Victoria Pendry

Curriculum adventures for quality education. Let's go!

Vikki Pendry is CEO of the Curriculum Foundation, a UK based International Education Consultancy specialising in curriculum review and redesign. Vikki runs her own education consultancy in parallel, Florus Education which features creative curriculum projects. She has worked in 3 UK Primary schools as a senior leader in 3 different parts of the UK, as a specialist teacher for maths and for development education and is currently a Governor at a secondary School in York. Vikki is currently studying for a doctorate in Education at UCL where she is exploring curriculum implementation in a range of contrasting contexts which builds on her previous research into the effective use of authentic data across the maths curriculum. Vikki is a regular guest speaker at conferences such as TEESNet and UKFIET and is a guest lecturer at Liverpool Hope University.

Curriculum review and development
Vikki works with individual and groups of schools to make important links between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Programmes of support with schools most frequently result in the development of a curriculum framework which brings consistency, coherence and flexibility across subjects, reflecting national (and international) guidelines and expectations whilst remaining rooted in the local context. Curriculum review and redesign processes currently explore in particular the need to balance and blend a 'Knowledge Rich' curriculum with plans for personal development and well-being.

Teaching and Learning Programmes and Resources
As well as working with schools, Vikki works with organisations such as HSBC, UNICEF, OXFAM to develop innovative teaching and learning programmes and resources. Programmes such as Energy Heroes with Northern Power Grid and Water Explorers for example have reached over 200 schools and continues to gain recognition for it's close connection to global issues from a local perspective.

International projects
Through her work with the Curriculum Foundation, Vikki has worked extensively to review and redesign curricular at a national level in South Sudan, Uganda and Zambia. Vikki has contributed to the writing of textbooks and other teaching and learning materials across East Africa also and her research article promoting the embedding of Social and Emotional Learning across the curriculum has featured in a number of international conferences and journals. Vikki is currently writing a Handbook for teachers in low-resource settings to effectively implement a competency-based curriculum.Resources she has produced for charity based schools in Kenya (slum schools) and Ethiopia have been highly acclaimed.

Painting the World by Numbers:
A programme of materials and training which aim to help teachers explore how ‘global data’ can be used as a rich, authentic context for developing statistics and problem solving skills in primary mathematics. The programme supports pupils to build on what they know to solve problems in increasingly complex contexts. The materials were developed as part of the Global Learning Programme and an associated piece of qualitative research with University College London.

The programme aims to help teachers:

• uncover data sets that describe the diversity of the world in which we live from both a local and global perspective.
• explore and produce numeracy activities aimed at inspiring pupils to explore statistics and develop an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics.
• illustrate maths as a highly interconnected discipline that is essential to everyday life.