Description:
Based at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and directed by Professor Robin Alexander, the Cambridge Primary Review was launched in October 2006 and is funded until June 2010. It has aimed to gather evidence from a wide range of sources, sift facts from rhetoric, and stimulate debate about the future of this vital phase of education. The most comprehensive such enquiry since the Plowden Report of 1967, the Review has examined how well the current English system of primary education is doing, how it can be improved and how primary schools should respond to the national and global challenges which lie ahead. Along the way, the Review has assessed the impact of government primary education initiatives of the past 20 years.
The final report finds that England's primary schools are under intense pressure but in good heart and in general doing a good job. Since 1997, investment in primary education has risen dramatically and many policies have had a positive impact. Highly valued by children and parents, primary schools provide stability and positive values in a world of change and uncertainty. Contrary to myth, schools are not in constant danger of subversion by 1970s ideologues and they do not neglect the 3Rs. The real problems are rather different, and in relation to these there is certainly room for improvement.
Three broad concerns were repeatedly voiced by the Review's witnesses: the condition of childhood today, the state of the society and world in which children are growing up, and the focus and impact of government policy. Recommendations are provided in the report.