The main proposals put forward in the report were aimed at clearing away the clutter created by the original National Curriculum some 20 years ago. The reason behind this is falling standards and morale in some of Britain's primaries, brought on - it is believed - by too much Government pressure and meddling.
Rose's interim ten-year review proposes to theme primary learning into six areas, rather than focusing on individual traditional subjects. He suggests there should be a greater emphasis on ICT and languages and schools should find more time to teach about personal skills and sex and relationships education.
Some have questioned whether it is the place of schools to teach children about relationships. As the BBC pointed out, "As the boundaries between schools and social services become ever more blurred, schools will not only teach academic lessons but will also move into the territory once associated with families and the wider community."
"Circle time, philosophy lessons (more popular in primary schools than might be realised) and the so-called "Seal" lessons have become part of the primary landscape, teaching ideas such as emotional intelligence and respect,"
"But how will this be assessed? Will schools have happiness targets, ill-health thresholds and bullying rankings? Will shifting children's behaviour from appalling to mildly awful be considered progress? And anyway why should schools be expected to patch up society's ills?" says the BBC's education reporter Sean Coughlan.
The government's focus on ICT also captured the imagination of commentators, with many concerned that children would learn more about computers than traditional skills such as reading and writing. The report says under-11s should be taught to use podcasts, make radio programmes, produce on-screen presentations, upload artwork on to a computer, or use spreadsheets for maths and science.
However, since under 11s are already incredibly computer literate, compared to previous generations at their age, the general feeling is that a stronger grasp of ICT will only help rather than hinder children's learning in other subjects. Underpinning Sir Jim Rose's ideas is the hope that schools can now be less prescriptive about the way they teach.
"The demands of society on primary schools have risen and continue to rise but if we are to establish a 'world-class' high-quality curriculum, we must face the reality of prescribing less so that teachers can better teach and children can better learn," he said.
He gives as an example a topic such as human settlements, which could be studied either through the perspective of history or geography. By grouping together such "areas of learning" there can be a streamlining of the curriculum, focusing on key ideas and avoiding duplication.
The problem is what may get left out as part of this process. There are already concerns that the traditional subject disciplines are being eroded to such an extent that children are unclear on many basics - leaving their learning in a somewhat shapeless mass.
Rose claims he wants to instil "a love of learning for its own sake". Jenni Russell at the Guardian points out that his preference for themed teaching, rather than subject silos, is also intended to deepen children's understanding, not detract from it. He wants teachers and schools to have greater freedom to think imaginatively about how to teach, and to respond to what the children in front of them are interested in.
But are teachers ready for that kind of freedom of teaching and will they embrace it? This is the question being asked by many, including Russell, "Schools are exhausted by initiatives, and imagination takes effort. One head said to me earlier this year that he was worried that too many of his teachers had been so ground down by the process of passing on government directives and lesson plans that they couldn't come up with their own ideas any more. They were, he said, like battery hens - they might not know what to do with freedom," she writes.
And of course, the other big question is, how will all this be tested? "Rose was explicitly told not to look at the issue of testing in primaries. But the results of the Sats tests at 11 still determine teachers' pay, heads' jobs, and schools' reputations. No matter how much schools would like to instil the love of learning that Rose proposes, as long as the Sats tests determine how they are judged, they will still end up spending much of the last year of primary in dreary and repetitive test-cramming as they do now," points out Russell.
On the same day that Sir Jim launched his interim report, the Children's Secretary Ed Balls also floated plans for schools to be given ratings in report cards. Part of this scorecard, rating schools from A to E, will be shaped by the "wider outcomes" of health and enjoyment. The government denies that these school reports would be used to replace league tables but given the unpopularity of the current Sats system, questions are bound to be asked.
Commenting on the score cards, the General Teaching Council for England Chief Executive, Keith Bartley, said: "The focus on tailoring learning for each individual pupil and the vision of the school at the heart of the community are welcome aspirations. The New School Report Cards have often been referred to by the Government as ‘balanced score cards', and this description clarifies what I envisage will be their most important role - to incorporate a balanced, well-rounded approach when measuring children's progress to significantly improve the outcomes for children and young people in all aspects of their lives.
"We know from our own research that what parents most value is rounded information about their children's progress and the chance to have a dialogue with schools and teachers. I do hope that any school reporting system being considered will offer parents opportunities for that kind of rounded information about their own children as well as information about the performance of the school overall," he adds.
Clearly the government is caught between the desire to simplify the system while being forced to add more to the curriculum, such as environmental education, ICT and studies on human relationships - either because the modern world demands it or isn't providing it in the way it used to.
And as a result, something is going to have to give. In some schools, this will probably be a depth of learning in individual subjects - something that is already causing concern - particularly when it comes to preparing children for the challenges of secondary school.
John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said it was "vital" that there was a better transition between nursery and primary education, and raised concerns that the review had not been able to look at testing in schools.
Unfortunately this balancing act by the government is inevitably going to divide people. On a more positive note, Sir Jim Rose's ideas to inspire children to love learning are based on sound ideology and also come from his many years spent as a school inspector. It is refreshing to hear the government talk about making children enjoy learning rather than concentrating on testing, ratings and league tables.
