Pressures on primary teachers to improve writing are often to the detriment of quality talk in the classroom. This is despite decades of research emphasising that knowledge and understanding are developed through such talk. Primary teachers' experiences of incorporating the current Spoken Language national curriculum are often at odds with current…

In the high-stakes accountability English educational system, decisions made by government and agencies about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment drive school planning and actions. This paper analyses the drivers for the recent change to French German and Spanish GCSEs and highlights particular areas of the new specification which may damage the…