29.06.12
‘Reductive’ primary curriculum criticised
The plans to introduce a national primary school grammar test will “impoverish” teaching, the National Association for Teaching of English has argued.
The Government wants higher standards for pupils and is proposing a more rigorous approach with a key focus on grammar, spelling and punctuation. The national test for grammar will begin for students in the final year of primary school from next summer.
Chairman of the association, Dr Simon Gibbons, said teachers have been “presented with a reductive primary curriculum dominated by phonics, spelling, grammar and standard English” and that proposals “will effectively hold a gun to the head of teachers who want to take risks”.
He added: “The myth that people want you to believe is that you become a better writer as a result. Motivation and engagement are the things that help children learn, and underlining parts of a sentence, I don’t think that really does it for most people.”
A DfE spokesman said: “The draft programme of study for English at primary school will be far more rigorous than before. It will demand higher standards from pupils aged five to 11, with a higher expectation of what children should know as they go through primary school.
“Its aim is that children inEnglandwill leave primary school with a strong command of written and spoken English, and high standards of literacy.”
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