Aidan Severs

Solving the Problem... of Progress and Independence in KS2 Continuous Provision This morning I had a call with an assistant head/class teacher who I worked with in the summer (you can read her glowing testimonial here). Back one very hot and sunny day, I spent a day with her at h...

www.aidansevers.com/post/solving...

In Praise Of The Unit Overview (Or Why You Should Develop Yours) When I started teaching we had three kinds of plans (of course it was three - 3-part lessons, 3-way differentiation - we loved a good three): LTPs, MTPs and STPs (or lesson plans).I'm not sure how muc...

New on my blog:

In Praise Of The Unit Overview (Or Why You Should Develop Yours)

www.aidansevers.com/post/in-prai...

Curriculum For All: What Schools Need To Know About What The Curriculum Review And The New Ofsted Framework Say About Inclusion The key thing you need to be aware of with regards to the final report from the government-commissioned Curriculum and Assessment Review is right there in the title: Building a world-class curriculum ...

Curriculum For All: What Schools Need To Know About What The Curriculum Review And The New Ofsted Framework Say About Inclusion

www.aidansevers.com/post/curricu...

Hey, is there a pdf version somewhere?

Change over time – Discover your school's place in history Use this free lesson plan to explore how your school and local area have changed over time, using maps, digital tools and fieldwork...

This free lesson plan from @aidansevers.bsky.social helps children to notice changes that have occurred in their locality, and to understand why those changes have taken place. They’ll also develop their fieldwork and mapping skills…

Who Overstuffed The Primary Curriculum? Aidan Severs explores how teachers can slim down an overstuffed primary curriculum by revisiting its original intentions and reclaiming professional judgement.

I also wrote this for @hwrk-magazine.bsky.social where I give an example of how I think we can reduce the amount of content: hwrkmagazine.co.uk/who-overstuf...

You don't need to wait another 3 years for a new curriculum, you can sort this out now.

The CAR report and the government's response both pick up on this.

And I believe that, at least for many foundation subjects, it's us who have bulked it out to the point where it's unmanageable and that, therefore, it is us that can reverse that.

Reducing the Volume of Content in the Primary Curriculum - You Can Do It Now! Have you been following the news about the government's curriculum and assessment review?Is it putting a hold on your primary curriculum development as you wait to see what they say?You can be doing s...

I wrote this in May and it's still true now. Especially true now.

www.aidansevers.com/post/reducin...

I have always believed the National Curriculum where it says 'There is time and space in the school day and in each week, term and year to range beyond the national curriculum specifications.’

What Primary Schools Need To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review (Updated Based On Government's Response) The only Curriculum and Assessment Review headline that really matters is this: It's c200 pages of suggestions FOR THE GOVERNMENT, not for you, your school, your trust or your educational organisat...

Right, government response read, and blog post updated, now with the even catchier title of:

What Primary Schools Need To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review (Updated Based On Government's Response)

URL is still the same: www.aidansevers.com/post/what-pr...

What Primary Schools Need To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review The only Curriculum and Assessment Review headline that really matters is this: It's c200 pages of suggestions FOR THE GOVERNMENT, not for you, your school, your trust or your educational organisat...

New blog post: What Primary Schools Need* To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review

www.aidansevers.com/post/what-pr...

*cheeky use of need - in a way you don't need to know it at all, but you might find it interesting and informative for the distant future.

RE the Curriculum and Assessment Review report as I trawl through it:

My message: hold your horses.

My other message: actually, continue doing what you know is needed by the pupils in your school - if they need a better curriculum now, get on with it.

The only Curriculum and Assessment Review headline that matters:

It's c200 pages of suggestions FOR THE GOVERNMENT, not for you, your school, your trust or your educational organisation.

We've seen government-commissioned reports wholly ignored in the past so don't read this and think it's gospel.

And being loud with it

Why You Don't Need An Intent Statement (But Why It Is Actually Useful To Have One) Why don't you need an intent subject for your subject's curriculum? Because no one says you have to, not even Ofsted... However, whilst ‘intent statements’ aren’t a necessity they can help curriculum ...

I've been back on my blogging game since the summer holidays finished.

Here's my latest post, in praise of the humble intent statement (which you don't actually need but is very useful):

www.aidansevers.com/post/why-you...

Why We Should Prioritise The Teaching Of Tier 2 Words Tier 2 words are a really important part of academic language, even at primary level - assuming children will learn all the correct meanings of these words without them being explicitly taught them is...

How are your pupils' word hoards coming along?

Which words have you been teaching? How explicitly have you been teaching them?

What if you've focused on the wrong ones?

This week's post takes a look at why prioritising tier 2 words might be the way forward:

www.aidansevers.com/post/why-we-...

emphasis on 'you'?

Does Tylenol Cause Autism? Of course not.

www.cremieux.xyz/p/did-the-hh...

How To Select Key Vocabulary For Your Subject's Curriculum Words are the building blocks of all learning. If we don't know what individual words mean, we won't understand the meaning of the phrases and sentences that they make up. Whether we read or hear info...

Send this to someone who is developing their curriculum and/or doing work around vocabulary teaching:

How To Select Key Vocabulary For Your Subject's Curriculum

www.aidansevers.com/post/how-to-...

Yes, I think institutions have the right and responsibility to provide CPD on excellent teaching, but to take away decision-making about how to use the strategies is demeaning.

I don't think many organisations do over-stipulate pedagogy though.

One Thing Your Curriculum Documentation Doesn't Need (Unless You Also Provide Lesson Plans) Garbled title aside, this blog post is a very simple one. And the message is this:You don't need to mandate pedagogical choices.You don't need to spend your curriculum-writing time on telling teachers...

New blog post: www.aidansevers.com/post/one-thi...

Do you agree? Disagree? What happens in your school?

My latest blog post is here - the first of 25-26.

www.aidansevers.com/post/one-com...

I wrote a poem
Probably been done before
I still wrote it though

The primary days are over! All three at secondary school for at least a year.

Northern boy in London after kicking off the new school year doing some challenge in maths training for a lovely group of school staff.

Let's see what 25-26 holds! Good start ♥️

What Should You Do To Get Your New Classroom Ready? Summer's nearly here and you might be itching to get into your new classroom to spruce it up. But what should you spend your time on?

Send this to a teacher who loves spending their summer in school: www.aidansevers.com/post/what-sh...

Case Study: Continuous Provision and EYFS-Inspired Practice in KS2 Bringing an early years approach into KS1 isn’t unheard of – there are plenty of Year 1 classrooms where continuous provision has been effectively established. But, at my previous school the vision wa...

the perfect sequel to hits such as www.aidansevers.com/post/case-st... and www.aidansevers.com/post/case-st... and of course www.aidansevers.com/post/ks2-con...

KS2 Continuous Provision: Gradual Release of Responsibility No two weeks are quite the same when you're implementing continuous provision in key stage 2... Crucially there is a gradual release of responsbility which provides the necessary support for pupils to...

Hot off the press, end-of-term reading:

KS2 Continuous Provision: Gradual Release of Responsibility

The next part of my series on how schools might implement continuous provision in key stage 2, based on my experience of having done it.

www.aidansevers.com/post/ks2-con...

Assessment

Schools are thinking around their current assessment processes and looking towards what might be next and better...

Here's a few ideas:

www.aidansevers.com/blog/categor...

absolutely belting top 3

It’s KS2 results day tomorrow. If anyone has any questions about accountability measures, which pupils are included and which ones aren’t, and how things are calculated, please do ask. I’ll be around all day.