Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Rose Review of the Primary Curriculum final report is published.
Sir Jim Rose's proposals for the Primary curriculum in England focus on the principle that "the touchstone of an excellent curriculum is that it instills in children a love of learning for its own sake."
The much anticipated conclusions of Sir Jim Rose's comprehensive review of the Primary curriculum in England proposes a learning framework designed to develop a wide range of skills and competencies in children from a young age with an emphasis on "promoting a stronger focus on curriculum progression."
The key proposals are:
*Personal Development is accepted as the identified key to raising standards.
* Literacy, Numeracy, ICT and Personal Development form the core of the Primary curriculum.
* An increased emphasis on spoken communication.
* Six new areas of learning to form the focus for teaching and learning. (Listed below)
* Essentials for Life, are Key Skills identified as criteria for meeting the personal development progression for children. (Listed below.)
* Strengthening the teaching and learning of ICT to enable curriculum success.
* All Primary schools to teach one or two foreign languages.
* Smoothing the transition from Early Years to Primary.
The government has accepted all the Rose Review Recomendations and plans to implement the new Primary curriculum in September 2011.
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, supported the view that the increased emphasis on personal and social competencies should be both integral to and enhance the whole curriculum : "It is a nonsense to suggest that it is an either or choice between learning history and geography on one hand; and learning about personal skills and well-being on the other."
The new curriculum will ensure that for future learners the personal, learning and thinking skills introduced in the English secondary curriculum last year will be a progression of the competencies they have developed in Primary school.
The six areas of learning are:
Understanding English, Communication and Languages
Mathematical Understanding
Understanding of the Arts
Historical, Geographical and social understanding
Understanding physical development, health and well-being
Scientific and technological understanding
The review provides a detailed breakdown of how schools can plan and assess their own success in delivering "essentials" of the new curriculum, whilst at the same time emphasising the flexible and localised approach to content. These are referred to as Essentials for Life and draft programmes of study for each "essential" are included in the review.
The Essentials for Life draft Programmes of Study:
Learning and thinking skills
Focus: Children have the skills to learn effectively.
They can plan, research and critically evaluate, using reasoned arguments to support conclusions.
They think creatively, making original connections and generating ideas.
They consider alternative solutions to problems.
Children learn how to:
1. Investigate, asking relevant questions, identifying problems, analysing and judging the value of information and ideas, questioning assumptions. They plan systematically using time and resources effectively, anticipating, taking and managing risks
2. Create and develop, using their imagination to explore possibilities and generate ideas. They try out innovative alternatives, looking for patterns, recognising differences and making generalisations, predicting outcomes and making reasoned decisions
3. Communicate, interacting with different audiences in a variety of ways using a range of media
4. Evaluate, developing criteria for judging work and suggesting refinements and improvements.
Personal and emotional skills
Focus: Children recognise how and when they learn best and can identify and address barriers to learning.
They take responsibility for their own learning and show initiative, perseverance and a commitment to self-improvement.
They recognise that achievement builds self-confidence and resilience, enabling them to deal positively with praise and constructive criticism.
Children learn how to:
1. Identify their strengths and areas for development
2. Manage their feelings using appropriate strategies, becoming increasingly aware of their own and others’ feelings
3. Reflect on past achievements and experiences to manage future learning and behaviour.
4. Set goals for their personal development and learning, and work towards them
5. Work independently, knowing when to seek help, dealing with pressures and deadlines
6. Control their own physical movements in a range of contexts with skill, dexterity and confidence.
Social skills
Focus: Children develop the skills to work well with other people.
They are responsible and adaptable and anticipate others’ views and feelings.
They appreciate the value of rules for working together, and play an active part in group and classroom activities.
Children learn how to:
1. Listen and respond appropriately to a wide range of people, showing empathy and understanding, and the confidence to raise their concerns
2. Adapt their behaviour to suit different situations
3. Work collaboratively towards common goals
4. Take turns and share as appropriate, stating their own views and needs
5. Negotiate, respecting others’ rights and responsibilities, and use strategies to resolve disputes and conflicts
6. Give constructive support and feedback to benefit others as well as themselves.
Literacy
Focus: Children use and apply their literacy skills confidently and competently in their learning and in everyday contexts.
They convey ideas and opinions clearly, and respond creatively and critically to a wide range of information and ideas.
Children learn how to:
1. Read fluently, listen and respond critically to texts of all kinds, on paper and on screen, in order to access ideas and information
2. Talk clearly and confidently about their thoughts, opinions and ideas, listening carefully to others so that they can refine their thinking and express themselves effectively
3. Write, present and broadcast a range of ideas, in a wide variety of forms and with awareness of different audiences and purposes; communicate these ideas with accuracy on paper, on screen and through multimodal texts
4. Analyse, evaluate and criticise a range of uses of language in order to draw out meaning, purpose and effect.
Numeracy
Focus: Children use and apply mathematics confidently and competently in their learning and in everyday contexts.
They recognise where mathematics can be used to solve problems and are able to interpret a wide range of mathematical data.
Children learn how to:
1. Represent and model situations using mathematics, using a range of tools and applying logic and reasoning in order to predict, plan and try out optionsU2. use numbers and measurements to support both accurate calculation and an understanding of scale, in order to make reasonable estimations
3. Interpret and interrogate mathematical data in graphs, spreadsheets and diagrams, in order to draw inferences, recognise patterns and trends, and assess likelihood and risk
4. Use mathematics to justify and support decisions and proposals, communicating accurately using mathematical language and conventions, symbols and diagrams.
ICT capability
Focus: Children use and apply their ICT knowledge, skills and understanding confidently and competently in their learning and in everyday contexts.
They become independent and discerning users of technology, recognising opportunities and risks and using strategies to stay safe.
Children learn how to:
1. Find and select information from digital and online sources, making judgements about accuracy and reliability
2. Create, manipulate and process information using technology to capture and organise data, in order to investigate patterns and trends; explore options using models and simulations; and combine still and moving images, sounds and text to create multimedia products
3. Collaborate, communicate and share information using connectivity to work with, and present to, people and audiences within and beyond the school
4. Refine and improve their work, making full use of the nature and pliability of digital information to explore options and improve outcomes.
The drafts are currently open to public consultation, led by the QCA. To read the report or any attached materials in full click here.
The broad basis of the Rose Review of the Primary Curriculum's recommendations was made known through its Intermin Report and after this was published the QCA commissioned NFER to survey Primary Teacher views on some key aspects of the proposals. The results, part of the Teacher Omnibus Survey have been published by NFER this month revealing a solid basis of support for the proposals.
68% of teachers surveyed agreed with dividing the Primary curriculum into broad areas of learning, a majority supported a higher proportion of cross-curricular teaching, 76% agreed that Primary schools should teach modern languages and 85% agreed that a review of the curriculum should consider the Early Years Foundation Stage and the statutory Primary curriculum as a whole. Read the full report here.