June 2006

Understand and implement the National Curriculum (NC) with confidence and ease!

This information has been structured to help you understand the latest curriculum and assessment changes and requirements and how these will affect teaching and learning in schools.

The Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) was released for Grades R-9 in May 2002. This curriculum builds on the basic principles and vision of Curriculum 2005 (C2005), whilst at the same time streamlines and simplifies terminology and curriculum design features to make it user-friendly. The RNCS (now just referred to as the NCS) gives teachers information on the concepts and contents which they could teach and structures this with a clear focus on progression from phase to phase and grade to grade.

How and when will the NC be implemented?

Implementation dates of the NC
Phase and grade	Dates
Foundation Phase Grades R-3	2004
Intermediate Phase Grades 4-6	2005
Senior Phase Grade 7	2006
Senior Phase Grade 8	2007
Senior Phase Grade 9	2007

How does the NC streamline curriculum design features and terminology?

Curriculum 2005	NC
Critical and Developmental Outcomes	Critical Outcomes (COs) and Developmental Outcomes (DOs)
Specific Outcomes	Learning Outcomes (LOs)
Phase Organisers	Not included
Programme Organisers	Not included
Assessment Criteria	Assessment Standards (ASs)
Performance Indicators	Not included
Range Statements	Not included
Learning Areas	Learning Areas (GET)

How does the NC streamline the names of the Learning Areas?

Curriculum 2005	NC
Mathematical Literacy, Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences (MLMMS)	Mathematics
Language, Literacy, and Communication (LLC)	Languages
Human and Social Sciences (HSS)	Social Sciences
Economic and Management Sciences (EMS)	Economic and Management Sciences
Natural Sciences	Natural Sciences
Technology	Technology
Life Orientation	Life Orientation
Arts & Culture	Arts & Culture

What does the National Curriculum consist of?
The National Curriculum (NC) consists of an Overview Document, the Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework, The National Protocol on Assessment for Schools in the General and Further Education and Training Band (Grades R-12) and the specific National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for each specific Learning Area. Further documents include the Learning Programme Guidelines and the Learning Programme or Learning Area Assessment Guidelines. You can read in this bulletin how these documents can help you to implement the curriculum.

What principles are included in the National Curriculum?
The principles underlying the NC are:

• Social justice, a healthy environment, human rights and inclusivity
• Outcomes-based Education
• A high level of skills and knowledge for all
• Clarity and accessibility
• Progression and integration.

What are the curriculum features and their functions?
The NCS has specific design features that aim to help teachers to develop their learners' knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. This will enable learners to take an active part in our changing economy and build our democracy. The National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9 (Schools) Overview document explains the background to the new curriculum, the fundamental values and principles that underpin the curriculum, the kind of learner and the kind of teacher that are envisaged and the structure of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9 (Schools).

Learning Area
A Learning Area is an area of knowledge, skills and values that has unique features. Each Learning Area has connections with other fields of knowledge. Each Learning Area has a Learning Area Statement that describes its particular goals and unique features, the requirements and expectations of learners as well as guidelines for assessment, recording and reporting by grade.

Learning Programmes
The NCS is implemented in schools by means of Learning Programmes. These programmes specify the scope of learning and assessment per phase. They organise planning as well as management of classroom practice, ensuring effectiveness, balance and sequence for each phase. Learning Programmes interpret and sequence Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards (core knowledge and concepts, skills and attitudes), contexts, integration across Learning Areas, and assessment, and considers resources. Learning Programme Guidelines are policy documents that provide a support framework to address specific leaner and contextual needs and information and guidance on important issues such as integration, clustering of assessment standards, time allocations, assessment, and planning and organisation.

There are three Learning Programmes for the Foundation Phase: Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills.

In the Intermediate Phase Languages and Mathematics are distinct Learning Programmes. Schools may decide on the number and nature of the other Learning Programmes based on the school's choice, learners' needs and national priorities.

In the Senior Phase there are eight Learning Programmes based on the eight Learning Area Statements.

Formal teaching time allocations

Look at this table for the formal teaching time allocation assigned for each phase:

Phase	Grade	Time
Foundation Phase	R, 1 and 2	22 hrs 30 mins
	3	25 hrs
Intermediate Phase	4, 5 and 6	26 hrs 30 mins
Senior Phase	7	26 hrs 30 mins
	8 and 9	27 hrs 30 mins

The following table shows the Learning Programmes for Grades R-9, as well as the time allocation assigned for them in each phase:

Learning Programmes and time allocations

NCS (GET)
Foundation Phase Gr R-3		Intermediate Phase Gr 4-6		Senior Phase Gr 7-9
Learning Programme	Time allocation %	Learning Area	Time allocation	Learning Area	Time allocation
Literacy	40%	Languages (2)	25%	Languages (2)	25%
Numeracy	35%	Mathematics	18%	Mathematics	18%
Life Skills	25%	Life Orientation	8%	Life Orientation	8%
		Natural Science	13%	Natural Science	13%
		Social Sciences	12%	Social Sciences	12%
		Technology	8%	Technology	8%
		Economic and management Sciences	8%	Economic and management Sciences	8%
		Arts & Culture	8%	Arts & Culture	8%

Critical Outcomes (COs) and Developmental Outcomes (DOs)
The COs (7) and DOs (5) are very broad outcomes that describe the kind of understanding, skills and attitudes that the citizens of our new education and training system should aim to develop. Teachers should use them in their planning and teaching.

Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes are sets of statements based on the COs and DOs. They describe the result of teaching and learning for every Learning Area. They are specific to a Learning Area and describe what learners should know (concepts and knowledge), be able to do (skills) and be (attitudes and values) by the end of a phase. Learning Outcomes stay the same from grade to grade.

Assessment Standards
Every Learning Outcome has a set of Assessment Standards for a specific grade. Assessment Standards are criteria. They describe the minimum levels of expected achievement that learners must be able to demonstrate at the end of a specific grade and show the conceptual progression from grade to grade. Assessment Standards change from grade to grade.

What do teachers need to plan?

Teachers need to plan for:

1. optimal teaching and learning
2. assessment
3. effective recording and reporting and moderation.

1. How can teachers successfully plan for optimal teaching and learning?

Phase plan
Teachers need to plan the content of the Learning Area and the progression which needs to take place across grades in a specific phase. This plan is called a phase plan or a phase framework.

Teachers should clarify what the learners need to master at the end of the phase by using the Learning Outcomes. They should also clarify what the learners need to demonstrate to show how they are mastering these outcomes by using the Assessment Standards. Next, the teachers establish the conceptual progression across the grades in that phase. Then the teachers identify the content, skills, attitudes and values to be addressed in each grade. Following that, the teachers identify a three-year plan of assessment for each grade in the phase.

It is also useful for teachers to identify the possible resources that will be best suited to the learning, teaching and assessment of that Learning Area for each grade in the phase.

Year plan
From the phase plan teachers create a year plan for each Learning Area in order to pace teaching and learning and to ensure all necessary work is covered in the allocated contact time. This broad year plan considers the number of terms, school holidays, teaching weeks, examinations or formal test periods, public holidays and important dates for their particular school.

Work schedules
The teacher will use the phase plan and the year plan to develop a teaching and learning plan for a year for his or her class for a specific grade within a phase. This year-long, grade specific plan is called a work schedule. It sequences and paces teaching, learning and assessment for a particular grade. The year-long assessment programme (discussed later in this bulletin) must form part of the work schedule.

Lesson plans
The teacher will draw directly from the work schedule to plan activities for individual learners, pairs or groups, using a lesson plan. This plan describes in detail the how of teaching, learning and assessment activities. The duration could range from a single activity to a term's plan and in terms of actual time, may last from a day to a week or a month.

2. How can teachers successfully plan for assessment and excellent results?

Plan a Programme of Assessment
Teachers are required to develop a Programme of Assessment for each Learning Programme for each grade he or she teaches. This is an annual (year-long) plan of assessment that includes formal assessment tasks that have to be planned, executed, recorded and reported. The marks will determine whether the learners are promoted. The requirements for a Programme of Assessment are explained in the National Protocol on Assessment for Schools in the General and Further Education and Training Band (Grades R-12). The Learning Programme Guidelines also include important in formation on assessment.

The National Protocol on Assessment
This is a policy document released on 21 October 2005. The intention of this protocol is to regulate (standardise) how evidence of learner performance is recorded and reported, and to reduce teacher workload. The National Protocol is to be implemented from 2006 in all schools.

How does the NC streamline assessment?

The codes and/or percentages to be used for recording and reporting performance have changed in 2005 and are standardised as summarised below:

C2005	NC
Grades R-3: 4-level code	Grades R-3: 4-level code (wording also changed)
Grades 4-6: 4-level code	Grades 4-6: 4-level code
Grades 7-9: 4-level code	Grades 7-9: 7-level code
Grades 10-12: 6-level code	Grades 10-12: 7-level code

Codes and percentages for recording and reporting in Grades R-6:

Rating code	Description of competence	Percentage
4	Outstanding/Excellent achievement	70-100
3	Satisfactory achievement	50-69
2	Partial achievement	35-49
1	Not achieved	1-34

Codes and percentages for recording and reporting in Grades 7-9:

Rating code	Description of competence	Percentage
7	Outstanding achievement	80-100
6	Meritorious achievement	70-79
5	Substantial achievement	60-69
4	Adequate achievement	50-59
3	Moderate achievement	40-49
2	Elementary achievement	30-39
1	Not achieved	0-29

Learning Programme Assessment Guidelines (Grades R-3) or Learning Area Assessment Guidelines (Grades 4-9)
These documents indicate appropriate assessment tasks and forms of assessment for each Learning Programme and grade to assess a variety of skills. The Assessment Guidelines for Grades R -9 are expected from the National Department of Education in July 2006.

What else must teachers know about assessment in the GET?
Assessment in the National Curriculum is an integral part of teaching and learning. For this reason, assessment should be part of every lesson and teachers should plan assessment activities to complement learning activities.

This approach to assessment is called continuous assessment and involves assessment activities that are undertaken throughout the year, using various kinds of assessment forms, methods and tools. Continuous assessment comprises two different but related activities: informal daily assessment and a formal Programme of Assessment.

So, classroom assessment should be both informal and formal. Informal assessment is the daily monitoring of learners' progress. Essentially, informal assessment should be used to provide feedback to the learners.

In addition, teachers should plan for formal assessment. From 2006, teachers must provide a formal annual (year-long) Programme of Assessment for each subject and grade to the Learning Area Head and School Management Team (SMT) before the start of the school year. Each Programme of Assessment consists of tasks undertaken during the school year and could include an end-of-year examination. The marks allocated to assessment tasks completed during the school year and the end-of-year examination marks have specific weighting per grade per Learning Area.

3. How can teachers successfully plan for recording and reporting on assessment records and moderation?
There are specific requirements for formal assessment (the Programme of Assessment) for Grades R-3, for example a specific number of assessment tasks per Learning Programme for the Foundation Phase as indicated in the table below. Teachers may add to the number of assessment tasks.

Recorded pieces of evidence for Grades R-3

Learning Programme	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3	Term 4	Total
Literacy (Languages)	4	4	4	4	16
Numeracy (Mathematics)	3	3	3	3	12
Life Skills (Life Orientation)	1	1	1	1	4

Recorded pieces of evidence for Grades 4-6
The requirements for formal recorded assessment (the Programme of Assessment) for Grades 4-6 are set out below. Teachers may add to the number of assessment tasks.

Number of formal, recorded assessment tasks for Grades 4-6:

Learning Area	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3	Term 4	Total
Language 1	3	3	3	3	12
Language 2	2	2	2	2	8
Language 3 (optional)	1	1	1	1	4
Mathematics	3	3	3	3	12
Natural Sciences	2	2	2	2	8
Social Sciences	2	2	2	2	8
Technology	1	1	1	1	4
Economic and Management Sciences	1	1	1	1	4
Life Orientation	1	1	1	1	4
Arts and Culture	1	1	1	1	4

Recorded pieces of evidence for Grades 7-9
The requirements for formal recorded assessment (the Programme of Assessment) for Grades 7-9 are set out below. Teachers may add to the number of assessment tasks.

Number of formal, recorded assessment tasks for Grades 7-9:

Learning Area	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3	Term 4	Total
Language 1	4	4	4	4	16
Language 2	3	3	3	3	12
Language 3 (optional)	3	3	3	3	12
Mathematics	3	3	3	3	12
Natural Sciences	2	2	2	2	8
Social Sciences	2	2	2	2	8
Technology	1	1	1	1	4
Economic and Management Sciences	1	1	1	1	4
Life Orientation	1	1	1	1	4
Arts and Culture	1	1	1	1	4

The formal assessment tasks should together cover all the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards of the Learning Area. The design of these tasks should therefore ensure that a variety of skills are assessed.

Portfolios are used to record and report on progress. There are two sets of portfolios that should be kept by schools: teachers' portfolios and learners' portfolios. It is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that the information in their portfolios is kept up to date, and to check that each learner maintains a portfolio.

In both the teacher's and the learner's portfolio the recorded pieces of evidence from formal assessment should be clearly marked or indicated. These recorded pieces of evidence are the main source of information in determining progression or promotion of learners to the next grade.

Teacher's portfolio
A teacher's portfolio is a compilation and recording of all the tasks for school-based assessment. This means that it is a collection of all the assessment tasks, assessment tools, recording tools, the annual Programme of Assessment and Learning Area record sheets.

A teacher should keep a portfolio to enable him/her to monitor his/her progress and that of individual learners and to plan for the next step in the learning experience. The number of formally recorded pieces is indicated in the tables above. Any additional pieces of evidence should be included in the teacher's portfolio.

Learner's portfolio
A learner's portfolio is a collection of evidence that exhibits to the learner and others the progress of the learner in achieving the expected Outcomes in each Learning Area.

All pieces of evidence will form part of the learner's portfolio. However, only the recorded pieces will be used to determine progression or promotion to the next grade. The pieces of evidence may be stored in files, folders, boxes, binders, exercise books, counter notebooks or a combination of these.

How could teachers successfully manage school assessment records?
To regulate recording and reporting, the school must keep various assessment records safely at school. The school management is responsible for the maintenance and the safety of these documents as well as for the record sheets, report cards and schedules.

The teacher is responsible for the management and maintenance of Learning Area record sheets, his/her teacher's portfolio and learner's portfolios. A learner is responsible to ensure the safety of her/his portfolio.

Recording
Recording is a process in which the teacher documents the level of a learner's performance and progress towards the achievement of outcomes. The information recorded should:

• inform teachers and others about the performance of learners towards the achievement of the Learning Outcomes
• be used to provide constructive feedback to learners about their progress
• inform the planning of teaching and learning activities
• inform intervention strategies.

Reporting
Reporting is the process of communicating learner performance to learners, parents, schools and the other stakeholders. The main purpose of reporting is to:

• provide learners with regular feedback
• inform parent(s)/guardian(s) on the progress of the individual learner
• give information to schools and districts or regional offices on the current level of performance of learners.

Record sheets
Learning Outcomes should be used to inform the recording and reporting of learner performance. The Learning Outcomes assessed in each task should be indicated on the Learning Area record sheet, and a combination of marks, codes and comments should be used. There are examples of record sheets in the National Protocol on Assessment, Annexure A.

The record sheets should be used to compile the schedule that will in turn be used to compile report cards once a term.

Report cards
The National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9 (Schools) states that formal report cards should be sent to parents once a term. The report cards must include an overall rating of a learner's performance in each Learning Area. The achievement rating in a report card should be indicated by a combination of percentages, codes and comments. There are examples of report cards in the National Protocol on Assessment, Annexure B.

Schedules
The Provincial Departments of Education are responsible for providing the Schedule forms that the schools must introduce. The schedule is a record with summary information about the progress of all learners in the grade. Schedules should be completed four times a year. An example of a schedule is given in the Protocol on Assessment document, Annexure C.

The Schedule should be considered a legal document. It should be used for drawing up reports and for reporting to parents and the education system on the overall progress of learners in each grade.

Learner profiles
The keeping of learner profiles by schools will be implemented incrementally starting in 2007 in Grades R, 1, 4, 7 and 10. The Provincial Departments of Education are responsible for providing schools with pre-printed files or folders for this purpose.

A learner profile is a continuous record of the learner's performance and achievement throughout his or her school career. It gives personal information and an all-round impression of a learner's progress, including the development of values, attitudes and social development. It assists the teacher in the next grade or school to understand the learner better, and therefore to respond appropriately to the learner.

The learner profile replaces all previous continuous record documents for learners that have been used by schools. Learner profiles should not be confused with portfolios.

How can schools plan for moderation of the assessment tasks in the Programme of Assessment?

Moderation of the assessment tasks should take place at three levels:

Level	Moderation requirements
School	The Programme of Assessment should be submitted to the Learning Area head and School Management Team before the start of the academic year for moderation purposes. Each task that is to be used as part of the Programme of Assessment should be submitted to the Learning Area head for moderation before learners attempt the task. The teacher and learner portfolios should be moderated twice a year by the head of the Learning Area or her/his delegate.
Cluster/district/region	Teacher portfolios and a sample of learner portfolios must be moderated twice during the first three terms.
Provincial/national	Teacher portfolios and a sample of learner portfolios must be moderated once a year.