Ministers also want to make it easier for secondary schools to release disaffected pupils from compulsory subjects from the

Ministers also want to make it easier for secondary schools to release disaffected pupils from compulsory subjects from the age of 14 so that they can pursue more work-related studies or spend time in the workplace.About 500 schools have already applied for some 10 per cent of their pupils to pursue vocational alternatives.Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said the curriculum was still too overloaded. “If the Government wants to add to it, it must stipulate other subjects to be dropped,” he said.Mr Blunkett retorted that when teachers’ leaders read the proposals, which will be the subject of consultation, they would “eat their words”.Leading article,Review, page 3Malcolm Bradbury,Review, page 4A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE NEW CURRICULUMSUBJECTSENGLISHAGE 5-7Read and write, listen and speak. Use words to explore imaginary worlds.AGE 7-11Different uses for writing and speaking. Read and write fiction and non-fiction.AGE 11-14Formal writing and public speaking. Study Shakespeare play, and other classic literature.AGE 14-16Study another Shakespeare play; writers from Christopher Marlowe to Stevie Smith and David Hare.MATHSCount, read and write numbers up to 100.

Learn to add and subtract.Multiply, divide and learn times tables. Start on fractions and decimalsPercentages, ratios, algebra, graphs, working with data and probability.Powers, roots and standard numbers. solve equations and understand proofs.SCIENCEAsk questions, find answers about animals, plants, electricity, light and sound.Gather evidence to test ideas: Try melting, boiling, dissolving and evaporating.Experiments: Reproduction and photosynthesis to a home-made Thermos flask.Inheritance to cloning, atoms to reactions; and X-rays to the universe.DESIGN& TECHNOLOGYHow everyday objects work. Mark, cut and make things from cloth or food.Test things to make them better. Use computer to control a robot or lights on a model.Use wood, metal, plastics and composites, computer-aided design and manufacture products.Enterprise and industry, production lines and product development.

Design, manufacturing and marketing.INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYUse a computer purposefully and with confidence. Start to do work on screen with text, tables images and sound.Operate E-mail, web publishing, video-conference, spreadsheets.E-commerce to computer modelling: The legal, political, economic and moral impact of 21st Century technology.HISTORYLocal history through real people, story-telling, buildings, photographs and eventsFrom the Romans to the Tudors, Brunel and the Blitz, ancient Egypt, Assyria or the Aztecs.Domesday Book, Normans, Churchill, the Holocaust or the Cold War.Not compulsory. Children can choose a GCSE including in-depth topics like the poor law, chartism, race relations in the USA and the Cold War.GEOGRAPHYLocal landscapes, jobs and weather. North, south east and west, globes, maps and plans.One home area, one abroad: commuter town development, hedges, drought.Maps, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, climate and landslides.Not compulsory: Children can choose a GCSE including topics like people and urban change, the physical environment and leisure and tourism.ART&DESIGNPractical painting, prints and sculptures, craft, design and digital media.Sketching, sculpture or wallhanging. Learn about artists.Medieval, Renaissance, and more modern art.Not compulsory. Children can choose a GCSE, which includes advancedartwork using textiles, photography, printing or a range or other techniques.MUSICSongs, chants and rhymes.