How to Write a Scheme of Work Under CBC in Kenya

A scheme of work is the bridge between the curriculum design and your daily lessons. Get it right at the start of the term and lesson planning, assessment and records all become easier. Get it wrong and you spend every Sunday evening rebuilding it.

This guide walks through how to write a CBC scheme of work, whether you teach Junior School subjects like Pre-Technical Studies or any other learning area.

What is a scheme of work?

A scheme of work is a term-long plan showing what you will teach, in what order, and how you will teach and assess it. It breaks the curriculum design for your learning area and grade into weekly and lesson-by-lesson steps that fit the real length of the term.

It is not the same as a lesson plan. The scheme is the roadmap for the whole term. Each lesson plan is a detailed plan for one lesson, built from one row of the scheme.

What a CBC scheme of work usually contains

Schools and sub-counties sometimes ask for slightly different templates, so always check the format your head teacher or head of department expects. Most CBC schemes include these columns:

• Week and lesson number: where each lesson sits in the term.
• Strand and sub-strand: the topic area taken from the KICD curriculum design.
• Specific learning outcomes: what learners should be able to do by the end of the lesson. Write these as observable actions.
• Key inquiry question(s): the guiding questions that push learners to explore the topic.
• Learning experiences: what learners will actually do, such as group work, demonstrations, discussions, practical tasks or projects.
• Learning resources: textbooks, charts, real objects, tools, digital devices.
• Assessment methods: observation, oral questions, written tasks, checklists, practical tasks.
• Reflection: space to note what worked and what to revisit.

Step-by-step: writing your scheme

1. Start with the curriculum design

Open the KICD curriculum design for your learning area and grade. List the strands and sub-strands for the term in the order the design suggests. This keeps you aligned with what will be assessed. KICD revised its curriculum designs after the rationalisation of learning areas, so download the current version rather than reusing an old copy.

2.Count your real teaching weeks

A term on paper is not a term in practice. Remove opening week disruptions, midterm breaks, school events, exams and public holidays. Many teachers plan for around 12 teaching weeks, but your calendar decides, not a default.

3.Spread the sub-strands across the weeks

Give heavier or more practical sub-strands more time. Leave one or two buffer lessons near assessments for revision or catch-up. A scheme with no slack breaks the first time a lesson is missed.

4.Write clear learning outcomes

Use action words learners can show: identify, demonstrate, make, compare, explain. Avoid vague wording like "understand" or "know about", because you can't observe those.

5.Choose learning experiences that match the outcome

CBC is learner-centred, so each lesson should give learners something to do. For a practical learning area, that might be handling tools, building a model or solving a real problem. Match the activity to the outcome. If the outcome is "make", the lesson needs making, not only talking.

6.List resources you can actually get

Plan around materials your school has or your learners can bring. A resource list full of items you will never find makes the scheme look good and the lessons harder.

7.Decide how you will assess

Pick the assessment method for each lesson now. This also makes your records easier to keep, because you already know what evidence you are collecting. To see how this fits the wider picture, read CBC assessment in Kenya explained and strand-based grading explained.

8.Review and reflect

Fill in the reflection column after each week. Notes like "Lesson 3 needed more time" become your adjustments for next term.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Copying last term's scheme without updating dates and weeks. Always rebuild against the current calendar.
• Too many sub-strands in too few weeks. Rushing is worse than leaving something for a later week.
• Learning experiences that are just "teacher explains". Add learner activity.
• No link to assessment. If you can't say how you'll check the outcome, rewrite it.
• Skipping the reflection column. It is the cheapest way to improve each term.

How to save time

Writing a full scheme from scratch for every class and every term is repetitive work. Two habits help:

1.Keep a master scheme per learning area and grade, then adjust the weeks and resources each term.

2.Use a tool for the first draft. DARASA's scheme of work generator drafts a scheme for your grade, learning area and number of weeks, and you then edit it to fit your class. Try it free. Always check the output against the current KICD curriculum design before using it.

For more tools that help with planning, see our guide to the best lesson planning apps in Kenya.

Once your scheme is ready, turning each row into a lesson plan takes minutes instead of hours, and assessing the work afterwards is faster too. See how AI exam marking works in Kenya for the next step in that workflow.

Frequently asked questions

Is a scheme of work the same as a lesson plan?

No. A scheme covers the whole term. A lesson plan covers a single lesson in detail.

How many weeks should a scheme of work cover?

As many teaching weeks as your school calendar actually gives you, after removing breaks, exams and events.

Do I need to submit my scheme of work?

Most schools require schemes to be handed to the head teacher or department head at the start of term. Follow your school's own deadline and format.

Can I use AI to write my scheme of work?

Yes, as a starting draft. You remain responsible for checking it against the curriculum design and adapting it to your learners, resources and calendar.

Sources and further reading

• KICD curriculum designs – the official Junior School curriculum designs.
• Grade 9 won't be moved, says KICD (People Daily) – on Junior School staying as Grades 7–9 and the revised designs being on the KICD website.