Coram has today responded to the Curriculum and Assessment Review published today (5th November) and the Government’s response. Coram is the UK’s first and longest serving children’s charity. We are the UK’s leading charity provider of PSHE education, supporting over 50,000 teachers and reaching over 600,000 pupils, and also run the world’s largest youth drama festival, enabling young people to build confidence, self-esteem, and essential life skills of teamwork and oracy through performing Shakespeare.
Dr Carol Homden, Coram CEO, said: “We broadly welcome today’s Review and the government’s response as the most comprehensive reform of the national curriculum for over a decade. It sets out a path for children to learn the skills they need to thrive in the future. The Review’s focus on creative and social learning, with its stress on digital literacy, teaching children to understand and address misinformation, and developing critical thinking skills, is what we need to enable our post-pandemic generation to take their place in the world. Supporting teachers and parents to enable this shift will be a key challenge for the sector in the coming years. Today’s announcement represents potentially a huge step forward for our children.”
Donna Hill, Head of Coram SCARF, said: “We welcome the news that social learning and media literacy will be strengthened as part of the new curriculum, equipping children with vital skills for life. The Review’s emphasis on creative and social learning, digital literacy, and critical thinking aligns closely with our mission to help children thrive academically and emotionally. Through our evidence-based resources and training, we support teachers to embed these priorities into everyday practice and engage parents to reinforce learning at home. With Coram SCARF already trusted by thousands of schools nationwide, we bring proven expertise in developing resilience, empathy, and confidence—helping every child flourish in an increasingly complex world.”
Mike Tucker, Head of Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, said: “We welcome the new curriculum proposals, which recognise the essential role of arts subjects, creative education and cultural entitlement in our schools. The scrapping of the EBacc, greater parity for arts GCSEs, the introduction of a national oracy framework across key stages, and a new entitlement to extra-curricular arts enrichment represent a significant and positive step towards greater cultural equity in education. These reforms have the potential to open access to a richer, more balanced curriculum for all young people and enable them to build the skills they need for the future: to think creatively, collaborate effectively, develop resilience, and find their voice.”