Wales welcomes new school curriculum shake up

A new curriculum for Welsh schools is expected to be delivered on time, and will see a number of changes including making computer skills a speciality which is as central to learning as literacy and numeracy.

The reformed curriculum content is due to become available to schools in Wales by 2018 and is said to be the biggest shake-up in what is taught in schools for over 25 years.

However, in an interview with BBC Wales, Dr Philip Dixon, director of ATL Cymru, believes the move is too ambitious and that there needs to be more debate regarding the details of the curriculum.

He said: "We've go to be careful we don't rush this, we don't botch it and we get a curriculum that's fit for purpose and will last for several decades. Why do it in a rush, let's do it properly instead."

Professor Graham Donaldson who was responsible for proposing the plans for a curriculum shakeup argued that teachers were impatient to move forward with the plans.

He said: “I think the process which has been put in place has a pretty fair chance of getting us to the point at which by 2018 and beyond schools will be able to move forward with thinking about the curriculum and its implications for their young people.

"The important point is this is not a delivery in terms of a point in time, a cliff that's reached and everything's suddenly different. This is a process which will take place."