Mary Myatt: Reclaiming and Reframing Rigour

A rich and rigorous curriculum is the aim of almost every setting.

However, too often that ambition languishes on the school’s website. It doesn’t get translated into practice. As a result, many children receive a diminished diet. This isn’t deliberate, but we do need to do something about it. 

Mary will be making the case that we need to reclaim rigour in our curriculum thinking, and we can do this through an unconventional lens: the lens of beauty. 

About the speaker

Mary Myatt is an education adviser, writer and speaker. She trained as an RE teacher and is a former local authority adviser and inspector. She engages with pupils, teachers and leaders about learning, leadership and the curriculum. 

Mary has written extensively about the curriculum, leadership and school improvement: High Challenge, Low Threat; Hopeful Schools; Back on Track; ‘The Curriculum: Gallimaufry to Coherence’ and her most recent is the Huh Curriculum series for primary, secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision with John Tomsett. 

She has established Myatt & Co an online platform with films for ongoing professional development including the popular Primary Subject Networks and Secondary Subject Networks. In order to meet the demand ongoing curriculum and leadership development, Mary has set up the Huh Academy. 

Her most recent work is the development of The Teachers’ Collection, underpinned by the findings from the ‘Faster read’ research from the University of Sussex.

Mary was chair of the board at the Centre for Education and Youth, she has been a governor in three schools, and a trustee for a Multi Academy Trust. She is a patron of Climate Adapted Pathways for Education. 

She maintains that there are no quick fixes and that great outcomes for pupils are not achieved through tick boxes.