Dream the Impossible Dream

ICFP, Integrated Curriculum Finance Planning, coined by Kate Copley a Deputy Director within the Department for Education (DFE), is the term that the DFE is now using to describe a process that has had a number of names in recent years. Some will recognise ‘Curriculum Led Finance Planning’ (CLFP) used by Outward Grange Academy Trust (OGAT) and various NPQH/NPQEL providers to describe a […]

A balance of three

For the past 10 years I have been working on school efficiency, particularly in the area of curriculum design and provision. As a result of that work I would suggest that there are three characteristics of curriculum design that need to be held in balance at every phase. Efficient (can we afford it?), Effective (does […]

Community of Practice

SMARTcurriculum is a set of practices and processes to secure outstanding curriculum practice. The education community practices its confidence and legacy by sharing these practices rather than specifically teaching them. CJ Learning is developing a community of practice with the real data to inform decision making about curriculum efficiency and practice.

Scalpel or Hatchet

You will not have missed the continuing dialogue concerning challenges in school funding. The varied impassioned reactions of educational leaders and the concerned public to the tightening of school budgets, a story that has maintained prominence for more than a year. For many within the state system, the inevitable cut-backs have been a reality for […]

SMARTcurriculum method

The core principle behind the SMARTcurriculum® method is to have sufficient detail and reason to make good decisions about the curriculum provision reflecting the intent – implementation – impact framework now in popular understanding from the 2019 Ofsted framework- thus ‘To understand’. On so many occasions during my working life I have had reason to […]