Five-minute school lessons in major curriculum reform

 

Last updated at 10:16am on 12th July 2007 Comments (5)

The five-minute study: Students are to be 'drip-fed' subjets like French and German throughout the day in a bid to keep their attention

 

Children are to be taught French and German in five-minute "attention grabbing" lessons.

Secondary school pupils will have short, sharp sessions in key subjects as part of the most radical shake-up of the curriculum since AS-levels were introduced in 2000.

 

Education minister Lord Adonis unveiled the measure today as part of an effort to stop children aged 11 to 14 slipping back during the "lost years" between the end of primary school and the start of GCSEs.

 

It is being backed by Ed Balls, the children, schools and families minister, as part of Gordon Brown's commitment to education.

 

Ministers want schools to use the timetable much more imaginatively to ensure strugglers get a better grasp of the three Rs while stretching the brightest at the same time.

 

Pupils will be asked snap mental arithmetic questions for five minutes in lessons "drip fed" through the day. Other subjects which could be covered in the soundbite lessons include sciences and languages.

 

Government sources insisted there would be no loss of focus on the "basics" of English, maths and science.

 

"The main thing we want to emphasise is that we are freeing up more of the school day to help teachers to help pupils who are struggling to master the basics of English and maths," said one official.

But alongside a fresh drive to improve standards in the three Rs, schools will be encouraged to come up with new ways of sparking pupils' enthusiasm for subjects ranging from cookery to foreign languages.

 

Ministers have decided to endorse the curriculum for Key Stage 3, as the 11 to 14 phase of education is called, which was proposed in February by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

 

Mick Waters, the QCA's director of the curriculum for 11- to 14-year-olds, said lessons should be divided into different lengths - with some lasting just a few minutes, to motivate pupils.

 

"The challenge is to work out which ingredients need to be taught separately, so that children quarry learning in real depth; which ingredients need to be taught by the drip-feed method for a few minutes every day, and which can be taught jointly," he said.

 

A timetable of how students' days could pan out

 

 

As well as soundbite lessons, schools will teach different subjects round a single "theme", which could last a day, a week, or even longer.

 

Traditionalists worry that such "cross-curricular" exercises could jeopardise teaching of the traditional core curriculum-of English, maths, the sciences, history, geography and languages.

But ministers have moved to make sure the classics of English Literature - including Shakespeare, Austen and Dickens - as well as key dates in British history and techniques such as map-reading, will continue to be compulsory.

Mr Waters was a headteacher and then a senior town hall official under education guru Tim Brighouse before he joined the QCA.

 

He added: "Anne Boleyn will still be beheaded, Trafalgar will still have taken place in 1805, the Pennines will remain the backbone of England, Romeo will still love Juliet."

 

Among the other elements in the new curriculum will be an "entitlement" to cookery lessons and classes in "economically useful languages" including Mandarin and Urdu.

 

These will not be compulsory and are likely to be given in after-school clubs, depending on whether schools have the necessary expertise and resources.

But all teenagers will have to learn about how to manage household budgets and understand mortgages and other debts as part of efforts to improve their financial literacy and give them the skills required by employers.

How much information do they plan on shoving into them in 5 minutes!?

i used to go to a school which had 30-minute lessons. i dont think its a good idea. it usually takes 5 minutes until everyone is quiet and all students have opened their book and five minutes to explain them their homework so theres only 20 minutes left.

i used to go to a school which had 30-minute lessons. i dont think its a good idea. it usually takes 5 minutes until everyone is quiet and all students have opened their book and five minutes to explain them their homework so theres only 20 minutes left.

 

You forget the "waking up" time!!:P