“The child” may well have disappeared from the view of some politicians during the wrangling in the last stages of the Children, Schools and Families Bill, but primary headteachers cannot afford to let learners out of their sight.

Children need to be learning the right kind of stuff in the right kind of way - right now. Headteachers know this and that’s why so many are forging ahead as they continue to develop “their curriculum” for their contexts and learners.

The Rose curriculum’s stimulating messages about rigour, locally driven, integrated learning, and relevance to children’s everyday lives need not be abandoned. Teachers already have freedoms to decide how and what to teach from the national curriculum, which maps surprisingly well to the Rose curriculum.

Dr Paula Owens, Curriculum development leader (primary) on behalf of the Geographical Association.