Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru | National Assembly for Wales

Y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg | Children, Young People and Education Committee

Hynt y gwaith gan Lywodraeth Cymru wrth ddatblygu Cwricwlwm newydd Cymru | Welsh Government's progress in developing the new Curriculum for Wales

CR 27

Ymateb gan: Aelod unigol o staff ym Mhrifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd

Response from: Individual staff member at Cardiff Metropolitan University

I am writing to offer feedback relating to the following areas;

· The involvement of academic and other external expertise in informing curriculum design;

· How the ‘What Matters?’ statements, published in December 2017, are evolving into the design of curriculum content in each of the six AoLEs;

I am pleased that academic and external experts are being utilised to achieve what is set to be a ground-breaking and important new direction for Welsh education.  As Chair of Literature Wales I am particularly pleased the national company was consulted to feed into the Cross-Curriculum Responsibilities work earlier in 2018.  Literature Wales is a keen ambassador for the literary arts and we believe that Welsh children have the right to access and experience literature throughout and across the curriculum.  Literature Wales has considerable expertise in and knowledge of the literary sector and it is also at the heart of its development.  I look forward to the continuation of Literature Wales’s contribution to the Welsh curriculum.

In addition to this, through my academic role at Cardiff Met, I have recently been involved in developing the Guiding Principles aspect of the curriculum through a Successful Futures Professional Learning Research and Development tender for the Expressive Arts AoLE. Our research group has drawn together pedagogy experts as well as Expressive Arts research leaders and practitioners.  This multi-disciplinary approach offers breadth and depth.  As our University has a team working on the Health and Well-being AoLE and other universities from around Wales are working on the remaining AoLEs, I am convinced that Welsh Government are drawing on the best equipped and knowledgeable partners possible to move Welsh education into a brighter future.

Finally, as a writer of poetry and fiction I would like to underline how important I feel it is that the Expressive Arts have a central place in the Welsh Curriculum.  In other environments the arts are so often marginalised or removed.  I feel that this inclusion of Expressive Arts (I include literature and the literary arts in my understanding of this) through the curriculum will also work to support a number of the Well-being Goals from the Future Generations act, specifically A resilient Wales; A healthier Wales; A Wales of cohesive communities; A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh Language.

I look forward to learning the conclusions of the scrutiny session in due course.