Speaking is ‘better than writing for primary pupils’

 

The first years of primary school should be radically overhauled and emphasis placed on speaking instead of writing, an expert said today.

Children need more time to understand the meaning of words and numbers before they start learning to “decode black marks on paper”, according to Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham.

His comments came after an influential lobby of almost 130 educationalists called for schooling to be delayed until the age of six or seven, in favour of play-based activities with no formal literacy or numeracy requirements.

The group, which includes Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the former children’s commissioner for England, said that children who entered school at six or seven after being at nursery for longer did better educationally and had higher levels of well-being.

However, a spokesman for Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “These people represent the powerful and badly misguided lobby who are responsible for the devaluation of exams and the culture of low expectations in state schools.”

Professor Smithers said: “If you drive very young children to learn the formalities of reading and writing and representing that on paper too early you are not providing the best possible education.” But he added: “The alternative is not play.”

He called for a “systematic” system where children learn through talking with teachers and with each other and where they are able to move about regularly. But children would not be formally graded and assessed.

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