National PTA Week 2022
After several years in the making, we are on the verge of momentous change to education here in Wales. From September, our new Curriculum for Wales will begin to be taught in schools across the nation.
The Curriculum has been designed around four purposes, which will already be familiar to many parents of school-age children in Wales.
Our education system consists of a number of essential parts. Headteachers and teachers, support staff, governors – and the parents and guardians who actively engage with schools for the benefit of the school and its pupils — all work towards the common goal of developing young people who will make a positive contribution to society, just as the Curriculum’s four purposes set out.
All primary schools and around half of secondary schools, as well as around 500 childcare settings, will be using the new curriculum from September. Continued engagement with parents and families has been and will continue to be essential to the delivery of the new Curriculum. I would like to thank all PTA members for their contributions, and the enthusiasm we’ve seen across the school community, that has enabled the realisation of our ambitious, aspirational and inclusive new Curriculum for Wales.
PTAs play an important role as a voice for parents and guardians in how education is delivered. The new Curriculum is a fantastic opportunity to achieve higher standards for all and I welcome your engagement as we continue the Curriculum’s journey from design to delivery.
There will be a national framework to ensure there is consistency and common, mandatory expectations for all, but teachers and other educators will have greater scope to use their professional skills and understanding to decide how they get the best out of their learners.
The curriculum still requires learning from familiar and specific subjects, but these can be grouped together in wider Areas of Learning Experience, which are: Expressive Arts; Health and Well-being; Humanities; Languages, Literacy and Communication; Mathematics and Numeracy; and Science and Technology. The Areas are designed to make the most of the links between subjects and help children see those connections and understand the relevance of different subjects. A topic like climate change, for example, can be taught through geography, history, science and the impact on society.
I’m especially proud of how the new Curriculum will contribute to developing ethical, informed young citizens of Wales and the world. Wales will become the first UK nation to make learning about the stories of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people mandatory parts of the curriculum.
I’m also proud that Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) will be mandatory in all schools from September. All children will have access to developmentally appropriate RSE in the new curriculum, including learning about healthy relationships, keeping safe (including online), and being confident to raise issues with responsible adults. I’m particularly grateful to organisations representing children’s interests, including the NSPCC and Welsh Women’s Aid, as well as faith bodies, in helping develop the RSE code, which is available to read online.
PTAs play an important role as a voice for parents and guardians in how education is delivered. The new Curriculum is a fantastic opportunity to achieve higher standards for all and I welcome your engagement as we continue the Curriculum’s journey from design to delivery.
