New Secondary Curriculum launched today

12 July 2007

Commenting on the new secondary curriculum launched today, Thursday 12 July, Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Britain’s largest teachers’ union, said:

“The new secondary curriculum has the potential to give teachers greater freedom to be creative.

“That potential will be dissipated if the message they get is that the old curriculum is being replaced by a new narrower curriculum. Teachers need time in the school day to teach subjects such as financial capability and cooking.

“At the moment these subjects are only an option. Jamie Oliver’s campaign for healthy eating would have a far greater impact if all schools had the facilities and encouragement to teach cooking.  

“The job of revising the secondary curriculum is only half done. National Curriculum testing has an undue and damaging influence on what is taught in schools. We now need an independent review of National Curriculum testing in secondary schools.”