The Cambridge Primary Review Trust

News

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Consultation Reminders

There are three national consultations currently under way, and their deadlines are fast approaching. We encourage all CPRT members, supporters and affiliates to participate in these areas of debate. Here are some of the things to consider:

If you would like your ideas to be part of CPRT’s response to these consultations, send them to administrator@cprtrust.org.uk as soon as you can. In relation to the performance descriptors and House of Commons enquiry, we need your thoughts well in advance of the official deadlines.

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CPRT publishes new report on assessment

CPRT has commissioned a number of reports on research that bears on its eight priorities. The first of these, by Professor Wynne Harlen, has now been published. Entitled Assessment, Standards and Quality of Learning in Primary Education, it may be viewed/downloaded here. A three page briefing/executive summary may also be viewed and/or downloaded.

21 November 2014

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National Literacy Forum’s Vision for Literacy 2025

Up to 40% of the adult population in the UK’s most deprived wards lack the literacy skills expected of an 11-year-old. This undermines our economic competitiveness and creates obstacles to fairness across society. We can’t afford to allow this to continue. We must act now.

19 members and supporters of the National Literacy Forum have developed the Vision for Literacy, which recommends four areas, or Pathways to Literacy, where sustained policy consensus is required to ensure that all children born this year have the literacy skills they need to succeed by the time they finish secondary school.

The Vision for Literacy aligns with the Read on. Get on. campaign and Fair Education Alliance and makes four key recommendations to address literacy :

1: Early Years

Government should create a cross-departmental Early Years Minister to drive forward an integrated education, health, welfare and business approach to early years policy.

2: Schools

Government should invest in new support for teachers, school leaders and governors. This should include the creation of a Royal College of Teachers.

3: Reading for enjoyment

Government should instruct Ofsted to examine a reading for pleasure strategy in every school inspection.

4: The role of business in education

Government should encourage the creation of Local Brokers to build links between schools and local business community, to support young people’s literacy and employability skills.

Visit the National Literacy Forum’s website to find out more.

 

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DfE launches consultation on proposed KS1/2 performance descriptors

DfE has at last supplied the missing piece in its assessment jigsaw. It has published for consultation a 44-page document listing its proposed performance descriptors in reading, writing, mathematics and science at key stages 1 and 2 and showing how these relate to the new arrangements for primary floor standards, tests and teacher assessment. The descriptors replace the levels that have been a feature of the national curriculum since its inception in 1988.

The DfE document is not amenable to a short summary and the devil is in the detail, so if you wish to know what is in store – and, better still, if you wish to tell DfE what you think about its proposals – you can view/download the document and discover the consultation procedure here.

NB. The consultation closes on 18 December 2014.

Here are the questions to which DfE invites your responses:

1. Do the names of the draft performance descriptors allow teachers and parents to understand the meaning of, and differentiate between, each performance descriptor?

2. Are the performance descriptors spaced effectively across the range of pupils’ performance to support accurate and consistent judgements?

3. In your opinion, are the performance descriptors clear and easy to understand?

4. In your opinion, does the content of the performance descriptors adequately reflect the national curriculum programmes of study?

5. Should any element of the performance descriptors be weighted (i.e. should any element be considered more important or less important than others?).

6. If you have any further comments regarding the performance descriptors, please provide details. 

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Seize the moment: the future of primary education

One of our Schools Alliance members, Fulbridge Academy, Peterborough, has issued a call to fight the narrow strictures placed on educators by successive governments and pursue a broad, balanced curriculum for all children in line with the findings of the Cambridge Primary Review.

As we approach the General Election in May 2015, watch this inspiring declaration of core educational principles and contribute to the Cambridge Primary Review Trust’s quest to identify what the next government’s policy priorities should be for primary education.

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Charter for Early Childhood

Though the focus of CPR and CPRT is primary education, CPR’s final report had much to say about the early years foundations on which successful primary education is necessarily based. So we commend the Charter for Early Childhood produced by the Early Childhood Forum and draw colleagues’ attention to its launch at the House of Commons on 15 October 2014.

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2015 election countdown: CPRT and NUT

Those contemplating their contribution to CPRT’s policy priorities for the 2015 election should read the National Union of Teachers Manifesto for our Children’s Education. This is not some ideological wish-list but a sensible and principled statement with a firm basis in evidence. The proposals on child poverty, the curriculum, assessment, teacher development, accountability, localism and the strengthening of education as a public service are all in line with those from the Cambridge Primary Review.

To contribute to CPRT’s own policy priorities exercise see our blog of 25 September.

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Thinking outside the National Curriculum box – CPRT’s South East network and Schools Alliance join forces

On 2 July, 2014, one of our Schools Alliance members, Hythe Bay Church of England Primary School, held an event in conjunction with our South East network (based at Canterbury Christ Church University). Entitled ‘Waving not drowning in the new primary curriculum‘, teachers were given an opportunity to discuss and share progress in planning for all subjects in the new Primary Curriculum (including assessment implications).

It was underpinned by the principles, values and priorities of the Cambridge Primary Review Trust, and you can read a report of the activity here.

Contact

Cambridge Primary Review Trust - Email: administrator@cprtrust.org.uk