How would you reform primary education?

[Hobbleouchouch]

I found the secondary education thread really interesting.

As a soon-to-be-primary-school-parent, I would love to know your thoughts on what would make the perfect primary school!

Thanks!

My DS has just finished Reception. The absolute only thing I would fix about his school is the fact that they have to wear shirts and ties from Year 1 onwards which I think is entirely pointless.

Primary teacher of many years...

Small class sizes
A full time TA per class plus plenty of additional support for children with SEND.
A far less jam packed curriculum
Much more funding to actually have the resources to teach a high quality curriculum
Scrap the majority of paperwork and admin

Echo all of the above. Plus scrap restorative practice behaviour policies.

I agree with all of this too. Money for intervention so all children learn to read and do Maths to an effective standard. Funding for SEMH support (e.g. in school counsellors, ELSA) so all children’s emotional well-being is supported. TAs not being used to cover classes unless in an emergency. Funding for opportunities in music, sports etc.

Get rid of the ridiculous grammar expectations and the GPS Sats test; more focus on skills rather than 1950s style rote knowledge (thanks Mr Gove); oh, and maybe some proper funding so teachers can teach without buildings collapsing round them and inadequate resources might be nice. Pay LSAs/TAs a decent living wage; provide proper funding for SEND, and hold MATs accountable for the appalling way some of them treat their staff.
(Primary school teacher of (too) many years)

More TAs

Main priority for me would be far more support to families from services outside of school.

Also a teacher of many years. This in a nutshell

I'm interested in your comment about the jam packed curriculum - are you saying have more free/unstructured time? Or for the teachers to have more flexibility to teach what that particular class needs?

I know nothing about education but would have assumed a full and varied curriculum would be a positive?

Removing the 11+ grammar school exam could indeed help create a more unified educational experience in primary school, as it reducing the divide between different learning speeds created artificially.

Additionally, investing more in sports and extracurricular activities can provide a well-rounded education for primary school students.

When I started teaching I had time to go off on a tangent when a child asked a question. I could chat properly to children at the beginning of the day. We could have a longer breaktime if it was sunny. We could have dance breaks and show and tell.

There no time for anything.
I fit, morning task, English, phonic, assembly (includes intervention), break, group reading, maths, lunch, catch up maths plus two afternoon lessons in every day.

I'm a big believer in the positives of outside play and exercise.

Teach them to spell! My two kids can tell me what all kinds of tenses are and all sorts of grammatical things I never knew. They track well above average performance wise but their spelling is shocking.

@Sherrystrull thanks for replying- I had no idea it was like this.

The two school open days I went to were both taking at length about how they tailor the learning for each child and pursue each child's interests etc. Do you feel you manage to do that currently (I'm assuming with classes of 30) or, with the limits you describe, is this just wishful thinking / school marketing?

Also a primary school teacher and fully agree with this.

I can't see how this would be possible with more than about 5 in a class, let alone 30!

Same as @Sherrystrull just above - that was how it was when I started teaching. Much more like the Early Years curriculum, we had more flexibility to follow the interests of the dc, or to change things about if they didn't 'get' something or didn't engage with something, or alternatively were really interested in something.

I also agree with much of her first post.

My list would be completely remove Ofsted in it's current form and with it's ridiculous "evidence" demands. Teachers have no issue with being inspected, but just walk in and see what is happening. You can see progress by looking through the book they are working in.
Scrap all the completely pointless paperwork. As they saying goes, you don't fatten a pig by continually weighing / measuring it.
Give teachers their autonomy back
Trust teachers.
Let teachers put their energy into preparing great lessons, and experiences for the children.

Proper provision for children with SEND. Pastoral support for those dcs that need that.

Smaller classes would, of course be lovely. 24 children would be a great number, but 30 would be manageable if you were only teaching and not having to spend hours upon hours on pointless paperwork, and hours on pastoral care / child protection support, whilst childminding 2 dc whose needs are so significant it is entirely inappropriate for them to be dumped in mainstream school, which obviously does not benefit them at all either.

Yes to paying TAs properly.

The curriculum needs to go back to basics. There are too many subjects to cram into the week so you need to push through all this work with no time to cover anything in depth. The basics of English (reading, basic punctuation and dictated sentences, handwriting) and Maths need to be prioritised. The curriculum expects too much too soon and it’s not working for anybody especially post Covid. Every week you’re trying to pack in daily phonics, English and Maths and weekly Science, Computing, PE, RE, History/Geography, PSHE, Art and Music! There’s little time for stories or chatting to the children. It makes me sad.

Good schools and teachers will absolutely try to achieve that. But realistically it's very tough. It's one of the tough aspects of teaching that you can't split yourself enough.

This, also exten the early years circulum into year 1. And make it more of a gradual transition from play based learning to classroom learning. I noticed with both my children that the leap from reception to year 1 was massive as they went from playing most of they day to being expected to sit at a desk most of the day. A year with a gradual transition would be much better.

Scarp publishing school test results. Yes test at end of year 6, but publishing results puts to much presume on schools and teachers.

More appropriate settings (eg special schools or units) for meeting SEN children’s needs.

I agree with scrapping the publication of tests results. This first year of optional SATs in Year 2 has been transformational for children and staff.

Oh, and rename TAs as Assistant Teachers - it more accurately reflects their role.

Stop homework, which is purely for the parents anyway.

Classes of no more than 15/16.
Teacher and TA at all times.
Play based until yr 3.
Morning and afternoon breaks.
Less academic focus, more time for art, music, cooking etc as well as a focus on emotional literacy, how to be a good friend that typeof stuff and skills.
Relaxed uniform of joggers and T-shirt and trainers
Weekly visit of Ed psych, speech and language and occupational therapy for staff to tap into for advice to support CYP who need it
More trips
Every school to have a forest school
Less rigid in terms of sitting in a certain way etc, once the teaching is done children have the freedom to sit at a desk, sit on the floor etc and work (as long as everyone is considerate of each other)

I think the above would improve education for everyone but also make mainstream far more inclusive for those with Sen needs.

I disagree with scrapping Ofsted as education should be monitored and inspected, but Ofsted dont focus on the right things. They need an overhaul too!

From a parent’s perspective and not a teacher…

More play. Lots of kids seem to love reception and then start to struggle in y1 as the expectations ramp up. It’s sad for kids to suddenly be failing at 5 or 6.

More options to deal with challenging behaviour. If you’re stuck withholding break time as your only feasible punishment it seems like some of the disruptive kids are in a perpetual cycle of not being able to burn energy through play and then getting told off for not concentrating.

more money. Our school is amazing but broke and manages because it’s in an affluent area with large pta top-ups.