Wrestling with Curriculum for Wales? It doesn't have to be this hard.
The Curriculum for Wales is already in place, but ensuring that there are clear expectations and in-built progression that lead to improved standards is a real challenge.
Schools are expected to build a curriculum that is unique, responsive and continually evolving, while also showing clear alignment to progression, what matters and the four purposes.
In reality many schools have a range of documentation ranging from spreadsheets to Word documents that make it difficult to have an accurate overview of expectations and progression. Finding gaps in provision is challenging.
Rainbow Curriculum is different. It is built specifically for the Curriculum for Wales. It reflects how CfW actually works in primary and secondary schools.
Have a look. Try it out. We would love to support your school's journey with the Curriculum for Wales.
Mike and Tom
The Rainbow Curriculum Team
Estyn Annual Report 🤝 Rainbow Curriculum Tool
Estyn's Annual Report highlights recurring challenges across Welsh schools: expectations that are too low, progression that lacks coherence, thinking skills that go unplanned, and self-evaluation that stays surface-level.
Rainbow Curriculum was built to address exactly these findings. From clear expectations at every stage, to built-in cross-curricular skills tracking, structured thinking tools, and meaningful coverage reports, every feature maps directly to what Estyn is asking schools to improve.
Key findings from Estyn's Annual Report
"Where we saw weaknesses in pupils' learning, expectations were too low, lessons were slow-paced, and feedback was inconsistent."
"Close to a third are making slower progress in providing coherent, progressive learning experiences."
"Too often, self-evaluation is superficial, compliance-driven and insufficiently focused on learners' progress."
Clear expectations and progression built into every stage of learning.
Cross-curricular skills, thinking tools, and cross-cutting themes planned and tracked.
Coverage reports that give you real self-evaluation, not tick-box compliance.
From scattered plans to one clear overview.
Rainbow Curriculum brings all your curriculum thinking into one place, so staff can see what's taught, where, and how it connects.
Drag and drop Descriptions of Learning's into subjects and stages
Everything you need from the Curriculum for Wales, already built in and ready to work with.
Areas of Learning and Experience
Cross-cutting Themes
Statements of What Matters
Literacy & Numeracy Framework
Progression Steps
Digital Competence Framework
Descriptions of Learning
Add cross curricular links to Descriptions of Learning
Set expectations using Estyn's quantitative descriptors
Add literacy, numeracy and digital competence frameworks to Descriptions of Learning
Add Cross-Cutting Themes to Descriptions of Learning
Everything you need from the Curriculum for Wales, already built in and ready to work with.
Reports that give you confidence
Answers to questions you've never been able to (easily) answer, with clear progression when Estyn ask for it.
Turn a What Matters statement into a clear, measurable picture of progression, strengths and gaps in coverage across the Descriptions of Learning. Ready to export and print.
Interrogate your curriculum using powerful filters and live metrics to answer questions across every Description of Learning
View curriculum through different lenses
See how vocabulary, experiences, inquiry and thinking develop across your whole curriculum, not just what's taught where.
Explore your curriculum through powerful lenses
Vocabulary
Makes expectations clear by defining the language pupils should know and use at each stage.
Experiences
Guarantees every learner benefits from the trips, events and real-world opportunities that build cultural capital.
Inquiry
Frames learning around meaningful questions that drive curiosity and deeper understanding.
Thinking Tools
Builds a visible progression in how pupils organise, analyse and extend their thinking.
Add your own lenses to suit your school.
Why A Rainbow?
A rainbow has distinct bands of colour, but the boundaries aren't sharp. One slowly becomes the next. That's how progression works.
Each band maps to a stage: Red for Nursery, through to Pot of Gold for Year Six. If a child in the yellow band can do this, a child in the green band should be able to do that. Progression is built in.
Children in the same class will be working in different bands. That's expected. Over time, teachers stop thinking in year groups and start thinking about where each child actually is.
As standards rise, the bands shift too. Rainbow Curriculum makes all of this visible.
The answer is YES!
Can curriculum planning actually feel manageable?
With Rainbow Curriculum the answer is YES.
Can we see our whole curriculum in one place? YES!
Can we show clear progression across year groups? YES!
Can we see what each class is teaching? YES!
Can we check coverage without digging through documents? YES!
Can we make expectations clear? YES!
Can we spot gaps and overlaps instantly? YES!
Can we see where What Matters is actually covered? YES!
Can we map descriptions of learning without spreadsheets? YES!
Can we show stakeholders and inspectors our progression clearly? YES!
Can AoLE leads see exactly what their teams are doing? YES!
Can SLT get a whole-school view in seconds? YES!
Can teachers see only the parts relevant to them? YES!
Can we track changes without losing older versions? YES!
Can we keep everyone working from the same curriculum? YES!
Can we avoid duplicating units across year groups? YES!
Can we quickly check if skills are taught more than once? YES!
Can we see how a single concept progresses over time? YES!
Can new staff quickly understand the curriculum and their role in teaching it? YES!
Can we compare year-group coverage side by side? YES!
Can we answer the questions we're usually asked in inspections? YES!
Can we be "ready already" for Estyn? YES!
Can we finally retire all those spreadsheets? YES!
Join the waitlist
We (Mike and Tom) are opening Rainbow Curriculum to a small number of schools in Wales each month. Join the waitlist to secure early access.
We want to make the best possible curriculum tool for Wales, so we're taking our time and working closely with a handful of schools who want to help shape it.
As an early school, your feedback will directly influence what we build next and how the tool evolves.
Available slots
March
0 spots left
April
3 spots left
May
4 spots left
June
4 spots left
July
6 spots left
August
6 spots left
Included with your plan
All 6 AoLEs
Included
Team Members
Unlimited
Reports
Full access
CfW Curriculum
Included
Cross-curricular
Links included
Exports
Unlimited
Progression
Year-by-year view
Support
Waitlist offer
Founding member pricing
We'll review your application and be in touch
Still have questions?
Here are some answers to common questions about Rainbow Curriculum.
Rainbow Curriculum was created by Mike Glavin and Tom Meehan, working directly with Welsh schools who were struggling to make the Curriculum for Wales actually work in practice.
Mike has spent years supporting schools through curriculum development. The harsh reality was that many schools had scattered documentation, unclear progression, and staff who felt overwhelmed. We built Rainbow Curriculum because curriculum planning shouldn't be this hard.
We wanted to create something that reflects how CfW actually works in real schools, not how it's described in policy documents.
Because the gap between what schools are expected to do and what's actually manageable is huge.
Schools are told to build a curriculum that is unique, responsive and continually evolving, while also showing clear alignment to progression, what matters and the four purposes. In reality, this means juggling spreadsheets, Word documents and a constant nagging feeling that you're missing something important.
Rainbow Curriculum brings it all into one place. It's built specifically for the Curriculum for Wales and designed to answer the questions Estyn actually asks.
The lenses let you view your curriculum through different perspectives, so you can focus on one thing at a time without losing sight of the whole picture.
Vocabulary - Makes expectations clear by defining the language pupils should know and use at each stage.
Experiences - Guarantees every learner benefits from the trips, events and real-world opportunities that build cultural capital.
Inquiry - Frames learning around meaningful questions that drive curiosity and deeper understanding.
Thinking Tools - Builds a visible progression in how pupils organise, analyse and extend their thinking.
You can also add your own lenses to suit your school.
It's built on a few core principles:
Everything in one place - No more hunting through folders, spreadsheets and documents. Your entire curriculum lives in one system.
CfW baked in - All six AoLEs, cross-cutting themes, statements of what matters, progression steps, literacy and numeracy frameworks, digital competence, descriptions of learning. It's already there.
Clear progression - Using Estyn's quantitative descriptors, so when they ask, you can show them exactly how progression works across your school.
Cross-curricular thinking - Because learning doesn't happen in neat subject boxes. Rainbow Curriculum makes it easy to show where skills and concepts connect.
Practical, not theoretical - It's designed for how schools actually work, not how policy documents say they should work.
We'll review your application and be in touch. We're opening Rainbow Curriculum to a small number of schools each month (check the spots remaining for each month on the site).
As a founding member school, you'll get:
• Whole school access at £495/year (normal price £695)
• Priority support
• Your feedback will directly shape what we build next
• You'll help make the best possible curriculum tool for Wales
We're deliberately taking our time and working closely with early schools because we want to get this right.
No. Rainbow Curriculum is built specifically for the Curriculum for Wales. It includes all six AoLEs, progression steps, statements of what matters, the digital competence framework and everything else unique to CfW.
If you're outside Wales, it won't work for your context. This is a feature, not a bug - we'd rather build one thing brilliantly for Welsh schools than try to be everything to everyone.
Founding member pricing: ÂŁ495/year (normal price ÂŁ695)
This includes:
• All 6 AoLEs
• Unlimited team members
• Full access to all reports
• Complete CfW curriculum content
• Cross-curricular links
• Unlimited exports
• Year-by-year progression view
• Email support
This is whole-school access. Everyone on your team can use it.
Most schools are juggling spreadsheets, Word documents, shared drives and various planning formats. Finding gaps is hard. Showing progression is harder. Answering Estyn's questions involves frantic searching and hoping you've got everything.
Rainbow Curriculum gives you:
• One single place for all curriculum planning
• Instant visibility of what's taught, where, and how it connects
• Clear progression using Estyn's descriptors
• Reports that answer the questions you're actually asked
• The ability to spot gaps and overlaps immediately
• Confidence when preparing for inspection
It's the difference between scattered plans and one clear overview.
Everything you need from the Curriculum for Wales is already built in:
• Areas of Learning and Experience
• Cross-cutting Themes
• Statements of What Matters
• Literacy & Numeracy Framework
• Progression Steps
• Digital Competence Framework
• Descriptions of Learning
You don't have to build this from scratch. It's there, ready to work with.
Yes. Unlimited exports included. You can generate reports and export them whenever you need them - whether that's for governors, Estyn, SLT, or your own planning.
Unlimited team members. Your whole school staff can access Rainbow Curriculum. Teachers see the parts relevant to them, AoLE leads see what their teams are doing, SLT get a whole-school view in seconds.
No. Rainbow Curriculum tracks changes without losing older versions. You can see how your curriculum has evolved over time.
Email support is included. As a founding member school, you also get priority support.
We want to make the best possible curriculum tool for Wales. That means working closely with a small number of schools who will genuinely use it, give honest feedback, and help shape what we build next.
Scaling too fast means we can't give schools the attention they deserve. We'd rather grow slowly and get it right.
Head to the homepage and complete the waitlist form. We'll review your application and be in touch about the next available spot.
Not yet, but we're working closely with founding member schools who are helping us build the best version of Rainbow Curriculum. Join the waitlist and we'll show you exactly what you're getting before you commit.
If Rainbow Curriculum isn't right for your school, we'll tell you. We want schools who'll genuinely use it, not ones who'll pay and ignore it.
That depends on where you're starting from.
Starting fresh? You can begin building your curriculum in Rainbow Curriculum immediately. Everything from the Curriculum for Wales is already there - you just start mapping your school's approach to it.
Already got planning done? You can add your existing curriculum content into Rainbow Curriculum, so you're building on what you've already done rather than starting from scratch.
Yes. We're Cyber Essentials certified and Crown Commercial aligned.
Your school's curriculum data is stored securely, backed up regularly, and we only collect what we need to make the tool work. We don't sell your data or use it for anything other than providing the service.
If you want the detailed technical stuff, get in touch and we'll walk you through it.
Yes, you can export reports.
The Rainbow Curriculum Team
Mike Glavin and Tom Meehan have spent years building tools for schools and universities in Wales. Rainbow Curriculum is what they learned along the way.
Mike has spent 30 years in Welsh education as a headteacher, assistant director of education, and managing director of regional consortia. He's worked with many schools, often focussing on leadership. When he's in schools, he sees the same issues with realising Curriculum for Wales: lack of clarity, no clear progression, mountains of documentation, no clear overview for leaders, and dropping standards.
Mike believes that many schools need support in developing their curriculum. When teachers know exactly what pupils need to learn at each stage, they can use their professional judgment to develop authentic learning experiences to engage learners and raise standards. That's why Rainbow Curriculum keeps everything in one place and makes progression visible. No spreadsheets. No guesswork.
Tom builds the software. He makes sure it works and stays working.
He's been building software for 10 years. He's seen what happens when tools try to do too much or break when you need them most. Rainbow Curriculum doesn't do that. It does the job and gets out of your way.