National Curriculum

But what exactly does that mean for parents, and more importantly, for our children? Claire Bates investigates.

Introduced to ensure that all children in state schools receive the same basic education, the National Curriculum was originally designed to encompass pupils from five to eleven-years-old. However, under the Childcare Bill unveiled in November, it was announced that childminders may soon be required to teach the curriculum to children from birth until they start school. The aim, it said, was to ensure that all three-year-olds had a rudimentary grasp of maths, language and literacy before they started school.

The National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations was quick to criticise the proposed measures, describing them as “bizarre” and publicly voicing concerns about taking away children’s childhood “from the moment they leave the maternity ward”.

Parents joined the debate too, organising petitions and planning a mass lobby of their MPs over what they believed was excessive testing of children who were already made to sit exams at the age of seven. But Children’s Minister, Beverley Hughes, explained that the planned extension to the curriculum would be flexible and “age specific” and a cross between care and education. It was more about a “framework that defines progression” rather than sitting toddlers down and making them learn numbers and letters, she said.

There is research that appears to show that earlier education helps children develop faster both academically as well as socially, but some parents argued that a strict balance needed to be struck between learning and fun, and between being a child and being a pupil.

So how does the current National Curriculum work?

Ten subjects must be taught in all state primary schools. These are: English, maths, science, IT (information technology), history, geography, design technology, art, music and physical education. Although religious education is not on the list, it is still considered part of the basic curriculum and must be taught in all schools in England.

Teachers are also urged to include personal, social and health education in lessons, alongside citizenship and at least one modern foreign language. Careers education is now statutory from year seven (the first year at secondary school).

In each of the ten subjects, children are taught ‘skills,’ ‘understanding,’ and ‘knowledge’.
‘Skills’ are the things children need to be able to do, for example, how to tell the time using a clock; ‘understanding’ means having a grasp of basic concepts and ideas such as knowing that water, ice and steam are all types of the same substance, and ‘knowledge’ means learning things ‘off by heart’ such as spellings or the names of countries on a map.

The Curriculum is divided again into broader sections called Key Stages. Key Stage 1 covers what a child aged five-seven should know (years one and two of primary school) and Key Stage 2 (years three to six), what a seven to eleven-year-old should know.

Pupils are assessed when they start infant school to see what strengths and weaknesses they have and what basic skills their parents or childminders have taught them.

And at seven and eleven-years-old, they are given National Tests so they can see how well they are doing on a countrywide scale. The 11-Plus exam is no longer sat.

Within each Key Stage, there is a series of eight levels, used to evaluate a child’s work, compared to other pupils of the same age throughout the country. At the end of Key Stage 1, most children will have reached level two and by the end of Key Stage 2, most will be at level four. The Government has established national targets for the proportion of eleven-year-olds achieving level four in English and maths.

As parents, we can expect to receive information about the level our children have reached at parent-teacher evenings and in their school reports.

Running in tandem with the National Curriculum are the National Literacy and National Numeracy Strategies. Under the first, primary school pupils will receive a daily-dedicated Literacy Hour, designed to help them improve their reading and writing. Under the Numeracy Strategy children will be given a maths lesson daily. Both of these should aim to involve parents as much as possible.

The National Curriculum was introduced in the Education Act of 1996 to “provide opportunities for all pupils to learn and to achieve” and to promote pupils’ “spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.”

But what can you do as a parent if you don’t believe your child’s school is delivering that?

There are very strict complaints procedures that all schools must follow. Obviously, as with anything, the best initial course of action is to voice your concerns with your child’s teacher and the school’s head. But if that fails, the Education Act 2002 provides a formalised framework for ensuring your misgivings are aired. Under Section 29, the governing bodies of all maintained schools and nursery schools in England are required to have in place a procedure to deal with complaints relating to the school and any community facilities or services the school provides.

The law also asks that that complaints procedure is made public. It advises parents firstly to put their concerns in writing to the head teacher, then to raise any issues with the chair of the board of governors. If they are unhappy with the response, a parent should then refer the complaint to the LEA (Local Education Authority, which is usually the county council). If, even the LEA fails to deal with the problem sufficiently, a mother or father is then entitled to address the Department for Education and Skills.

However, as one Hampshire-based ex-teacher put it: “Don’t expect, as a parent, to just sit back and expect teachers to teach. Education starts at home and should continue in the home. I’ve had five year olds join my class who cannot even use cutlery. Learning is a three way street running between the child, school and home. I once had a mum complain that I gave out too much homework and yet she couldn’t even tell me what I’d set that week. It’s no good complaining if you’re not taking a healthy interest.”

National Curriculum terms explained:
· Attainment Target: Each National Curriculum subject has one or more attainment target. The targets identify the knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of different abilities and maturities are expected to have by the end of each Key Stage.
· National Curriculum Levels: Each of the Key Stages is accompanied by a series of eight levels. Your child’s school will send you a report telling you which level he or she has reached.
· SATs or Key Stage Tests: These are national tests a pupil must take at the end of each Key Stage (at ages 7, 11 and 14). They give an independent measure of how pupils and schools are doing compared with national standards in these subjects.

The Department for Education and Skills and the BBC have developed a website called Digger and the Gang which is based on the National Curriculum for primary school children. It can be found at: www.bbc.co.uk/schools/digger