Improving Curriculum Planning – Grattan Report 2022
Improving curriculum planning should be a national priority given the urgent challenges in Australian school education. This approach takes the lottery out of learning, because it guarantees that all students receive common, high- quality teaching that supports them to build knowledge and skills through their school years. The benefits of adopting a whole school curriculum can be significant. As one Serpentine Primary School literacy leader said “We don’t miss students. You know you’re not going to get students in Year 3 that can’t read. We have high expectations, we want all kids to be at grade level.” (page 25).
Tackling this problem will require action from school leaders and teachers, as well as governments, and Catholic and independent school sector leaders. Grattan’s 2022 report, Ending the lesson lottery: How to improve curriculum planning in schools, sets out what governments and sector leaders should do to help tackle this problem.
School leaders should not wait, however, for government action. The new Grattan Guide (insert link to PDF) sets out practical steps they can take now to establish an effective whole-school approach to curriculum planning.
The Guide draws on lessons Grattan learnt studying five schools across Australia that have embraced a whole-school approach to curriculum, the two of which from WA are both Fogarty EDvance schools – Serpentine Primary School and Aveley Secondary College.
The paper presents the six key features of a whole-school curriculum approach:
- A shared vision among school leaders and teachers.
- Shared, detailed, and sequenced curriculum plans and materials.
- An agreed approach to classroom instruction.
- A tiered model for supporting the learning of all students.
- Curriculum leadership roles and expertise.
- Ongoing professional learning and support for teachers.
This helpful report also provides links to materials prepared by other schools to help exemplify what this looks like in practice – and can provide a fast-track way to get started.
Grattan is also hosting an online event series with school leaders from two of the case study schools in our Guide. You can register for these events here:
