With the publication of the curriculum and assessment review this week, schools and trusts stand at a pivotal point. This is a moment for professional courage and confidence: we must resist the urge to rush to action, seek external solutions or search for quick fixes.
The scale and ambition of the review demand not just strategic readiness but a collaborative approach rooted in trust, transparency and shared expertise. As leaders across the system, this is our opportunity to make the review a unifying force rather than a divisive one.
Drawing on insights from the Trust-Wide CPD Leaders’ Forum’s new Curriculum Review Implementation Taskforce, research from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the lived experience of leaders across England, one message is clear: how we prepare for implementation will define the success of what happens next.
Here are six key points to consider:
1. Readiness is everything
Effective reform begins long before the ink dries on a new policy. The most successful systems already hold a sharp picture of their current curriculum: what’s strong, what’s struggling and where coherence could be strengthened. That intelligence means new developments can build on, rather than dismantle, what’s working.
As Professor Becky Francis reminds us, we need “evolution, not revolution”. And as the OECD cautions, there is often a “missing step between the intention and the realisation of curriculum renewal” - the implementation gap. Bridging that gap requires more than vision; it calls for measured planning, honest self-assessment and systems that turn national aspiration into authentic school-level action.
2. Learning lessons from the past
To achieve meaningful reform, we must learn from past mistakes. Top-down mandates and limited teacher engagement have repeatedly undermined progress here and abroad. When stakeholders are excluded, resources stretched, or professional development neglected, reforms stall. Misaligned assessments, rushed timelines and weak monitoring compound the problem further.
This time, we can do better. We can build a clear, shared vision; engage all stakeholders from the start; invest in teacher capacity and ensure coherence and support at every stage. Only by embracing these lessons can we turn ambitious reform into lasting classroom impact.
That will take professional courage, the willingness to pause, to think deeply and to do what’s right rather than what’s reactive.
3. Aligning policy and practice
The curriculum review cannot sit apart from other reform agendas. In recent weeks, we’ve seen the publication of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, the new Ofsted framework and we await updates on special educational needs and disabilities and assessment. Leaders will need to help colleagues see how these connect - to make sense of the wider landscape rather than treating each policy as a separate project.
This is the power of integrated thinking: when curriculum, assessment and accountability align, duplication falls and impact grows.
4. Co-creation: the antidote to top-down reform
Resource pressures and competing priorities are a given. But experience tells us that ownership, not compliance, drives meaningful change. When teachers, leaders and support teams are invited to shape the curriculum early and meaningfully, resistance falls and innovation rises.
International examples illustrate this clearly. In Finland and Wales, wide stakeholder engagement gave reforms traction because those who delivered the curriculum felt authorship, not imposition. The same principle applies here: co-creation is our route to coherence.
5. Communication and coherence
Change breeds uncertainty, and uncertainty breeds anxiety. That’s why communication matters.
Leaders must craft a compelling, coherent narrative - a shared story of progress. Good communication is the best antidote to hype and misinformation. Clear, consistent messaging provides staff and communities with the context they need, reducing anxiety and building trust.
6. Building capacity through people
Ultimately, sustainable reform is about people and not papers. CPD, peer learning and leadership networks are the engines of improvement. The evidence is consistent: systems that invest in teacher and leader growth implement change more effectively and sustain it for longer.
Real reform is rarely dramatic, but it is always collective. We must see this review as a chance to recast teaching as a profession that privileges professional thought and agency. As we look ahead, our challenge is simple: to work together, listen deeply and keep the needs of children at the heart of every decision.
A call to professional courage
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has spoken of her ambition to “spread excellence to the four corners of the country”. Achieving that vision will depend less on central direction and more on local readiness - on every school’s willingness to take ownership of reform and make it work in context.
That means treating curriculum adaptation as a meaningful intellectual endeavour, not a compliance task, and engaging colleagues in thinking, not just doing.
The government’s commitment to raising aspirations for every child is commendable. But its success will rest on the collective courage and professionalism of those who bring the curriculum to life every day.
If we can match national ambition with local authenticity, and policy with professional expertise, we will not just spread excellence, we will deepen it.
Tracy Goodyear is chair and Sam Gibbs is deputy chair of the Trust-Wide CPD Leaders’ Forum
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