Lord Puttnam in curriculum drive

The curriculum should be broad, the foundaton says

Film producer Lord Puttnam is leading a new foundation aimed at improving school life.

The Curriculum Foundation aims to develop and share "cutting edge thinking" and best classroom practice.

It is based on the idea that a good curriculum allows children to grow with the ability, confidence and desire to make the world a better place.

The government in England recently approved plans for a more flexible, less "overloaded" timetable.

The proposals - in the Rose Review - also call for children to learn more about well-being, happiness and healthy living.

'Better place'

The Curriculum Foundation will hold its inaugural conference in July, where Labour peer and Open University chancellor Lord Puttnam will show excerpts from his new film on global education.

He said: "I am proud to be taking the role as chair of the new Curriculum Foundation. The foundation will provide the very best forum for schools and colleges to come together to pool expertise and ensure that meeting learners' need through the curriculum becomes everyone's priority.

We cannot allow young people to learn in isolation one from another Lord Puttnam

"I am particularly pleased that the foundation will have such a strong international element. We cannot allow young people to learn in isolation one from another.

"The curriculum must reflect the global nature of the world we live in if all young people are going to be able to take their place in that world with confidence and with the desire and ability to make it a better place."

The foundation aims to share and develop expertise by working directly with schools as well as funding courses, workshops and research.

It plans to raise money for its research and projects through sponsorship and by charging schools "a few hundred pounds a year" to become members.

Founding members also include Richard Gerver, who as a head teacher helped turn around the fortunes of Grange Primary School in Nottingham.

In part, the turnaround was due to the introduction of an innovative curriculum, he says.

"We set up a town in the school and children were trained to run everything - shops, museums, cafes, TV stations, where they were learning core basic skills and competencies and saw how to apply them," he said.

Within 18 months, he said Sats results had doubled and the school was graded "outstanding" by England's schools inspectors Ofsted.

Within the curriculum, there were strands of learning such as communication, culture, entertainment and well-being and core subjects were embedded into them.

"We wanted to create a really vibrant, dynamic place where children were learning what they needed to learn and the children became self-motivated," he said.

"The foundation is committed to transferring that sense of empowerment to schools, head teachers, teachers and children," he said.

Freedom

Although many head teachers in England complain the timetable is constrained by the national curriculum - which sets out what subjects children should be taught - and by the testing regime in England's primary schools, Mr Gerver says that does not have to be the case.

"The freedom is there but school leaders feel under enormous pressure, bombarded by the latest changes.

"Being a school leader can be quite isolating and the profession has become very reactive.

"We want to help schools become more pro-active and to generate curriculum policy.

"There are some phenomenal schools doing outstanding work out there. We want to harness that and help schools to share their practices."