New curriculum puts more focus on reading and spelling skills

 
12 June 2012

Spelling, grammar and reading will be put at the heart of primary school English lessons in a boost to the Evening Standard’s literacy campaign.

For the first time children will be given a list of words they are expected to spell before they start secondary school.

Young children will be expected to read for pleasure, with an emphasis on pupils as young as five reading fairy stories and traditional tales.

It comes as the fundraising total of the Get London Reading campaign topped £430,000. Almost 500 more Londoners are now volunteering in schools helping children to read as a result of the campaign. Sue

Sue Porto, chief executive of Volunteer Reading Help, our partner charity, welcomed the draft curriculum.

She said: “I have always maintained reading is the most important function for a child to get right early on. It is one of the basic skills they need to be able to access the wider curriculum.”

Maths and science will also be overhauled, with children introduced to times tables, mental arithmetic and fractions in the first two years. The rules will not apply to free schools or academies.

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