Jul 17 2013

DfE: Step-change in ambition for primary schools will raise standards for all

Following on from the APPG’s meeting on Primary School Accountability last week, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Schools Minister David Laws today launched a consultation setting out proposals to reform the way primary schools are held to account and raise standards for all.

The Department for Education published the following press release:

The new system will be more ambitious, setting out clear expectations of what every child needs to achieve to be ready for secondary school. In 2010, 60 per cent of 11-year-olds needed to clear a “low bar” at the end of primary school. As more and more children have surpassed this basic level, primary schools will now be asked to raise their game. The coalition government proposes that from 2016 primary schools will need to have at least 85 per cent of their 11-year-olds above a new more stretching threshold, and ready for secondary school.

To help schools reach this ambitious goal, the Deputy Prime Minister is announcing the biggest ever rise in the Pupil Premium for primary schools. It will be increased to £1,300 per disadvantaged primary school pupil in 2014/15, up from £900 per child this year. This will help ensure that more pupils are able to achieve higher standards.

Nick Clegg said: “Every primary school should strive to make its pupils ready for secondary school by the time they leave. All the evidence shows that if you start behind, you stay behind. A better start at secondary school is a better start in life. I make no apology for having high ambitions for our pupils. But for children to achieve their potential we need to raise the bar – in terms of tests, pass marks and minimum standards. I am confident that primary schools and their pupils will meet that challenge.

“To help more children achieve this, I am delighted to announce a significant increase in the Pupil Premium at primary level. This increase in money for every eligible primary school child, alongside our reforms to the national curriculum, to statutory assessment and to school accountability for primary schools will help ensure that all pupils are ready to reach their full potential in secondary school. This is a higher bar but with more money to help children over it. This combination will allow all our children to get the best possible start in life.”

David Laws said: “It is vital that we set high aspirations for all schools and pupils. Our new targets will prepare children for success. At the moment, pupils are being asked to reach a bar that too often sets them up for failure not success. So that all children – whatever their circumstances – can arrive in secondary school ready to succeed, we are giving significantly more money to primary school pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium. This will support this step-change in ambition.”

The consultation document published today outlines proposals for:

  • Higher floor standards. These would still be based on a combination of pupil attainment and progress. It is proposed that the attainment element is set considerably higher – with at least 85 per cent of a school’s pupils (except those with particular special needs) expected to reach a good level of attainment. But progress will be a key element to reflect the challenging intakes of some schools, and schools will need to be below both measures to be below the floor.
  • Updated tests for 11 year olds, in line with the higher expectations of the new National Curriculum. The tests would be in maths; reading; and spelling, punctuation and grammar. The science test for a sample of pupils would also remain.
  • Higher expectations of what pupils should achieve. There would be a new “scaled score”, which would be the same for all tests and remain the same over years. It would be set at the level at which 11-year-olds would be considered “secondary ready”. These “scaled scores” are used in international tests, including PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS. The old system of levels – with Level 4 the expected level – will be removed and not replaced as they are unambitious, too broad and do not give parents a meaningful picture of how their children are performing.
  • New school-led systems of assessing pupil performance. In line with the freedom to develop their own school curricula, and the removal of the levels system, schools will be given the freedom to design their own systems of measuring pupil performance, and reporting this to parents, such as through clearer school reports. Ofsted will need to see evidence of pupils’ progress but inspections will be based on whatever pupil tracking data schools choose to keep.
  • A new reporting method which would see each pupil compared against their peers nationally. Each pupil would be placed in 10 per cent bands, or deciles. Pupils’ positions will only be made available to parents and schools.
  • A new benchmark. A baseline assessment is needed to measure the progress that has been made by 11-year-olds. The consultation makes no recommendations on this point, and invites suggestions from interested parties on when to take a baseline. For instance, this could be at age seven, as now, where teachers assess pupils; or a simple check of a child’s ability in the early weeks of a child’s career at school.

May 24 2013

APPG/POST Meeting on SEN

Fabian Hamilton MP Addresses the Meeting

If ever a picture was worth a thousand words, the MRI scan shown by Professor Barry Carpenter at the APPG for Education meeting on Tuesday 14th May on Special Educational Needs (SEN) was that picture.

The scan showed two brains, one of expected development and one stunted by Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). The difference was striking. You can see for yourself here.

FAS is caused by the consumption of alcohol by a mother during pregnancy. It can result in physical and cognitive development issues, with 85% of children with FAS having behavioural problems. An 18 year old with FAS may have the social and emotional skills of a six or seven year old. 90% of sufferers will develop mental health problems and just 10% will be able to work and live independently.

Professor Carpenter pointed towards a culture of binge drinking, dependency on alcohol and a distain for those who choose not to drink as having helped create the situation. He described FAS as a ticking time bomb waiting to go off in the UK.
But we are not alone. One study puts the number of aboriginal children born with the condition in Australia at 30%. Another claims that FAS cost the US economy $5.4 billion in 2003.

Those attending the meeting, held jointly with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), also heard from Dr Rona Tutt. Dr Tutt is a former chair of the National Association of Head Teachers’s Special Educational Needs Committee. She took the audience through the developments in SEN provision over the last thirty years, culminating in the Children and Families Bill which is currently before Parliament. It was a fascinating appraisal of a process stretching back to 1978, from someone who has been a leading light in the debate around SEN for much of that time.

The APPG for Education exists to provide a platform through which Parliamentarians and educationalists can discuss and debate the educational issues of the day. Tuesday’s meeting did just that, shedding light on an issue which will come under increasing scrutiny as the Children and Families Bill continues to progress through Parliament.

POST/APPG Meeting

Mar 16 2012

Ofsted – Moving English forward – highlighting APPG’s recommendations

Ofsted’s report, Moving English forward, published on 15th March 2012, sets out to answer the question: how can attainment in English be raised in order to move English forward in schools?

The report refers to the APPG for Education’s recommendations, in particular noting:

72.  …The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education recently reported that ‘schools should be developing cross-departmental strategies to develop literacy’ and recommended that Ofsted should look ‘more closely at this’.  In response, Ofsted has produced training materials for all inspectors and will be evaluating the extent to which schools can demonstrate a whole-school commitment to improving pupils’ literacy during whole-school inspections…

113.  The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education has also reported:

‘Teaching methods should bring pleasure and reward to children, including to those who are just beginning to make sense of the letters on the page. The teachers who responded to the Inquiry felt that unless children have developed as readers in the fullest sense and are personally motivated to read, they will not progress beyond Level 3 or 4 by the age of 11, and their reading capacity could even regress… The active encouragement of reading for pleasure should be a core part of every child’s curriculum entitlement because extensive reading and exposure to a wide range of texts make a huge contribution to students’ educational achievement.’

Given that Ofsted made similar recommendations in its 2005 report, it is clear that schools have been slow to take appropriate action. One reason is that national tests and examinations do not in general assess pupils’ wider reading skills…

146.  The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education also expressed concerns about secondary literacy.

‘In the APPGE’s survey, secondary school teachers identified 57% of their pupils as having weak or very weak literacy skills, compared to the significantly lower 39% of pupils identified by primary school teachers. Nevertheless, across secondary schools, only 6% indicated that there should be a change in the extent to which literacy is incorporated into lessons. Instead, secondary school teachers were more likely to prefer the option of one-to-one support for struggling pupils. This suggests that it is more difficult for secondary schools to tackle literacy as a distinct issue.’

This suggests that many secondary teachers do not even accept that they have a responsibility for improving literacy within their own subject. Given the expectation in the revised Teaching Standards that all teachers will promote literacy and the use of Standard English, it seems clear that more effective training is now needed in many schools…

148.  The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education goes on to make the point that:

‘Headteachers are perhaps not accountable enough for literacy levels in secondary schools. Amongst Inquiry respondents, there was a strong feeling that a consistent whole-school approach was missing and many subject teachers were reluctant to admit that literacy is within their remit. Despite training and INSET, literacy is still seen as the responsibility of the English department rather than a whole-school issue, particularly in terms of assessment. Non-English subject teachers do not assess literacy, creating the danger that students view it as a skill which only matters in English lessons.’

The new inspection schedule should have the effect of increasing the profile of literacy across schools and encouraging headteachers and other senior leaders and managers to take a more active role in training and evaluating practice, as envisaged above.

Ofsted’s findings are based principally on evidence from inspections of English between April 2008 and March 2011 in 268 maintained schools in England. Part A highlights the main strengths and weaknesses in English and presents the evidence from the survey inspection visits. Part B draws on this inspection evidence to analyse 10 areas of weakness and recommend appropriate action to improve practice in each area.

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