This episode identifies the key aspects of effective and purposeful curriculum evaluation in primary schools, looking at curriculum development, teacher workload, supporting disadvantaged pupils, meeting Ofsted expectations, and more.

The discussion involves three experienced primary school leaders who offer us their tenets of best practice for how we can ensure our curriculum is high-quality and working for our pupils.

How do we achieve consistency across the primary school? How can we be sure that our curriculum caters for a broad ability range and also our most disadvantaged pupils? How do we monitor the effectiveness of teaching and its impact on learning and standards? How do we use pupil and parent voice?

And how do we evidence that we know our curriculum is high-quality and effective, not least for Ofsted. Our guests have recent experience of Ofsted and as part of the discussion we touch upon meeting inspection curriculum expectations.

How do we use what we learn when assessing our curriculum to identify and define next steps for improvement and development?

And finally, how is attainment and progress measured and monitored and how are staff expected to record, upload and review data?

As ever, the podcast is hosted by Helen Frostick is a National Leader of Education and semi-retired primary school headteacher. She is also a long-standing member of the Headteacher Update editorial board.

Her guests this time are:

  • Robbie Burns is a teacher and assistant vice-principal for teaching and learning at Bede Academy in Northumberland. He has written for a range of publications on primary education and curriculum. Read his blog via www.howthenshouldweteach.wordpress.com and find his articles for Headteacher Update via https://bit.ly/htu-burns
  • Tabitha Petrie is key stage 1 leader and subject lead for early reading and science lead at Loughborough Primary School in south London.
  • Anthony David is executive headteacher at St Mary’s, St Paul’s and Monken Hadley CE Primary Schools in north London.

You can listen to this episode of the Headteacher Update Podcast above. To hear other Headteacher Update podcasts, or to subscribe for free to new editions, search for 'The Headteacher Update Podcast' in your podcast streaming application of choice. Or visit www.headteacher-update.com/knowledge-bank/podcasts/

For details about The Headteacher Update Podcast, or to suggest future topics, email editor Pete Henshaw at pete.henshaw@markallengroup.com