The national curriculum framework 2011 : consultation document 3 the three cycles : the early years, the primary years, the secondary years

Abstract

This third document presents details of how the NCF envisages the learning programme to be offered to children and young people in the Early Years, Primary and Secondary Cycles. This document focuses on the application of the NCF in schools. The learning areas and levels of achievement remain crucial throughout the Primary and the Secondary years as does a degree of flexibility in the delivery of the programmes as indicated in the timetable models presented for discussion. It is crucial to note that the Early Years refer to children from birth to the age of seven. In real terms, this implies that early childhood education and care starts in the home, is experienced in non-compulsory and informal settings including child-care and kindergarten and is extended into the first two years of compulsory, primary school. Whilst the document presents three distinct cycles for ease of reference, teachers working with five to seven-year-olds are working with very young children and the emphasis of the curriculum should be on encouraging young learners to develop positive dispositions about themselves, their abilities and the world around them. Likewise, the pedagogy which ought to be adopted should respect the characteristics of young learners. The proposals for the Early Years presented in the NCF are the foundation upon which most of the learning experiences are developed at kindergarten and even in the first years of primary school with a gradual move towards more formal practices and learning organised through learning areas as children reach the middle and later years of Primary schooling.