With the UK Labour government commissioning Professor Becky Francis to review England’s national curriculum, we have an opportunity to reconsider not just what children should learn but how. As a primary teacher, I see the effects of the current curriculum daily. It has become a checklist of knowledge: dense, prescriptive and often detached from what excites children. The pressure to tick boxes and the narrowing of pedagogy is eroding joy for children and teachers.

In this moment of reform, we must centre joy, autonomy and curiosity. These are not soft ideals but essential for meaningful, sustainable education (UNESCO, 2021). Since the 2014 reforms, measurable outcomes have quietly excluded the conditions needed for joyful, deep learning.

The curriculum has lost its heart

Children, especially those with diverse needs, become disengaged as statutory content leaves little space to feel seen, capable or in control. Teachers are disempowered, their judgment replaced by scripted pedagogy. The current policy climate undervalues what learning can be and underestimates learners. A curriculum that prioritises coverage over connection risks excluding the children it should empower.

Joy as a pedagogical tool

When I introduced Curious Quests (a play-based writing approach rooted in narrative, co-creation and imagination) the atmosphere in my classroom changed. Created by Greg Bottrill (2018) and underpinned by principles in Can I Go and Play Now?, it invites children to become authors within an unfolding imaginative world. Activities, like ‘Hidden Treasures’ (grammar skills), ‘Inventuring’ (autonomous writing) and narrative problem-solving, build technical skills through emotionally engaging contexts.

I adapted the key stage 1 programme for my mixed-age Year 2–4 class. Children who previously hesitated, paralysed by fear of getting it wrong, began to take risks. Learners with attention difficulties were drawn in by stories, freedom and belonging. This wasn’t a rejection of the curriculum but a reimagination. Statutory requirements were still met, but in meaningful ways – grammar objectives, like fronted adverbials, applied to ‘activate’ inventions, and poetic forms, like haikus and cinquains, explored through imaginative quests.

‘Children who previously hesitated, paralysed by fear of getting it wrong, began to take risks.’

Research supports this. The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development (Hidi & Renninger, 2006) shows how situational interest, when nurtured, deepens into sustained engagement. Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) identifies autonomy, competence and relatedness as key to motivation – needs centred by Curious Quests. Cremin & Chappell’s (2019) review confirms that creative pedagogies enhance engagement and learning. Globally, Sahlberg and Doyle (2019) demonstrate that play-infused learning helps children thrive, showing joy and rigour can coexist.

Innovation and accountability

Delivering Curious Quests within the 2014 curriculum was possible but required careful mapping of objectives to imaginative tasks. Pressure to conform to measurable models remains strong, echoing Moyles’s (2010) concern that creativity is constrained by performative accountability. That Curious Quests succeeds under these conditions is not an argument for the status quo but a call to make professional innovation easier.

A curriculum that reflects what we value

Inclusion isn’t just access to content. We must design learning that children want to be part of. Structured play, inquiry and choice gave my learners reason to engage, try and believe in themselves. Teaching felt joyful and human again.

Curriculum is never neutral. It reflects what we believe education is for. If we continue to design it around control, compliance and coverage, we risk deepening the issues we hope to solve: disengagement, exclusion and burnout. We don’t need to choose between joy and rigour. We need a system that trusts teachers to integrate them. The review of England’s national curriculum is a chance to build something more expansive – a curriculum that supports context-sensitive pedagogy and encourages creative approaches.

We need courage, not compliance

‘A joyful curriculum isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity.’

We must also rethink how learning is measured. High-stakes assessments don’t capture a child’s relationship with writing or a teacher’s ability to inspire it. If we value equity, wellbeing and deeper learning, we must create space for curiosity, diversity and joy.

Countries like Finland and Sweden treat play and autonomy as foundational, not optional. We must do the same. A joyful curriculum isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. If we want children to flourish, and teachers to stay, we must start with what makes learning matter.

How might your context change if joy was treated as a measure of success?

References

Bottrill, G. (2018). Can I go and play now?: Rethinking the early years. Sage.

Cremin, T., & Chappell, K. (2019). Creative pedagogies: a systematic review. Research Papers in Education, 36(3), 299–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1677757

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Springer.

Hidi, S., & Renninger, K. A. (2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_4

Moyles, J. (2010). The excellence of play (3rd ed.). Open University Press.

Sahlberg, P., & Doyle, W. (2019). Let the children play. Oxford University Press.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]. (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. https://doi.org/10.54675/ASRB4722.