A report from Ofsted claims that some schools in England are struggling to teach citizenship properly. From the BBC report…

“…in some secondary schools, pupils have “important gaps” in their knowledge. However, inspectors say lessons have improved since they were made compulsory seven years ago.

The article goes on to say that…

“Often citizenship shared a timetable slot with Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, but the time allowed was “too little to do justice to either subject”, inspectors say.”

Image – Writing Exams

However, on the positive side…

“Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert, said: “Citizenship is becoming a well established part of the school curriculum and this report highlights the ways in which schools are successfully promoting social responsibility, community involvement and political understanding.

“It is important that the good practice featured in the report is replicated more widely.”

How do you feel about the teaching of citizenship? Do your pupils have ‘important’ gaps in their knowledge? Is there too little time to do the subject justice?

The BBC is today reporting on the results of the Cambridge Primary Review. One of the suggestions of the report is that children should not start formal learning until they are six. At the moment, most children in England start school aged four.

Our ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ is a play-based curriculum including some early literacy and numeracy goals. The report suggests continuing this informal but structured learning for a year or so, bringing education in England in line with many European countries, where school starts at six or even seven, and standards are often higher.

What do you think? Should our children start formal learning later? How will it have an impact on the children and their learning?

Image – Extra Credit