THE primary school curriculum announced by the government yesterday will lead to ‘chaos’, a teaching union has warned.

New guidelines will see children as young as five write essays, programme computers and complete problem-solving tasks.

Education secretary Michael Gove said the ‘tougher’ curriculum would raise standards and prepare children for the global job market.

But Simon Jones, Blackburn with Darwen representative for the National Union of Teachers, said the curriculum, which will be implemented from September 2014, was critical.

He said: “It should be everyone’s goal to develop a national curriculum that enhances learning and attainment. Unfortunately, this has not been achieved by the new framework.

“This is a curriculum written by government advisers and officials, not teachers.

“The price we risk paying is much greater pupil disaffection from learning as children are faced with content that is not age appropriate and does not take into account individual learning styles. Not enough effort has been made to design a curriculum for lower attaining children or those with special educational needs.”

Mr Jones also said he was worried about how quickly the new framework was being brought in.

He said: “The timescale for implementation is ridiculously short. In less than a year teachers will be expected to implement a curriculum that they have had no say in.

“This will almost certainly lead to confusion and chaos and comes on top of reforms to GCSEs, A-levels and vocational qualifications.

“There is nothing very national about a curriculum that does not have to be taught in academies and free schools.

“If, as the Prime Minister says, it is essential to raise standards, surely it should be the case that all schools follow it.”

Donna McNicoll, headteacher at St Mary’s RC Primary School in Haslingden, said that although she was looking forward to learning more about the new guidelines, she was also concerned that it would be difficult to implement them by next year.

She said: “Teachers are not averse to change, but it is how quickly the government wants to implement it that worries me.

“But provided teachers have the correct training and are provided with the right resources, I don’t think it will be a problem.

“Everybody wants their children to achieve their potential and we all want to move everything forward into the 21st century, but my reservation is about how quickly it will happen.”