeon]

Our school has decided to go over to a two year KS3 curriculum and want a skills based curriculum. That is all we have been given and it is down to Heads of Department to come up with ideas as to what we should do. No guidance on if all depts will have to work together, if it will be certain one off days or weeks or half terms. To be completely honest I am absoloutely lost as to what we could do. Does anyone teach a condensed skills based KS3 curriculum? What works and what didn't? Biggest mistakes? What do the students do in Year 9? Is it worth entering students into early entry GCSE if they don't meet their fft targets? I can't see the point of reinventing the wheel and not learning from other peoples mistakes. Any help/ideas would be greatfuly recieved.
Cheers
Suzy

[johnwayne]

hi - we have gone over to a 2 year condensed curriculum and quite honestly it is worrying. we have very few y8 students who will be able to handle GCSE - approx 2/3 per class. The most we coud come up with would be a GCSE group of y9s of approx 20 students. We were given notice of this half way through last year. We will also have going through this academic year the usual y9s for GCSE. That is ok and the norm but the worry is we have also gone over to the FFT-D style of projecting grades.
If you need any further help, please pm me - good luck!!

[j hewson]

We have a skills-based curriculum at our school. What it means, in essence, is that along with the history skill that we are focusing on in the lesson, we have to look at a functional skill (usually literacy based, but could be numeracy or ICT as well) and then what we have called a life skill (which incorporates PLTS and SEAL). It has meant a considerable change to KS3 planning over the past two years and we are still getting to grips with it. Anything you need, just ask and I will see what I can find for you. We also do a condensed KS3 curriculum (2 years) with a broad option choice for year 9, which has meant teaching Humanities GCSE with year 9 this year for the first time. I am concerned at how this will impact on GCSE history uptake for KS4 (traditionally between 1/3 and 1/2 of a year group have opted in the past) but I guess time will tell.

[Rachel H]

j hewson, on 03 November 2009 - 03:16 PM, said:

We have a skills-based curriculum at our school. What it means, in essence, is that along with the history skill that we are focusing on in the lesson, we have to look at a functional skill (usually literacy based, but could be numeracy or ICT as well) and then what we have called a life skill (which incorporates PLTS and SEAL). It has meant a considerable change to KS3 planning over the past two years and we are still getting to grips with it. Anything you need, just ask and I will see what I can find for you. We also do a condensed KS3 curriculum (2 years) with a broad option choice for year 9, which has meant teaching Humanities GCSE with year 9 this year for the first time. I am concerned at how this will impact on GCSE history uptake for KS4 (traditionally between 1/3 and 1/2 of a year group have opted in the past) but I guess time will tell.

We are in this position this year too - year 8s and 9s doing options together but v few year 8s being capable of staring a history gcse. How have you found humanities as it is a possibility for us?
Rachel

[j hewson]

For me, personally, it has been relatively ok, given the fact that the God of timetables gave me the higher ability group. I teach the history element and controlled assessment (or coursework) and a Geography teacher does the other elements (as RE wanted nothing to do with it!). What I miss doing though, is the real meaty focus on Twentieth Century history; it seems at times that what I am delivering is more socioloy/law than it is history. I do think that lower ability pupils are having some difficulty accessing some of the concepts that we have to study. The other thing is that we are expected to cram so much into a 2 year KS3 and I think we are only paying lip service to so many periods of history that have engaged pupils in the past.

[Rachel H]

Totally agree about our ks3 history - but we have little choice!