|year 3 |primary school |8 |
|year 4 |junior school |9 |
|year 5 | |10 |
|year 6 | |11 |
|year 7 | |12 |
|year 8 | |13 |
|year 9 |secondary school |14 |
|year 10 | |15 |
|year 11 | |16 |
|year 12 |sixth form college |17 |
|year 13 | |18 |
|first year (fresher) | |19 |
|second year |University or |20 |
|third/final year |Polytechnic |21 |
|postgraduate |University |23 |
5.Pre-primary and Primary Education.
In some of England there are nursery schools for children under 5
years of age. Some children between two and five receive education in
nursery classes or in infants’ classes in primary schools. Many children
attend informal pre-school playgroups organized by parents in private
homes. Nursery schools are staffed with teachers and students in training.
There are all kinds of toys to keep the children busy from 9 o’clock in the
morning till 4 o’clock in the afternoon while their parents are at work.
Here the babies play, lunch and sleep. They can run about and play in
safety with someone keeping an eye on them.
For day nurseries, which remain open all the year round, the
parents pay according to their income. The local education authority’s
nurseries are free. But only about three children in 100 can go to them:
there aren’t enough places and the waiting lists are rather long.
Most children start school at five in primary school. A primary
school may be divided into two parts-infants and juniors. At infants school
reading, writing and arithmetic are taught for about 20 minutes a day
during the first year, gradually increasing to about 2 hours in their last
year. There is usually no written timetable. Much time is spent in modeling
from clay or drawing, reading or singing.
By the time children are ready for the junior school they will be
able to read and write, do simple addition and subtraction of numbers.
At seven children go on from the infants’ school to the junior
school. This marks the transition from play to “real work”. The children
have set periods of arithmetic, reading and composition which are all
Eleven Plus subjects. History, Geography, Nature Study, Art and Music,
Physical Education, Swimming are also on the timetable.
Pupils are streamed, according to their ability to learn into, A, B, C and
D streams. The least gifted are in the D stream. Formerly towards the end
of their fourth year the pupils wrote their Eleven Plus Examination. The
hated 11 + examination was a selective procedure on which not only the
pupil’s future schooling but their future careers depended. The abolition
of selection at Eleven plus Examination brought to life comprehensive
schools where pupils can get secondary education.
6.Secondary Education.
The majority of state secondary school pupils in England and
Wales attend comprehensive schools. These largely take pupils without
reference to ability or aptitude and provide a wide range of secondary
education for all or most children in a district. Schools take those, who
are the 11 to 18 age-range, middle schools (8 to 14), and schools with an
age-range from 11 to 16. Most other state-educated children in England
attend grammar or secondary modern schools, to which they are allocated
after selection procedures at the age of 11.
Before 1965 a selective system of secondary education existed in
England. Under that system a child of 11 had to take an exam, which
consisted of intelligence tests covering linguistic, mathematical and
general knowledge which was to be taken by children in the last year of
primary schooling. The object was to select between academic and non-
academic children. Those who did well in the examination went to a grammar
school, while those who failed went to a secondary modern school and
technical college. Grammar schools prepared children for national
examinations such as the GCE at O level and A-level. These examinations
qualified children for the better jobs, and for entry higher education and
the professions. The education in secondary modern schools was based on
practical schooling, which would allow entry into a variety of skilled and
unskilled jobs.
Many people complained that it was wrong for a person’s future to
be decided at a so young age. The children who went to “secondary moderns”
were seen as “failures”. More over, it was noticed that the children who
passed this exam were almost all from middle-class families. The Labor
Party, returned to power in 1965, abolished the 11+ and tried to introduce
the non-selective education system in the form of “comprehensive” schools,
that would provide schooling for children of all ability levels and from
all social backgrounds, ideally under one roof. The final choice between
selective and non-selective schooling, though, was left to LEAS that
controlled the provision of school education in the country. Some
authorities decided for comprehensive, while others retained grammar
schools and secondary moderns.
In the late 1980s the Conservative government introduced another
major change. Schools cloud now decide whether to remain as LEA-maintained
schools or to “opt-out” of the control of the LEA and put themselves
directly under the control of the government department. These “grant-
maintained” schools were financed directly by central government. This did
not mean, however, that there was more central control: grant-maintained
schools did not have to ask anybody else about how to spend their money.
A recent development in education administration in England and
Wales in the School Standards and Framework Act passed in July 1998. The
Act established that from 1.09.1999 all state school education authorities
with the ending of the separate category of grant maintained status.
There are some grant-maintained or voluntary aided schools,
called City Technology Colleges. In 1999 there were 15 City Technology
Colleges in England. These are non-fee-paying independent secondary schools
created by a partnership of government and private sector sponsors. The
promoters own or lease the schools, employ teachers and make substantial
contributions to the costs of building and equipment. The colleges teach
the NC, but with an emphasis on mathematics, technology and science.
So, today three types of state schools mainly provide secondary
education: secondary modern schools grammar schools and comprehensive
schools. There should also be mentioned another type of schools, called
specialist schools. The specialist school programmer in England was
launched in 1993. Specialist schools are state secondary schools
specializing in technology, science and mathematics; modern foreign
languages; sports; arts.
State schools are absolutely free (including all textbooks and
exercise books) and generally co-educational.
Under the NC a greater emphasis at the secondary level is laid on
science and technology. Accordingly, ten subjects have to be studied:
English, history, geography, mathematics, science, a modern foreign
language, technology, music, art and physical education. For special
attention there of these subjects (called “core subjects”): English,
science, mathematics and seven other subjects are called “foundation or
statuary subjects”. Besides, subjects are grouped into departments and
teachers work in teams and to plan work.
Most common departments are:
. Humanities Departments: geography, history, economics, English
literature, drama, social science;
. Science Department: chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics;
. Language Department: German, French, English;
. Craft Design and Technology Departments: information and
communications technology, computing, home economics and photography.
The latter brings together the practical subjects like cooing,
woodwork, sewing, and metalwork with the new technology used in those
fields. Students can design a T-shirt on computer using graphics software
and make-up the T-shirt design. Students can also look at way to market
their product, thus linking all disciplines. This subject’s area
exemplifies the process approach to learning introduced by the NC.
It is worth mentioning here the growing importance of personal
and Social Education. Since the 1970s there has been an emphasis on
“pastoral” care, education in areas related to life skills such as health
(this includes looking at drug, discussing physical changes related to
poverty, sex education and relationship). There are usually one or two
lessons a week, from primary school through to sixth form and they are an
essential part of the school’s aim to prepare students to life in society.
