Mick Waters
Director of Curriculum,
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
Mick’s role at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is ‘to develop a modern, world-class curriculum that will inspire and challenge all learners and prepare them for the future’. He finds it fascinating!
Mick believes the curriculum should be treasured and valued and that it needs to be shaped to fit with children’s lives. To make the curriculum work, people in schools need to set understandings of their children alongside the learning they should meet to create learning that is irresistible.
Previously, Mick was Chief Education Officer for the City of Manchester. In a challenging education environment schools worked hard to break the cycle of urban deprivation, promoting a wide and rich curriculum and encouraging all learners to achieve as much as possible. Key agendas included the development of joint children’s services, the 14-19 strategy, the employment and skills dimension and configuring all this around Building Schools for the Future.
Before moving to Manchester Mick worked in Birmingham Local Education Authority. He drove forward a school improvement agenda which saw increasing achievements and increasingly successful schools seeking new horizons in educational development.
Previously Mick had experience of headship in two schools and of working in teacher training. He was also part of an Education Development Unit which worked on a contract basis with LEAs and other agencies across the UK and worldwide.
The role of Director of Curriculum at QCA enables Mick to work with all partners to develop a world class curriculum that offers all young people the chance to enjoy success at school and in later adult life. This involves exploring what really matters in learning and supporting new developments, linked to the five outcomes for children.
Mick believes in being close to teachers, children and schools, and is often to be found in the classroom working with children. He has written books on the curriculum, teaching and learning, and management, as well as making presentations at numerous national and international conferences. He is passionate about the role of education in improving life chances for pupils. He enjoys asking adults to look at learning through the eyes of a pupil.
