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The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has begun to provide guidance on the materials needed to support teaching of the new primary curriculum in 2011.
The revised primary curriculum was published earlier this month, following former Ofsted director Jim Rose' independent review, and is now in a period of consultation.
Publishers had raised concerns that comprehensive free materials would be made available to teachers to support the new curriculum. However, Sue Horner, director of curriculum, has ruled out the creation of detailed "schemes of work as complete programmes" by the QCA.
Instead, the QCA will focus on providing guidance for teachers on the underlying principles of the new "areas of learning" that are intended to encourage cross-curricular learning.
"There will be some supporting material in the areas of learning of the sort that is available on the secondary national curriculum website," Horner added.
The QCA will meet with educational publishers to discuss their concerns and to provide more guidance on the kinds of materials required. Some discreet subject areas may not require new teaching materials at all but schools will need to adapt the material to new ways of working.
Horner added: "We are not suggesting that schools go back to the teaching of random topics but rather carefully constructed sets of learning experiences drawn from a range of sources."