The Department for Education has issued its latest guidance for schools on the full return in September and there is a clear steer that, for pupils in key stage 3, “the curriculum should remain broad”.
At the same time, though, the DfE admits that “for pupils in Year 7, it may be necessary to address gaps in English and maths by teaching essential knowledge and skills from the key stage 2 curriculum”.
The competing aims and assessments of Sats in Year 6 and the subject-based curriculum in Year 7 simply don’t align. Due to this curriculum misalignment, teachers’ understanding of pupils’ gaps in English and maths knowledge may not be easily identified.
In this school year, that transition gap is likely to be exacerbated further.
A collaborative approach
So how best can we tackle this?
Busy secondary school teachers seeking to support new Year 7s will benefit a lot from gleaning insights from primary colleagues on the key stage 2 curriculum.
What are the essential insights into key stage 2 maths and English curriculum that may be missing for pupils?
My colleague, Caroline Bilton, an experienced primary teacher, based in primary schools in Northumberland for more than 30 years, believes this year is an opportunity to develop greater curriculum continuity across key stage 2 and 3.
What to look for in maths
With regard to maths, she suggests, “many Year 7 pupils will likely need catch-up on practising their speed and accuracy with calculation. Especially, in trickier contexts such as multiplying fractions and working with decimals and percentages”.
Furthermore, Bilton indicates that the vital mathematical fluency and confidence needed for problem-solving is likely to be inhibited and in need of consolidation in Year 7.
She also advises that “confidence in geometry or statistics will be the boost they need to re-engage with the subject”.
What to look for in English
The gap that may have emerged from missing curriculum time on primary English isn’t just a gap for the secondary English classroom - it is a problem in every subject area.
Evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation’s Improving Literacy at Secondary School report indicates that an “increasingly specialised secondary school curriculum” means that there is a “growing need to ensure that students are trained to access the academic language and conventions of different subjects”.
Year 6 reading routines, including Sats preparation, likely prove very different to the more specialised reading focus in secondary school.
That said, secondary colleagues can learn a lot from the English undertaken in key stage 2.
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For example, pupils will benefit most if there is curricular continuity between how they are taught to write extended academic writing in Year 6.
Alongside this, primary teachers ensure that pupils have a strong grasp of complex grammar concepts.
One of the most powerful experiences I had as a secondary English subject leader was to look through the English books with colleagues from our local primary school. Such conversations saw that in year 7, we raised our expectations. More complex grammar concepts, along with more ambitious writing, could be enacted earlier than we thought in key stage 3.
Alex Quigley is the national content manager at the Education Endowment Foundation. He was an English teacher for over 15 years. He also is the author of books for teachers, including Closing the Reading Gap
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