Product reviews for The Competency Curriculum Toolkit

This is a rich, exemplary handbook for the kind of competency-focussed KS3 curriculum that we have been moving towards for several years and is now fully promoted by QCA. It answers all the questions that hold many managers and teachers back: why should we change; what will the benefits be; how do we genuinely integrate PLTS and subject-specific content; how do we plan themed projects; how do we timetable them; how do we ensure rigour; how do we assess?

The Competency Curriculum Toolkit informs, excites, guides and resources. Better still, Jackie and Helen invite you to customise and create; they provide lots of detailed, workable ideas that will accelerate your planning, but each project has enough room for you to embellish the frameworks and activities. Best of all, the book provides you with models and examples” patterns that show you how to devise your own unique themed projects. It gets you into a modern, holistic way of thinking about curriculum design and classroom delivery.

The timing of the book could not be better. In many ways, the conceptual battle has been won” most people accept the urgent need for generic skills and attitudes to be deliberately taught alongside traditional curriculum content. However, this emerging national priority is leaving teachers hungry for practical applications.The Competency Curriculum, with its wisdom and pragmatism, satisfies the professional appetite. It fills the gap between embracing and implementing some big, important ideas.