Computer skills placed at core of primary school education
- Added:
- May 01, 2009
Computer technology is to become on the core pillars of learning for 4 to 11-year olds, alongside English, maths and personal skills in the biggest overhaul of England's primary school curriculum for a decade.
The recommendations were made as part of a government planned overhaul of the primary school curriculum to smooth progression for pupils into secondary school.
Changes, to be put into place from 2011, where recommended by Ofsted director of inspection Sir Jim Rose, who lead the initiative.
Rose said: "The touchstone of an excellent curriculum is that it instils in children a love of learning for its own sake. From what I have seen on my visits, the best schools demonstrate that these priorities - literacy, numeracy, ICT and personal development - are crucial for giving children their entitlement to a broad and balanced education."
He added: "In no way does that suggest we are stepping back from recognising the importance of science and technology."
Traditional subjects continue with more cross-curricular work in six themes, and a stress on speaking and listening.
In another majoy change, from 2011 all children will be able to start school in the September after they turn four, the government says.
His final report advocates six broad areas of understanding:
1. English, communication and languages
2. Mathematical
3. The Arts
4. Historical, geographical and social
5. Physical development, health and wellbeing
6. Scientific and technological
The report includes recommendations that children use Google Earth, Wikipedia, video conferencing and Yahoo in the classroom.
Primary school teachers will also be given extra training to help them keep pace with tech-savvy students.
Stephen Beynon, managing director at ntl:Telewest Business, comments: “The education system is now faced with a generation of children that has grown up with computers playing an integral role in their lives. This digital generation has embraced the internet and they now use tools such as instant messaging, YouTube and Wikipedia on a day-to-day basis.
“By embedding technology into the primary school curriculum, an attempt is being made to nurture the skills pupils have learnt in their personal lives and close the chasm that has developed between the tools used at home and those used in the classroom. Training for teachers to support digital learning is essential.
“Recent research from ntl:Telewest Business revealed that teachers are in the dark when it comes to next generation applications, with a fifth of those polled feeling they lacked the knowledge or training to integrate Web 2.0 tools into their lessons. As well as having trained teachers to support the use of technology in the classroom, schools also need to ensure they have a resilient and reliable infrastructure in place, with sufficient bandwidth to cope with the roll-out of media-rich applications,” Beynon concluded.
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