The process of 'decluttering' the curriculum to allow teachers greater flexibility, with less formal rigidity in the content of lessons, will involve streamlining the existing curriculum guidelines covering the three-to-five and five-to-14 age groups.
By 2007 there will be one set of guidelines to facilitate easier movement through the various stages of the curriculum, and schools will be given some latitude in how they implement them.
Minister for education and young people Peter Peacock has accepted in full A Curriculum for Excellence, a report from a review group which sets out the principles for the new curriculum and provides 'a template for a phased process of reform'.
The report states, 'Young people should experience continuous progression in their learning from three to 18 within a single curriculum framework.
Each stage should build upon earlier knowledge and achievements. Young people should be able to progress at a rate which meets their needs and aptitudes, and keep options open so that routes are not closed off too early.'
In a statement co-signed by his deputy Euan Robson, Mr Peacock said that the new guidelines would 'allow teachers more flexibility and scope to provide rich and varied experiences, and reduce the time spent on assessment'.
He explained, 'This will mean extending the approaches which are used in pre-school into the very early years of primary and emphasising the importance of opportunities for children to learn through purposeful, well-planned play.'
He added, 'This would mean that a teacher will be clearer about the purpose and essential outcomes of learning and will have the freedom to plan a wide range of challenging experiences more flexibly, assessing only what needs to be assessed.'
In their foreword to the review group's report, the ministers said the 'single, coherent curriculum' would be supported by 'a simple and effective structure of assessment and qualifications'. They added, 'This will allow the right pace and challenge for young people, particularly at critical points like the move from nursery to primary and from primary to secondary.'
Judith Gillespie, development manager of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, who was a member of the review group, said, 'The idea is to allow teachers more flexibility to pick up on things they and the children are enthusiastic and interested in. The main focus of what we were trying to do was to get the enthusiastic dimension back into teaching, so that it stops being a fixed pile of stuff that has to be got through.'
She said the new approach to the curriculum would enable difficulties in the transition between pre-school and the primary 1 stage to be more easily identified and addressed. She added that there was evidence that some primary schools were already adopting a more flexible, teaching through play approach.
Mairi Maciver Clark, a director of the Scottish Independent Nurseries Association, said her organisation welcomed plans for the three to 18 curriculum but would like to have seen the under-threes curriculum included. 'We would have welcomed the absolute acknowledgement of the importance of the early years in terms of getting the best start,' she said, adding that while ministers referred to assessment and qualifications they should recognise that it is the process of learning in the early years which is important, not the result.
