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Nearly Half UK Primary English
Teachers Found Lacking

By John Clare
Education Editor
The Telegraph - UK
12-10-3

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.
 
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.
 
Nor was poor teaching confined to those subjects, Ofsted said in its most damning report for years.
 
"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."
 
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.
 
"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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
But Mr Bell said: "That looks rather unlikely, given the trend of the past four years."
 
Ofsted found that teachers often failed to challenge higher-attaining pupils sufficiently.
 
"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.
 
"Improvements in teachers' subject knowledge of English and maths are therefore crucial in improving the quality of planning, teaching and assessment."
 
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".
 
"Lessons which are unsatisfactory may look superficially satisfactory," the report said. "Teachers may delude themselves that clearly structured lessons lead to good teaching.
 
"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.
 
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.
 
"There has been a trade-off," Mr Bell said. "Other subjects have been neglected."
 
In history and geography, some topics were covered so sketchily that pupils were left with little idea of context, significance or chronology.
 
Despite the report's criticisms, Stephen Twigg, the schools minister, said he was confident that standards would "continue to rise".
 
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.
 
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
 
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