The Cambridge Primary Review East Midlands Regional Centre

'Children will not learn to think for themselves if their teachers are expected to do merely as they are told.' - (Alexander, 2009)

The Cambridge Primary Review Network

The Cambridge Primary Review (CPR) has identified that there is a need for discussion and debate to consider issues in primary education. The CPR National Primary Network is a direct response to requests from teachers and others who wish to consider 'approaches to teaching, initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership and improvement which work to re-empower teachers as thinkers as well as actors in the core professional fields of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment'. (http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/)

The network was set up after the review and aims to encourage, support and disseminate reform in primary schools, local authorities and teacher education and development which:

• builds reflectively and critically on the ideas, principles and proposals in the final report of the Cambridge Primary Review;
• is securely grounded in sustainable evidence, whether from the CPR or other sources;
• enhances professional and institutional capacity in the interests of replacing prescription, compliance and dependence by knowledgeable and accountable professional autonomy;
• improves the quality of primary education experienced by all the nation's children, but especially those which have given the CPR particular grounds for concern: the disadvantaged, the vulnerable, the marginalised, and those who for whatever reason are unable to benefit from the best that primary education can offer.

Among the main tasks of the network are the following:

• Identify and link, through electronic mailing and other means, those individuals and organizations that are interested in network membership and participation.
• Use a variety of strategies to encourage, identify and nurture thinking and practice which build on the findings and proposals of the Cambridge Primary Review and on other independent evidence likely to advance the quality of primary education.
• Publicise and disseminate such thinking and practice as widely as possible so as to advance the aim of professional and institutional re-empowerment which has been urged by both the Review and the wider professional community, and is now endorsed by the coalition government.
• Give particular support to those working in the Review's areas of high priority identified in the final CPR report and the subsequent briefing paper Policy Priorities for Primary Education.
• Support approaches to leadership and professional relations which liberate schools from narrow concepts of accountability and encourage creativity and originality while stressing the importance of evidence and justification.
• Explore opportunities for networking across the UK and internationally, as well as in England.
• Liaise with the DfE and other national bodies so as to ensure that they are fully aware of the work of the network and its members at a time when government itself has said it wishes to give teachers greater professional freedom, and in order to provide case material which we hope will influence policy.

More information about the Cambridge Primary Review and the network can be found at the CPR website http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/

The East Midlands Regional Centre

Bishop Grosseteste University is very proud to host the East Midland Regional Centre which confirms its commitment to primary education.

The regional centre aims to meet the aims of the CPR network through engagement with individual professionals, primary schools, HEIs and local authorities. It will particularly support engagement in the rural communities in the east midlands' region to facilitate debate about primary education and identify specific needs in the area.

The regional centre at Bishop Grosseteste University welcomes all who wish to engage in the CPR network. To register an interest, or to offer a location for regional meetings, please contact the regional coordinator (contact details at the bottom of the page).

Plans for the regional centre include:

• Identification of interested parties and setting up of groups within the region.
• Engage professionals in debate and discussion through group meetings, regional conferences, virtual discussion and other events.
• Support the postgraduate professional development of teachers through the University's MA in Education programme (for further information contact pde@bishopg.ac.uk).
• Undertake research and development work within the region within the CPR priority areas.
• A variety of accessible outcomes for participants in the region, including, dissemination event/s, a newsletter, a webpage, research papers and conference presentations.

Events in the Region

Over the last year there have been meetings at different locations in the region to discuss aspects of primary education. Over the course of 2011-12 the regional centre supported the creation of smaller network groups in Humberside and Nottinghamshire. The aim was to reach as many different parts of the region as possible; Humberside, Nottingham city, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicester, South Lincolnshire, Lincoln and North Lincolnshire. The focus areas were wide-ranging but had resonance with CPR priorities and the priorities in the region and included:

• Creative Technologies for Creative Teaching
• Early Years Development and Education—the way forward?
• Children's Spirituality
• Children's Welfare
• Creative Early Years Science
• Philosophy for Children
• The Creative Primary Curriculum
• Maths Specialist Teachers

View the full report for 2011-12 >>>

If you would like to host one of these meetings please contact the regional coordinator at pde@bishopg.ac.uk.

Further Information

Please find a link below to a summary document that contains quotes from The Schools White Paper 2010 that are of direct relevance to primary education. CPR felt it would be helpful to provide colleagues with the actual words and references of the report to inspire discussion and forward planning.

There are many implications within the White Paper for partnership working. Membership of the Cambridge Primary Review Network is increasing rapidly and we aim to help schools, LAs, HEIs and Subject Associations to build effective links to ensure that the highest quality primary education is offered to our children as we move forward into a new era.

View the white paper summary here >>>

For the latest CPR newsletters, Network News, etc, please go to the CPR website: http://www.primaryreview.org.uk

Links to Documents/Information

These documents may be of interest when considering the future of primary education:

• The Primary Curriculum: Not One Review But Two - And Good News For The Cambridge Primary Review
• Key Stage 2 Testing and Accountability Review
• Final Report of the Review into Key Stage 2 testing, assessment and accountability
• Plowden, Truth and Myth: A warning by Robin Alexander

Dame Gillian Pugh has offered the following document for circulation to CPR network members. This is a response to Michael Gove's description of the foundation stage as 'preparation for school'.

• Definitions of Teaching and School Readiness

The following link is to Professor Robin Alexander's article in the Education Guardian of 15 March 2011.

• Robin Alexander Guardian Article

Documents about the future of Primary History:

• Better History Group meeting Feb 2011
• Issues from Ofsted report on History
• HA Primary History Survey 2011

The following three documents relate to the current debate about literacy and phonics:

• the recent letter to the Secretary of State about the 'phonics check' from leaders of various key organisations including the Cambridge Primary Review
• the report 'Overcoming the Barriers to Literacy' from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Education
• the press release for the above report

Music in Schools:

'Children, their World, their Education' emphasised the importance of a well taught, broad balanced curriculum. You may be aware that Ofsted published a survey inspection report entitled 'Music in schools: wider still, and wider'. The survey found that there was considerable variation in the quality of music education within primary schools.

Two summary documents have been prepared by Dr Alison Daubney on behalf of the Incorporated Society of Musicians:

• Supporting Better Music Education
• Supporting Better Music Education - briefing for Head Teachers

Useful Resources and Innovative Practice

Values Education provide highly practical and cost-effective values education programmes which are used in many Church schools throughout the UK. Below are links to a brief introduction and a sample lesson plan.

• Introduction
• Sample Lesson Plan

Contact Details

Cambridge Primary Review East Midlands Regional Centre, with Lincolnshire, Humberside, South and East Yorkshire.

Coordinator: Jane Johnston, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln
01522 5837456
pde@bishopg.ac.uk

References

Alexander, R. (ed) (2009) Children, their World, their Education: Final Report and Recommendations of the Cambridge Review. London: Routledge

CPR website: http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/network/about_the_network.php