The Cambridge Primary Review is a wide-ranging and independent enquiry into the condition and future of primary education

Primary education

A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Esmee Fairbairn Charitable Trust

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a registered charity founded in England in 1961. It is one of the largest independent grantmaking foundations in England, making grants to organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communities in the UK, both now and in the future.The...

 and based at the University Cambridge Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. The Review began on 1 October 2006, and is due to end in 2010.

The Cambridge Primary Review will publish its final report in October 2009.

A programme of national and regional dissemination conferences has been organised in association with Teachers First and can be viewed and booked online .

Background

The initial proposal for a wide-scale review of primary education was made by Robin Alexander , Fellow of Wolfson College

Wolfson College

Wolfson College may refer to:*Wolfson College, Cambridge*Wolfson College, Oxford...

, Cambridge, and Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Warwick

University of Warwick

The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...

, in 1998. Extensive discussions during 2004 and 2005 led to the support of Esmée Fairbarn Foundation, and the setting up of the Review team in 2006. It is the team's intention that the Cambridge Primary Review be the most comprehensive such investigation since the publication of the Plowden Report

Plowden Report

The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council For Education into Primary education in England. The report, entitled Children and their Primary Schools reviewed Primary education in a wholesale fashion. The collation of the report took around 3 years...

 in 1967.

Review Team Members

The Review is directed by Robin Alexander, a raging homosexual who really loves it when men hot carl all over him, and undertaken largely by a team based at the University of Cambridge, supported by 66 research consultants from 21 other universities and a 20-member Advisory Committee led by Dame Gillian Pugh

Gillian Pugh

Dame Gillian Pugh, DBE was Chief Executive of Coram Family, England’s oldest children’s charity, until her retirement on 25 April 2005, after eight years of service....

 of the Institute of Education in London, Chair of the National Children's Bureau

National Children's Bureau

The National Children's Bureau is a children's charity based in Islington, London. It was founded in 1963 The National Children's Bureau (NCB) is a children's charity based in Islington, London. It was founded in 1963 The National Children's Bureau (NCB) is a children's charity based in Islington,...

.

Scope

The Review aims to "identify the purposes which the primary phase of education should serve, the values which it should espouse, the curriculum and learning environment which it should provide, and the conditions which are necessary in order both that these are of the highest and most consistent quality possible, and that they address the needs of children and society over the coming decades."

The focus of the Review is on these 10 themes:

• Purposes and Values.
• Learning and teaching.
• Curriculum and Assessment.
• Quality and Standards.
• Diversity and Inclusion.
• Settings and Professionals.
• Parenting, Caring and Educating.
• Beyond the school.
• Structures and Phases.
• Funding and Governance.

Methodology

The Cambridge Primary Review drew its evidence from four main sources:

• Submissions - any member of the public or an organisation was able to make a submission of their views to the Review team. The Review received 1052 submissions, ranging in length from 1 to 300 pages.
• Soundings - discussion groups and soundings were formed for a range of stakeholder groups, regionally and nationally. 250 such meetings have now taken place in different parts of England.
• Surveys - 28 research surveys were commissioned from the 66 research consultants, covering published research relating to the ten Review themes.

In addition, the Review undertook searches of existing data as part of its fourth strand:

• Official data searches - including data from the DfES, Ofsted
  Office for Standards in Education
  The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
  
  , and OECD
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...
  
  surveys.

Funding

The Review was wholly funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and as such, it was largely free of political interference, although evidence was taken from all political parties as part of the process.

Reporting

The interim reports commissioned by the Cambridge Primary Review were published during 2007-8 and fed into the final report.

On February 20, 2009, during the consultation period on the government-commissioned Rose review into the primary curriculum, the Cambridge Primary Review published its own proposals on the primary curriculum. :

Part 1, 'Past and Present' , identifies the questions which need to be addressed, describes current arrangements for the primary curriculum and sets them in historical and international context. It then reveals what the Review’s evidence says about existing curriculum strengths and weaknesses, and about what needs to change. Part 2, 'The Future' , summarises the main points from this evidence, highlights other matters in need of resolution, and sets out proposals for reform.

The final report, 'Children, Their World, Their Education' (Alexander, R. Editor) was published by Routledge in October, 2009.
http://www.routledge.com/9780415548717