THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW - INTRODUCING
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INTRODUCING THE CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW
CONTENTS
4 CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY REVIEW
About the Review
5 INTRODUCTION
What is and what could be
8 SIGNPOSTS
A glimpse of the future...
10 LEGACIES
Plus ça change?
12 CHILDREN AND CHILDHOOD
Age of empowerment
14 NARROW THE GAP
Divided England
16 NEW STRUCTURES
All to play for
18 WHAT IS PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR?
In search of meaning
22 TOWARDS A NEW CURRICULUM
Breadth of life
24 The eight domains
26 Next steps
28 FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY
Free to talk
30 ASSESSMENT
Summary justice
32 STANDARDS
See the whole picture
34 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
In defiance of compliance
36 PRIMARY SCHOOL STAFFING
Call in the specialists?
38 SCHOOLS FOR THE FUTURE
Communal sense
40 POLICY
Decentralisation nation
42 Plea for fairer funding
ABOU T T H E CA M B R I D G E P R I M A RY R EV I E W
T
he Cambridge Primary conclusions together with
What the Review Review is an recommendations for both
investigated independent enquiry national policy and the work of
into the condition and schools and other relevant
The 3 overarching perspectives future of primary education in agencies.’
• Children and childhood today England. It is based at the The Review has stuck closely
• The society and world in which children are University of Cambridge, to this remit. Its scope is
growing up supported by Esmée Fairbairn exceptionally broad, and is
• The condition and future of primary Foundation and directed by defined in terms of 10 themes
education Professor Robin Alexander. and three overarching
After nearly three years of perspectives (see box). In
The 10 educational themes planning and consultation the relation to each of these,
• Purposes and values Review was launched in October evidence is combined with
• Learning and teaching 2006. Between October 2007 vision. That is to say, the Review
• Curriculum and assessment and February 2009 the Review has investigated how and how
• Quality and standards published 31 interim reports: an well the system currently works
• Diversity and inclusion account of its regional and how it should change in
• Settings and professionals community soundings, 28 order to meet the needs of
• Parenting, caring and educating specially-commissioned surveys children and society during the
• Children’s lives beyond the school of relevant research and a two- coming decades.
• Structures and phases volume report on the primary The mix of evidence and
• Funding, governance and policy curriculum. Now, exactly three methods has been carefully
years after its launch, Routledge judged: invited opinion is
is publishing the Review’s final balanced by published research;
Vital statistics report and recommendations data has been collected from
(see back cover for order details) both official and independent
The balance of evidence and the Review enters its final sources; formal written
• Submissions (written): 1,052 (shortest 1 phase. submissions from national
page, longest 300 pages) The Review was required by organisations are contrasted
• Soundings (regional): 87 meetings in 9 its remit to ‘identify the with open-ended discussions
regional locations purposes which the primary with those at the front line,
• Soundings (national): 150 meetings and phase of education should serve, including children, teachers,
other events the values which it should parents and a wide range of
• Surveys of published research: 28, espouse, the curriculum and community representatives.
evaluating over 3,000 published sources learning environment which it One way or another, many
• Searches of official data: not quantifiable should provide, and the thousands of people have been
• Emails received: thousands conditions which are necessary involved, but the final report is
• Sources cited in the reports: 4,000+ in order to ensure both that due primarily to the efforts of
these are of the highest and ‘the Cambridge Primary Review
Spreading the word most consistent quality possible, 100’ – the core team at
• Interim reports: 31 and that they address the needs Cambridge led by Robin
• Briefing papers: 39 of children and society over the Alexander, the advisory
• Media releases: 14 coming decades’; to ‘pay close committee chaired by Gillian
• Media articles by the Review: 10 regard to national and Pugh, the management group
• Media articles about the Review: hundreds international evidence from chaired on behalf of Esmée
• Final report: 1 research, inspection and other Fairbairn Foundation by Hilary
• Final report companion volume: 1 sources ... to seek the advice of Hodgson, the 66 academic
• Final report booklet: 1 expert advisers and witnesses, consultants from more than 20
and invite submissions and take university departments who
soundings from a wide range of prepared the research surveys,
interested agencies and and of course the final report’s
individuals, both statutory and 14 authors.
non-statutory;’ and finally to
‘publish both interim findings
and a final report combining
evidence, analysis and
4 T O O R D E R T H E C A M B R I D G E P R I M A RY
INTROD U CT I O N TO T H E CA M B R I D G E P R I M A RY REVIEW
What is and what
could be
T
his booklet announces its schools. But today’s Britain is diverse, divided and
the publication of unsure of itself. Some argue the virtues of multi-
Children, their world, culturalism. Others deplore the loss of social cohesion,
their education: final collective identity and common values. Meanwhile,
report and recommendations of the gaps in wealth, well-being and educational
the Cambridge Primary Review. attainment are far wider than in many other countries,
The Review is the first and a significant minority of children and families
comprehensive investigation remain at the margins. It’s time to look again at the
of English primary education relationship between education and social progress.
in 40 years and this booklet • Globalisation brings unprecedented opportunities,
Robin Alexander provides a glimpse of its many but there are darker visions. Many are daily denied
Director of the findings and insights. We hope their basic human rights and suffer extreme poverty,
Cambridge Primary you will read it, enjoy it and violence and oppression. As if that were not enough,
Review become intrigued to find out global warming may well make this the make-or-
more (see back cover). break century for humanity as a whole. What, in such
The final report marks the latest stage in a journey a world, and in the context of the UN Millennium
which so far has taken nearly six years: three for Development Goal of universalising primary
consultation and planning, three more for collecting education by 2015, is primary education for?
and analysing evidence and publishing the 31 interim • England’s primary schools are now part of a
reports, and now a period whose length we daren’t complex structure linking education with health,
predict but which is probably the most important of welfare and childcare, and children’s primary
all. For once the final report and recommendations are schooling with what precedes and follows it. Or, at
published we hope that they will be discussed and least, that’s the intention: but how coherent is the
acted on with the seriousness we believe they deserve. system really?
If that sounds presumptuous then readers should • Primary education suffers more than its fair share of
understand that the voices which the final report scaremongering and hyperbole, not to mention
distills are those not so much of its 14 authors as of the deliberate myth-making. Standards are rising /
thousands who gave evidence to the Review in the standards are plummeting ... Today’s teachers are the
hope that it would make a difference, and the best ever / teachers merely follow the latest gimmick ...
thousands more whose published work enabled us to Schools neglect the 3Rs / schools concentrate on the
set witnesses’ views in the larger context of national 3Rs to the detriment of everything else ... Children’s
and international policy and research. behaviour is deteriorating / children are better behaved
than ever... Today’s problems are all the fault of the
Why the Cambridge Primary Review? 1970s progressive ideologues / the 1970s were the
When we started on the journey we made the case golden age of primary education ... And so on.
thus: Wherein lies the truth? And isn’t it time to move on
• England’s primary schools have experienced two from the populism, polarisation and name-calling
decades of continuous yet piecemeal reform about which for too long have supplanted real educational
which considerable claims have been made, especially debate and progress? Children deserve better than this
in relation to educational standards. However, the from the nation’s leaders and shapers of opinion.
claims are not universally accepted and, properly • Despite all this, and the considerable advances in
assessed, the evidence may tell another story. In any research, there has been no comprehensive
event, the benefits and costs of all this activity need to investigation of English primary education since the
be evaluated. Plowden enquiry of 1967. The Cambridge Primary
• Our system of primary education was created to Review was devised in order to make good this
reflect a particular view of society and the place within deficiency, to ask and answer the necessary questions
it of the distinctly unprivileged masses who were to fill without fear or favour.
R E V I E W F I NA L R E P O RT, S E E BAC K C OV E R 5
INTRO D U CT I O N
What is in the final report? from then on, the interim reports influenced public
Others will judge whether the Review has succeeded discussion of childhood, testing, the curriculum,
in tackling the tasks and meeting the aspirations standards, policy and much else, and without doubt
above. It has certainly done its best. The 640-page final raised the profile of primary education. The effects are
report contains 24 chapters. The first two set the also evident in recent policy statements on
scene, reminding us how in certain key respects assessment, the national strategies, the curriculum
contemporary primary education remains tied to its and the balance of central and professional control.
Victorian roots, belying the sheen of modernisation. But the Cambridge Primary Review is not an official
Chapters 4-10 examine research evidence, policy and commission so its reports don’t stand or fall on how
witness views on children’s development and learning, they are received by the government which happens
their upbringing and lives outside school, their needs to be in office on the day that they are published. The
and their aspirations in a fast-changing world. Review is for all who are interested in primary
Chapters 11-18 explore what goes on in primary education, practitioners no less than policy-makers,
schools, from the formative early years to aims, values, parents and children as well as professionals.
curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, standards and Presented with the Review’s findings they can make
school organisation. Chapters 19-23 deal with the up their own minds. And the choice is not merely
system as a whole: its ages, stages and transitions; the between outright acceptance and rejection: there is
relationships between schools and other agencies; plenty of room here for the adaptation of the Review’s
teachers, training, leadership and workforce reform; ideas and proposals, and on many matters we
funding, governance and policy. Chapter 24 pulls explicitly invite further discussion and research.
everything together with 78 formal conclusions and Nor are the recommendations all that matters.
75 recommendations for policy and practice. Without the analysis and argument in the final report’s
first 23 chapters there can be no recommendations in
What happens next? chapter 24; and when, for the moment, the
The Cambridge Primary Review final report will be recommendations have been duly responded to, the
formally launched in London at an event hosted by the analysis and ideas remain for discussion and debate.
RSA (www.theRSA.org/events). Next, there will be 14 By keeping the discussion alive we can be sure that the
regional conferences for professional leaders in recommendations stay alive too. It took 40 years for
schools, local authorities, teacher training and the 1967 Plowden proposals on nursery provision to
research. These are being managed on our behalf by come close to fruition. On the other hand, the 1931
Teachers First and will take place between November Hadow report’s recommendation on the primary/
2009 and February 2010 in Birmingham, Bristol, secondary funding differential is still not implemented
Cambridge, Exeter, London, Manchester, Newcastle- 78 years on, even though there is widespread
upon-Tyne, Norwich, Nottingham, Preston, agreement that it should be. Meanwhile, several 19th-
Southampton and York (www.teachersfirst.org.uk/cpr). century legacies survive unquestioned (though not by
The final conference, back in Cambridge, will bring the Cambridge Review): England’s exceptionally early
together invited representatives of leading national start to formal schooling; the separation of infant/KS1
organisations to hear about issues raised during the and junior/KS2; the ‘cheap but efficient’ generalist
regional conferences, and to look to the future. There class teacher system; the sharp divide between the
will also be events in other countries including curriculum ‘basics’ and the rest; the view of those
Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States. ‘basics’ as the 3Rs and little else. Old habits of thought
We have often been asked, ‘What happens if die hard. We may have to be patient.
government ignores or rejects the Review’s findings Taking the same long view we would also caution
and recommendations?’ While we would be against the seductive appeal of dramatic policy
disappointed by such an outcome, as, surely, would gestures, especially just before a general election. For
the thousands who contributed to the Review in the example, the recently-announced intention to wind up
hope that by finding the previously
common cause they impregnable primary
might make a difference,
it’s worth noting that the
Review began to make an
“term,
The Review is for the longer
not the next election...
national strategy and the
government’s promise to
replace centrally-directed
impact as soon as its first
interim report hit the It is for all who invest daily, reform by school self-
determination, about
headlines in October
2007. Assisted by
deeply and for life in this both of which the
Cambridge Review’s
extensive media coverage vital phase of education witnesses had a great deal
6 T O O R D E R T H E C A M B R I D G E P R I M A RY
to say, might suggest that in these particulars the but in good heart. They are highly valued by children
Review has been overtaken by events. and parents and in general are doing a good job. They
However, though many have applauded ‘the end of do not neglect and never have neglected the 3Rs, and
centralisation’, history renders their applause those who regularly make this claim are either
premature. The end of centralisation was promised careless with the facts or are knowingly fostering a
when the government’s programme of public service calumny. The debates about starting ages, aims,
reform was re-launched in 2001, yet the Review’s curriculum, pedagogy, standards, expertise and
evidence shows that by 2008-9 little had changed. A staffing remain open, as they should, but the condition
process which has concentrated so much power at the of the system is sound. Indeed, as was noted by many
centre, and over the course of two decades has so witnesses, primary schools may be the one point of
decisively re-configured the relationship between stability and positive values in a world where
government and teachers, cannot be unpicked at the everything else is changing and uncertain. For many,
drop of a white paper. In 2009, the national strategies school is the centre that holds when things fall apart.’
and their attendant assumptions are embedded in the With the generous support of Esmée Fairbairn
Training and Development Agency’s professional Foundation, our sponsors, we are sending this booklet
standards and teacher training requirements. They to every school, local authority and teacher-training
dictate Ofsted inspection criteria and procedures. They provider in the UK, to every MP and member of the
provide the ‘school improvement’ script for local House of Lords, to members of the Scottish Parliament
authority advisers and indeed it is national strategy and Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies, and to
funding which keeps many such people in work. the many organisations and individuals whose
Centrally-determined versions of teaching, flawed evidence has been so essential to the Review’s task of
though the research evidence shows some of them to investigating the condition and future of English
be, are all that many younger teachers know – and primary education. Self-evidently, the booklet can
they are tomorrow’s school leaders. offer no more than a taste of the more solid fare
For now though, politics are abjured. The contained in the 640 pages of the Cambridge Primary
Cambridge Primary Review is for the longer term, not Review’s final report. Yet we trust that the booklet
the next election; and as an exercise in democratic conveys a sufficient sense of the important issues
engagement as well as empirical and visionary effort treated by the Review to impel readers to get hold of
its final report is not just for the transient architects the final report and reflect on its arguments, findings
and agents of policy. It is for all who invest daily, and implications – and then tell us and others what
deeply and for life in this vital phase of education. they think. Read the report, talk about it to colleagues,
Especially it is for children, parents and teachers. They, email comment@primaryreview.org.uk, write to your
we trust, can take comfort from this conclusion in the MP, attend one of the regional or national conferences,
final report: or in other ways help us to jolt the primary education
‘What we must emphatically report is that England’s debate out of the rut of tired sloganising and cartoon
primary schools appear to be under intense pressure knockabout in which for too long it has been stuck.
Editors Photographs and artwork Published October 2009 by
Diane Hofkins Our thanks go to the Cambridge Primary
Stephanie Northen Brentside primary Review, University of
Ealing, London Cambridge Faculty of
Design and Education, 184 Hills Road,
DaneDesign Great Dunham primary Cambridge, CB2 8PQ, UK.
Norfolk, for their help. © 2009 University of
Production editor Cambridge. All rights
Stephanie Northen Front cover reserved.
Stockbyte/Getty Images British Library Cataloguing in
Editorial adviser Inside front Publication Data
Robin Alexander Swirl, Masooma Khan, age 5 A catalogue record for this
Inside back publication is available from
Printing The Puzzle, Asma Sharif, the British Library.
Labute, Cambridge age 10
ISBN 978-1-906478-33-9
R E V I E W F I NA L R E P O RT, S E E BAC K C OV E R 7
SIGN P O S T S
A glimpse of the future...
So what has the most wide-ranging review of primary education in 40 years proposed?
T
he Review began its work
against a backdrop of public Narrow the gap Towards a new curriculum
anxiety about the state of (pages 14-15) (pages 22-27)
childhood, education and
society. It quickly became clear, • Maintain the focus of policy on • Introduce a new primary
though, that while primary schools reducing underachievement. curriculum which: is firmly aligned
are under intense pressure, they are • Intervene quickly and effectively to with the Review’s aims, values and
in good heart. Highly valued by help disadvantaged and vulnerable principles; guarantees children’s
children and parents, for some they children. entitlement to breadth, depth and
are the one point of stability and • Give the highest priority to balance, and to high standards in all
positive values in a world where eliminating child poverty. the proposed domains, not just some
everything else is uncertain. of them; ensures that language,
There are still important debates literacy and oracy are paramount;
to be had and changes which could Review special needs combines a national framework with
make a big difference to many (page 15) a locally-devised community
children’s life chances. Too often, as curriculum;
the Review’s evidence has shown, • Institute a full review of special • Wind up the primary national
policy has been introduced without educational needs which re-assesses strategy and re-integrate literacy and
proper evaluation of previous its definitions, structures, procedures numeracy with the rest of the
initiatives or on the basis of faulty and provision. curriculum.
diagnosis of the problem being
tackled.
The Review’s final report contains New structures for A pedagogy of evidence
75 recommendations, drawn from early years and primary and principle
detailed analysis of the evidence and
based on a comprehensive set of education (pages 28-29)
conclusions. The list below provides (pages 16-17) • Work towards a pedagogy of
signposts to the main repertoire rather than recipe, and of
recommendations, but not the detail. • Strengthen and extend early principle rather than prescription.
For the full set of conclusions and learning provision. • Ensure that teaching and learning
recommendations see the final • Extend the foundation stage to are properly informed by research.
report, chapter 24 age six. • Uphold the principle that it is not
• Replace key stages 1 and 2 by a for government, government
single primary phase from six to 11. agencies or local authorities to tell
• Examine feasibility of raising teachers how to teach.
Respect and support school starting age to six. • Avoid pedagogical fads and
childhood fashions and act instead on those
(pages 12-13) aspects of learning and teaching,
Start with aims notably spoken language, where
• Respect children’s experiences, (pages 18-21) research evidence converges.
voices and rights, and adopt the
UN Convention on the Rights of • Establish a new and coherent set of
the Child as the framework for aims, values and principles for 21st- Reform assessment
policy. century primary education, in (pages 30-31)
• Build on new research on addition to any wider aims for the
children’s development, learning, system as a whole. • Retain summative pupil assessment
needs and capabilities. • Make the aims drive rather than at the end of the primary phase, but
• Ensure that teacher education is follow curriculum, teaching, uncouple assessment for accountability
fully informed by these perspectives. assessment, schools and policy. from assessment for learning.
8 T O O R D E R T H E C A M B R I D G E P R I M A RY
• Replace current KS2 literacy/ • Strengthen mutual professional
numeracy Sats by a system which Review staffing support through clustering,
assesses and reports on children’s (pages 36-37) federation, all-through schools and
achievement in all areas of their the pooling of expertise.
learning, with minimum of • Undertake a full review of current
disruption. and projected primary school
• Monitor school and system staffing. Reform the policy process
performance through sample testing. • Ensure that schools have the (pages 40-41)
• Make greater use of teacher teacher numbers, expertise and
assessment. flexibility to deliver high standards • Re-balance the responsibilities of
across the full curriculum. the Department for Children, Schools
• Develop and deploy alternative and Families, local authorities and
Strengthen accountability, primary teaching roles to the schools.
generalist class teacher without • Replace top-down control and
redefine standards losing its benefits. prescription by professional
(pages 32-33) • Clarify and properly support the empowerment, mutual
• Move forward from debating role of teaching assistant. accountability and respect for
whether schools and teachers should research evidence and professional
be accountable (they should) and experience.
concentrate instead on how. Leadership for learning • Make good the wider democratic
• Redefine primary education (page 37) deficit.
standards as the quality of learning
in all curriculum domains, • Share leadership in order to
knowledge and skills to which nurture the capacities of teachers A new educational
children are entitled, not just some of and emphasise schools’ core tasks discourse
them. and relationship with their (pages 40-41)
• Develop a model of school communities.
inspection which is in line with the • Provide time and support for heads • Abandon the discourses of
proposed aims and principles. to do the job for which they are most derision, false dichotomy and myth
needed – leading learning. and strive to ensure that the
education debate exemplifies rather
Reform teacher education than negates what education should
(pages 34-35) Schools for the future be about.
(pages 38-39)
• Align teacher education with the
Review’s aims, curriculum and • Take an innovative approach to Reform school funding
approaches to pedagogy. school design and timetabling which (page 42)
• Refocus initial training on marries design and function and
childhood, learning, teaching, properly reflects the proposed aims. • Eliminate the primary/secondary
curriculum and subject knowledge. funding differential.
• Examine alternative ITT routes for • Ensure that primary school funding
different primary teaching roles. Schools for the community is determined by educational and
• Replace the current TDA (page 38) curricular needs.
professional standards by a • Devise and cost alternative models
framework validated by professional • Build on recent initiatives of curriculum/needs led primary
development research and pupil encouraging multi-agency working, school staffing.
learning outcomes. and increase support for schools to • Set increased costs against savings
• Balance support for inexperienced help them ensure the growing range from terminating the primary
and less able teachers with freedom of children’s services professionals national strategy (PNS), transferring
and respect for the experienced and work in partnership with each other its budget to schools’ control and
talented. and with parents. reducing national infrastructure.
The Review’s final report contains 75 recommendations drawn
from detailed analysis of the evidence
R E V I E W F I NA L R E P O RT, S E E BAC K C OV E R 9
LEGAC I E S
Plus ça change?
What has shaped primary education? used what HMI called ‘didactic’ methods. Nevertheless,
the progressive myth persisted, in part because of well-
How did the system we have today come publicised extreme cases such as William Tyndale junior
to be? Was it inevitable? school in Islington (see opposite).
Prime Minister James Callaghan’s 1967 Ruskin College
speech marked politicians’ first hesitant steps into the
W
e take for granted the primacy of the 3Rs, ‘secret garden’ of the primary curriculum. Callaghan
the range of subjects and the class-teacher argued that not just teachers and parents but also
system, but these are the legacy of the government and industry ‘have an important part to play
Victorian elementary school, devised to in formulating and expressing the purpose of education
prepare the poor for their ‘station’ in life. and the standards that we need’.
In many ways, today’s primary schools would not look The 1978 HMI report shows why politicians came to
unfamiliar to the Victorians. Even some of the anxieties see a need for a national curriculum, national assessment
are similar. As Matthew Arnold, the eminent poet and and a uniform inspection system. While all primary
schools inspector, reported in 1867: ‘The mode of schools taught English and mathematics, there was
teaching in the primary schools has certainly fallen off in considerable inconsistency from school to school when
intelligence, spirit and inventiveness. It could not well be it came to what are now the other foundation subjects.
otherwise...in a country where everyone is prone to rely Strikingly, HMI reported a strong association between a
too much on mechanical processes and too little on broad curriculum and high standards in the ‘basics’ – a
intelligence.’ message repeated many times since.
In other ways, change has been profound and swift, From then on, moves to intervene in matters
especially since the days of this Review’s predecessor, the previously accepted as the professional preserve of
1967 Plowden Report. teachers increased in speed and quantity. In 1987 there
Plowden advocated more experiential learning, was a sudden shift in the government’s approach to
increased parental involvement, universal pre-school education policy-making; political caution was replaced
education and social priority zones to boost by assertion, and guidance by prescription.
opportunities for the less privileged. The centrepiece of Kenneth Baker’s Education Reform
Despite Plowden’s recommendations, and later reports Bill was a highly detailed national curriculum. The 1988
such as 1994’s Start Right, early childhood education Education Reform Act massively increased the Secretary
received little attention or funding from central of State’s powers. This centralisation became even more
government until the late 1990s. In the dying days of the marked with the introduction of mandatory testing in
last Conservative Years 2 and 6, and the
government, the nursery publication of test results;
voucher scheme to and more marked still
guarantee a place for every when New Labour was
four-year-old lasted only a elected in 1997.
year. Labour increased Though the ERA
guidance, regulations and proscribed the Secretary of
targets for the under-fives, State from prescribing
and extended the teaching methods, the
guarantee to age three. national literacy (1998)
The commonly held and numeracy (1999)
belief that after 1967 strategies did this by
primary schools were stealth, pressuring schools
Photo: East Riding Media library
swept by a tide of to use favoured
progressivism is untrue. In approaches through
its 1978 primary survey, government direction,
HMI reported that only 5 local authority pressure
per cent of classrooms and Ofsted inspection.
were fully ‘exploratory’ Victorian day: 21st-century schools are still influenced Meanwhile, the demands
and three-quarters still by some elements of 19th-century education structure of the national curriculum
10 T O O R D E R T H E C A M B R I D G E P R I M A RY
English primary education: some policy milestones 1944–2009
1944 ‘Butler’ Education Act establishes major HMI survey, identifies serious fundamentally unchanged.
primary education in law. inconsistencies in curriculum Foundation stage for three- to five-
1965 First BEd courses introduced: breadth, balance, quality and year olds is introduced with a
beginning of drive to make management across schools. curriculum organised into six areas
teaching a graduate profession. 1988 Warnock Report, Special of learning.
1967 Plowden Report recommends: full Educational Needs: the education of 2003 Every Child Matters marks
parental participation and handicapped children, encourages significant change to services to
parental choice of schools; integration. secure the well-being of all children
educational priority areas to 1988 Education Reform Act introduces from birth to 19, but especially
combat social disadvantage; co- national curriculum and heralds those at risk of abuse. Local
operation between educational, national tests at 7, 11 and 14. New authorities to provide ‘joined-up’
health and social services; finance arrangements give schools education and care with multi-
universal nursery education for new freedoms. agency co-ordination and extended
three- to five-year-olds; end of 11- 1991 First full run of key stage 1 Sats. schools.
plus; teaching to use a Results published in LEA league Excellence and Enjoyment, the new
combination of individual, group tables. primary strategy manifesto, claims
and whole-class work; phasing out 1992 ‘Three wise men’ report on 7-11 to encourage creativity and fun
streaming; introduction of education refocusses attention on while securing standards. It
teachers’ ‘aides’ and training for the character and quality of primary consolidates the literacy and
classroom assistants. school pedagogy. numeracy strategies.
1974 Establishment of Assessment of Ofsted (Office for Standards in 2006 Review of the teaching of early
Performance Unit marks first Education) replaces HMI. reading, a government-
attempt systematically to monitor 1993 NUT and NASUWT boycott the commissioned report from Jim
national standards (in languages, national curriculum tests. Rose, seeks to resolve debate about
English, maths, science, aesthetic 1997 Excellence in Schools White Paper the place of phonics in the teaching
development, personal and social sets out New Labour’s main of reading.
development, and physical education policies, including 2007 Children’s Plan outlines a 10-year
development) at 11 and 14. national literacy and numeracy strategy ‘to make England the best
1975 Bullock Report into the teaching of strategies and 2002 targets. place in the world for children and
English undermines claims that 1998 General Teaching Council (GTC) for young people’. Sets new targets and
schools are concentrating on England and Wales is established. softens government line on testing.
‘creativity’ at the expense of ‘basics’ Qualifications for headteachers 2008 Early years foundation stage brings
and argues for whole language introduced. together guidance and standards for
approach to literacy. Sure Start established to support education and daycare for children
1976 Rumours of anarchy at William parents of under-threes in areas of from birth to five.
Tyndale junior school fuel right- high need. 2009 The government’s Rose review of
wing claims about rampant 1999 Early learning goals published to the curriculum proposes that
progressivism and lead to the 1976 guide under-fives practitioners. traditional subjects are combined
Auld inquiry. 2000 National curriculum is slimmed within six areas of learning. To be
1978 Primary Education in England, a down but otherwise implemented in 2011.
and the pressure of tests and tables had led to growing This meant most children were now expected to attain
uniformity in classrooms across the country. More time a level originally set as an average.
than ever was devoted to reading, writing and number In contrast to the pre-1988 era, when government
(especially the elements tested), with less emphasis on intervention in classroom life was minimal, policies are
other subjects. now imposed on teachers at a rate which has made their
Within a few days of the 1997 election, the new assimilation and implementation nearly impossible. By
government set ambitious targets for 2002 (not reached one count, between 1996 and 2004 government and
till 2008): that in literacy 80 per cent and in numeracy 75 national agencies issued 459 documents just on literacy
per cent of 11-year-olds should achieve at least level 4 in teaching.
the national tests. That’s more than one every week for eight years.
R E V I E W F I NA L R E P O RT, S E E BAC K C OV E R 11CHIL D R E N A N D C H I L D H O O D
Age of empowerment
Listen to children, not what the
media say about them
C
hildren today are portrayed as
vulnerable innocents – and as
celebrity-obsessed couch-
potatoes. Their teachers are
reported as struggling with hazards they
cannot contain, standards they cannot
uphold and pupils they cannot control.
For most children – and teachers –
neither perception is accurate. A minority
of young people do endure blighted lives
but the cause is not the celebrity culture
so much as poverty and prejudice (see
page 14). For the rest, the sense of a ‘crisis’
of modern childhood has been overstated.
In terms of health, living standards, public
services, educational opportunity, and On the up: childhood is a time to be relished for its own sake
access to information and entertainment
the majority have never had it so good. Despite the Review drew on the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of
media’s erroneous insistence that schools neglect the the Child, expressing concern that schools could do more
3Rs, children in England are perfectly capable of counting to foster children’s competence, sense of responsibility
their blessings. They were the most upbeat contributors and self-respect. The UN convention should shape all
to the Review, their optimism in marked contrast to the policies relating to young people, says the Review. The
pessimism expressed by parents – a perennial tendency government has correctly put children at the centre of its
of the older generation. Among their assets are their policies though the temptation to try to control the nature
primary schools, shown to be largely happy places that of childhood must be resisted. Childhood is a valuable
unfailingly seek to celebrate the positive. time in its own right. It is a time to be relished, where the
Of course, valid concerns remain – about family priority must be to strike the right balance between the
breakdown, obesity, poor mental health, and lack of child’s current needs and building the foundations for
space to play. But with so much bleak reporting of future education and employment.
childhood, it is important to stress the positive. A recent At home, as at school, young people do not want to be
gain is the growing respect for children as agents, over-protected, preferring some independence and
valuable people and citizens in their own right. Children choice in relation to their family life. Home is valued as a
who feel empowered are more likely to be better and private place, one where school does not encroach. Yet
happier learners. In recognition of this, the power children spend longer in school and school-related
relations in many schools are beginning to shift, but the settings than they did 10 years ago, and when they get
picture is still mixed and children are far from uniformly home they face what is called homework, but is in fact
regarded as young citizens more school work. Many
with important and adults worry about the
insightful things to say Key points effect of this creeping
about their education. The ‘scholarisation’ on
Review says that the • Respect children’s experience, voices and rights. Engage children’s well-being. Some
‘children’s voice’ them actively and directly in decisions that affect their say simply that children
Photo: David Newnham
movement is not a fad, but learning. have other worthwhile
a trend that needs to • Build on new research on children’s development, learning, things to do. The desire to
become the way of school needs and capabilities. keep family and academic
life (see box). • Ensure that teacher education is fully informed by these life separate leads many
Many contributors to the perspectives. children to regard parental
12 T O O R D E R T H E C A M B R I D G E P R I M A RYinvolvement in school with unease. Some are wary of a
double dose of control; others worry that their parents Cognitive
developments
will not meet with teachers’ approval.
However, while children do not want school to have
an open door into home, most are keen that bridges
between the two are maintained. And it is vital, says the
F
Review, that the traffic along these bridges flows both orget the idea that children’s development
ways. Children take valuable understanding and skill advances in fixed stages. Forget right-brain versus
into school as well as away from it. Many help out at left-brain functions. Forget all those learning
home and are proud of what they can do in terms of ‘styles’. Our understanding of children’s cognitive
looking after themselves and others. Home is where development and learning has grown hugely in recent
they first play with toys and friends, and where they first years and schools can build on this research.
learn about relationships, moral codes and how to be Consider these key findings. First, babies and young
healthy. Schools will benefit greatly from building on children learn, think and reason in all the same ways as
the fact that even their youngest children are not adults – what they lack is the experience to make sense of
blank slates. what they find. Second, their learning depends on the
development of multi-sensory networks of neurons
distributed across the whole brain. In other words,
Children’s voice: watching an ice cube melt may stimulate neurons in
what a headteacher says networks concerned with seeing, deducing, remembering
and moving. Third, children learn from every experience,
Our whole approach to contribute. And because of that their brains distributing the information across these
teaching and learning is you don’t get power conflicts. networks, with stronger ‘representations’ of what the
about shared dialogue, Instead of having a school experiences have in common. Fourth, the biological,
decision making and council, we have a weekly social, emotional and intellectual aspects of learning are
collaboration. Our children democratic meeting which inextricably interwoven. Fifth, even the most basic
are actively involved right takes place with all of our learning relies on effective linguistic and social interaction
from foundation in planning children from Year 1 upwards with parents, teachers and other children. And finally,
lessons, they contribute to in mixed-age groups with children, like most humans, tend to interpret the world in
assessment and review what adults as equal members of the line with their own explanations as to why things happen.
they are doing, and they groups. These meetings Teachers who want to exploit these developments
choose the tasks they do in happen every week so there is enhance children’s learning with collaboration, challenge
lessons. So in terms of a regular reliable space where and purposeful talk. The ways in which teachers talk to
teaching and learning we are you can formally bring things children, ideally amplifying and elaborating their
aiming to develop dialogue – up that you think might be comments, can enhance learning, memory, understanding
genuine listening and important ... and that applies to and motivation. Providing a diversity of experiences
responding – between everyone. Through this strengthens children’s multi-sensory neural networks and
children and adults every step structure they can get to know also helps them modify their understanding of the world
of the way. each other – and then you get a and become better at reflecting on their observations.
For teachers too it’s about shared empathy and a shared Creative activities, the decline of which concerned
building a culture of understanding. many witnesses to the Review, raise the quality and
participation, about them When I first came here the capacity of children’s thinking, perseverance and
feeling valued for who they are. children were described by problem-solving abilities, as well as fuelling their
Sometimes leadership teams Ofsted as unteachable. Now imaginations. Children are very competent and capable
say “right, yeah, now we’ve got their behaviour is officially learners – given the right linguistic and social
to listen to the kids ...” and then outstanding. A lot of that is to environment. We are now better informed than ever as to
the adults say “well, hang on a do with tolerance and what that environment should contain.
moment, it would be quite nice understanding. We talk about
if someone listened to me once
in a while”. This is much more
about a shared responsibility
community cohesion, well it
needs to begin in the school
and there are plenty of
“these
Teachers who want to exploit
developments enhance
for making learning irresistible.
There is a very exciting
schools where it doesn’t.
children’s learning with
atmosphere around the place
that says anything is possible
Alison Peacock is head of the
Wroxham School, Potters Bar,
collaboration, challenge and
and everybody feels they can Hertfordshire purposeful talk
R E V I E W F I NA L R E P O RT, S E E BAC K C OV E R 13NARROW T H E GA P
Divided England
Schools can do more to help the millions of children growing up poor in a land of plenty
T
he nation’s children have
much to contend with – at
least in the opinion of adults.
Family breakdown, an overly
materialistic society and unhealthy
lifestyles all threaten their well-being.
Yet for roughly three-quarters of
children the perceived risks are
greater than the real ones. This is not
the case for the rest. More than three
million children face the gravest
threat – poverty. And their numbers
are increasing.
Eliminating child poverty has been
commendably high on the
government agenda. But it must
become the highest priority if there is
to be an end to the shameful situation
in which a greater proportion of children are growing up unstimulating, linguistically barren environment has
poor in this country than in many other wealthy nations. been shown to affect children’s pre-frontal cortex, an area
This scandal of divided England was an acute concern to of the brain associated with problem-solving. Deprived
the Review’s witnesses. The feeling distilled from the 87 three-year-olds can be up to a year behind their luckier
community consultations held round the country, was peers. Deprived 16-year-olds are a third less likely than
that: ‘The contrasts in children’s lives were thought to be those from comfortable homes to get five A*-C grade
massive and widening. Those born into familial stability GCSEs. With social mobility declining in England, the
and economic comfort fare well, many exceptionally so. chances of these children escaping poverty and breaking
For others, deprivation is profound and multifaceted: the chain that transmits disadvantage down the
economic, emotional, linguistic, cultural. Our community generations are reducing.
witnesses believed that the accident of birth profoundly Poverty creates terrible gaps, ones that open early and
and often cruelly divides the nation’s children.’ get harder to close as the years go by. Often these gaps are
The many far-reaching effects of this ‘accident of birth’ compounded by other factors including prejudice.
are well known. Poverty shortens and diminishes lives. A Children in England can be marginalised by their religion,
deprived child is more likely to suffer from a chronic or race, disability, even their gender. ‘Deficit thinking’ on the
mental illness, to become obese, to die in an accident. part of some teachers plays a part in the under-
Poverty puts families under great strain. Parents, if they achievement of black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani
have jobs, are likely to be under great pressure, working children, white working-class boys, and Travellers.
long and anti-social hours. If their relationship crumbles, Similarly, too many families are still regarded as ‘hard to
the effect of poverty combined with family breakdown reach’. Discriminated against within education as well as
can be profound. within society, the negative label can become a self-
The bleak statistics on England’s ‘long tail of fulfilling prophecy. Well-intentioned attempts to
underachievement’ are categorise difference in
evidence of poverty’s what is now a very diverse
impact on learning. Key points country can perpetuate
Neuroscience is beginning division, just as services
to reveal just how • Keep policy focus on reducing underachievement. targeted at specific groups
deprivation can stunt a • Intervene quickly and effectively to help disadvantaged and risk creating stigma. While
child’s cognitive vulnerable children. there is a need for data –
development. Growing up • Give highest priority to eliminating child poverty. and a lack of it hampers
in a stressful, • Initiate review of SEN definitions, procedures and provision. attempts to cater
14 T O O R D E R T H E C A M B R I D G E P R I M A RYadequately for migrant children – statistics that focus on
crude aspects of difference can fuel stereotypes. Travellers:
Schools have a key role in bridging divides and seeing what a headteacher says
beyond stereotypes. Evidence gathered by the two-year
Narrowing the Gap project, funded by local and central The attitude of the trust – another pivotal issue.
government, highlighted their ‘capacity to act as an leadership is crucial. I don’t When I started here in 2006
accessible, non-stigmatising resource for children and treat Traveller children as the parents were very feisty. I
families’ and a positive impact on children’s attainment different. The local authority used to say to them: “Come in,
when they do so. support team asked if I would sit down, don’t get cross and
Many are increasingly embracing this role despite an like them to do a special tell me what the problem is
understandable reluctance to be seen as an auxiliary assembly about Travellers, but and we will sort it out.” I went
social service, as well as some resentment of the I said no. I said I’ll only do a up to their site, talked to them,
contradictions between policies of inclusion, such as special assembly about them had cups of tea and so on.
Every Child Matters, and the standards agenda of choice when I do a special assembly They are now very
and competition. about my Arabic children or supportive of the school and
The Narrowing the Gap project underlined the my Polish children or my send their children to our
importance of a strong and consistent focus on the needs children from South America. nursery which they didn’t
of all pupils, but particularly the most vulnerable. The We are an inclusive school and before. The children now wear
Review supports its call for speedy and effective we treat all our children as uniform and last year three
interventions to help disadvantaged children. Good equally as we can. transferred full-time to high
relations between early years settings and primary Travellers are such a visible school – up till then transition
schools are essential, as are effective leadership and community anyway I don’t had not been successful.
access to a wide range of staff and programmes. Also think you are doing them a There have always been
fundamental is the need for better home-school service by making them very Traveller children at this
communication – crucially going out and talking to visible in school. Many people school so we put them on our
parents, rather than waiting for them to ask for help. will disagree with this, but it logo. There’s a strip with a tree,
Parents do need to understand and support their child’s is my experience of what a block of flats, a house and a
development, but such messages must be communicated works. caravan. One of the Traveller
with sensitivity in an atmosphere of mutual Most of our success hinges mums saw this, went up to it,
understanding and respect. Clumsy interventions only on respect. If you show respect touched it, and said “You
marginalise families further. and liking and treat them really do care don’t you.”
Schools can and do make a difference in alleviating exactly the same way as you
social and educational inequality. Fundamentally, they treat everyone else then they Von Smith is head of John
need to model the trust, encouragement, respect and know that. Perryn school, Ealing, London.
optimism that we would wish all parents to transmit to We’ve also worked very About 10 per cent of the
their children, says the Review. hard to earn the Travellers’ school’s pupils are Travellers.
Review special needs – now
M
any of England’s 800,000 pupils with special The Revew also revealed concerns that pupils are being
educational needs are still being offered patchy labelled and segregated unnecessarily both by the type of
and inadequate services, according to parents, school they attend and what they are offered when they
teachers and some local authorities. They told the Review get there. There are fears that they are vulnerable to the
of their deep anxiety and frustration at the postcode same stereotyping and discrimination experienced by
lottery of funding and support for these vulnerable some minority ethnic groups and ‘hard-to-reach’ families.
children. As is well known, many more boys than girls are classified
It is more than 10 years since the government as having SEN, but there are serious questions as to
announced its support for the United Nations’ statement whether this is a reflection of their needs or rather of the
that children with special needs can ‘achieve the fullest failings of the education system.
educational progress and social integration’ by attending In the light of these limitations and constraints the
mainstream schools. It is clear that while the principle of Review says there is an urgent need for a full review of the
inclusion has been largely accepted, the ‘concerted effort’ SEN system. Current efforts to create a genuinely
the UN warned would be required to make it successful is personalised approach to learning for all children makes
still lacking in many respects. the case for a rigorous reappraisal even stronger.
R E V I E W F I NA L R E P O RT, S E E BAC K C OV E R 15NEW S T RU CT U R E S
All to play for
Extend the foundation stage to age six to build children’s skills and confidence
F
‘ ive is too tender an Yet the applause dies
age for compulsory away in relation to primary
attendance.’ These schools. Here early years
words, spoken by an policies and principles
MP in 1870, resonate today. collide with what has
Nearly 150 years after the become known as the
school starting age was set government’s ‘standards
at five the consequences of agenda’. Four-year-olds in
that decision remain reception classes feel the
hugely contentious. impact. Research reveals
Anxiety focuses on the that the holistic and
fact that at age five – balanced early years
against the grain of foundation stage is often
evidence, expert opinion distorted by the downward
and international practice pressure of key stages 1
– children in England leave and 2. Many teachers feel
behind their active play- obliged to prioritise literacy
based learning and embark and numeracy as well as to
on a formal, subject-based drill four-year-olds in the
curriculum. For many this routines of lining up and
process begins at four. sitting still and listening.
Teachers and parents told Goals are set that not all
the Review that, essentially, pupils can meet, under-
five is too tender an age for mining their confidence.
subject-based learning. The laudable aim is to
Indeed, the government Draw the line: protect the distinctive nature of childhood narrow England’s
recently conceded this appallingly large
point, proposing to create more opportunities for active, attainment gap, but this is a lamentable way to proceed.
play-based learning in key stage 1. However, the Review There is no evidence that a child who spends more time
recommends a built-in rather than a bolted-on solution. learning through lessons – as opposed to learning
We know, thanks to research, what children need to through play – will ‘do better’ in the long run. In fact,
flourish in their early years. They need the opportunity to research suggests the opposite; that too formal too soon
build their social skills, their language and their can be dangerously counterproductive. In 14 of the 15
confidence. They do this best through structured play and countries that scored higher than England in a major
talk, interacting with each other and with interested and study of reading and literacy in 2006, children did not
stimulating adults. The evidence is overwhelming that all enter school until they were six or seven. And more
children, but particularly those from disadvantaged children read for pleasure in most of those countries than
homes, benefit from high-quality pre-school experiences. do so in England.
While challenges remain in terms of staffing quality and Many Review witnesses called for England to fall into
funding, the Review line with international
commends the practice. On average only
government’s huge Key points 16 per cent of European
investment in the early Union five-year-olds are in
years. It welcomes the • Strengthen and extend early learning provision. school. The majority
introduction of the early • Extend the foundation stage to age six. attend nursery schools,
Photo: John Kelleher
years foundation stage, and • Replace KS1/2 with single primary phase from six to 11. pre-schools or
applauds the aim of • Examine feasibility of raising school starting age to six. kindergartens until they
establishing a children’s • Have unified early years workforce strategy to raise quality are six or seven, settings in
centre in every community. of provision. which they follow a
16 T O O R D E R T H E C A M B R I D G E P R I M A RYYou can also read
