Primary school teachers still 'fail' in maths and English

The worrying scale of mediocre teaching in primary schools is exposed today in a damning report on maths and English standards. One in three lessons is no better than "satisfactory", education inspectors from Ofsted said today.

The findings will make depressing reading for Education Secretary Ruth Kelly as she prepares to announce new moves to tackle poor maths and English skills among teenagers.

Ofsted's report demonstrates that if primary schools fail to teach children the basics it becomes even harder to tackle the problem later on.

Inspectors say the proportion of mediocre English and maths teaching has not changed since Ofsted's previous report on the national literacy and numeracy strategies. Today's report stresses: "Teaching of this quality, while having no significant weaknesses, is not effective enough to improve the quality of pupils' learning and what they know, understand and can do."

Ofsted chief inspector David Bell said: "There are still schools where children are not receiving the daily diet of good teaching that they need to raise achievement further."

Ofsted's findings show that without a major improvement in the quality of English and maths teaching, schools will fail to ensure all 11-year-olds reach the required standard in these subjects.

Last year there was an improvement in the proportion of pupils who left primary school with the literacy and numeracy skills expected for their age - but not nearly enough to enable the Government to meet its targets.

In English, the proportion of pupils reaching the standard increased by two points to 77 per cent. In maths, there was a one point rise to 74 per cent - but schools are miles away from the 2006 targets that 85 per cent of pupils should meet the standard in both subjects. Despite moves to improve teacher training in recent years, particularly in maths and grammar, many teachers still have a "weak" grasp of the two subjects.

"One of the main differences between the most and least effective English and mathematics lessons is the quality of teachers' subject knowledge," says the report.

The situation is even worse in other subjects, including science, geography and history, Ofsted found. Because they are given a low priority in teacher training, Ofsted found "continuing insecurities in teachers' subject knowledge and day-to-day assessment".

The report continues: "Weak subject knowledge is frequently seen in basic mistakes in terminology, inappropriate use of resources and misunderstandings about the subject, for example in music and science."

In May 2003 the Government was goaded into reforming the literacy and numeracy strategies by the teaching unions, who complained that the focus on reading, writing and arithmetic was depriving primary pupils of a rich and varied educational diet.

Ms Kelly's predecessor Charles Clarke responded by saying schools should offer a broad curriculum and teach literacy and numeracy through all subjects, not just maths and English.

OFSTED'S PLAN