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  • Support for early career teachers
  • Teach First
  • Year 2: Second half term: revisit how to develop a coherent curriculum
    • Summer week 2

    Mentor materials

    Discussion - developing a coherent curriculum

    Duration: 60 minutes.

    Outcome

    By the end of this session your ECT will have:

    • understood why powerful analogies, illustrations and demonstrations can help pupils to learn key concepts
    • identified 3 or 4 powerful analogies, illustrations or demonstrations within their subject area
    • considered where and how to incorporate these analogies, illustrations and demonstrations into their teaching

    Reference materials

    Key questions and talking points

    1. What did you need to consider when sequencing learning in your scheme of work?
    2. How does your scheme of work fit into the broader curriculum? What does the ‘roadmap’ look like?
    3. How will formative and summative assessment inform your roadmap, and how have you planned for changes in the ‘route’?
    4. Have you planned when the topics or big ideas will be revisited?
    5. What foundational knowledge and vocabulary will pupils need to master new concepts?
    6. How will you build on existing knowledge to help pupils build increasingly complex mental models?
    7. How have you balanced exposition, repetition, practice of critical skills and knowledge over the course of your scheme?
    8. How will you develop pupils’ knowledge throughout the scheme of work, including the use of examples, non-examples, scaffolds, guided practice and independent practice?
    9. How will the instructional procedures and strategies differ across the phase or year as pupils develop expertise?
    10. How are you supporting pupils to think critically?
    11. How will you help pupils to transfer knowledge between subject disciplines or in a new or unfamiliar context?
    12. How have you used support from colleagues to develop your scheme of work?
    13. What do you want to focus on observing in the observation or discussion on ‘Developing a purposeful curriculum’?
    14. Let’s agree on an area of focus for this half term, linked to developing a coherent curriculum.