Cambridge Primary Review - back to basics?

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Cambridge Primary Review - back to basics?

The much-anticipated Cambridge Primary Review was published earlier this month. The Review is a wide-ranging independent enquiry into the condition and future of primary education in England.

The outcome making headlines was the suggestion that formal education should start at six, not five as it currently stands.

Other recommendations include reforming SATs and scrapping league tables; introducing subject specialists alongside general specialists; extending the early years curriculum to Year 1 and increasing the amount of formative teacher assessment. These points haven’t yet reached the media debate, but they are core issues to be discussed.

Many independent schools have already abandoned SATs in favour of a more informative and broader style of assessment and many employ a teaching model which uses subject specialists alongside general primary teachers.

A school’s curriculum and teaching and learning strategies should reflect the needs of the pupils in the school. As at Roedean Junior School, school should support and challenge children at whatever their age, level of attainment and individual needs are.

I wonder whether this will be branded ‘back to basics’ as previous reports have been? In 2010 a new primary curriculum will be launched. Will this be ‘back to basics’ too?

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Read the Guardian's summary of the Cambridge Primary Review findings

Vernon Coaker, Schools Minister 'Why the Government is rejecting the findings'

By Hugh May, Head, Roedean Junior School at Monday, 26 October 2009

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