Published: Friday, 3rd October, 2008 09:00
Primary kids are taking GCSEs
By Annabel Williams
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IT CERTAINLY all adds up at a primary school where pupils take on GCSE maths up to five years early.
Year six youngsters at Caversham Primary School who excel in the subject now have the option to do a one-year GCSE course.
A batch of 12 youngsters, the first to take up the chance to do the course, got their results last month, with 10 achieving C grades and two getting D grades.
Caversham Primary School, rated outstanding by Ofsted, is the first in the Reading borough to offer the qualification, after headteacher Chris Tomkins hatched the idea.
Pupils have one hour of teaching in the normal school day and one hour at an after-school club each week, taught by staff, while exams are taken at nearby Highdown School.
Borough education leader, Cllr Jon Hartley, said: “This is a fantastic achievement of which staff and pupils should be proud.
“These are talented children taught by talented teachers at a well-run school.
“Maths is a very important subject, especially with the new measure that the Government uses now of pupils getting five or more GCSEs including English and maths.
“This is a great example of a school pushing the envelope of what its pupils can do to make sure they stay engaged in the classroom.”
But Peppard ward councillor Mark Ralph said: “If children aged 10 and 11 can do well at the exam, why can’t they get everyone through it aged 16?
“I can understand the odd genius of that age doing a GCSE but there can’t be 12 maths proteges in one year, so I would worry that this could create pressure on schools to reach this standard.
“I think this would fuel the concern that there’s a dumbing down of qualification standards and it will do nothing for the currency of these examinations for the children who I am sure work hard for them at the age of 16.”
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