Towards creativity and oracy in the curriculum.

Photo by Dragos Gontariu on Unsplash

Against a background of child poverty in many areas of the country, it is good to see that Keir Starmer is starting to address some key issues in his education speech that could help improve opportunities for all children.

The Labour leader said last week that students must be taught creativity and the human skills that cannot be done by computers, advocating a shift in focus for the artificial intelligence age. OST has devoted a section of its recent report to values education and the kinds of emotional intelligence issues which Keir Starmer emphasised.

As the OST report also indicates, Starmer has suggested a change to the curriculum with creativity as a main theme. Routine and pedantry should have no place in our schools. Another of the recent report’s main themes is oracy, and it was good to see that the Labour leader setting such a high priority on this. Although he seemed to be implying that oracy was an important focus for secondary aged students improving their ability to get jobs, we would maintain this is equally vital for early years and primary children.

Keir Starmer’s and Bridget Phillipson’s pledges to boost early years provision are most welcome.

Read the 2023 Report from OST here.