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The Plowden Report (1967)
Children and their Primary Schools
A Report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England)
London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1967
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.
Volume 1 Preliminary pages
Foreword
[page iii]
In August 1963 the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) were asked by Sir Edward Boyle, the then Minister of Education, to consider the whole subject of primary education and the transition to secondary education.
Their report is now published and everyone - not only those professionally concerned with education, but parents and the general public - must be grateful for the thoroughness with which they have carried out their task.
Primary education is the base on which all other education has to be built. Its importance cannot be overestimated.
The many recommendations in the Report, some of far-reaching significance, will be studied with the greatest care by the Government and, I am sure, by all the other interests concerned. There can be no doubt that the work done by the Council, with so much diligence and public spirit, will enable decisions to be reached on a more informed basis by those who are charged with securing the best development of English education within the resources available. I most warmly thank Lady Plowden and her colleagues for this valuable report.
Anthony Crossland
November 1966
[page iv]
28 October 1966
The Rt Hon Anthony Crosland PC, MP
Secretary of State for Education and Science
Dear Secretary of State
In August 1963 the then Minister of Education, Sir Edward Boyle, asked the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) 'to consider primary education in all its aspects, and the transition to secondary education.' I now have much pleasure in submitting the Report of the Council.
The Central Advisory Council for Education (Wales) were given identical terms of reference and we understand that they, too, will report soon. We have been able to keep in touch with their work through the members appointed jointly to both Councils.
Yours sincerely
Bridget Plowden (Chairman)
Membership of the Central Advisory Council
[pages v - vi]
Lady Plowden JP (Chairman).
Sir John Newsom CBE (Deputy Chairman), Chairman, Public Schools Commission; Director, Longmans Green & Co. Ltd.
Mr HG Armstrong, Educational Psychologist, West Riding.
Professor AJ Ayer FBA, Wykeham Professor of Logic, University of Oxford.
Miss MFM Bailey, Headmistress, Skerton Girls' County Secondary School, Lancaster. (Appointed January 1964).
Mrs M Bannister, Housewife and Parent.
Miss M Brearley CBE, Principal, Froebel Institute College of Education, Roehampton.
Dr ICR Byatt, Lecturer in Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science. (Appointed February 1965).
The Hon. Mrs J Campbell, Housewife and Parent; Hon. Secretary, Richmond upon Thames Association for the Advancement of State Education.
Professor DV Donnison, Professor of Social Administration, London School of Economics and Political Science; Vice-Chairman, Public Schools Commission.
Miss ZE Dix, Head Teacher, Field End Infants' School, Middlesex.
Professor CE Gittins, Professor of Education, University College of Swansea; formerly Chief Education Officer, Monmouthshire; Chairman, Central Advisory Council for Education (Wales).
Miss SE Grey, Organiser for Infant Education, Glamorgan; Member of Central Advisory Council for Education (Wales).
Mr EW Hawkins, Director, Language Teaching Centre, University of York; formerly Headmaster, Calday Grange County Grammar School for Boys, Hoylake, Cheshire.
Miss EM Parry, Inspector of Schools, Bristol; Vice-Chairman, National Nursery Examination Board.
Mr A Puckey, Deputy Head Teacher, The Elms Junior Mixed School, Nottingham.
Mr THF Raison, Editor of New Society.
Alderman Mrs EV Smith JP, Member and former Chairman, Birmingham Education Committee.
Mr RT Smith, Headmaster, Bampton CE Junior Mixed and Infants' School, Oxfordshire.
Professor JM Tanner, Professor in Child Health and Growth, University of London Institute of Child health.
Brigadier LL Thwaytes DL, Vice-Chairman, West Sussex County Council; formerly Chairman, West Sussex Education Committee. (Appointed January 1964).
Mr TH Tunn, Director of Education, Sheffield.
Mr Martin Wilson CBE, formerly Secretary for Education, Shropshire.
Mr FM White, Headmaster, St Faith's School, Cambridge. (Appointed January 1964).
Dr M Young, Chairman, Advisory Centre for Education; Chairman, Social Science Research Council; Director, Institute of Community Studies.
The Council were appointed in August 1963 and began work under their present terms of reference in October 1963.
Mr P Mursell resigned from membership of the Council in in January 1964 and Mr HB Rose in February 1965.
The following members of the Department and HM Inspectorate assisted the Council:
Miss SMC Duncan, HMI.
Miss NL Goddard, Inspector of Schools, Inner London Education Committee (seconded to Department).
Mr DT Jones OBE, HMI.
Mr JEH Blackie CB, HMI, Assessor.
Mr DH Leadbetter CB, Assessor.
Miss EM McDougall, HMI, Assessor.
Miss ME Nicholls, HMI, Assessor.
Secretaries
Mr M Kogan (Secretary)
Mr N Summers (Assistant Secretary until March 1965).
Miss CK Burke (Assistant Secretary from January 1964).
The estimated cost of the production of this Report is £120,699 of which £38,225 represents the estimated cost of printing and publication, £67,637 the estimated cost of research commissioned on behalf of the council and £14,837 the travelling and subsistence costs of members.
Table of Contents
[pages vii - xvii]
PART ONE : INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 : Introduction - paragraphs 1-8
PART TWO : THE GROWTH OF THE CHILD
Chapter 2 : The children: their growth and development 9-75
Physical growth from birth to adolescence 12-13
Individual differences in rates of maturing 14-20
The growth of the brain 21-23
Critical or sensitive periods 24-28
The interaction of heredity and environment 29-32
Environmental factors affecting physical growth 33-38
The trend towards earlier physical maturity 39-41
The development of behaviour 42-52
Language 53-55
The measurement of intelligence and its bearing on educational decisions 56-64
The emotional development of the child 65-74
Implications 75
PART THREE : THE HOME, SCHOOL AND NEIGHBOURHOOD
Chapter 3 : The children and their environment 76-101
A pool of ability 83-84
Prospects for improvement 85-86
The national survey 87-89
The findings of the survey 90-91
Importance of parental attitudes 92-101
Chapter 4 : Participation by parents 102-130
Cooperation with parents 107-110
Parent-Teacher Associations 111
A minimum programme 112
Visiting the homes 113-118
A policy for each local education authority 119-120
The community school 121-123
The way ahead 124-126
Interesting parents early 127-129
Recommendations 130
Chapter 5 : Educational priority areas 131-177
The educational needs of deprived areas 136-137
Hope for the future 138-139
Educational assumptions and policies 140-146
The distribution of resources 147-150
Educational priority areas 151-154
Special groups 155-157
More teachers 158-162
Colleges of education 163
Buildings 164
Nursery education 165
Other priorities 166-167
First steps 168-170
A continuing policy 171-172
Conclusion 173
Recommendations 174-177
Chapter 6 : Children of immigrants 178-199
Numbers 181-182
Educational problems 183-186
The curriculum 187-198
Recommendations 199
Chapter 7 : The health and social services and the school child 200-255
The health of the school child 202
The School Health and Dental Service and the Health Visitors 203-207
Medical examinations 208-210
Child Guidance, School Psychological and Speech Therapy services 211-214
Recommendations 215
The Education Welfare Officers 216-220
The Child Care and Probation Services 221-223
Voluntary services 224
Social work and related services 225-227
Organisation and deployment of services 228-229
Coordination 230-233
Training and recruitment 234
The schools and the social services 235-241
Conclusions 242-254
Summary 255
Sample forms of report involving parents
PART FOUR : THE STRUCTURE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION
Chapter 8 : Primary education in the 1960s: its organisation and effectiveness 256-290
The legal position 257
Reorganisation of primary and secondary education 258
Changes within primary education 259-265
Some other features 265-266
Assessments of primary education 267-276
Description of schools 277-289
Recommendation 290
Chapter 9 : Providing for children before compulsory education 291-343
1 The present position 292-308
The case for nursery education 296-304
Mothers at work: the economic argument 305
Arguments against nursery education 306-308
2 Our recommendations: future patterns of nursery education 309-326
Nursery groups and day nurseries: a unified service 313-315
The age range of nursery education 316
Part-time nursery education 317
The encouragement of attendance 318-319
Nursery education and parents 320-322
The future of voluntary nursery groups 323-325
Siting of nurseries 326
3 The expansion of nursery education: the places needed, their staffing and accommodation 327-343
The number of places needed 328
Full-time attendance for a minority 329-330
Places needed 331
Staffing the nurseries 332-333
The numbers needed: teachers 334-335
The numbers needed: nursery assistants 336-338
Buildings 339-340
Conclusion 341-342
Recommendations 343
Chapter 10 : The ages and stages of primary education 344-407
When should primary education begin? 344-346
Disadvantages of termly entry 347-351
Chronological versus developmental age 352
Easing entry to school 353-356
Age of entry 357-359
The length of the infant school course 360-364
Should the age of transfer to secondary education be raised? 365-378
12 or 13? 379-387
Provision for exceptional cases 388-392
The need for a national policy 393-394
Making the changes 395-398
An emergency plan for infant schools 399-405
Conclusion: a change of name 406
Recommendations 407
Chapter 11 : Selection for secondary education 408-423
Impact of selection procedures 411-412
Selection procedures 413-422
Recommendations 423
Chapter 12 : Continuity and consistency between the stages of education 424-448
Home to school 424-425
Separate or combined schools 426
Avoiding strain at time of transfer 427-430
Contacts between teachers in successive stages of education 431-432
Interchange of knowledge of pupils 433-437
Introducing pupils to new schools 438-439
Support from parents 440-441
Consistency in work and organisation 442-445
Content of curriculum 446-447
Recommendations 448
Chapter 13 : The size of primary schools 449-467
The existing situation 450
Suitable sizes of schools for primary children 451-456
Economic arguments 457-459
Staffing costs in manpower and money 460
Transport costs 461
Foreign practice 462
Conclusions 463-466
Recommendations 467
Chapter 14 : Education in rural areas 468-492
School closures 469-470
Changing social conditions 471-472
Rural schools: the premises 473-474
Staffing 475-477
Children and the schools 478-479
Size and age range of rural schools 470-483
Help for rural schools 484-491
Recommendations 492
PART FIVE : THE CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOLS - CURRICULUM AND INTERNAL ORGANISATION
Chapter 15 : The aims of primary education 493-507
Chapter 16 : Children learning in school 508-554
Towards freedom of curriculum 508-517
Research on children's learning 518-522
Aspects of children's learning 523-535
The timetable 536-537
Flexibility in the curriculum 538-542
Use of the environment 543-548
Discovery 549-550
Evaluation of children's progress 551-553
Recommendations 554
Chapter 17 : Aspects of the Curriculum 555-721
A: Religious Education 558-577
Teachers' attitudes 561-566
Difficulties of the present situation 567
The school community 568-569
The act of worship 570-571
Religious education 572
The Agreed Syllabus 573-576
Recommendations 577
B: English 578-613
Speech 580-582
Teaching children to read 583-584
Standards of reading 585-590
A range of books 591-596
Poetry 597-599
Drama 600
Children's writing 601-613
C: Modern Languages 614-619
D: History 620-634
E: Geography 635-646
F: Mathematics 647-662
G: Science 663-675
H: Art and Craft 676-685
I: Music 686-696
J: Physical Education 697-713
K: Sex Education 714-721
Chapter 18 : Aids to learning and to teaching 722-733
Programmed learning 728-733
Chapter 19 : The child in the school community 734-751
Relationships in primary schools 736-742
Punishment 743-750
Recommendations 751
Chapter 20 : How primary schools are organised 752-833
1 Developments in the class teacher system 752-777
Individual, group and class learning 754-760
Team teaching 761-768
The class teacher 769-771
Conclusions 772-777
2 The size of class 778-788
Conclusions 786-788
3 The composition of a class 789-825
Infant schools and classes 792-794
Junior schools and classes 795-797
Age 798
'Vertical classification' 799-804
Classification by attainment or ability (streaming) 806-817
Conclusions 818-825
4 The length of the school day and term 826-832
Recommendations 833
Chapter 21 : Handicapped children in ordinary schools 834-860
Parents 834-844
The handicapped child in the ordinary school 845-848
Slow learners 849-853
The teachers 854-859
Recommendations 860
Chapter 22 : The education of gifted children 861-872
Recommendations 872
PART SIX : THE ADULTS IN THE SCHOOLS
Introduction: the role of the teacher 873-878
Chapter 23 : The staffing of schools 879-902
Men and women teachers 881-882
Full-time and part-time teachers 883
Unqualified teachers 884-885
Ratio of teachers to pupils 886-887
Distribution of teachers 888-889
Ancillary helpers 890-893
The future 894-898
Primary and secondary school staffing 899-901
Recommendations 902
Chapter 24 : The deployment of staff 903-948
The proportion of men and women teachers in primary schools 903-905
The criteria for staffing schools 906-911
The recruitment and use of part-time teachers 912-917
Various kinds of ancillary help and helpers 918-921
Teachers' aides 922-928
The head teacher and his staff 929-940
Advice and inspection 941-947
Recommendations 948
Chapter 25 : The training of primary school teachers 949-1028
The present position: a factual summary 952-957
The structure of training 958-960
The students in training for primary work 961-998
Admission of students 961-962
Proportion of men and women students 963
Mature students 964
Graduates 965-969
The courses in colleges of education and university departments of education 970-980
Main courses 972
Education course and teaching practice 973
Curriculum courses 974
Staffing of colleges of education 975-977
BEd courses 978-979
Other graduate courses 980
Some general points about students' life and work 981-983
The relationship between schools and teachers in training institutions 984-1027
Teaching practice 985-990
Our views 991
Other aspects of the relationship between schools and teacher training institutions 992-998
The probationary year 999-1012
In-service training 1013-1027
Present provision of courses and plans for expansion 1014-1025
Courses for returning teachers 1026-1027
Recommendations 1028
Chapter 26 : The training of nursery assistants and teachers' aides 1029-1055
Existing schemes of training 1029-1033
Other training schemes 1034
Our proposals 1035
Similarities of training and recruitment 1036-1037
Entry qualifications 1038-1039
The nature of the courses 1040-1044
Length of courses 1045-1046
Status and salaries of trainees 1047
Part-time training 1048
Location and staffing of training 1049
Award of qualifications 1050
Career prospects 1051
Probation 1052
Build-up of recruitment 1053-1054
Recommendations 1055
PART SEVEN : INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
Chapter 27 : Independent primary schools 1056-1079
Summary of conclusions and recommendations 1079
PART EIGHT : PRIMARY SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT; STATUS; AND RESEARCH
Chapter 28 : Primary school buildings and equipment 1080-1113
1 Primary school building 1081-1101
The present state of primary buildings 1081-1083
School building since 1945: number of places and costs 1084-1085
The improvement of old buildings 1086-1091
Developments in school building since 1945 1092-1093
Developments since 1956 1094-1097
Some design and planning implications of our report 1098
Cost limits 1099
Educational furniture and equipment 1100-1101
2 Equipment allowances for primary schools 1102-1112
Choices open to schools 1107-1110
Assistance for schools in special need 1111
Disparity in local practice 1112
Recommendations 1113
Chapter 29 : The status and government of primary education 1114-1150
Some of the evidence 1116-1117
Standing of teachers in the community 1118
The standing of primary teachers compared with that of secondary teachers 1119-1126
The standing of primary school teachers in their dealings with LEAs 1127-1130
Management of schools 1131-1138
Appointment of staff 1139-1141
Powers of head teachers 1142-1146
Relationships of heads and assistant staff 1147-1148
General 1149
Recommendations 1150
Annex: A note on the method of calculating unit totals
Chapter 30 : Research, innovation and the dissemination of information 1151-1166
Further studies 1165-1166
PART NINE : CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter 31 : The costs and priorities of our recommendations 1167-1204
1 The present position 1168-1176
The economic yield of primary education 1171-1176
2 The availability of resources 1177-1184
Overall resources 1177-1178
Teachers 1179-1180
Aides and assistants 1181-1183
Priorities 1184
3 Our principal proposals, their priority and timing 1185-1204
Educational Priority Areas 1186-1187
Improvement of staffing elsewhere: teachers 1188
Staffing: aides and assistants 1189
Building 1190-1196
Other proposals 1197-1200
The order of priorities 1201-1202
Costs and benefits 1203
The total costs 1204
Annex A: Factors affecting recruitment of assistants and aides 1205-1218
Annex B: Offsets to the costs of nursery provision and the use of teachers' aides: an estimate of the output of mothers who return to work 1219-1228
Chapter 32 : Recommendations and conclusions 1229-1252
The changing direction 1229-1241
Recommendations and conclusions 1242-1243
A note on our methods of work, and acknowldegements 1244-1252
Notes of reservation
Note of reservation on nursery education by Mrs M Bannister
Note of reservation on the organisation of services for under fives by Professor DV Donnison, Sir John Newsom and Dr M Young
Note of reservation on parental contribution to the costs of nursery education by Professor AJ Ayer, Dr ICR Byatt, Professor DV Donnison, Mr EW Hawkins, Lady Plowden, Mr THF Raison, Brigadier LL Thwaytes and Dr M Young
Note of reservation on religious education by Professor AJ Ayer, Dr ICR Byatt, Professor DV Donnison, Mrs EV Smith, Professor JM Tanner and Dr M Young.
Note of reservation on corporal punishment by Miss MFM Bailey
A suggestion on the supply and training of teachers by Professor AJ Ayer, Dr ICR Byatt, Mr EW Hawkins, Sir John Newsom, Lady Plowden and Mr THF Raison
Annex A : A questionnaire to witnesses
Annex B : List of witnesses
Annex C : Visits made
Glossary
Index
Notes on the text | Tables, Diagrams and Photographs
 
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