Literacy news
New national curriculum could reach into the home
23 May 2011
A reformed national curriculum could reach beyond the school gates and help pupils to learn at home, the man leading the Government's review has revealed.
Tim Oates, head of the of the expert panel reviewing the curriculum, said that greater family support for pupils' learning and wider reading outside school could even be "the next stage of our development as a nation". According to Oates, international evidence shows that the link between home and schooling in high-performing education systems is key.
Concerns have been raised that it could widen the gap between children from wealthier backgrounds and the socially disadvantaged with chaotic home lives. But Mr Oates argued it would do the opposite:
"The national curriculum could be one of the instruments which one uses to encourage wider reading among younger people. If they are doing it at home it may help us to close the gap between those from well-off and not so well-off backgrounds.
"If we have clarity in the national curriculum, parents from any social background would have a greater chance of understanding what it is that they should be doing at home at any one time which would help children's attainment. It could be just talking about a topic."
Read more at The TES.
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