Many primary schools claim to have a ‘unique’ curriculum but the one aspect that is ALWAYS unique is the local context of the school. However, it is often the case that local context is only touched on in History or Geography and has little or no impact across the whole curriculum. Yet research has shown that a sense of personal identity and access to the common stories that shape society is crucial for a young person’s well-being.

This course, led by Adrian Gray, will enable you to:

• Develop a strategic overview of how local context should touch on all areas of the curriculum
• Show pupils opportunities and ideas that will shape their future and their sense of who they are
• Ensure that Norfolk’s local context is embedded in your curriculum.

Training objectives

• We will discuss why the local context needs to be a key driver for your school curriculum and how this can have wide benefits
• We will consider some of the barriers that prevent schools from doing this, and how they can be overcome
• We will consider how local context can be brought into almost every area of the curriculum, using one area of the country as an example for what you could do in your own area
• We will see that ‘local context’ can also be an important driver for Personal Development and community engagement.

Learning outcomes

• Schools should be equipped for developing local context as a specific strength in their intent and see how it also enhances pupils’ personal development.

This course is ideal for those with senior curriculum responsibility in primary schools as it will cover all subjects.