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Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum:Final Report
 
The central questions for the reviewhave been: what should the curriculumcontain and how should the contentand the teaching of it change to fosterchildren’s different and developingabilities during primary years?In looking to build a curriculum thatanswers these questions and is fitfor primary children’s education nowand in the future, excellent teachingof communication skills, leading tothe achievement of high standards of literacy and numeracy, must remaina priority. So must the achievementof high standards of behaviour andother vital aspects of ‘personaldevelopment’. In this day and age, theprimary curriculum also needs to giveserious attention to building children’scapability with information technology.Our best primary schools alreadydemonstrate that, far from narrowinglearning, these priorities – literacy,numeracy, ICT skills and personaldevelopment – are crucial for enablingchildren to access a broad and balancedcurriculum. Excellence in the basicssupports the achievement of breadthand balance in primary education.Our primary schools also show thathigh standards are best secured whenessential knowledge and skills arelearned both through direct, high-qualitysubject teaching and also throughthis content being applied and used incross-curricular studies. Primary schoolshave long organised and taught muchof the curriculum as a blend of discretesubjects and cross-curricular studies inthis way. It is the best of this work that
Dear Secretary of State
This is the final report of the independent review of the primary curriculumwhich you invited me to undertake in January 2008. It follows the interim reportthat was published in December of that year. The interim report drew a widerange of responses which, together with further information gathered from visitsto schools, consultation conferences, evidence of international best practice andmeetings with expert groups, have been used extensively in forming the finalrecommendations of the review.
23Introduction
 
Our primary teachers have copedamazingly well with this state of affairsand the best schools do use theircurrent flexibilities effectively. However,many look to this review to reduceprescription and curriculum overload sothat they can serve the needs of childreneven better. Every effort has beenmade to meet these expectations. Thepublic consultation on the proposed six‘areas of learning’ is a vitally importantthree month period during which allinterested parties should be invited toconsider whether the draft programmesof learning have struck the right balancebetween prescription of essentialcontent and manageability for theprimary teacher and school.The review is about the curriculumrather than the whole of primaryeducation. However, there are pointswhere important aspects, such aspedagogy and assessment, intersectwith the curriculum. This was wellunderstood by the many respondentswhose insightful contributions to thecalls for evidence and to the interimreport have been invaluable in helpingto frame the recommendations. Whilemy review was not remitted to considerall of these issues I have not feltconstrained in commenting on themin my final report.has informed the recommendations of the review.The proposal in my interim reportto bring aspects of subject contenttogether within areas of learning tofacilitate cross-curricular studies wasreported in some circles as ‘abolishingsubjects’ such as history and geography.The reverse is true: subject disciplinesremain vital in their own right, andcross-curricular studies strengthen thelearning of the subjects which makeup its content. From the standpoint of young learners, making links betweensubjects enriches and enlivens them,especially history and geography.Discussion with parents and othersshowed that the descriptions of someareas of learning, as set out in theinterim report, needed clarification.In consequence, the headings of threeof the areas of learning have beensimplified while retaining the contentthat they are intended to cover.The remit required the review to tackleseveral stubborn obstacles in the way of securing the best curriculum for primarychildren. One such obstacle is thefact that there is too much prescribedcontent in the current curriculum. Thetrend – usually motivated by the desireto strengthen particular aspects of learning – has been to add more andmore content with too little regard forthe practicalities and expertise neededto teach it effectively.
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