Reforms to the school curriculum are a “missed opportunity” to combat regional inequalities, North East education leaders have warned, writes Local Democracy Reporter, Daniel Holland.
The Department for Education (DfE) announced that it will introduce compulsory reading tests for year 8 pupils, among a series of changes recommended by a Government-commissioned review.
Professor Becky Francis’ review has also recommended that exam volume at GCSE level be cut by at least 10% and that citizenship classes are made mandatory in primary school.
Schools North East, which represents over 1,150 schools in our region, said on Wednesday that the report contained “welcome steps forward” and that the new “diagnostic assessments” in Year 8 would help strengthen the transition from primary to secondary education.
However, it warned that the overhaul “leaves major gaps unaddressed” when it comes to improving outcomes for children in more deprived parts of the country.
The North East has the fewest GCSE pupils getting top grades, with only 17.8% this year receiving a grade 7 or above.
While the figure has improved from the last pre-pandemic GCSE results in 2019, when it stood at 16.4%, the gap to pupils in London has grown in that time – increasing from 9.3% to 10.6%.
Schools North East director Chris Zarraga said: “The DfE’s review contains welcome recognition of teacher workload, SEND barriers, and the need to rethink Key Stage 3, all of which reflect what North East schools have been saying for years. But without addressing the underlying funding and contextual challenges our schools face, these reforms risk not delivering the world-class, broad and balanced curriculum our pupils deserve.”
Schools North East added that the headteachers in the region continue to report “unsustainable” pressures on their staff’s time and that bringing in a new curriculum “ risks exacerbating already high workload and recruitment challenges”.
The charity added: “In a region with the highest rates of long-term disadvantage in England, and where many schools are already operating on severely stretched budgets, the capacity to deliver curriculum reform is limited. Digital delivery and new online curriculum tools will demand infrastructure, staff training and investment that many North East schools currently lack. There is already an acknowledged ‘digital divide’ between large parts of the North East and other regions. Without targeted resources, digital inequality could deepen.”
The DfE also confirmed it would accept the review’s recommendation to scrap the English Baccalaureate (EBacc).
Education secretary and Sunderland MP Bridget Phillipson said: “It has been over a decade since the national curriculum was updated, and it’s more crucial than ever that young people are equipped to face the challenges of today, so they can seize the exciting opportunities that life has to offer.
“The path to our country’s renewal runs through our schools: they must be an epicentre of the strongest possible foundations of knowledge, and the skills to excel in the modern world.
“From the fundamentals of reading to the present danger of spotting fake news, as part of our Plan for Change, these landmark reforms will help young people step boldly into the future, with the knowledge to achieve and the skills to thrive as the world around us continues to rapidly evolve.”
Daniel Holland
Reporter for the Local Democracy Reporter Service.
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
