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| Key schools policy to be ditched | Key schools policy to be ditched |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The government is set to abandon one of its most significant education policies in primary schools in England. | The government is set to abandon one of its most significant education policies in primary schools in England. |
| From 2011 schools will no longer have to implement national strategies in literacy and numeracy. | From 2011 schools will no longer have to implement national strategies in literacy and numeracy. |
| Instead they will be encouraged to work together to find local solutions to the challenges of improving the basic skills of their pupils. | Instead they will be encouraged to work together to find local solutions to the challenges of improving the basic skills of their pupils. |
| The plans are part of wider reforms to be announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls next week. | The plans are part of wider reforms to be announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls next week. |
| Slowed improvement | Slowed improvement |
| Primary schools in England have been expected to teach English and maths according to centralised guidelines set down by national literacy and numeracy strategies for more than 10 years. | Primary schools in England have been expected to teach English and maths according to centralised guidelines set down by national literacy and numeracy strategies for more than 10 years. |
| Standards - as measured by national curriculum test results - improved rapidly at first but have risen only slowly in recent years. | Standards - as measured by national curriculum test results - improved rapidly at first but have risen only slowly in recent years. |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme | FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme |
| Mr Balls will say that from 2011 he is ending the multi-million pound contract with private company Capita to deliver the strategies. | Mr Balls will say that from 2011 he is ending the multi-million pound contract with private company Capita to deliver the strategies. |
| The Guardian reports that money will be redirected to schools to spend on creating networks with other schools and having their own advisers to help improve teaching standards and pupils' performance. | The Guardian reports that money will be redirected to schools to spend on creating networks with other schools and having their own advisers to help improve teaching standards and pupils' performance. |
| The the changes will be part of a wide-ranging White Paper expected to be published on Tuesday. | |
| A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said this would set out a new approach to local authority and school accountability and support, making the support that schools could access even more tailored to their individual needs and circumstances. | |
| She added: "All primary schools will continue to have daily English and maths lessons because strong school leaders know this is the right thing to do. | |
| "We must continue to do the very best to ensure that all children get the reading and writing skills they need to succeed in later life. | |
| "This is not about getting rid of rid of the literacy and numeracy hours but a renewed push to raise standards and provide new forms of support and challenge for schools who need it." | |
| Classroom overhaul | Classroom overhaul |
| Earlier this month, Mr Balls told a teaching conference: "I think the right thing for us to do now is to move away from what has historically been a rather central view of school improvement through national strategies to something which is essentially being commissioned not from the centre but by schools themselves." | Earlier this month, Mr Balls told a teaching conference: "I think the right thing for us to do now is to move away from what has historically been a rather central view of school improvement through national strategies to something which is essentially being commissioned not from the centre but by schools themselves." |
| Earlier this year former Ofsted director of inspection Sir Jim Rose produced a report for the government on a proposed overhaul of primary schools in England. | Earlier this year former Ofsted director of inspection Sir Jim Rose produced a report for the government on a proposed overhaul of primary schools in England. |
| He recommended that computer technology should be central to the curriculum alongside English, maths and personal skills. | He recommended that computer technology should be central to the curriculum alongside English, maths and personal skills. |
| And ministers have agreed to the findings of a group of educationists and head teachers who said formal Sats tests for 10 and 11-year-olds might eventually be replaced by teacher assessments of their pupils. | And ministers have agreed to the findings of a group of educationists and head teachers who said formal Sats tests for 10 and 11-year-olds might eventually be replaced by teacher assessments of their pupils. |