Primary school pupils to learn Twitter

Teaching internet skills could be beneficial

Primary school pupils should spend more time learning how to blog and use the internet, according to early reports about a forthcoming Ofsted report.

The schools watchdog is due to publish a review of the primary school curriculum in England next month.

But The Guardian has reported that draft copies show teachers will have more flexibility over the subjects being taught, meaning pupils may no longer have to study the Victorian period or the Second World War, and could learn internet skills instead.

The review of the primary school curriculum was commissioned by schools secretary Ed Balls last year and is being drawn up by former Ofsted chief Sir Jim Rose.

The Guardian report said children must gain "fluency" in handwriting and keyboard skills, and learn how to use a spellchecker alongside how to spell.

In an interim report published in December, Rose said primary age children needed a greater understanding of information technology.

Commenting on the claims on Wednesday, schools minister Jim Knight – a well known Twitter enthusiast - said: "Sir Jim Rose's report has not been completed let alone published yet - but we are already getting stories about dropping this or removing that from the curriculum.

"The bottom line is that we are working with experts to free up the curriculum in a way that teachers have asked us to do but British history has, and always will be, a core part of education in this country."

Stephen Crowne, chief executive of Becta, the government agency for technology in learning, said the effective use of technology enhances traditional core skills such as reading and writing.

"Despite technology being a normal part of life for our children, some people are still nervous about using it in the classroom," he said.

"Introduced at the right stage, new technologies such as blogs, wikis, Twitter and interactive presentations can play a real part in helping students extend their understanding by bringing lessons to life across all areas of the curriculum."