Daily Mail (no date) 1999

Three R's crisis at nine

MORE than a third of primary school pupils are up to two years behind in the three R's by the time they are nine, says a Government report. They achieve well below expected standards in English and maths, leaving many youngsters destined to fail national tests at 11 and to enter secondary school with riffle or no chance of success, according to a report by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. In tests taken by 89 per cent of primaries last summer, 33 per cent of nine year-olds could only achieve the reading level expected of pupils at seven. Forty per cent were two years behind in writing ability and 43 per cent in spelling. In maths, 37 per cent of nine year-olds failed to reach the expected standard for their age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Mail, Thursday, March 18, 1999

Primary schools are 'killing off playgroups'

By TONY HALPIN

Education Correspondent

THOUSANDS of playgroups are closing because primary schools are poaching children, it was claimed yesterday. Growing numbers of three and four-year-olds are being enrolled at school nurseries and reception classes despite concerns about their quality, the Pre-School Learning Alliance said.

Parents are being pressured by primary heads to send their children to reception classes at four, fearing they will otherwise not be admitted at five. Schools are also moving four-year-olds into reception classes to create more places in nurseries for three year-olds, it claimed.

Voluntary and private nurseries are legally obliged to have one adult for every eight children. Primary schools face no such restriction. It means playgroups are losing income just as the Government is requiring the introduction of the minimum wage for their staff. As a result, up to 1,700 nurseries will close this year, with the loss of 70,000 places, on top of the 1,200 playgroups which have shut over the past two years.

Margaret Loehrie, chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, said voluntary groups were being squeezed out of existence despite Government plans to expand nursery education. Ninety per cent of four-year-olds were now in state schools, rising to 98 per cent in some areas. Plans to double the number of places for three-year-olds were having a similar effect.

'It is very much an established fact that children now go to school when they are four,' Mrs Loehrie said. 'But if they are going into reception classes when they have just turned four and do primary school work then they are too young. They are going to miss out on that close one-to-one attention that is not possible in a reception class.' Childcare Minister Margaret Hodge yesterday announced a £500,000 grant to help struggling playgroups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Mall, Saturday February 20, 1999

Ministers set early learning goals for nurseries and playgroups

Lessons in three R's will start at age three

By TONY HALPIN Education Correspondent

CHILDREN of three will be expected to start learning the three R's under a National Curriculum for nursery schools unveiled yesterday. Those attending nurseries will have to begin working towards six 'early learning goals' set out by Government advisers. They propose setting up a foundation stage, with a curriculum in six key areas covering everything pupils should know and do by the time they finish primary school reception classes. Children would be expected to count up to ten, to write their own names, and to understand the difference between right and wrong. The six learning goals are personal, creative and physical development, language and literacy, mathematics and knowledge of the world. Education in primary and secondary schools is already divided into four key stages, at ages seven,11,14 and 16.

Foundation for future successes ?

The last Conservative government drew up 'desirable learning outcomes' for four year olds in nurseries. But the initiative announced by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority effectively creates a key stage zero for children aged from three to five in nurseries, playgroups and primary schools from September 2000. The QCA said the goals would link in with 'baseline' tests taken by pupils entering primary school to help teachers see how much they already know. The aim was to prepare children for the literacy and numeracy hours, which have been introduced in primary schools. Education Minister Margaret Hodge said quality early education 'provides the foundation for future success at school'. But parents who choose not to send their children to nurseries will worry that their youngsters could be left at a disadvantage when they start compulsory school. Others fear children are being expected to learn too early. The QCA said the 'learning goals', sent out to schools and nurseries yesterday, set out what the majority of children are expected to achieve. Bright youngsters could be set 'extension' tasks to stretch them in English and maths. Mrs Hodge said: 'We are modernising the early years. We need to bring together play, care and education in a structured and rigorous way. The plan reflects the increasing numbers of three and four year olds in education, ranging from primary school reception classes to playgroups.

Some experts, however, have urged the Government to delay formal lessons in literacy and numeracy until the age of six, giving more time for children to develop social, communication and language skills.

The proposals are a compromise which aim to recognise the importance of early 'socialisation', while preparing youngsters at age five to step straight into the Government's literacy and numeracy strategies. The plan was welcomed by David Hart, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, who said it would bring greater logic to nursery provision. He added, however: 'We certainly don't want anything which is too prescriptive. It has to take into account the fact that children who start nursery education come from an infinite variety of family backgrounds and are very very young.'

Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters/ Union of Women Teachers, called the guidelines 'Stalinist'. He added: 'These are way over the top. The brightest children from the pushiest families will cope. But there are some children who will be nowhere near them'.