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Rose Review of the Primary Curriculum: Key Recommendations and Government Response
Area of Remit	Rose Recommendation	Government Response
Curriculum review	Recommendation 1: A National Curriculum should be retained as a statutory entitlement for all children.	Accept.
	Recommendation 2: Consideration should be given to making the historically re-active response to curriculum review a pro-active strategy whereby the EYFS and the statutory curriculum for primary and secondary schools are reviewed at agreed intervals as a whole, rather than as separate phases reviewed out of sequence. This would impose a discipline on the process of review such that schools could be assured of a period of stability in which to achieve agreed curricular goals.	Accept.
	Recommendation 3: The aims for a revised primary curriculum derived from the 2006 Education Act, the Children’s Plan and ‘Every Child Matters’ should be underpinned by a unified statement of values which is fit for all stages of statutory education. The aims and values established as part of the recent secondary curriculum review should be extended to the primary curriculum.	Accept in principle, subject to public consultation.
Managingcurriculum Change	Recommendation 4: In preparing for a revised curriculum in 2011, examples of good timetabling and time management from highly successful schools should be made available.	Accept.
Curriculum design and content	Recommendation 5: The content of the primary curriculum should be organised as it is now under knowledge, skills and understanding but structured as six areas of learning to enable children to benefit fully from high quality subject teaching and equally challenging cross-curricular studies.	Accept in principle, subject to public consultation.
	Recommendation 6: (i) To help primary schools plan for, and sustain curricular continuity, and secure pupils’ progress from Year R to Year 7, the QCA should work closely with the National Strategies to support schools to plan the new curriculum. (ii) Web-based guidance should be made available drawing upon the experience of that for the secondary curriculum. This should include refreshing the primary literacy and numeracy frameworks. (iii) In line with arrangements for implementing the new secondary curriculum, DCSF should provide primary schools with one extra training day in 2010 to enable the workforce in each school to understand the new primary curriculum and start planning how it will work in their school.	Accept.
	Recommendation 7: The DCSF should commission a plain-language guide to the curriculum for parents to help them understand how it will change to match children’s developing abilities and how they can best support their children’s learning at school.	Accept.
Literacy, numeracy and ICT	Recommendation 8: (i) Literacy, numeracy and ICT should form the new core of the primary curriculum. (ii) Schools should continue to prioritise literacy, numeracy, ICT and personal development as the foundational knowledge, skills and understanding of the primary curriculum; the content of which should be clearly defined, taught discretely, and used and applied extensively in each area of learning. (iii) The DCSF Expert Group on Assessment should give consideration to how the new core of literacy, numeracy and ICT should be assessed and these aspects of children’s performance reported to parents.	Recommendation 8(i): Accept in principle, subject to public consultation. Recommendations 8(ii) and 8(iii): Accept.
	Recommendation 9: Primary schools should make sure that children’s spoken communication is developed intensively within all subjects and for learning across the curriculum. In so doing, schools should capitalise on the powerful contributions of the performing and visual arts, especially role play and drama.	Accept.
	Recommendation 10: (i) Primary schools should continue to build on the commendable progress many have made in teaching decoding and encoding skills for reading and spelling through high quality, systematic, phonic work as advocated by the 2006 Reading Review as the prime approach for teaching beginner readers. (ii)Similar priorities and principles should apply to numeracy in keeping with the recommendations of the Williams Review.	Accept.
	Recommendation 11: (i)The two early learning goals for writing should be retained as valid, aspirational goals for the end of the reception class. (ii) DCSF should offer additional guidance for practitioners and teachers on supporting young children’s emerging writing skills, including examples of how these two goals are being achieved by many children.	Accept.
	Recommendation 12: The DCSF, working with QCA and BECTA’ should consider what additional support teachers will need to meet the raised expectations of children’s ICT capabilities and use of technology to enrich learning across the curriculum and set in train adequate support.	Accept.
Personal development	Recommendation 13: (i) The QCA, in consultation with representative groups, should exemplify and promote the range of learning envisioned in the new framework for personal development with the firm intention of helping schools to plan for balanced coverage, and avoid piecemeal treatment of this central aspect of the curriculum. (ii) Personal Development should be given core status along with literacy, numeracy and ICT. The QCA should work with schools to explore and develop innovative ways of assessing pupil progress in this area.	Accept in principle, subject to public consultation.
Transitionandprogression	Recommendation 14: (i) The preferred pattern of entry to reception classes should be the September immediately following a child’s fourth birthday. However, this should be subject to well-informed discussion with parents, taking into account their views of a child’s maturity and readiness to enter reception class. Arrangements should be such as to make entry to reception class an exciting and enjoyable experience for all children, with opportunities for flexible arrangements such as a period of part-time attendance if judged appropriate. (ii) The DCSF should provide information to parents and local authorities about the optimum conditions, flexibilities and benefits to children of entering reception class in the September immediately after their fourth birthday.	Accept.
	Recommendation 15: The QCA should make sure that guidance on the revised primary curriculum includes clear advice on how best to support those children who need to continue to work toward the early learning goals and build on the learning that has taken place in the EYFS.	Accept.
	Recommendation 16: What constitutes high quality of play-based learning, especially across the EYFS and into Year 1, should be made explicit in guidance from the QCA. Because parents, too, need to understand the importance to children of learning through play, appropriate aspects this guidance should be routed through schools to parents.	Accept.
	Recommendation 17: Key Stage 1 teachers should be involved in the moderation of Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) assessments within schools, to increase their understanding of the EYFSP and their confidence in the judgements of reception teachers.	Accept.
	Recommendation 18: Major central initiatives, such as, Assessment for Learning and Assessing Pupils’ Progress have huge potential for strengthening the transition of children from primary to secondary schools. The DCSF should develop these initiatives to keep pace with the fast growing appetite in primary schools to take them on board.	Accept.
	Recommendation 19: With their local authorities, primary and secondary schools, should agree a joint policy for bridging children’s transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3. Five inter-dependent transition bridges are suggested for this purpose: administrative; social and personal; curriculum; pedagogy, and autonomy and managing learning. This should involve extended studies across Year 6 and Year 7, and draw upon the support of personal tutors.	Accept.
	Recommendation 20: When the National Strategies next review their materials they should look to further strengthen curricular continuity between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.	Accept.
Languages	Recommendation 21: The knowledge, skills, understanding that children need to acquire in languages should be situated within the area of learning entitled “English, communication and languages”. This will enable teachers and pupils to exploit the links between English and the chosen language(s) and realise the potential, for example, of role play and drama for young children learning a modern language.	Accept in principle, subject to public consultation.
	Recommendation 22: Schools should focus on teaching only one or two languages. This should not preclude providing pupils with experiences in other languages as opportunities arise in cross-curricular studies, as long as sustained learning is secured in one or two languages to ensure that children are able to achieve progression over four years in line with the expectations of the Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages.	Accept in principle, subject to public consultation.
	Recommendation 23: Primary schools should be free to choose the language(s) that they wish to teach, however, as far as possible the languages offered should be those which children will be taught in Key Stage 3.	Accept in principle, subject to public consultation.
	Recommendation 24: The commendable work that is taking place to support the delivery of language teaching through workforce development programmes should continue at current levels of funding.	Accept in principle, subject to comprehensive spending review settlement beyond April 2011.
	Recommendation 25: A survey by OFSTED of how well primary schools are managing the introduction of languages as a compulsory subject should take place no later than 2014.	Accept.

Defence

Call Out Order (Cyprus)

The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): A new call-out order has been made under section 56 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to enable members of the reserve forces to continue to be called out into permanent service and deployed to Cyprus as part of the UK’s contribution to the United Nations Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The call-out order has effect until 30 April 2010.

Last year some 240 members of the TA, primarily from 32 Signals Regiment, were called out and deployed for six months in Cyprus as part of the UK’s contribution to UNFICYP.

Defence Vetting Agency Key Targets Financial Year (2009-10)

The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): Key targets have been set for the chief executive of the Defence Vetting Agency for financial year 2009-10. These are provided below.

Key target 1: External validation of quality

To achieve at least a 98 per cent. satisfaction rating with 200 cases independently selected and reviewed from a random sample of Security Check (SC) and Developed Vetting (DV) cases completed in the preceding 12-month period.

Key target 2: Delivering customer service

To maintain customer service excellence accreditation.

Key target 3: Completing routine cases

a. To complete 85 per cent. of Counter Terrorist Checks (CTC) within 30 calendar days.

b. To complete 85 per cent. of SCs within 30 calendar days.

c. To complete 85 per cent. of Defence DVs within 100 calendar days.

Key target 4: Completing priority cases

a. To complete 90 per cent. of CTCs within 10 calendar days.

b. To complete 90 per cent. of SCs within 10 calendar days.

c. To complete 85 per cent. of Defence DVs within 30 calendar days.

Key target three and four represent net performance that excludes delays outside of DVA control.

Key target 5: Completing aftercare cases

a. All aftercare incident reports to be taken into action within seven calendar days of receipt.

b. 80 per cent. of Scheduled Aftercare to be taken into action within 30 calendar days of the due date.

Key target 6: Improving efficiency

To reduce the unit cost of output by 2 per cent.

Puma Review

The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): I am today placing in the Library of the House and on the MOD website, a copy of two reports “The Puma Force—A Review of Contemporary Operating Issues” and the earlier report “A Strategic Review of the Puma
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Helicopter Force”. These reports were undertaken by the Ministry of Defence as a prudent step following a number of Puma helicopter incidents in 2007. The reports are a comprehensive and honest examination of a wide range of issues, including Puma Force culture, training, flying and operational requirements, structure, leadership and management.

“A Strategic Review of the Puma Helicopter Force” was written for internal consumption and consequently contains sensitive information that we have needed to redact. I realise that this can make the document difficult to read and that is why “The Puma Force—A Review of Contemporary Operating Issues” was written and is also being published. This is an unclassified report, specifically designed to provide a clear narrative and allow the reader to better understand the context in which a series of incidents occurred and the actions taken and planned as a result. As a consequence of the latter, the Puma Force’s capability has been enhanced and the management of safety improved to minimise the risk of further accidents. Clearly, operational flying can never be risk free.

I would stress that there is no suggestion in the documents that the Puma is in any way unsafe to fly.

Energy and Climate Change

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Mr. Mike O'Brien): I would like to inform the house that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has successfully concluded its auction process for the disposal of land adjacent to three existing nuclear sites at Bradwell in Essex, Oldbury in South Gloucestershire and Wylfa in Anglesey.

The successful bidders are:

Bow Bidco Wylfa Ltd (A consortium consisting of EON UK Plc and RWE Npower Plc) for the 178 hectares (438 acres) of land at Wylfa;

Bow Bidco Oldbury Ltd (A consortium consisting of EON UK Plc and RWE Npower Plc) for the 48 hectares (119 acres) of land at Oldbury;

EDF Development Company Ltd for the 200 hectares (493 acres) of land at Bradwell

The sale of these three sites is worth up to £387 million which the NDA will use to offset the cost of decommissioning and to further its core mission. The successful outcome of the auction demonstrates that major energy companies are gearing up for significant investment in low carbon energy in the UK.

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