The Primary Curriculum: An Alternative Vision

Am I seeing double, or are there two reviews of primary education? You're not and there are. There's the Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum led by Sir Jim Rose, the remit of which was outlined by Ed Balls in a letter in January 2008. The review published an interim report in December and is due to publish its final report this spring. It's looking at retaining the National Curriculum entitlements while continuing to give priority to literacy and numeracy in the primary stage and strengthening provision for personal development.

And the other review? That's the Cambridge Primary Review overseen by Professor Robin Alexander and funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for three years. Its remit is much wider - back to basics really: "to identify the purposes which the primary phase of education should serve, the values which it should espouse, the curriculum and learning environment which it should provide, and the conditions which are necessary in order that both these are of the highest and most consistent quality possible, and that they address the needs of children and society over the coming decades." Of the many reports produced so far as part of the Cambridge Primary Review, it's worth noting that its report on the curriculum has attracted the most comment.