EDUCATION


‘It’s worth looking at how important primary education is for a child’s development; irrespective of the curriculum and methods used’


This is a case in point as to how important a focus on


early years’ education and experiences can be in determining the paths of the country’s next generation of workers. It promotes the idea that, while programmes and


initiatives at the “business end” of a pupil’s academic career are important and offer tangible links to an individual’s post-academic life and career, getting it right at the very start can be equally crucial. “It’s no longer an issue about whether early experiences


shape brain circuitry. But it’s still a very complex question in the scientific community when you get beyond the why question, of what should we do, and when should we begin,” argues education expert Jack Shonkoff in an article published in the Harvard Gazette. As things stand in England, tests for Reception pupils - known as baseline tests – include the assessment of


FOCUS FEATURE


reading, writing and maths skills and are carried out when a pupil first starts school. Slightly later, but still during primary education, school


children in Year Two (aged six to seven) and Year Six (aged ten and 11) are required to sit more formal exams, known as SATS, with new, more “rigorous” – as described by the Government - tests starting last year. The testing methods used vary in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. While on the face of it such moves could be seen as


excessive, they are rarely without reason, logic or thorough research. Reacting at the time to the new compulsory baseline


tests for Reception in the first instance, and the wider assessment of primary school pupils in general, the Department for Education said: "This has been mooted for some time and is a logical step. It will help teachers identify where each child starts from,


business network July/August 2017


35


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64