National Curriculum

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Monday 8th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Academies do make up the majority of secondary schools. At the moment, academies make up only 10% of primary schools, and the curriculum is of course more specific when it comes to the foundation subjects at primary level. The curriculum generates a sense of expectation and lays the foundations for the new GCSEs, which we expect to be the principal benchmark for accountability at the age of 16 for all schools.

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

Did the Secretary of State notice Professor Black’s comments today? He said:

“You can’t debate our sense of national identity and our national interest unless you understand our national history. This curriculum put British history first as well…It kicks out woolly empathy”.

Does he agree that that is the right way forward in the longer term?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s point. Professor Jeremy Black is one of the finest and most productive historians working in academia today. He is also one of the most engaging of teachers.