The Curriculum for Wales (CfW) represents a fundamental shift in the Welsh education landscape. Schools have moved from being deliverers of a prescribed national curriculum to becoming designers of their own.

For Headteachers and Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE) leads, this offers immense freedom. However, with that freedom comes a significant operational challenge: How do you rigorously review a curriculum that is unique to your school?

How do you ensure your vision for Humanities or Science and Technology is truly being realised in the classroom? How do you track progress against the Four Purposes without drowning in spreadsheets or multiple Word documents?

For schools feeling the weight of this administrative burden, iAbacus offers a compelling solution.

What is iAbacus?

For those unfamiliar with the platform, iAbacus is not a complex data-churning tracker. It is an online self-evaluation and strategic planning tool based on a deceptively simple, visual process.

The concept is straightforward: users slide a bead on a digital abacus to represent current performance. They check that judgement against clear criteria, add evidence, analyse what is helping or hindering progress, and then plan the next steps.

It is simple, visual, and it transforms how schools manage the improvement cycle. Let’s look at how the platform brings coherence and clarity to your curriculum review.

1. A Unified Framework for All 6 AoLEs

In many schools, curriculum review risks becoming fragmented. The Expressive Arts lead might hold evidence in a folder, while the Maths and Numeracy lead relies on a spreadsheet.

iAbacus consolidates this work. It allows schools to create a specific abacus for each of the six AoLEs. This ensures that every AoLE lead evaluates against a consistent framework—whether checking coverage of the ‘Statements of What Matters’ or reviewing how well the ‘Principles of Progression’ are embedded.

2. Visualising the "Golden Thread"

Under the national framework, the "Golden Thread" linking high-level vision to classroom practice is vital.

iAbacus allows leaders to map this visually. Because the tool focuses on a structured process—Judge, Verify, Analyse, Plan—it forces leaders to move beyond simply describing what they are doing, to analysing why it matters.

Staff can attach evidence directly to their bead—such as lesson planning, pupil voice surveys, photos of work, or examples of Cynefin in practice. This builds a rich, evidence-based narrative of the curriculum journey, rather than just a snapshot of data.

3. Strategic Oversight: The Power of the 'Stack'

For a Headteacher, seeing the big picture is difficult when dealing with six distinct AoLE action plans.

This is where the platform’s 'Stack' and 'Overlay' features become invaluable. As a leader, you can stack the abacuses from all AoLE leads on top of one another.

Instantly, this provides a visual "heat-map" of the whole curriculum.

  • Is Health and Well-being rating themselves as 'Green' while Languages, Literacy and Communication identifies barriers?
  • Are there common "Hindering Factors" (like staff release time or specific resources) appearing across multiple AoLEs?

This enables leaders to spot trends instantly and direct resources where they are needed most, ensuring a cohesive approach to the Curriculum for Wales.

4. Alignment with the National Resource (NR:EI)

Schools in Wales are moving away from high-stakes accountability towards a culture of self-improvement, guided by the National Resource: Evaluation and Improvement (NR:EI).

iAbacus aligns with this ethos by facilitating honest, reflective professional dialogue rather than tick-box exercises. The platform encourages users to identify "Helping Factors" (strengths to build on) and "Hindering Factors" (barriers to remove). This force-field analysis turns a simple review into a robust strategic plan.

5. "Ready Already" (Barod yn Barod)

With Estyn’s inspection arrangements focusing on the narrative of improvement and removing summative gradings, the pressure is on schools to tell their own story.

iAbacus supports the Barod yn Barod ("Ready Already") philosophy. Because the evaluation is a living, breathing process within the tool—updated as progress is made—leaders do not need to panic upon receiving a notification. The platform can generate a professional PDF report of the curriculum journey with one click. It demonstrates where the school started, the actions taken, and the current position.

Take the Next Step

The Curriculum for Wales is an exciting opportunity to shape education for learners. The administration of reviewing it shouldn't slow that progress down.

iAbacus offers the structure to be rigorous, the flexibility to be creative, and the simplicity to get the job done.

Curious about how this works for your school? You can book a personalised demo or start a free trial to explore the specific Curriculum for Wales templates available on the platform.