It may have escaped the media’s notice, but the Government has quietly set a maximum size for all primary classes - at least for the literacy hour.
Buried in the Government’s training materials is the instruction to arrange classes intoa maximum of five groups, each with a maximum of six pupils to “keep group sizes manageable”.
As school standards minister Stephen Byers will no doubt agree, 5 x 6 = 30.
As an advocate of the literacy strategy presumably the chief inspector of schools Chris Woodhead has now reached the conclusion that class size really does matter after all.
David Lewin
Kimber Close, Wheatley, Oxford, Oxfordshire
