I am gemused that Nanny is proudly claiming that she will now test 11 year olds on grammar and punctuation etc, as part of a "back to basics" campaign (didn't the Tories rather run afoul of another "back to basics" initiative in the 90's?).
Anyhoo, The Telegraph reports:
"Under the new exams, which will form part of Sats tests, pupils will be expected to recognise the difference between formal and non-standard English, in response to concerns that too many youngsters rely on so-called “text speak” in their written work.That all sounds very jolly, but I have wee question.
The exam will also focus on the grammatical functions of words, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions.
Officials say that children should be “taught to proofread” their work for spelling and punctuation errors, omissions and repetition.
Pupils will also be expected to use “fluent, joined and legible” handwriting and will be taught to use punctuation marks correctly, with a focus on full stops, question marks, commas, inverted commas and apostrophes.
Teaching unions have already threatened to boycott the exam - which will be introduced in all state schools next year – over concerns that it risks narrowing the curriculum and promoting a culture of “teaching to the test”."
I appreciate that I am a gazillion years old and that my educashunal experiences took place in pre history, in a public school where one was flogged on Hogimass Day for not wearing the school onion etc etc, but what the fark has Nanny been teaching kids then if it isn't basic reading, writing and 'rithmetic?
Oh, and why the hell are the unions moaning about teaching kids to read and rite proper??
For fark's sake what the hell has been going on in schools over the last 40 years?
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Spot on Ken!
ReplyDeleteJust what have they been teaching the kids?
Lots of PC crap I suspect. Education in the UK has become little more than just an indoctrination into a socialist mentality and way of thinking.
Remember a dumbed down, uneducated, ignorant and frightened population is easier to control than an educated and confident one.
I see our respected PM (sic) has made another socialist announcement this morning; he believes too many of our Olympians are from private schools.....Well Dozy Dave, had previous governments not sold off the playing fields, banned competitive sports in state schools and messed around with the curriculum, we would not have such a situation and, worse still, you have done nothing to reverse it!
Well, Ken, I suppose after a full day of being indoctrinated into the modern religions of climate change, marxism and multiculturalism, plus getting a medal for simply showing up, there would be much time for the basics. After all, if the kids start truly learning, and THEN, horror or horrors, start thinking for themselves......well, you can see we cant have that!!!!
ReplyDeleteDebbie
"think for themselves", now that's going a bit too far, you might even end up with a revolution that might sweep the whole status quo of the "UK" and its culture of mediocrity away altogether, and where would that leave us, pray tell? Well, for straters in a situation where we might really have to stand up and be counted!
DeleteWhat they have been teaching the children is how to read and write phonetically. Instead of the old and dated A B C they have been taught the new and revolutionary Ah Bey Cey.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately nobody has bothered to check that English is not a phonetic language.
It is a language that is relatively easy to speak for foreigners (I am one of them), but almost impossible to read and write for none native speakers unless a lot of study is involved. Much word recognition is needed.
For instance the numbers One, Two, Three, Four and Five. For someone like me whose mother language is phonetic, these would be pronounced On-ee, t-wo, th-ree(almost correct), fo-oor and fi-bee. It is only the fact that I now recognise the words that allows me to pronounce them correctly.
Is there any wonder why Britain is bottom of the league when teaching foreign languages when they cannot even teach their own?
"For fark's sake what the hell has been going on in schools over the last 40 years?"
ReplyDeleteTonk has hit the nail firmly on the head! I rather think many parents would like to know the answers to this question too, Ken! In my humble opinion, the rot began with the phasing out of grammar schools and the introduction of comporehensive schools. You cannot hope to teach a diverse range of abilities in one school, especially in the same class!
What has been going on in schools for the last forty years? An attempt to homogenise eductaion so that everyone in the system receives an identical programme which produces educational utopia.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, developement rather than destruction of the 1944 Education Act would have been a far better idea.
I tink dis is yet anudder minority tory appeeserment ecxerceyes to curree da fava of da toree rite. In general teechers have been teechin proper engleesh - fuckin torees - how many of dem ever go into schoolz????
ReplyDeleteI went to a Public school (which I did NOT enjoy) and got a good education, I am sending my second son to a Private school in Germany (which, glad to say, he is enjoying) for exactly the same reason. I paid money to go to a
ReplyDeletedoctor the other day (in Bulgaria where I live) rather than go to the 'NHS' clinic here in town. State-run institutions always end up providing the lowest common denominator of anything unless there is very real competition from elsewhere.
I went to Dulwich, it was a good place.
DeleteInterestingly enough (long before my time), in the 1940's, it was the first public school to admit pupils on local authority assisted places (via the 11 plus) - aka "The Dulwich Experiment".
Ironically in the early 70's the then Labour gov (following its "socialist principles") abolished the 11 plus, thus denying many very able kids (from non wealthy backgrounds) access to schools such as Dulwich.