The author first discusses traditional styles of curriculum delivery, commenting on the characteristics of 'annual packages', where students are taught and expected to learn curriculum content that is common to those in their current grade. He then comments on various ways in which students are currently organised and taught in attempts to overcome the limitations of grouping by age/grade, and uses examples from research to evaluate the relative effectiveness. He addresses a range of significant issues, including conditions for learning, classroom structures and standards-based reforms, before looking at some of the possibilities for improved practice in future. These include an emphasis on continuity in learning, a focus on deep learning, the development of shared maps of learning, a reconceptualisation of the relationship between learning and assessment, more flexible arrangements for learning and a new approach to the monitoring of growth in order to identify and meet individual student learning needs.