National Curriculum Orders

Teachers also have responsibility to deliver the National Curriculum Orders and this involves providing an entitlement curriculum for all pupils (DFE, 1995). The Education Act 1993 imposes important responsibilities on the governing bodies of all maintained schools towards children with special educational needs (SEN). This Act requires the Secretary of State to issue, and revise, a Code of Practice giving practical advice on such responsibilities and the governing body must have due regard to this code when carrying out its duties towards all pupils with special educational needs. Failure to do so could lead to negligence in the provision of education. 

The Curriculum Policy statement provided by the county, and health and safety statement provided by the school, both indicate an awareness of the need for safe practice in physical education. These documents reflect standard practices adopted by many other counties in England. These policies reflect National Curriculum Orders and the safe practice guidance provided by BAALPE. 

DFE (1995) Physical Education in the National Curriculum, Revised Orders, London HMSO. 

National curriculum science orders and initial teacher training... 

As previously mentioned, to meet Health and Safety requirements class teachers must understand and apply the principles of risk assessment and follow regular and approved practice. If pupils are to become responsible, safety conscious adults, they too need to learn how to assess and control risks. This is an essential requirement of the National Curriculum Science Orders (DFE, 1995) that require teachers to promote in pupils a sense of personal responsibility for health and safety in the context of science (see Figure 7.1). Furthermore, changes to teacher training courses (DFE Circular, 14/93) mean that schools now assume greater responsibility for the training of prospective teachers and therefore need to ensure that... 

In 2004 and 2005 we used the newer 2002 version of the Comprehensive exam. Unfortunately, student scores on these exams were slightly lower than scores on the previous exam although students appeared to do better on the dynamics questions than on the thermodynamics questions. The correct answer rate overall for 51 students in two classes was D-38.0%, T-32.6%, and Q-38.7%. With factors such as different exam versions and a very small sample size (only 2 sections) it is impossible to draw definitive conclusions at this point. The D-T difference is barely significant, so it would be presumptuous to conclude that our order of topics is superior based on this one result. It is simply impossible to assess this later exam without the benefit of national norms for comparison. As always, we continue in our own observations and evaluations of this curriculum, and we would hope for others to try this approach so that a broader assessment could be conducted. 

School crisis prevention efforts have been strengthened throughout recent years with a new model and curriculum developed through collaborative efforts of workgroups sponsored by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). The PREPaRE curriculum was developed for educators and school-based mental health professionals to provide training on how best to fill the roles and responsibilities generated by their membership on school crisis teams (Brock et al 2009, p. viii). The PREPaRE acronym represents interventions in a sequential and hierarchical order, specifically (Brock et al., 2009, p. ix) ... 

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