The New Curriculum for Wales

This is an exciting time for the young people of Wales. A brand new Curriculum for Wales is on its way, designed to enthuse learners aged 3 to 16 and give them the foundations they need to succeed in an ever-changing world. 

The New Curriculum will have more emphasis on equipping young people for life. It will build their ability to learn new skills and apply their knowledge more confidently and creatively. As the world changes, they will be more able to adapt positively. They will also get a deeper understanding of how to thrive in an increasingly digital world, developing digital skills across the curriculum to prepare them for the opportunities and risks that an online world presents.

The purpose of the New Curriculum is to support our children and young people to achieve 4 Core Purposes, which are:

• ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives
• enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work
• ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world
• healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society

It will have six ‘Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLE)’:

• Expressive arts
• Health and well-being
• Humanities (including RE)
• Languages, literacy and communication (including Welsh)
• Mathematics and numeracy
• Science and technology

It will also include three Cross-Curricular Responsibilities: 

• Literacy 
• Numeracy
• Digital Competence

The New Curriculum arrangements give more flexibility to schools to design their own curriculum that meets the specific needs of their pupils and their wider community. 

At Ysgol Parc y Llan, we want to design a bespoke curriculum that has the views of our learners and their families at its heart. You may remember that at an earlier stage we asked the school community to work with us to re-envisage our School Vision to reflect the 4 Core Purposes, and together we came up with ‘Happy, Valuing, Caring, School’.  More recently, our staff and  governors have been working on developing a Curriculum Vision that will support our School Vision. 

We believe that our New Curriculum should be:

• Engaging and Creative 

We will not only teach creatively but for creativity. Children need stimulus to thrive and be creative and our curriculum will allow their natural creativity to flourish.

• Collaborative and Inclusive

We believe that learning is a collaborative process between teachers, parents, learners and other stakeholders. Our curriculum will include everyone as all of our children will be treated equitably and given the same opportunities.

• Challenging but Supportive

Our curriculum will have pupil progression at its heart. We believe that pupils of all abilities should experience success and our curriculum will provide the opportunity to do this. Children have the right to a balanced education that allows them to become successful in life. 

• Dynamic, Responsive and Innovative

Our curriculum will be co-constructed and will allow children to direct their own learning, responding to their interests as they arise. We shall work flexibly, responding to the bigger picture as events happen.

• Based on our Christian Values with a WorldWide outlook

Our curriculum will create learners that value each other, are happy and caring people and enjoy learning whatever their age. 

We are currently in the process of asking our pupils what and how they would like to learn, and we are finding out what matters to them. 

The Parent Consultation Forms

We value your opinion and would like to say thanks to those who completed our Parent Consultation Form. We shall use this information to support our own ongoing work and that of the children in planning our way forward.