Understanding the curriculum can often be difficult for parents. It can be hard to keep up as your child grows and parents and carers are keen to understand not only what is being taught to their child but also to know what the most important areas of the curriculum are at each stage. Along with this there can also be questions about assessment and evaluation. Terns such as formative and summative may be misunderstood.

This month we have rounded up some advice and sources of support for any parents and carers who are looking for help in understanding the curriculum. Take a look below and let us know if we’ve missed any crucial support pages.

• Your school website – we would recommend that your first port of call when looking for information is your school. Open communication between school and home will always help you and your child to feel more supported, don’t be afraid t ask questions or raise specific concerns.  As a more general starting point many schools will publish a curriculum statement, or something similar, on their website. Have a read through and note down key areas for your child and if you have further questions then contact the school to discuss.
• The School Run  – The School Run website breaks down the information by both subject area and by school year making it easy to find information relevant to you and your child. Full of helpful guides it covers both what your child will be learning during each year and also explains different assessment levels.
• Parentkind – Parentkind publish both online and in a helpful print magazine. They offer advice in all areas of school life. One particularly useful section is the ‘Understanding Education’ section on their website which breaks down the curriculum, key stages and levels.
• Gov.UK – The Gov.uk website includes a break down of the curriculum key stages and also explains the differences between types of schools, such as academies and private schools, and where they stand when it comes to the national curriculum.
• Gov.Wales – The Gov.wales website covers the Welsh curriculum and also discussed the changes to the curriculum following the recent consultation period.
• Oxford Owl – The Oxford Owl websites offers a series of Primary school year guides to help parents understand what their child will be learning in English and Maths, how they will be assessed and what tests they will take. As well as these explanations it is also full of useful resources for parents and children to use at home.
• Which University Website – Here you can find a handy guide to the recent changes in both GCSE grading and the GCSE curriculum itself. The site also offers helpful guidance on how GCSE’s can impact upon any potential future university applications. As well as covering the GCSE curriculum the Which University site also explains more about AS and A Levels.

We hope you find these links useful – feel free to share. For more education news and advice for parents follow us on Twitter @parenthub_uk or get in touch hello@parenthub.pleasecheck.me