- Nearly half of the teaching in English primary schools
is not good enough, mainly because teachers do not know enough about literacy
and numeracy, Ofsted said yesterday.
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- A quarter of 11-year-olds - more than 150,000 children
- moved on to secondary school every year without reaching the expected
levels in English and maths.
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- Nor was poor teaching confined to those subjects, Ofsted
said in its most damning report for years.
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- "In a Year 6 [11-year-olds] geography lesson on
the rain forest, pupils tasted foods, used a computer program, painted
their faces and engaged in drumming - all of which interested them - but
their progress in knowledge, skills and understanding of geography was
minimal."
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- Ofsted saw little hope of standards improving, or of
closing the gap that left boys trailing behind girls at seven and further
behind at 11.
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- "Too many teachers have an overarching knowledge
of English and maths but no deep understanding," said David Bell,
the head of Ofsted, launching the report on the impact of the first five
years of the national literacy and numeracy strategies.
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- In about one lesson in three, the teaching was "only
satisfactory", the fourth level of a seven-point scale that extends
from "excellent" to "very poor". Teaching was "unsatisfactory"
in one lesson in eight.
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- That meant that there were not enough lessons in which
the teaching was good enough to raise standards for the lowest-attaining
quarter of pupils.
-
- With the 2002 targets missed, ministers hope that those
set for next year - that 85 per cent of 11-year-olds will reach the required
standard in English and maths - will be achieved by 2006.
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- But Mr Bell said: "That looks rather unlikely, given
the trend of the past four years."
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- Ofsted found that teachers often failed to challenge
higher-attaining pupils sufficiently.
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- "Weak subject knowledge is the consistent common
feature in the unsatisfactory teaching," it said. "Uncertainites
stemming from gaps in knowledge of English or mathematics restrict teachers'
ability to anticipate and then respond effectively to pupils' difficulties.
Weak subject knowledge also limits effective planning for the next steps
in learning.
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- "Improvements in teachers' subject knowledge of
English and maths are therefore crucial in improving the quality of planning,
teaching and assessment."
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- The report also condemned lessons that were "dominated
by teachers' talk" and in which there were "too few opportunities
for pupils to talk and collaborate to enhance their learning".
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- "Lessons which are unsatisfactory may look superficially
satisfactory," the report said. "Teachers may delude themselves
that clearly structured lessons lead to good teaching.
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- "However, this superficial sense of order can belie
the quality of the teaching. Tasks are often ill-matched to pupils' needs,
or involve worksheets from which pupils learn very little."
-
- In place of such "passive" learning, Ofsted
called for more role play, "hot seating", "oral interaction",
creativity, imaginative writing, collaboration in small groups and use
of computers.
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- The report said the literacy and numeracy strategies,
which require primary schools to teach English and maths for an hour a
day each and prescribe exactly how the lessons are to be conducted, had
brought about an overall improvement in the quality of teaching but at
a high price.
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- "There has been a trade-off," Mr Bell said.
"Other subjects have been neglected."
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- In history and geography, some topics were covered so
sketchily that pupils were left with little idea of context, significance
or chronology.
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- Despite the report's criticisms, Stephen Twigg, the schools
minister, said he was confident that standards would "continue to
rise".
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- David Hart, of the National Association of Head Teachers,
said the Government did not stand "a cat in hell's chance" of
delivering its broad and balanced primary strategy, let alone meet its
targets for achievement by 11-year-olds, unless it started "investing
properly" in primary education.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
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