Overarching aims for lessons with themes, strands, dimensions or threads that are cross-curricula have been carefully identified within the National Curriculum. Schools and lessons shape as well as establish the values and norms of society. At William Brookes School we fully endorse the aims of the curriculum identified for the National Curriculum (QCA).

Aims
The curriculum should enable all young people to become:
. successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
. confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives
. responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

These aims support personal development within the Every Child Matters outcomes:
. being healthy
. staying safe
. enjoying and achieving
. making a positive contribution
. achieving economic wellbeing.

Cross-curriculum dimensions (National Curriculum)
Students need to experience and develop an understanding of themselves and the world in which they live through subject disciplines but with cross curricular dimensions underpinning work in classrooms.

Cross-curriculum dimensions provide important unifying areas of learning that help students make sense of the world and give education relevance and authenticity. They reflect the major ideas and challenges that face individuals and society.

Dimensions can add a richness and relevance to the curriculum experience of students. They can provide a focus for work within and between subjects and across the curriculum as a whole, including the routines, events and ethos of the school.

Cross-curriculum dimensions include:
. identity and cultural diversity
. healthy lifestyles
. community participation
. enterprise
. global dimension and sustainable development
. technology and the media
. creativity and critical thinking.

Personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) (National Curriculum)

Important among these dimensions are the development of general skills that will develop intelligent and creative people, able to learn new skills and respond positively to work and domestic challenges. Such thinking skills, which students can helpfully develop in all curriculum areas, are identified in the National Curriculum.

The personal, learning and thinking skills framework developed by QCA comprises six groups of skills:
. Independent enquirers
. Creative thinkers
. Reflective learners
. Team workers
. Self-managers
. Effective participators

These generic skills, together with the functional skills of English, mathematics and ICT, are considered to be essential to success in life, learning and work. To develop independence, students need to apply skills from all six groups in a wide range of contexts.

Each group of skills is distinctive and coherent. The groups are also interconnected and students may well encounter skills from several groups in lessons.

Independent enquirers
Focus:
Young people process and evaluate information in their investigations, planning what to do and how to go about it. They take informed and well-reasoned decisions, recognising that others have different beliefs and attitudes.
Young people:
. identify questions to answer and problems to resolve
. plan and carry out research, appreciating the consequences of decisions
. explore issues, events or problems from different perspectives
. analyse and evaluate information, judging its relevance and value
. consider the influence of circumstances, beliefs and feelings on decisions and events
. support conclusions, using reasoned arguments and evidence.

Creative Thinkers
Focus:
Young people think creatively by generating and exploring ideas, making original connections. They try different ways to tackle a problem, working with others to find imaginative solutions and outcomes that are of value.
Young people:
. generate ideas and explore possibilities
. ask questions to extend their thinking
. connect their own and others' ideas and
. experiences in inventive ways
. question their own and others' assumptions
. try out alternatives or new solutions and follow ideas through
. adapt ideas as circumstances change.

Reflective Learners
Focus:
Young people evaluate their strengths and limitations, setting themselves realistic goals with criteria for success. They monitor their own performance and progress, inviting feedback from others and making changes to further their learning.
Young people:
. assess themselves and others, identifying opportunities and achievements
. set goals with success criteria for their development and work
. review progress, acting on the outcomes
. invite feedback and deal positively with praise, setbacks and criticism
. evaluate experiences and learning to inform future progress
. communicate their learning in relevant ways for different audiences.

Team workers
Focus:
Young people work confidently with others, adapting to different contexts and taking responsibility for their own part. They listen to and take account of different views.
They form collaborative relationships, resolving issues to reach agreed outcomes.
Young people:
. collaborate with others to work towards common goals
. reach agreements, managing discussions to achieve results
. adapt behaviour to suit different roles and situations, including leadership roles
. show fairness and consideration to others
. take responsibility, showing confidence in themselves and their contribution
. provide constructive support and feedback to others.

Self-managers
Focus:
Young people organise themselves, showing personal responsibility, initiative, creativity and enterprise with a commitment to learning and self-improvement. They actively embrace change, responding positively to new priorities, coping with challenges and looking for opportunities. Young people:
. seek out challenges or new responsibilities and show flexibility when priorities change
. work towards goals, showing initiative, commitment and perseverance
. organise time and resources, prioritising actions
. anticipate, take and manage risks
. deal with competing pressures, including personal and work-related demands
. respond positively to change, seeking advice and support when needed
. manage their emotions, and build and maintain relationships.

Effective participators
Focus:
Young people actively engage with issues that affect them and those around them. They play a full part in the life of their school, college, workplace or wider community by taking responsible action to bring improvements for others as well as themselves.
Young people:
. discuss issues of concern, seeking resolution where needed
. present a persuasive case for action
. propose practical ways forward, breaking these down into manageable steps
. identify improvements that would benefit others as well as themselves
. try to influence others, negotiating and balancing diverse views to reach workable solutions
. act as an advocate for views and beliefs that may differ from their own.

Thinking skills

This is an identification of thinking skills from an earlier version of the National Curriculum.

Reasoning
. give reasons for opinions and actions
. draw inferences and make deduction
. use precise language
. make informed decisions and judgements

Information processing
. locate and collect relevant information
. sort and classify
. compare and contrast
. analyse part-whole relationships
. sequence

Creating
. generate and extend ideas
. create and test hypotheses
. apply imagination
. look for alternatives
. look for innovative outcomes

Enquiring
. ask relevant questions
. pose and define problems
. plan what to do and how to research
. predict outcomes and anticipate consequences
. test conclusions and improve ideas

Evaluating
. evaluate information
. judge the value of what you have read, heard or done
. develop criteria for judging what you have done
. have confidence in judgements

Functional skills (National Curriculum)

Also important, as a basis for using general skills, is a repertoire of core skills. These are identified in the functional skills section of the National Curriculum.

Functional skills are those core elements that provide an individual with the essential knowledge, skills and understanding that will enable them to operate confidently, effectively and independently in life and at work. Students who possess these skills will be able to participate and progress in education, training and employment as well as develop and secure a broader range of aptitudes, attitudes and behaviours that will enable them to make a positive contribution to the communities in which they live and work.

English Each individual is confident and capable when using the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing and is able to communicate effectively, adapting to a range of audiences and contexts. This will include being able to explain information clearly and succinctly in speech and writing, expressing a point of view reasonably and persuasively and using ICT to communicate effectively.

Each individual will be able to read and understand information and instructions, then use this understanding to act appropriately and to analyse how ideas and information are presented, evaluating their usefulness, for example in solving a problem. They will be able to make an oral presentation or report, contribute to discussions and use speech to work collaboratively to agree actions and conclusions.

Mathematics Each individual has sufficient understanding of a range of mathematical concepts and knows how and when to use them. For example, they will have the confidence and capability to use mathematics to solve problems embedded in increasingly complex settings and to use a range of tools, including ICT as appropriate.

Each individual will develop the analytical and reasoning skills to draw conclusions, justify how they are reached and identify errors or inconsistencies. They will also validate and interpret results, judge the limits of their validity and use them effectively and efficiently.

ICT Each individual is confident and capable when using ICT systems and tools to meet a variety of needs in a range of contexts. For example, they will use ICT to find, select and bring together relevant information and to develop, interpret and exchange information, for a purpose.

Each individual will be able to apply ICT safely to enhance their learning and the quality of their work.

Levels of difficulty, related to lesson tasks/questions

In preparing lessons, it can be helpful - especially in the phrasing of questions - to have an appreciation of the work of Benjamin Bloom who attempted to categorise levels of cognitive difficulty.

Bloom's taxonomy, related to skill development and questions/tasks:

DfES - Unit 1 Structuring Learning
DfES - Unit 3 Lesson Design for Lower Attainers
DfES - Unit 5 Starters and Plenaries
DfES - Unit 10 Group Work
DfES - Unit 11 Active Engagements Techniques
DfES - Unit 13 Developing Reading
DfES - Unit 14 Developing Writing
QCA Big Picture