Mike Baker questions the role of the annual summer holidays for schools and considers how they effect children. The DCSF have recognised that summer born children do occur extra difficulties compared to their peers as a result of their time of birth and have vowed to offer additional support to them via extra tuition for catch up classes.
Ed Balls has written to Jim Rose setting out the review of the primary curriculum as announced in the 10yr Children's Plan.
The letter sets the priorities for the review:
- To best personalise learning, allow for creativity and flexibility
- To introduce compulsory language learning at Key Stage 2
- To ensure students develop personal skills at school
- To integrate the early years foundation stage and key stage 1 fully
- To ensure summer born children are not disadvantaged
- To ensure a smooth transition to secondary school and integration with the new secondary curriculum
Jim is to set out his priorities by 15th Feb. and release a provisional report by the end of October 2008.
The Centre for the Economics of Education has complied a report on the effects on being a summer baby. Those born in the summer tend to do worse throughout their academic career and although the effect declines as the child grows there is still an impact at age 16 & 18. This is true for several subgroups sampled, although those on free school meals tend to do worse still. Starting school earlier has a modest difference and so the authors suggest changing the assessment regime and instruments to recognise the difference, something which by coincidence is likely to occur under the personalised learning agenda.
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