Poetry goes to top of new class order

Michael Gove: "The changes are aimed at arresting the slide of Britain’s education system down the international league tables"
Michael Gove: "The changes are aimed at arresting the slide of Britain’s education system down the international league tables"
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER PAUL ROGERS

Children will have to be able to recite poetry by the time they leave primary school under an overhaul of the national curriculum.

Primary schools will be told to ditch “excessive analysis of the author’s craft” in favour of speaking and listening, ministers will announce today. They hope the change will “develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment”.

The revisions of the way English is to be taught under the national curriculum for five to 16-year-olds will come into force in England in September next year.

Five-year-olds will be introduced to fractions under the changes in an attempt to improve basic numeracy. It is hoped the move will ensure that they are ready for algebra and more complex arithmetic at secondary school.