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VIEWS FROM THE PEN OF.. JOHN TOMSETT


Primary Huh: Conversations with subject leaders in primary schools


In our regular series highlighting authors in education, we hear this month from JOHN TOMSETT, co- author of “Primary Huh: Conversations with subject leaders in primary schools”, published by John Catt Educational.


Huh? is my usual response when I enter a Year 8 Physics class. But little did I know when I began working with the indefatigable Mary Myatt, that Huh would prove to be the perfect title for our current curriculum project. It all began when a headteacher asked me


to help him ‘Hold my middle-leaders to account for the curriculum’. My immediate riposte was harsh, but true: ‘How can you hold someone to account for something you don’t understand yourself?’ Our conversation got me thinking… I was a senior leader in schools for a full 30 years. I line-managed


nearly every subject on the curriculum, but never had a meaningful conversation with a subject leader about what they taught, all we discussed was meaningless assessment data. In my last seven years of headship, I managed Languages. I attained a


CSE grade 1 in German some 42 years ago. I managed a woman with a Double-First from Cambridge in German and Russian. As a line-manager I was a proverbial chocolate teapot - I could not support her with developing the curriculum and I had to accept everything she told me. In February 2021, I emailed Mary with a proposal - a book whose


working title was, ‘The middle leaders’ guide to the curriculum for senior leaders to help them know about my subject when we have line manager meetings’. Mary loved the idea. We interviewed 19 subject leaders and 2 senior leaders about how they developed their Key Stage 3 subject curriculum, transcribed the interviews, pared the words down and added other helpful content. Mary insisted we needed a catchy title. I knew she was a classicist by


trade. My suggestion, The Janus Curriculum Conversations received a lukewarm response. Everyone we’d spoken to had said developing curriculum was an endless process. Mary coined the phrase, “the never- ending story of the curriculum”. And so, one Saturday afternoon last summer I searched the internet for the god of endlessness. It turned out that the god of endlessness, creativity, fertility and


regeneration is the Egyptian god Huh - the perfect deity for the curriculum. The book Huh has proven hugely popular. Before it was even


published, there were calls from reviewers for the draft of a primary version. We subsequently interviewed over 30 primary practitioners, aided by the brilliant Rachel Higginson, Lekha Sharma and Emma Turner. We had so much interesting material that it evolved into two books, Primary Huh, which focuses upon the separate National Curriculum subjects and Primary Huh 2, which looks at the overall leadership of the primary curriculum. Having interviewed so many primary specialists, one thing is sticking in


our metaphorical craws – the cliff edge between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. The work going on in the primary schools we connected with has been phenomenal. It is time to establish systems nationally to ensure greater curriculum and pedagogic continuity between primary and secondary. Why is children’s learning during the primary years going to waste? It makes no sense… Huh?


UPDATE: Looking to the future, Mary and John are planning SEND Huh and Alternative Provision Huh. Contributors are welcome!


June 2022 BRITISH EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIERS ASSOCIATION (BESA) Looking back


70 years In her regular column for Education Today this Platinum Jubilee month, JULIA GARVEY, Deputy Director General at school suppliers’ association BESA, reflects on what has changed, and what hasn’t, in education over the past 70 years. When I was 8 years old my school took part in a village fair as part of


the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. The pupils paraded through the village, and finished in the local recreation ground on a blisteringly hot day. I have vivid memories of the home-made smock dress my mother had sewed for me, and the bitter disappointment of not being picked to dance around the maypole. The day seemed magical and is one of the strongest memories I have of that time. With the Platinum Jubilee upon us I notice that our local primary schools are taking part in very similar activities, and more childhood memories are going to be made. The Jubilee has also led me to reflect on what has changed, or


stayed the same, in education over the last 70 years. At first glance so much is different. Technology changes everything – lessons today are very different to the lessons of even 1977 let alone 1952 when the Queen ascended the throne. Blackboards became whiteboards became smartboards. Exercise books gave way to loose-leaf paper and eventually laptops or tablet devices. Textbooks were the bedrock of learning, until they were replaced by blue banda sheets (remember those?), photocopies and the internet. It’s no surprise that technology has transformed classrooms and school labs, it would be more surprising if it hadn’t. But there are some things that have remained steadfastly the same.


Classroom design is mostly unchanged – children sat at desks in rows with a teacher at the front. I know many schools do experiment with different layouts and teaching approaches, but as a rule, a student from 1952 would not feel out of place in a 2022 classroom setting. In fact, many schools are still housed in the same buildings that they


used in 1952, particularly in rural primary settings. Yes, we have improved some of our existing school building stock, and Building Schools for the Future and the new academies have resulted in some shiny new schools being added to the portfolio, but there are still many schools housed in heritage buildings, or older premises, many of which are in a poor state of repair. In 2019 an NEU survey found that 70% of school buildings were not fit for purpose.* This is certainly one area of our education system where time has not been kind. The national curriculum, Baker days, synthetic phonics, shanghai


maths, SATs, GCSEs, the end of grammar schools, the rise of academies and the emergence of multi-academy trusts. The whole education system has been refreshed, revisited and reinvented multiple times throughout the last 70 years. But one factor has remained constant, and like the Monarchy itself, that constant is the most important factor of all. Excellent teachers are the single greatest denominator of success


across the ages. Despite changes in tech, school funding, the teaching environment, curriculum or school type, our teachers remain at the forefront of delivering excellent education for children throughout the UK. And through the organisation of community events such as those to celebrate the Silver and Platinum jubilees they help make memories that shape children’s lives. And I for one think that is something worth celebrating.


Julia Garvey Deputy Director General, BESA www.besa.org.uk


*https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/half-teachers-say-school buildings-unfit-purpose


www.education-today.co.uk 13


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