ABSTRACT
In Scotland, as in England and Wales, there have been major developments in the curriculum and in assessment in primary schools over the past ten years. The 5-14 Development Programme which was initiated in Scotland over the period 1987-93 has taken the form of a series of national guidelines, based on reports of working parties of professionals closely involved in work in the schools. The recent changes in Scotland, in contrast to England, do not represent a sharp change from previous policy. The 5-14 Programme is intended to give clarification and guidance, with a stress on balance, breadth and continuity in children’s learning over the ages 5-14. The aim of the national guidelines and recommendations for assessment is to provide teachers, parents, pupils and others with a clearer statement of what schools can reasonably expect children to attain between the ages of 5 and 14. In Scotland, as in England, there was a ‘child-centred report’ in the 1960s, Primary Education in Scotland (SED 1965). There does not appear to have been a backlash against the report, which is often referred to as the ‘Primary Memorandum’, as there has been recently in England against the Plowden Report (DES 1967). Indeed, the developments in Scotland reflect many of the views expressed in the Primary Memorandum on the purpose and nature of primary education.
