Rose Report Reflects ESB Syllabus
A major report on primary education prepared by government advisor and former Head of Ofsted, Sir Jim Rose, was published on 30th April 2009. In the last 2 years, ESB has independently been developing its revised School syllabus, which closely matches the skills identified as necessary in Primary school children by the Rose report. ESB announced the launch of this new school syllabus last year, and has been offering twilight sessions to schools around the country to introduce the changes. The syllabus is in full use,and the old version will be completely phased out by the end of the academic year 2009-10.

Sir Jim Rose stated that children should be able to ‘recognise when to use formal language’ and The Rose Report emphasises the vital importance of Speaking and Listening in the Primary School. He recommends these should be taught as separate subjects with dedicated time devoted to them. ESB offers schools a modern set of graded oral examinations, leading to an accredited qualification.  Participating schools teach children at any age from six upwards to prepare four elements for an external examiner: a talk, after which questions are answered by others in the group, a memorised poem, reading aloud from a book of their own choosing……and active listening. These are precisely the required skills identified.