Press Release
Date: Wednesday 24 September 2003
CCEA SETS OUT CURRICULUM PROPOSALS FOR 11 - 14 YEAR OLDS
The Chief Executive of the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), Gavin Boyd has urged teachers and the wider community in Northern Ireland to support CCEA’s plans to “create a more relevant, motivating and enjoyable curriculum for our young people”.
Mr Boyd was speaking as CCEA launched a widespread consultation on proposals for education for pupils between the ages of 11 and 14, the first part of a young person’s post-primary education, and the period immediately before the start of GCSE and other courses.
CCEA has already gained considerable support for the overall aims and objectives of the 11 - 14 curriculum. It is now making available more detailed proposals on this vital stage of education. Mr Boyd explained:
“Over the last few years we’ve listened closely to what we’ve been told by parents, teachers, employers and pupils and in response we’ve put the most important issues at the centre of the proposals set out today.
CCEA believes that the core aim of the curriculum should be to develop each young person as an individual, as a contributor to society and to the economy and the environment.
We want to create a curriculum that engages young people, that prepares them for life now and in the future, and that enables them to develop the skills and attitudes to help them succeed in a rapidly changing world.”
Mr Boyd was keen to point out the key role teachers will play in both supporting and delivering the new curriculum:
“The world which our young people now face brings some new challenges to the education system.
In Northern Ireland we are fortunate to be able to build on the widespread good practice in our schools and on the commitment and hard work of our teachers.
They tell us that they need to have more flexibility than at present in order to meet these new challenges. Many of them have described the current curriculum as a bit of a “strait-jacket. That is why our proposals set out minimum requirements to which every young person is entitled, making room for such important areas as citizenship, employability and personal development. Schools will be able to use this as a foundation from which to develop a curriculum that motivates and engages their pupils and also builds a solid foundation for GCSE or other courses.”
Turning to proposals for assessment of 11-14 year olds, Mr Boyd made it clear that CCEA had little faith in the current arrangements:
I am already on record as saying that CCEA sees little educational value in the current system of testing 14 year - olds, or Key Stage 3 tests as they are called in schools.
Instead CCEA proposes a well-supported system of teacher assessment. Schools will produce an annual report for each young person which will cover specified requirements. The report will provide comment on the general learning areas; achievement in Learning for Life and Work; progress in the development of personal, interpersonal and thinking skills; and the development of pupils’ aptitudes and interests.
Again the key word is flexibility. As long as schools meet the statutory requirements, they can customise their annual reports to meet the needs of their school.
The implementation of the proposed changes will be carried out in a phased manner over a number of years from September 2005. In advance of this a number of schools will pilot a range of approaches to timetabling and to teaching and learning in citizenship, employability, personal development and new assessment procedures. Best practice from these pilots will be used to inform training in the wider implementation of the new arrangements.
Summary documents and more detailed proposals are now available from the CCEA website - www.ccea.org.uk - or by calling CCEA on (028) 9026 1220.
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
