Breadcrumbs
Concerning New Figures Reveal That 35% Of 11 Year Olds Fail To Pass The ‘Three R’s’
August 2010
Newspapers have reported this week of the worrying trend we are seeing in falling reading and maths levels amongst primary school children. The Times reported this week that for the second year running, Government test results showed that over a third of 11 year olds in the UK were not able to reach the required standard for their age group in reading, writing and mathematics. 1
It is a widely accepted truth that many children have difficulty with simple maths and English, so should parents be overly alarmed? An article in The Daily Express this week claimed that the results mean ‘thousands of children will start secondary education struggling to correctly spell and punctuate in written work.’2
Whilst schools and teachers are not being criticised for the dropping standards, the article reports the undeniable fact that ‘one in five schoolchildren are still not reaching the expected level in either English or maths and over a third are not achieving this level in reading, writing and maths combined.’ Schools Minister Nick Gibb reinforced the urgency of the matter with his recent comments that, "Having a solid foundation in maths is crucial to a child’s success in secondary education and throughout their adult life”.
The Student Support Centre’s ‘simply’ programmes exist for this very reason. Designed by educational experts, the programmes mirror the way children learn at school and are designed to ‘fill in the gaps’ in learning, providing them with a solid knowledge and giving them the confidence to succeed at school and beyond.
1 The Times, 4th August 2010, Greg Hurst, ‘Reading Standards fall for second year among primary school pupils’
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education/article2671465.ece - by Greg Hurst Education Editor
2 The Daily Express, 4th August 2010, Martyn Brown, ‘SATS results: 35% of 11-year-olds fail reading, writing and maths
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/191005/Sats-results-35-of-11-year-olds-fail-reading-writing-and-maths - By Martyn Brown, Political Correspondent
About The Student Support Centre:
The Student Support Centre opened its doors in 1991 and has since become the largest provider of home-based tuition programmes with 9 regional offices across the UK.
Our ‘simply’ programmes provide home-based tuition and support for children aged between 4 and 17 and may be a more cost effective alternative to private tutors for learning maths, English and reading. They have been designed to mirror the way in which children are taught in schools based on the National Curriculum requirements and use the teaching methods currently recommended for use in schools.
