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Elementary school



 
 
An elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education
Compulsory education

Compulsory education is education which children are required by law to receive and governments are required by law to provide. The compulsion is an aspect of public education....
 known as elementary or primary education
Primary education

A primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as Primary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ....
. Elementary school is the preferred term in many countries, especially in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
  , Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO
UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
).

United Kingdom
Elementary school was formerly the name given to publicly funded schools in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 which provided a basic standard of education for working class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 children aged from five to 14, the then school leaving age.






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Quotations


And they have the nerve to say I'm the weird one.

We have a saying about our women, 'can't live with 'em, can't sacrifice them to giant, primitive alien beast gods!'.

to Splink: Okay, even alternate versions of you are weird!

to the author-breaking the fourth wall: We need a deus ex machina, and you're deus!

We could try phasers at twenty paces..






Encyclopedia


An elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education
Compulsory education

Compulsory education is education which children are required by law to receive and governments are required by law to provide. The compulsion is an aspect of public education....
 known as elementary or primary education
Primary education

A primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as Primary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ....
. Elementary school is the preferred term in many countries, especially in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
  , Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO
UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
).

United Kingdom


Elementary school was formerly the name given to publicly funded schools in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 which provided a basic standard of education for working class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 children aged from five to 14, the then school leaving age. They were also known as industrial schools.

Elementary schools were set up to enable working class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 children to receive manual training and elementary instruction. They provided a restricted curriculum with the emphasis on reading
Reading (process)

Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the purpose of deriving meaning and/or constructing meaning. Written information is received by the retina, processed by the primary visual cortex, and interpreted in Wernicke's area....
, writing
Writing

Writing is the representation of language in a textual Media through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and the recording of language via a non-textual medium such as Magnetic tape sound recording....
 and arithmetic
Arithmetic

Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations....
 (the three Rs
The three Rs

The three Rs is a phrase sometimes used to describe the foundations of a basic skills oriented education program within schools: reading, writing and arithmetic....
). The schools operated on a 'monitorial' system, whereby one teacher supervised a large class with the assistance of a team of monitors, who were quite often older pupils. Elementary school teachers were paid by results. Their pupils were expected to achieve precise standards in reading, writing and arithmetic such as reading a short paragraph in a newspaper, writing from dictation, and working out sums and fractions.

Before 1944 around 80 per cent of the school population attended elementary schools through to the age of 14. The remainder transferred either to secondary school or junior technical school at age 11. The school system was changed with the introduction of the Education Act 1944
Education Act 1944

The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act, commonly named after the Conservative politician R.A....
. Education was restructured into three progressive stages which were known as primary education
Primary education

A primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as Primary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ....
, secondary education
Secondary education

Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education is generally the final stage of compulsory education....
 and further education
Further education

Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities ....
.

In the UK, schools providing primary education are now known as primary schools. They generally cater for children aged from four to eleven (Reception
Reception (school)

Reception or Primary 1 is the first year of primary school in the United Kingdom and South Australia. It is preceded by nursery school and is followed by Year One in England and Wales or Primary 2 in Northern Ireland and Scotland....
 to Year Six
Year Six

Year Six is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the sixth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between ten and twelve....
 or in Northern Ireland P1 to P7). Primary schools are often subdivided into infant school
Infant school

An Infant school is a type of school which caters for young children, usually between the ages of 4 and 7 years. In the United Kingdom it is usually a small school serving a particular locality....
s for children from four to seven and junior school
Junior school

A junior school is a type of school which caters for children, often between the ages of 4 and 11....
s for ages seven to 11. In the (diminishing) minority of areas where there is a "three-tier" system, children go to "first school" until about 9, then middle school
Middle school

Middle school or junior high school serves as a "bridge" between elementary school and high school. The terms can be used in different ways in different countries, sometimes interchangeably....
 until about 13, then high school; in these places, the term "primary school" is not usually used.

United States


In the United States, elementary schools offer education between the kindergarten
Kindergarten

is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction....
 level and a grade between 3rd
Third grade

In the United States, third grade is a year of primary education. It is the third school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 8 - 9 years old....
 and 6th
Sixth grade

Sixth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 - 12 years old....
. The most common grade range is kindergarten through 4th or 5th grade. Elementary schools in the United States are also sometimes called "grade schools".

India


In India elementary schools provide education from Class 1 to Class 5. The children in these classes are generally aged between five and 12 years. It is the next stage after kindergarten (Pre-Nursery, Nursery, Prep or Lower Kindergarten and Upper Kindergarten). The next stage after primary education is Middle School (Class 6th to 8th). In most schools in North India, children in Classes 1st to 3rd are taught English, Hindi, Environmental Science, and General Knowledge. In class 4th and 5th the environmental science subject is replaced by General Science and Social Studies. However some schools may introduce this concept in Class 3 itself. Some schools may also introduce a third language in Class 5th or even in Class 4th. Sanskrit and French are the most common third languages taught in Indian schools. At some places, primary education is labelled as the education of Class 3rd to Class 5th and up until class 2nd as pre-primary education. This is because many new concepts are introduced in this class. Children are taught painting instead of drawing and colouring, exams are taken, and word sums in maths are introduced along with geometry.

See also

  • List of elementary and primary schools by country
  • Educational stages
  • Elementary Education Act 1870
    Elementary Education Act 1870

    The Elementary Education Act 1870 commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children over the age of 5 and under 13 in England and Wales....
  • Environmental groups and resources serving K–12 schools
    Environmental groups and resources serving K–12 schools

    This article includes information about environmental groups and resources that serve K?12 schools in the United States and internationally....