2023

Future updates will be made each January, so practitioners can be sure that it is completely up to date all year. January has been chosen to fit best with curriculum planning cycles in schools and settings.

This year’s updates include:

• A revised ‘Journey to Curriculum roll-out’ section to reflect that the curriculum is now being implemented
• Some clarifying narrative on Welsh histories in the Humanities Area
• Corrections to some definitions and hyperlinks
• More clarity through minor amendments to narrative – in response to feedback

The ‘last updated’ date at the bottom of each page will reveal whether a change has been made.

Alongside this, a new Hwb Resources and Supporting Materials page has been published to make resources specific to the Curriculum for Wales easier to find. A project to review all Hwb resources to align them with the curriculum and identify resource gaps is also underway, as featured in this previous blog post. Practitioners are warmly invited to take part in the resources review work, with training, support and compensation provided to schools of those that do. Contact the team at: curriculumforwales@gov.wales

They’re there to show how the prompts in the Resource can be usefully applied to self-evaluation and improvement, with practical examples of approach and outcomes.

All the previous case studies have also been updated, showing the effect the approaches applied have had on school improvement.

The new case studies feature:

Ysgol Brynaearau

Bryngwyn & Glan y Môr Federation

Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy

Glanhowy Primary School

Glan Usk Primary School

Lamphey Primary School

Victoria Primary School

Penrhyn Dewi VA School

Maesybryn Primary School

Bishopston Comprehensive School

Cadoxton Primary School

Ysgol Alun

Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd

Ysgol Penweddig

Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern

Cadoxton Primary School (pedagogy)

Resources on Hwb are currently being reviewed to align with our new Curriculum and make them easier to find. It’s a huge task that will run until all 5,000 plus resources are reviewed, and practitioners are invited to help.

A new Resources landing page has been designed to host the resources and support materials, which are being organised to fit each Area of the Curriculum.

A focus for the learning programme has been to improve the pupils’ understanding of cancer and in particular bowel cancer from causes to screening and recovery rates. The importance of screening as a part of this learning is crucial because early diagnosis and treatment brings much higher survival rates. Screening data shows that in some areas of the school catchment the uptake for those eligible adults is below 50% against a national average that is above 60%.

Responding to that stark statistic, pupils have used their learning to help make a difference in their community, working through the learning programme to pass on this important message to parents, carers and other family members.

Building on the successful pilot work at Pontypridd High, the project grew in 2021/22 to include six RCT secondary schools within the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board region. The partnership and collaboration between education and health professionals has been fundamental to the quality of resources and learning included in this programme and each school has been able to develop new delivery models, in their own way – in their localities.

Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB conducted their own evaluations of the work of the six schools and concluded there had been 115% rise in requested bowel screening kits in the local area of RCT where the six schools delivered the programme. This compared to a 22% increase in a neighbouring part of the local authority. Furthermore, they reported that there had been a 72% rise in the number of screening tests returned in our area which is a significant and the health board confirmed that the work in schools had contributed greatly to this improvement.

The impact on pupil engagement has also been clear, with each school evolving the project as it introduces Curriculum for Wales in Years 7 and 8. Lessons have developed cross-cutting skills and involved Science and Technology, Languages, Literacy and Communication, and Health and Well-being, the authentic context bringing real-world learning into the classroom.