Clarke calls for more interesting curriculum
Education secretary Charles Clarke has called for more variety in the school curriculum.
Speaking at the NASUWT annual conference, Mr Clarke also announced that the government was ready to consider proposals by the Local Government Association to introduce a six-term year in England’s 150 local education authorities.
The education secretary told the audience of teachers that the plan to double the annual number of school terms had “merit” and added that councils could be given guidelines on how to implement the new terms.
NASUWT backs the plans for a six-term year, but wants to see a “co-ordinated approach” across all education authorities.
Addressing recent concerns about the poor post-16 retention rate of UK schools, Mr Clarke told the teachers’ union conference in Llandudno that he wanted to see every child taught in every subject by a teacher who was “able, passionate, and well-supported”.
However, schools in England and Wales are currently experiencing shortages in specialist teaching staff particularly in areas such as maths and science.
Mr Clarke proposed the appointment of a national director for each main subject in order to devise tailored development strategies in key areas. He also stressed that the curriculum is much wider than the subjects taught in classrooms and announced that he wanted to see all schools offering activities such as sport, dance, music or the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
The Cabinet minister referred to government proposals to establish links between schools and voluntary organisations, private companies, museums or environmental groups and urged schools to make the most of their facilities throughout the day.
“The curriculum is much wider than what is taught in the classroom,” he said. “Good schools vibrate with activity all day – jazz band before school, cookery club at lunch time, chess and football and dance after school. This is how we give children a real love of learning and put schools back at the heart of communities.”
Mr Clarke snubbed the National Union of Teachers annual conference this year over the union’s refusal to work with the government on education reforms.
NUT general secretary Doug McAvoy accused the Government of wanting to “destroy” free state education and turn schools into the educational equivalent of Tesco supermarkets.
Mr Clarke dismissed his comments as “complete nonsense” and claimed he was willing to talk to the NUT if it was prepared to engage in “constructive dialogue”.
