Primary Huh: Curriculum conversations with subject leaders in primary schools by John Tomsett

Primary Huh: Curriculum conversations with subject leaders in primary schools by John Tomsett

There's plenty to do when planning the curriculum in primary schools. If it feels daunting, then one of the most helpful things is to talk to other people about how they have developed the curriculum for their particular subject or key stage.
This is what John Tomsett and Mary Myatt have done. After the secondary 'Huh: Curriculum conversations between subject and senior leaders' was published, they were flooded with requests to produce a primary version. They enlisted the help of renowned primary specialists, Rachel Higginson, Lekha Sharma and Emma Turner to have conversations with primary teachers and key stage co-ordinators who are doing great curriculum development work.
Each chapter provides insights into the importance of individual subjects and the unique contribution each makes to pupils' cognitive and personal development. The subject chapters discuss the steps colleagues take to ensure that there is a coherent thread across the year groups, as the discrete subjects deliver, collectively, the primary curriculum.
These conversations show how the craft of creating a rich, challenging curriculum for every subject is not a quick fix. This is a nuanced piece of work, and there are many ways of approaching it. Each chapter also contains links to subject associations and helpful resources.
Primary Huh has been written for subject leaders and key stage co-ordinators; it has also been written for senior leaders, as they prepare to have supportive conversations with their colleagues who are responsible for curriculum development. Primary Huh is offered as a prompt rather than the last word. Informed debate is, as they say, the fuel of curriculum development.
And why have John and Mary called it 'Huh'? Well, John discovered that Huh is the Egyptian god of endlessness, creativity, fertility and regeneration, and they thought that was a pretty good metaphor for their work on the curriculum!

John Tomsett has been a teacher for 32 years and a headteacher for 17 years. He currently leads Huntington School & Research School in York. He writes a blog called 'This Much I Know', and has written extensively about school leadership.
He is the author of Love Over Fear - developing a culture for truly great teaching, Mind Over Matter - improving mental health in our schools and Putting Staff First - a blueprint for revitalising our schools. He still teaches and is focused resolutely upon improving the quality of teaching and learning, both at Huntington and across the school system as a whole.