1. The New & the Old in School education in Great Britain (Types of schools, achievements & Shortcomings)

Preschool & school levels are distinguished in the school system in the UK.

Preschool level is presented by nursery schools, day nurseries & informal play groups.

- nursery schools operate during the normal school hours, they are free of charge & are run by Local Educational Authorities (LEA).

- day nurseries are normally open for longer than nurseries schools, charge tuition & are run by Local Health Authorities

- informal play groups are organized by parents & voluntary body in halls or private homes.

School level in its turn is divided into Primary & Secondary education.

Primary schools are divided into infants (children from 5 to 8) & juniors (children from 8 to 11).

In infants schools the methods may seem like an extension of those used in nursery schools. The classroom is free & noisy, children are in groups doing quite different things. But it is assumed that by the time children are ready for the junior school they will be able to read & write & do simple addition & substraction of numerals (so called the three Rs) .

The transition from the infants school to the junior marks the transition from play to real work. The curriculum begins to be arranged into individual subjects.

There is usually a move from primary to secondary school (at the age of 11).

Until the 1960s there existed the tripartite system of secondary schools. Under it children took the 11 Plus exam at the end of primary school.

The highest scoring pupils (about 20 %) went to Grammar schools, which offered an academic 5year course leading to the General Certificate of Education at the ordinary level (the GCE O-level). Having obtained this certificate a pupil either left the school or continued his studies for another 2 years in the Sixth Form to obtain the GCE at the Advanced level (the GCE A-level).

Technical schools admitted 5 to 7% of the pupils. It served those pupils who are more mechanically implied, there was more science & maths on the curriculum. Technical schools were widely considered inferior to Grammar schools.

The Secondary modern schools were attended by 75% of pupils. These schools led to the Certificate of Secondary Education (the CSE), which was not accepted for entering the University. These schools provided general non-academic education for children of average ability.

For years the tripartite system was under assault for separating children too early. Some major reforms started. Under it, in 1965 the 11 Plus exam was abolished. 90% of all secondary schools admit children without reference to ability, they are much bigger than the schools of the tripartite system. The area from which a Comprehensive school takes its pupils is called a Catchment area.

Within each comprehensive school children may be grouped according to their ability for specific subjects (”sets”) or according to their abilities & aptitudes (“streams”).

GCE O-level & CSEs were abolished & replaced with General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) taken at 16.

After GCSE exam children who want to continue education go to the Sixth Form to receive the GCE A-level. Advanced Supplementary level (ASL) exam was introduced for pupils who wish to study more than 2 or 3 subjects in the Sixth Form.

Another major step is a Centralization of Education: introduction of National Curriculum. Maths, English & Science form the core of the curriculum. Other foundation subjects are a foreign l-ge, technology, history, geography, art, music & physical education. Attainment targets are set for the three core subjects at the age of 7, 11, 14 & 16.

Together with the National Curriculum, a programme of Record of Achievement (REACH) was introduced. REACH is a programme which sets learning objectives for each term of the year in primary school & for each component on each subject in secondary school.

The National Curriculum also allows for flexibility. Flexibility means providing courses beyond foundation subjects.

There are 2 opposite attitudes towards the appearing of League Tables. The positive is that League Tables provide a list of schools starting from the best to the worst. The negative is that LT are being criticized, because they push children & parents to choose between schools as the result to promote in equality of schools & to provide social divide & prejudice.

Among drawbacks of the Reform I can name the following:

1. Huge schools with big classes easily go out of control as a result of this the appearance of discipline problems & poor academic performance at the GCSE exam.

2. most parents choose to send their children to free state schools financed from public funds, but an increasing number of pupils attend fee-paying independent schools.

3. independent schools are divided into public schools & preparatory schools. Public schools for centuries have prepared students academically for higher education. Prep.schools are boarding schools for children from 8 to 13.