Curriculum audit tool

Shaping the primary curriculum in your workplace

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Why members should shape the curriculum

No matter the pressures, primary teachers continue to open up the curriculum. Creativity, local history, outdoor learning, and racial and cultural diversity are now features of the work in many schools.

The NEU’s view is that teachers are curriculum makers and this toolkit aims to help you reclaim the curriculum you are teaching.

The toolkit supports reps and members to take the findings of a curriculum audit through each stage of the NEU bargaining  cycle, a six-stage process for negotiating improvements in working conditions through collective member action. 

How to use this toolkit

  1. Identifying issues: Follow the NEU’s bargaining cycle and use the RAG (Red/Amber/Green) review to start identifying key curriculum issues in your workplace.
    • Green: An area of strength that should be celebrated and shared with the wider NEU via [email protected].
    • Amber: An area that requires consideration. These should be noted and monitored, with actions agreed where appropriate.
    • Red: One to three priority issues that need attention and should be raised with the senior leadership team (SLT). See Step 2.
  2. Discussion with members: Discuss the changes members would like in place to address priority issues. Also discuss action they would be prepared to take – see options for action below
  3. Meeting with management: Take the issues to the head/SLT to discuss an action plan. Arrange a route for dialogue.
  4. Making decisions collectively: Hold a meeting with members to discuss the outcome of engagement with SLT.
    • Outcome A: If your head/SLT agrees to the recommendations from your NEU group, use this meeting to reflect on the impact of the changes. You could also use the audit tool again to deepen dialogue about curriculum and staff ideas. Consider proposing that this becomes a regular agenda item for workplace discussions between the NEU and management
    • Outcome B: If you come to agreement on some but not all the issues raised by your NEU group, move to Step 5.
    • Outcome C: Your head/SLT don’t agree any of the changes suggested by the NEU group, move to Step 5.
  5. Escalation: Go through the options for action. As a group, decide which actions you would be prepared to take to win.
  6. Align our campaigns: Get in contact with your local branch about further ways to gain influence for your union group’s ideas and network with other reps in your branch or multi-academy trust (MAT), with a view to co-ordinating action across your employer. Find your branch.
Download a RAG checklist

Options for action

The following actions can support your NEU group in moving from identifying issues to creating meaningful change in your workplace. They are designed to support constructive dialogue with management while strengthening members’ autonomy and professional wellbeing.

  1. Agree shared wording for all members to use, verbally and in writing, to express dissatisfaction with high-priority issues. These can be used, for example, during one-to-one meetings or in email responses.
  2. Wear identifiable items, such as stickers or badges, to show visible support for the union position.
  3. Hold union-run votes on key issues to show strength of feeling among members.
  4. Act collectively by refusing to agree to policies that contradict union principles.
  5. Raise the same issue systematically at every staff meeting, ensuring all union members voice their support for the union position.
  6. Survey members on their views and present the findings to management.
  7. Write a shared open letter to the head teacher outlining members’ concerns.
  8. Request individual meetings with SLT to discuss the priority issues and ensure concerns are heard directly.
  9. Refuse observations. Members may place a mark on their classroom doors to indicate that members are not willing to be observed, and would direct students to do independent reading if an observer enters the classroom.
  10. Contact school governors with concerns, using evidence from meetings with SLT where negotiations have not succeeded.
  11. Take strike action where other action has failed.

The role of workplace reps

Workplaces reps are vital to the effective use of the audit tool. School reps should organise and lead workplace meetings and attend meetings with heads/SLT. If your school does not have a rep, we would strongly advise to elect one (or more) to secure policy change in your workplace.

Using this tool as part of the NEU bargaining cycle

By taking the findings of the curriculum audit through each stage of the NEU bargaining  cycle, members can move beyond individual concerns to secure collective, enforceable improvements. This ensures curriculum decisions support professional judgement, reduce unnecessary workload, and deliver a richer educational experience for all children.

Curriculum audit tool cover

Let us know how you use the tool

We’d love to hear how you’re using the tool, now or in the future, so we can make sure it meets your needs.

Let us know
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