NLT response to the independent review of the
primary curriculum: the interim report
In December 2007 the DCSF published its Children’s Plan, a 10-year strategy
for improving the lives of all children across the United Kingdom. One of the
plan’s action points was a “root and branch review of the primary curriculum to
be carried out by Sir Jim Rose”.1 This month the interim report of that primary
review was published.
The review’s remit was laid out in a letter from Ed Balls to Jim Rose, which
asked him to look at five different areas of the primary years. The areas are:
• Curriculum design and content
• Reading, writing, numeracy and information communication
technology
• Personal development
• Transition and progression, including issues around summer born
children
• Introducing languages at key stage 2.
Each of the five areas is considered individually in the report.
Perhaps the most striking consideration within the report is that the curriculum
should be re-organised into six areas of learning. These would replace the
core and foundation subjects that are currently taught in schools, with the aim
of making the curriculum more flexible. These areas of learning are also
designed to ensure greater application of core skills across the curriculum
enabling pupils to understand the real life applications of the skills learnt in
schools. Concern about pupils not being able to apply skills they’ve learned to
situations outside the classroom have been raised recently. For instance, the
latest Ofsted report on maths said that while many children have the skills to
do sums they do not understand which sums to do when faced with a real-life
situation.2
The National Literacy Trust (NLT) welcomes the report’s recognition of the
need to ensure that children understand the real-life application of the skills.
Encouragingly, the review also raises the related issue of attitudes to
education, something that is of fundamental importance to the development of
a young person as a learner. The report says there is “a strong case for
adding the development of good attitudes” to knowledge, skills and
understanding to create four “organisers” of curricular content. Given the
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2
DCSF (2007) The Children’s Plan
Ofsted (2008) Mathematics: understanding the score
strong research base that demonstrates the importance of reading for
pleasure, this is something the NLT would strongly advocate and would like to
see developed for the full report.3
One of the six areas of learning, “understanding English, communication and
languages” directly relates to literacy, although the report recommends core
skills should be taught consistently across the curriculum. As this is an interim
report specific details are largely absent. However, the focus on
communication is something that the NLT is particularly pleased to see
included.
Throughout the document literacy is taken to include reading, writing,
speaking and listening, something which is crucial if significant progress is
going to be made on literacy. Speaking and listening skills are particularly
valued by employers, as highlighted by a recent NLT breakfast discussing
literacy in the workplace.4 In the NLT’s response to the initial consultation, we
stated that “speaking and listening are the essential foundations of literacy”,
and that leaving speaking and listening out of the original literacy strategy was
an error. Hopefully, a future focus on all four strands of literacy will rectify
these mistakes.
The report strongly advocates consistency across the curriculum, as well as
continuity between phases of a young person’s education. The jump from the
early years into formal primary education is a difficult transition for many
young people and the interim report explores ways in which primary education
can be dovetailed with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to help
young children deal with the progression. The jump from primary into
secondary education is also a difficult time for young people and the report is
less explicit about how this transition will be managed, although basing the
primary curriculum on similar principles to those articulated in the secondary
curriculum aims towards this.
Outside of school the most important factor in a child’s education is the family,
and the importance of the family is something which is still not fully recognised
by the education system. Families are largely ignored in the interim report,
with far more emphasis placed on curriculum design and content. While the
remit letter did not mention links outside of school, the family has a key role to
play in reading, writing and numeracy, personal development, and transition
and progression. If continuity throughout a child’s school life is to become a
reality then the family is essential.
The NLT believes the report is a very promising step towards a primary
curriculum for the future. The interim report is the first stage, and consultation
and development are still taking place. There is a consultation period being
managed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), with events
being held between January and March 2009, while responses to the review
3
Since the publication of the interim report, Sir Jim Rose has been quoted saying there will
be a focus on reading for pleasure in the final report (bookseller.com).
4
NLT (2008) Bridging the literacy gap between schools and education
are being taken 28 February 2009.5 Furthermore, any curriculum changes
would not come into force until 2011, so this should be certainly be
considered as early planning. However, the progress so far is both interesting
and encouraging, and the NLT is particularly pleased to see the recognition of
speaking and listening skills and a mention of the importance of attitudes.
George Dugdale
Policy adviser, National Literacy Trust
December 2008
National Literacy Trust is a registered charity, no. 1116260, and a company limited by
guarantee, no. 5836486. Registered address: 68 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1RL.
Registered in England and Wales.
Tel: 020 7587 1842. Email: contact@literacytrust.org.uk. Website: www.literacytrust.org.uk.
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Visit www.dcsf.gov.uk/primarycurriculumreview for details