IT is time to dust down the 10-14 report that was shelved 20 years ago, Brian Boyd, the Strathclyde University researcher, told an audience of 150 second-year pupils in North Lanarkshire on Wednesday.
Dr Boyd rejects moves towards setting in S1 and S2 and favours a middle school approach from primary 6 to S2.
“We already have in most of our primary and secondary schools teachers who would be quite comfortable about working with colleagues as teams right across the sectors. It is worth revisiting the 10-14 report that advocated an additional teaching qualification for people who would like to specialise in this area,” he said.
The solution to S2 problems was not to introduce more exams. Curriculum flexibility must not lead to pupils being placed on an “examination treadmill”. Teachers had to offer more individual challenges, make school exciting and give pupils more responsibility.
