Union official argues for change in National Curriculum

David Collins, president of the Association of Colleges, said that the national curriculum should be based around children’s needs and experiences at certain ages.

He was speaking at the IPPR fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference when Collins said it was pointless trying to teach very young children subjects such as history, which had no relevance to their lives.

“The national curriculum doesn’t take into account the fact that people learn best when it’s most relevant to them,” he said. “History is nothing but stories to children in primary school because they don’t have any idea of time.

“What’s the point at that age, why should primary curriculum not have in it something that relates to the needs of young children, such as exploring the world around them?”