Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Over 80% of parents in UK feel life skills and competencies are as important as English and Maths
A DCSF report published on 30th April reveals support from parents for the teaching and learning of life skills in Primary School.
The Primary School Curriculum, Omnibus Survey was conducted by the research group Taylor, Nelson, Sofres (TNS) on behalf of the UK government agency, Central Office of Information (COI) in order to provide the DSCF with information regarding the views of parents about proposed changes to the Primary curriculum in English schools.
The survey sought the views of parents of children aged 0-18 through 918 face-to-face interviews in March, 2009 and published the results at the end of April.
"Over 80% of parents interviewed agreed that children should learn life skills such as effective communication, team-work and creative thinking at Primary School."
"83% of parents said these skills were as important as English and Maths."
The survey asked all respondents to list the five most important subjects or skills gained by children at the end of Primary school. The results across parents of all children in all age groups between ages 0-18 were the same:
• Reading and writing
• Maths
• Learnt how to respect each other
• Learnt to be healthy and stay safe
• Information Technology (IT)
When asked about the approach which should be taken in the teaching and learning of these skills over 90% of parents supported the statement that young children should" learn through play at Primary school." 92% agreed that the "new six areas of learning proposed in The Rose Review should help children to develop their reading, maths and life skills."
To read the report in full click here
The Rose Review of the Primary Curriculum recommends personal development forms part of the core primary curriculum alongside numeracy, literacy and ICT. This research appears to strongly support this view. We have a further article detailing the Rose Review recommendations in this newsletter