It’s been nearly a year since I wrote my last blog which is both a reflection of a dearth of ideas and being too busy settling into my new school. I have missed writing them though.
I recently found out that I have been accepted onto the course to complete a Masters in Education at Cambridge University next year. Far from being at odds with my previous blog, this will I hope allow me to develop and demonstrate my academic prowess whilst I continue the learning process with the practical aspects of the job of teaching. The offer has though turned my thoughts to what to write an extended piece of research about and one early idea is transition readiness.
The idea that the current transition from primary to secondary education is ill-timed first crystalised in my head about a year ago now when I observed a Dance class for Year 6 children at a school in Cambridgeshire. To say that I felt out of my depth to be able to teach such a class would be an understatement, as I have also felt when trying to teach upper primary school children Art, Music and Languages. This is of course the reason that many primary schools outsource these lessons, as well as those in Sport, to specialist teachers but the fact this does not happen in other subjects, most notably the core subjects, worries me.
I now find myself at a school where the children are fortunate enough to have specialist teachers from Year 5 onwards in all subjects. And I see no reason why this model could not and should not be the aim of all primary schools in order to allow children to fulfill their potential where they are showing aptitude. Most importantly, the children would experience better teaching and, as the Sutton Trust has demonstrated, content knowledge and quality of instruction are the two factors with the strongest evidence of improving pupil attainment. I also think it would improve the workload for teachers who currently have to prepare lessons in subjects they lack knowledge and confidence in. Effectively, this would bring the transition to secondary education forward by two years.
This then started me thinking about the other potential benefits of moving the transition to secondary education. Not only would children and teachers benefit, the primary school system which is creaking under the pressure on school placeswould be at least temporarily relieved buying more time to build the necessary infrastructure and train the necessary staff to keep the primary sector afloat, especially in geographic areas experiencing significant pressure.
There is also a further benefit I see, reflected in the horror felt by teachers, parents and the media alike when discussion about sex education in primary schools has been discussed. Evidence suggests that diet has caused puberty in humans to start earlier. There is also a plethora of research ongoing about the impact that modern society is having: from clothing such as bras for young children to rising levels of mental health issues. Primary school teachers often feel ill-equipped to tackle these issues, a challenge which would be reduced by moving transition to secondary school earlier where teachers are more used to facing the issues arising from puberty.
Whether this is a good idea or not, I find it surprising that I can find no reference to such a debate taking place in government, schools or unions. This is what has further inspired me to want to complete a Masters (and potentially go further) to be able to address the matters that concern me with education in the UK. It is yet another reason why the College of Teaching is such an excellent and overdue idea.
Leatherhead, 9th April 2015
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