The Education (Curriculum Minimum Content) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007

PART 1 Statutory Requirements Relating to the Curriculum

The statutory Northern Ireland Curriculum from Foundation Stage to Key Stage 4

is a balanced and broadly based curriculum which—

(a) promotes the spiritual, emotional, moral, cultural, intellectual and physical development of pupils at the school and thereby of society; and

(b) prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life by equipping them with appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills.

In order to meet their statutory requirements, schools must provide learning opportunities in relation to the following:

(a) Religious Education – in accordance with the core syllabus drafted by the four main Christian Churches in Northern Ireland and specified by the Department of Education.

(b) the following Areas of Learning:

At Foundation Stage:

Areas of Learning	Contributory Elements
Language and Literacy	Talking and Listening Reading Writing
Mathematics and Numeracy	Number Measures Shape and Space Sorting Patterns and Relationships
The Arts	Art and design Music Drama
The World Around Us	The World Around Us
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding	Personal Understanding and Health Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community
Physical Development and Movement	Physical Development and Movement

At Key Stages 1 and 2:

Areas of Learning	Contributory Elements
Language and Literacy	Talking and Listening Reading Writing
Mathematics and Numeracy	Processes in Mathematics Number Measures Shape and Space Handling Data
The Arts	Art and Design Music Drama
The World Around Us	History Geography Science and Technology
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding	Personal Understanding and Health Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community
Physical Education	Physical Education

At Key Stage 3:

Areas of Learning	Contributory Elements
Language and Literacy	English Irish (in Irish-speaking schools) Media education
Mathematics and Numeracy	Mathematics Financial capability
Modern Languages	Any official language of the European Union (other than English and, in Irish speaking schools, Irish).
The Arts	Art and Design Music Drama
Environment and Society	History Geography
Science and Technology	Science Technology and Design
Learning for Life and Work	Employability Local and Global Citizenship Personal Development Home Economics
Physical Education	Physical Education

At Key Stage 4:

Areas of Learning	Contributory Elements
Language and Literacy
Mathematics and Numeracy
Modern Languages
The Arts
Environment and Society
Science and Technology
Learning for Life and Work	Employability Local and Global Citizenship Personal Development
Physical Education	Physical Education

Minimum Content

The Minimum Content for each Area of Learning and Key Stage means the knowledge, understanding and skills within that Area of Learning which are required to be taught to pupils of different abilities and maturities during that stage.