Agenda item

Councillor D.J.R. Bartlett declared an interest in that he is President of the Carmarthenshire branch of the National Union of Teachers.

The Committee considered a report relating to ‘Paving the Way: A Strategic Review of 3 – 19 Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Carmarthenshire’. The proposals had been developed in order to implement the Donaldson (Successful Futures) recommendations, the Furlong Review and the New Deal in all the County’s schools and special settings. The purpose of the review was to:

·         Outline the main themes and challenges in the present-day curriculum and assessment planning, in response to imminent and far reaching reforms at a national scale.

·         Propose original responses to complicated problems posed by impending curriculum and assessment reform.

·         Offer firm strategies for implementing meaningful curriculum reform and transformation, in order to benefit the education of all learners in Carmarthenshire.

The following issues were discussed during consideration of the report:

It was asked whether the imminent retirement of the Welsh Government’s Education Minister would impact on these proposals and whether a new administration and education minister following the Assembly elections in May, would be likely to make further changes. The Head of Learner Programmes acknowledged that this was a pertinent question but it appeared that there was political consensus in support of the proposals. There was now significant momentum behind the proposed changes which led him to believe that regardless of the result of Assembly election, many of these changes would be implemented.

In response to a question about a curriculum tailored to Carmarthenshire, the Head of Learner Programmes acknowledged that as yet, there had been no specific guidance from the Welsh Government but it appeared that the minister wished to give local authorities flexibility as to what was taught in their schools. He suggested that whilst the core topics within the curriculum would be set across the whole of Wales, teachers in the County would be able to use local history and cultural traditions to give their lessons a local flavour.

It was noted that the ‘pioneer schools’ listed in the report were all larger primary schools and it was suggested that the curriculum requirements of such schools would be very different to those of a small rural school with two or three teachers. The Head of Learner Programmes acknowledged that those listed were the larger schools simply because they had the capacity to release staff to work on the new developments. However, officers were working to ensure that staff from smaller schools would be able to input into the various curriculum development groups.  

It was asked whether Coleg Sir Gâr would have a different curriculum as it was not under the jurisdiction of the Local Authority. The Head of Learner Programmes informed the Committee that the review of the 11-19 curriculum in Carmarthenshire being undertaken by the Learning Transformation Manager, had been carried out in parallel with the development of the Paving the Way document and followed discussions between the Local Authority and the College regarding the development of a strategic vision for education in the County. The review would identify how the existing partnership structures would need to develop and adapt in order to deliver a curriculum that met the needs of all 11-19 learners in the County.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be received.