Geographical Association

Ministers have announced, as part of the Children, Schools and Families Bill, that the outcomes of the primary curriculum consultation have been accepted and the new primary national curriculum should be established in law. Read the announcement on the DCSF website.

The DCSF reports how these plans, confirmed by Schools Minister Vernon Coaker, have received overwhelming support from pupils, parents, teachers and experts. The new legislation is based on recommendations from an independent review of the primary curriculum by Sir Jim Rose, which sought the views of teachers, parents, pupils and subject experts and took over a year to complete.

Areas of Learning

The reforms include creating six 'Areas of Learning' that will shape what children learn from September 2011 - the right to learn a foreign language for seven-year-olds, a new focus on speaking and listening, increased expectations of ICT skills, and giving all parents the option to send their child to school in the September after they are four. Further information is available on the DCSF website.

Mark Orrow-Whiting, Programme Manager at QCDA said this was a '...very significant milestone in the development of the curriculum' and added that 'the DCSF is now leading a close collaboration between QCDA, the National College, the National Strategies, and Becta, to work on guidance and support for the new curriculum to ensure that it is well received in schools across the country'. Access latest news from QCDA about the primary curriculum at www.thinkingprimary.co.uk

Geographical Association Response

The GA has been closely involved in this review and will support members with the new planning challenges. Chief Executive Professor David Lambert says:

'The new arrangements are a great opportunity to ensure that geographical perspectives become embedded into the primary curriculum of all schools. Some of the wilder press reporting of 'areas of learning' has been ludicrous - geography to be replaced by blogging etc, as if geography somehow disappears! Geography is there, in the curriculum. There will be geography lessons, including fieldwork investigations outside the school, but not slotted uncomfortably into a programme because Ofsted are coming. They will be there because one sixth of the curriculum, nearly one day a week, is devoted to historical, geographical and social understanding. Of course this means primary colleagues need a good grasp of "geography".'

We believe that there is a significant place for geography as recommended by Rose, i.e. as a stand-alone subject as well as within and across Areas of Learning. The new curriculum offers opportunities to reinforce learning that is relevant to children's lives; helping them to make sense of how they live their lives in a world that is rapidly changing and preparing them for the challenges ahead.

Read Professor Lambert's draft article on Education for Geographical Understanding, due to be published in Primary History (Issue 52, Autumn 2009)