Primary Huh 2: Primary curriculum leadership conversations

Huh is the Egyptian god of endlessness, creativity, fertility and regeneration. He is the deity Mary Myatt and John Tomsett have adopted as their god of the school curriculum. Their first book in the Huh series focused upon how school practitioners design the Key Stage 3 curriculum. Its popularity prompted calls from many quarters for a similar book on the primary curriculum. Supported by their primary colleagues, Rachel Higginson, Lekha Sharma & Emma Turner, Mary and John interviewed over 30 primary practitioners about how they design the primary curriculum. Considering the diverse nature of primary schools in this country, it’s not surprising that they were soon confronted with numerous context-dependent curriculum complexities. Designing the curriculum for small primary schools, for instance, means solving the conundrum of teaching the same subject at the same time to three different year groups in one class. The conversations confirmed that shaping a primary school curriculum is a tricky business! The wisdom gleaned from the genuine experts Mary and John interviewed was limitless. The material was so important it meant that they had too much for a single volume. Twenty-one of those thirty-plus conversations comprise the book Primary Huh, which focused upon the curriculum of each individual subject from EYFS to Year 6. In this companion book, Primary Huh 2, Mary and John give a platform to practitioners who lead on the broader issues of primary curriculum design, including, amongst other things: shaping the curriculum for mixed-age classes; designing and implementing a cross-MAT curriculum; building the “cradle to career” curriculum; timetabling; assessment; transition, and diversity. Primary Huh 2 is riven through with authentic voices grappling with the endless challenge of providing our children with a rich, challenging, ambitious, beautiful curriculum.

About the Author :
Mary Myatt is an education adviser, writer and speaker. She trained as an RE teacher and is a former local authority adviser and inspector. She engages with pupils, teachers and leaders about learning, leadership and the curriculum. Mary has written extensively about leadership, school improvement and the curriculum: ‘High Challenge, Low Threat’, ‘Hopeful Schools’, ‘The Curriculum: Gallimaufry to Coherence’, ‘Back on Track’ and 'Huh: Curriculum conversations between subject and senior leaders'. She has also established Myatt & Co, an online platform with films for teachers, including teaching assistants and leaders including governors. Mary has been a governor in three schools, and a trustee for a Multi Academy Trust. She co-founded the RE Quality Mark, is chair of the board for the Centre for Education and Youth and a member of the curriculum advisory group for Oak National Academy. She maintains that there are no quick fixes and that great outcomes for pupils are not achieved through tick boxes. John Tomsett taught for 33 years in state schools and was a teaching headteacher for 18 years. Until August 2021 he led Huntington School in York. He writes a blog called 'This Much I Know', and has written extensively about school leadership. He has previously published six books: 'Love over Fear: Creating a Culture for Truly Great Teaching'; 'Mind Over Matter: Improving Mental Health in our Schools'; 'Putting Staff First: A Blueprint for Revitalising our Schools' (with Jonny Uttley); 'An Angler’s Journal'; and 'Cognitive Apprenticeship in Action' (editor); and 'Huh: Curriculum conversations between subject and senior leaders' co-authored with Mary Myatt. He maintains that the best thing for our students is that our teachers are happy, healthy, well-qualified, highly motivated, hard-working, well-trained experts; consequently, he believes we should put staff first. He is now engaged in supporting the next generation of school leaders, with a resolute focus upon improving the quality of teaching & learning, and developing the school curriculum.