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.
