Curriculum Review

The Curriculum Review responses for both Primary and 11 - 16 must be with CCEA by 31st October 2002. If you have not seen the questionnaires please track them down - they should be in your school.
Documentation including the questionnaires can be downloaded from the CCEA website or an online survey can be completed on the website itself: www.ccea.org.uk/currreview.htm or contact Margaret Quinn on 028 9026 1220 for a consultation pack. It should be noted that CCEA encourages a collective response and that organisations other than schools can reply if they wish.
The main concern that NIACT would have in relation to both reviews is the fact that RE has been left out. While CCEA has no responsibility for the content of RE it has a duty to include it in an outline of the curriculum. We also feel that if RE is not assessed at Key Stages 1 & 2 pupils will value it less.

Other issues which we believe CCEA needs to consider include:

• a clearer definition of the term “spirituality” in the Primary document. A “sense of awe and wonder at the world around us“ falls far short of “Man’s relationship with God”.
  
• what we believe is an over-emphasis on “self-esteem” rather than “self-worth” which comes from understanding our value in the eyes of God whose image we bear.
• the sheer scale of the 11 - 16 review which, at present, lacks clarity and seems likely to lead to confusion and inconsistency across the sector.
• the danger of Personal Development encroaching on areas traditionally delivered by the RE specification.
• finding agreed values (or attempting to deliver in a value-free vacuum) in the areas of Working with Others, Local and Global Citizenship, and PSHE.