Cambridge University 'to teach children as young as four'

By  Graeme Paton, Education Editor

It's one of the world's great universities, producing pioneering research and nurturing some of the country’s finest minds for 800 years. 

But now Cambridge University is to break new ground – by teaching children as young as four. 

For the first time, academics from the ancient institution are to open their own primary school. 

The university has won backing from the Department for Education to establish a new school for 630 young children as part of a development in the north west of the city. 

Under new plans, the school will educate local pupils while training new teachers and acting as a centre for research into pupil learning styles. 

It is only the second confirmed “university training school” after Birmingham University was given the go-ahead for a similar institution last summer focusing on secondary-age pupils. 

The Government hopes they will act as a blueprint for similar centres linked to universities across England. 

It comes amid continuing controversy over a shake-up of the system of teacher training in England, which has seen large numbers of training places pulled out of conventional university-based courses and transferred to on-the-job programmes run directly by schools. 

But Charlie Taylor, chief executive of the National College for Teaching and Leadership, told the Telegraph that there was “potential for other universities to get involved with this sort of thing”, acting as a bridge between the two training systems. 

He said it was vital that institutions such as Cambridge were “lending their significant resource and expertise to training up the next generation of teachers”. 

“Providing the best possible training is at the heart of this government’s drive to improve teaching standards and ensure children from all backgrounds have the opportunity to achieve academic excellence,” he added. 

The university was awarded state funding to open the school as part of its North West Cambridge Development – a major plan to transform part of the city into homes, student places and community facilities. It forms part of the Coalition's free schools programme. 

The schools will teach children aged four to 11 from September 2015 – the same time as the new Birmingham University school is established. 

Under plans, the University of Cambridge Training School (UCTS) will open as a conventional state primary overseen by senior dons from the university’s faculty of education. They will appoint the head teacher and teaching staff. 

But the primary will also act as a teaching school to train up students taking the postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) at Cambridge. 

In a further disclosure, it emerged that it would be used for “school-focused academic research”, principally into pupil learning styles and the best teaching methods. 

Prof Peter Gronn, head of the university’s faculty of education, said: “We are delighted with this announcement and that the UCTS will proceed…. The UCTS will build on the outstanding training already provided by the faculty, thereby enabling it to play a lead national role in the enhancement of teacher quality, student learning and strategies for school improvement”. 

Many universities have opposed the shift in teacher training from higher education institutions into individual schools. The system has been dogged by controversy amid claims it lacks national coherence and undermines the expertise in university-based courses. 

Bur the Government insisted the system was proving popular with pupils and new teachers. 

It emerged that three candidates applied for every "School Direct" place last year, compared with 1.8 applicants per place in universities. Requests from schools to train their own teachers have increased from 9,600 to 17,700 in the past year.