Do children learn best in silence?

Q We read that recent research suggests children learn best in silence. Do you have any thoughts on this?

David and Elizabeth Brucknell, Plymouth

A I think this is a part-truth. Children certainly need periods of time when they are working without any outside interference but they also need the stimulation of proper input from those with them. Nothing is more damaging to learning than disruptive and ill-disciplined talking in class but, equally, the most beautiful sound to a teacher’s ears is the hum of children working purposefully together.

A model lesson would include periods of whole-class teaching; periods of small groups (ideally pairs) working quietly together; and times when the pupils do written work on their own in silence.

Q My son is going through the Ucas process. It amazes me that the system requires exam predictions to be made by schools, and then university offers are predicated on these. This must generate added stress for candidates and parents alike, as they wait for the dreaded A-level results – to say nothing of the unseemly procedure called Clearing by which thousands of poor students have to scramble desperately for a few left-over places on courses they don’t really want to follow. Why on earth can’t universities offer places on the basis of grades actually achieved?

Sally Barton, Christchurch

That is a question generations of students, parents and teachers have been asking, and I suspect there has been more than a degree of lethargy in the tackling of this conundrum. At last it seems something is being done to try to resolve it. UCAS has been reviewing the whole university admissions system, and one of the outcomes it is proposing is a move, probably for 2016 entry, to a system by which students would only apply to universities (two of them instead of the current five) once they have their grades. This would mean A-levels being taken earlier and university courses starting later, with pupils having significantly more time to make those important decisions about their futures.

Predictably, the proposal is being opposed by some senior schools, who do not want any reduction in teaching time, though I suspect the culling of the horrendously over-engineered AS-levels would not only recoup this time but also relieve the sixth-form curriculum of a deeply unattractive element.

As for university, most courses could very comfortably be shorn of a few weeks – they might even start in January and take a shorter Summer break. But I do understand the concern that A-level exam marking would have to be fitted into a shorter window and that university selectors would have to make up their minds much more quickly.

Just think, however, of the reduction in time currently spent processing thousands of applications (with all the inaccurate predictions, concomitant offers, non-offers, refusals and so on), to say nothing of the decrease in the stress levels of everyone involved. I hope the Ucas proposals go through.

A decision is expected in January.

Punctuation Card

Many readers have written to say how much they appreciated Joseph Donovan’s Grammar Card. He has now finished writing the Punctuation Card and he has made it available for download on the following website for Telegraph readers https://sites.google.com/site/punctuationcard/home/punctuation-card. He has also provided a revised edition of the English Grammar card. If you have difficulty downloading the cards, email Joseph at grammarcard@yahoo.co.uk.