ONE in three English lessons in primary schools in the UK is no better than satisfactory, and urgent action is required to help thousands of children who start their secondary level unable to read or write properly. This is according to a recently published report by UK's education watchdog, OFSTED. OFSTED is the Office for Standards in Education, a non-Ministerial government department charged with improving standards in the UK.
Although standards have risen in the past five years, one in five pupils in the UK arrives at secondary school behind in reading and writing. OFSTED also found that too little emphasis was devoted to developing speaking and listening skills. Many children did not know how to improve because the quality of their teacher's assessment was "consistently weak".
Miriam Rosen, OFSTED's director of education, said that schools must do more to help those pupils who start secondary education below the level expected of their age group. "We are concerned, particularly because it will interfere with their ability to access the rest of the curriculum," she said.
Despite significant improvements in teaching between 2000 and 2005, 30 per cent of all primary English lessons were "no better than satisfactory". Although English is still one of the best taught subjects, the report said: "The gap between girls' and boys' achievements in English is significant, and increases as they move through school. This gap is greatest in relation to writing. Evidence from the most effective schools suggests that more can be done in many schools to improve the standards of boys' writing."
The report also criticized a failure to inculcate reading for pleasure. "Too few schools have given sufficient time and thought to how to promote pupils' independent reading. There is evidence that many pupils are reading less for pleasure than previously."
A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills in the UK said that it welcomed the improvement in English described in the report. "When OFSTED says that 30 per cent of lessons are not better than satisfactory, this does not mean that these lessons are failing; it means that they are meeting the expected standards but there is room for improvements," he added.
