We’re diving into Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle—what’s changing, why it matters, and what it means for us working with our youngest learners.
We’re now in the second year of a ten‑year programme to strengthen Scotland’s curriculum. There is an explainer document published by Education Scotland, this is available on their website, but we will also link it below. As the explainer document puts it, “We are currently in the second year of a ten-year programme to strengthen the curriculum… The refreshed curriculum will start to be formally adopted… from August 2028.” To put it into perspective, children who were born in 2025 will be the first cohort of children to experience the refreshed curriculum when they start funded ELC. In other words, nothing is changing on the floor right now, and we will have time to familiarise ourselves before there is expectation to plan using it.
The image above is the part of CFE that is remaining the same. Our ‘why’ continues to be the four capacities, our ‘what’ is the four contexts and out ‘how’ is the pedagogical approach we use.
The short video below, gives an introduction to the Curriculum Improvement cycle.
There is also a useful explainer document to read;
