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In some areas of England there are nursery schools for children under 5 years of age. Some children between two and five receive edu¬cation in nursery classes or in infants’ classes in primary schools. Many children attend informal play-groups organised by parents in private homes. Nursery schools are staffed with teachers and stu¬dents in training. There are all kinds of toys to keep the children busy from 9 o'clock in the morning till 4 o'clock in the afternoon while their parents are at work. Here the babies play, lunch and sleep. They can run about and play in safety with someone keeping an eye on them.
For day nurseries which remain open all the year round the parents pay according to their income. The local education authority's nurse¬ries are free. But only about three children in 100 can go to them: there aren't enough places, and the waiting lists are rather long.
Most children start school at 5 in a primary school. A primary school may be divided into two parts: infants and juniors. At infants school reading, writing and arithmetic are taught for about 20 minutes a day during the first year, gradually increasing to about 2 hours in their last year. There is usually no written timetable. Much time is spent in modelling from clay or drawing, reading or singing.
By the time children are ready for the junior school they will be able to read and write, do simple addition and subtraction of numbers.
At 7 children go on from the infants school to the junior school. This marks the transition from play to "real work". The children have set periods of arithmetic, reading and composition which are all Eleven Plus subjects. History, Geography, Nature Study, Art and Music, Physical Education, Swimming are also on the timetable.
Pupils were streamed according to their abilities to learn into A, B, С and D streams. The least gifted are in the D stream. Formally tо¬wards the end of their fourth year the pupils wrote their Eleven Plus Examination. The hated Eleven Plus Examination was a selective procedure on which not only the pupils' future schooling but their future careers depended. The abolition of selection at Eleven Plus Examination brought to life comprehensive schools where pupils can get secondary education.
1. Answer the following questions: 1) What can you say about pre-primary edu¬cation in England? 2) What can parents choose for their children? 3) Nursery schools are staffed with teachers and stu¬dents in training, aren’t they? 4) What can children do in nursery school? 5) When do most children start primary school? 6) How may a primary school be divided ? 7) When do children go on from the infants school to the junior school? 8) Is the Russian system of pre-primary education the same? Are there any changes in it? 9) Where can pupils get secondary education in England?
