December 2008
Monday 8 December 2008 BBC Radio 4 Today programme
The Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum: Interim Report
Sir Jim Rose was on the Today programme this morning
and his Interim Report was published shortly afterwards. Here are some
of the Key Recommendations that are directly relevant to children’s
enjoyment of, and achievement in maths (you and us in other words!):
Recommendation 5
Six
proposed new areas of learning to include Mathematical understanding,
along with Understanding English, communication and languages;
Scientific and technological understanding; Human, social and
environmental understanding; Understanding physical health and
well-being; Understanding the arts and design (p.36). There is a useful
overview diagram on p.39
Recommendation 4
“neither discrete subject teaching nor cross-curricular studies must disappear from primary schools”
Recommendation 7
“Primary
schools must continue to give priority to literacy and numeracy, whilst
making sure that serious attention is paid to developing spoken
language intensively as an attribute in its own right...”
Recommendation 11
“The Review will consider how best to support teachers and practitioners to provide effective play-based learning”
Some comments that we found particularly interesting from the body of the Report:
2.19
“...understanding is fore grounded as the crowning attribute derived
from the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills”
2.20
“The over-arching importance of understanding is well illustrated in
the latest Ofsted report on mathematics, which shows, yet again, that
children may know and have the skills to do sums but they do not
understand what sums to do when faced with a real life mathematical
problem; this is often because they have too few opportunities to use
and apply their knowledge and skills”
2.24 “...literacy
and numeracy...skills should be secured through rigorous, discrete
teaching and used and applied across the curriculum through each area
of learning”
2.25 “...the concept of literacy has also
broadened (to include) for example, scientific, technological,
mathematical and economic ‘literacy’...
2.34 quotes the
recent Royal Society Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education’s
suggested key ideas in maths including Place value and the number
system; Conservation of number and measures; Equivalence Relations;
Dimensionality
2.47 “...in keeping with the
recommendations of the Williams Review, mathematics should pay
particular attention to securing facility with number in the primary
years.”
2.74 “Evidence suggests that children would
benefit if the Key Stage 1 curriculum, particularly in Year 1, provided
more opportunities for exploratory play.”
Also of interest
Recommendation 6
the QCA are to examine whether the new primary curriculum could/should be set out over 3 x 2year phases.
Here is a link to the Review website and this is the Report itself.
The consultation period on this Interim Report ends on 28th February
2009 and Sir Jim’s final Report will be published towards the end of
the Spring term.
