Citation and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Education (National Curriculum) (Specified Purpose) (England) Order 2011 and comes into force on 12th December 2011.

Specified purpose of assessment arrangements

2. The purpose of ascertaining the extent to which pupils in the first key stage understand the correspondence between graphemes and phonemes in English is specified for the purposes of section 76(2)(b) of the Education Act 2002.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

Part 6 of the Education Act 2002 ("the 2002 Act") is concerned with the curriculum for maintained schools in England. One aspect of the National Curriculum for England (as to which, see section 80(1)(b) of the 2002 Act) is the arrangements for assessing pupils for certain purposes (assessment arrangements). Assessment arrangements are specified by the Secretary of State by order under section 87(3)(c) of the 2002 Act. This Order, made under section 76(2)(b) of the 2002 Act, specifies an additional purpose for which such arrangements may be made. The purpose specified is the purpose of ascertaining the extent to which pupils in the first key stage understand the correspondence between graphemes and phonemes in English. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in a language, and graphemes are the letter or letters that represent phonemes. "Phonics" is a method of teaching children to read and write by teaching them to associate letters (or a combination of letters) with sounds.

An impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument because the impact on business, charities, the voluntary bodies and the public sector will be minimal.