Page 2 - Art Auditing the Intent, Implementation and Impact of the Art Curriculum

Working definition of the curriculum:
‘The curriculum is a framework for setting out the aims of a programme of education, including the knowledge and understanding to be
gained at each stage (intent); for translating that framework over time into a structure and narrative, within an institutional context
(implementation) and for evaluating what knowledge and understanding pupils have gained against expectations (impact/achievement).’

Sean Harford HMI

From the draft School inspection handbook, January 2019:

Curriculum intent
Inspectors will draw evidence about leaders’ curriculum intent principally from discussion with senior and subject leaders.
Inspectors will explore:

o whether leaders are following the national curriculum and basic curriculum or, in academies, a curriculum of similar breadth and
ambition how carefully leaders have thought about what end points the curriculum is building towards, what pupils will be able to know
and do at those end points, and how they have planned the curriculum accordingly. This includes consideration of how the intended
curriculum will address social disadvantage by addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills

o how leaders have sequenced the curriculum to enable pupils to build their knowledge and skills towards the agreed end points
o how leaders have ensured that the subject curriculum contains content which has been identified as most useful, and ensured that this

content is taught in a logical progression, systematically and explicitly enough for all pupils to acquire the intended knowledge and skills
o how the curriculum has been designed and taught so that pupils read at an age-appropriate level.

Curriculum Implementation
o In evaluating the implementation of the curriculum, inspectors will primarily evaluate how the curriculum is taught at subject and
classroom level. Research and inspection evidence suggest that the most important factors in how the curriculum is taught and assessed
are that:
o teachers have expert knowledge of the subjects that they teach and, where they do not, they are supported to address these gaps so
that pupils are not disadvantaged by ineffective teaching
o teachers enable pupils to understand key concepts, presenting information clearly and promoting appropriate discussion
o teachers check pupils’ understanding effectively, identifying and correcting misunderstandings
o teachers ensure that pupils embed key concepts in their long-term memory and apply them fluently
o the subject curriculum that classes follow is designed and delivered in a way that allows pupils to transfer key knowledge to long-term
memory; it is sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and towards defined end points
o teachers use assessment to check pupils’ understanding in order to inform teaching
o teachers use assessment to help pupils embed and use knowledge fluently, develop their understanding, and not simply memorise
disconnected facts.

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