Delay curriculum changes – union

CHANGES to the school curriculum in Wales should be delayed because teachers are not ready for it, a union has said.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has asked the Welsh Government to delay implementing the changes which require teachers to learn new skills.

The new curriculum is due to be fully up and running by 2021.

But in February, AMs said there were “difficulties and challenges” putting the new curriculum into practice.

The National Assembly’s education committee said there is confusion about the work being done following Professor Graham Donaldson’s 2015 curriculum review, entitled “Successful Futures”.

A survey last week found that 38.6% of school teachers and 71% of supply teachers who responded were either not at all familiar or not very familiar with Prof Donaldson’s report and recommendations.

Owen Hathway, the NUT’s Wales policy officer, said: “Clearly a significant proportion of teachers are unaware of the recommendations. Feedback we’ve had does echo that survey.

“The teaching profession itself is very much on board with what Prof Donaldson put forward, but I think there’s a sense we are moving there too quickly.

“What it’s asking teachers to do is change their mindset from being micro-managed to a situation where they’re being told to be innovative, creative and flexible.

“It’s a good thing, but it’s a different skill set and they haven’t necessarily equipped the teaching profession to deliver the curriculum as it’s going to be.

“We don’t want to rush into it, schools and teachers are unprepared for it.

“Getting it right is better than doing it right now.”

It came as the teaching union held their conference in Cardiff.

NUT Cymru Secretary David Evans told BBC Wales: “We don’t want this to fail. We want this to be a success. We need this to be a success for our members in schools and the pupils in schools. We want to make sure we get the best benefit out of this we

“Kirsty Williams needs to look at the results of the survey she’s undertaken and more importantly a lot of the comments that were given by teachers.

“There’s some 500 pages of comments within the report, see what the issues are, analyse those problems and come up with realistic solutions for them”.

A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: “The education workforce is playing a central role in designing the future of the curriculum and education system as well as, for example, contributing to the new Professional Teaching Standards.

“It is important to recognise that all the reforms that we are currently working on are connected.”

Mr Hathway added the divergence of education between England and Wales was on the agenda for the annual conference, reflecting the fact a new curriculum is being brought in.

“It’s becoming a situation where you can no longer compare the two education systems,” he said.

“The challenge is how we support our members against that backdrop.”

In February, chair of the Assembly education committee said the implementation of the new curriculum was not “progressing as well as we would expect”.