Back in October of last year I was honoured (and a little surprised) to be asked to be a member of a group established by Leighton Andrews tasked with reviewing the teaching of Welsh history, the story of Wales and the Curriculum Cymreig
We were asked to consider three questions:
- Whether the Curriculum Cymreig should be best delivered through the discipline of history and, if not, the best means of ensuring that the elements of Curriculum Cymreig are delivered across the curriculum;
- Whether there is sufficient emphasis on Welsh history and the stories of Wales in the teaching of history and the current programme of study; and,
- Whether the teaching of history, from the Foundation Phase through to the Welsh Baac, GCSE and A level sufficiently take account of the latest research and the new resources available about the historical development of Wales to the present day.
It’s worth noting that we haven’t been asked to comment on the current National Curriculum order for History beyond Q2. I’m assume that that will be part of the current and ongoing review of the whole of the National Curriculum.
After several months, and probably even more draft versions, our interim report has been published for consultation. The report is very detailed, and provides the setting and context for each question, as well as out comments and recommendations. The next stage is to seek the views of the wider community before we revise the report for submission to the Minister.
If you have a view on how ‘Welsh’ the Curriculum should (or shouldn’t) be, or how well represented the Histories of Wales are in the curriculum at the present time, then this is your chance to have your say.
You can view the report and complete the questionnaire from this page.
The report and it’s recommendations will be the subject of Tuesday night’s #addcym chat from 8-9pm.