Just read the pre-pub for the Cambridge Primary Review, looking at primary education in England, thus far fascinating and something that I concur with whole-heartedly.
The report sets out an analysis of the problems and recommends:
* Delaying formal lessons until after a child turns six, to allow them to focus on play-based learning. The government currently plans to bring forward the school starting age from five to four.
* Scrapping Sats and league tables and replacing them with teacher assessments in a wider range of subjects than just the 3Rs, to encourage primaries to focus on the broader curriculum.
* Reviewing the system of general primary teachers to introduce more specialist teachers in history, music, and languages.
Funding should be increased to match that spent in secondaries on extra staffing.
Teachers should have two years post-graduate training, instead of one.
As a parent and school governor I think it's barmy that our children start school so young.
When I was working on mainland Europe children did not start formal learning until they were six, and not only did they not seem to visibly suffer in the overwhelming number of cases they flourished.
I hope that the government start to take the recommendations seriously and start a national debate on primary schooling.
Download the briefing document at http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/Downloads/Finalreport/CWE-briefing.pdf to read it yourself.
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