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!

The Welsh curriculum has more of a focus on play based learning, no SATs and no grammar schools so it's quite interesting that some of those points have been raised as our outcomes are poorer than English schools.

Well, yes, that's why I put "completely remove Ofsted in it's current form and with it's ridiculous "evidence" demands. Teachers have no issue with being inspected,"

I love this list! I hope Bridget Phillipson sees it!

I did not know this.
Poorer outcomes at 11 or 16/18?

What is felt to underlie this?

OFSTED should be for safeguarding only and at least every 2 years. If safeguarding is not ok then someone from a special team should be parachuted in from that day until it’s up to scratch. The rest of the provision is parents choice to send them there so doesn’t need inspecting.

Poorer all round in all areas as far as I'm aware. Here's a recent article on it though:
https://ifs.org.uk/news/sliding-education-results-and-high-inequalities-should-prompt-big-rethink-welsh-education

It isn't as simple as that though. I feel there could be a link to the fact that less money per head is spent on (school) Education in Wales.

I think it's roughly the same isn't it? That was part of the article. Not sure how recent the figures are though, or whether spending had recently increased more in line with England.

Scotland and Northern Ireland also saw declines in PISA scores in 2022, whilst scores were relatively stable in England

I think NI has a lot of grammar schools, aboit 1/3.

Absolutely this. I would go as far as to say Speech and Language therapist/practitioners in every school permanently to deliver the raft of reports and interventions teachers are given for children.

Properly qualified counsellors on site with caseloads who support children with emotional needs and trauma.

A health system where chd. and families access what they need, when they need it.

Better housing.

Free up time for trips and outdoor activities rather than box ticking grammar/facts.

It’s just too full. Varied is good, but my kids’ school stops afternoon play after Year 2 because they literally don’t have time for it any more because of the curriculum. It’s the antithesis of everything we know about what’s needed for children’s mental health.

I’m not from this country and I’m seriously considering moving back to my home country because of this.

As a parent of an SEN child…
More emphasis on mastering basics rather than rushing through a curriculum and expecting a child to master algebra and long division when they haven’t had chance to consolidate place value and times table. Ditto for English consolidation of spelling, grammar and punctuation and teachers reading to a class daily as well as listening to children read.
A lot more play, in my 70’s primary school play was a huge part of school throughout with teachers having the autonomy to know when kids needed play and fresh air.
Teachers to stop seeing SEN as an inconvenience instead making them an asset to the class. Again in my lovely primary in the 7O’s it was seen as a privilege to look after the SEN children, we had a few Down’s syndrome and wheelchair bound kids and it was an honour to play with them and vividly remember teachers bouncing an SEN child on their knee while helping another child with maths. No
rose tinted glasses here just a kind school where most of us left able to read, write and know times tables.

They talk a really good game about the tailoring thing for Reception, and it is possible there because they follow the early years curriculum and it’s learning through play. It’s not the same after Reception. It’s just not possible.

I'd get rid of loads of the curriculum.

Focus on the basics, reading, writing and maths.
Loads of free play.
Loads of art, crafts and music.
Hands on science experiments.
Sports, games and drama.
Lots of project based learning.

Basically go back to primary school of the 80s/90s.

I'd do something about the pace of maths for the more able. I get the idea of a spiral curriculum, but the spiral is too tightly spiralled for some children. And the concept of mastery does a disservice to some children who just need to progress further than a few word problems on each topic. Maybe it's just badly taught, but the only year my DC weren't bored was one year where one of them had a folder of Nrich things to do when she'd done the hardest bits of classwork.

I'd also do something about screening for additional needs, independent of how far behind/disruptive children are. For one of my DC, our school was happy to see bumble along "at expectations" when she actually has SEN and needed a few tweaks to reach her potential. It worries me that there are lots of similar children who don't have parents with sharp elbows and the means to get private assessments. School must be torture for them.

Ex primary teacher here.

I’d make the whole of primary play-based learning. Yes all the way up to Y6.

It is well proven that children learn best through play. All children, not just under 5s!

They’d learn in a more natural way, where the motivation to learn to read, write, become numerate and learn about the world was ‘intrinsic’ rather than ‘extrinsic’ as it currently is. Ie it is forced upon them.

I’d also cut huge swathes of the curriculum, in particular the ridiculous grammar, advanced punctuation and spelling (not all spelling & punctuation obviously) as well as high level mathematics such as algebra etc. I’d put the focus on project/topic based learning and child-led learning and of course abolish testing altogether. It’s damaging and pointless for children.

I’d introduce skills and practical learning. Meaningful stuff not just academics for the sake of academics.

I’d overhaul Ofsted to be more supportive and do away with ridiculous one-word assessments.

Scrap uniform & homework and obviously fund everything properly. Also support SEN pupils properly.

Controversial but go back to special schools ( Scotland )

I think the drive for inclusion has really impacted main stream children.
If children have specific needs then alternative education is better .
Too many children being Impacted by DC that cannot cope in normal classrooms
Eg : my children having to be put in safe rooms whilst kids kick off and teachers calling panic alarms whilst tables being kicked upside down and things thrown around rooms
Previously children like this would have been excluded.

A guaranteed TA for every class (in addition to 1:1 staff).
Appropriate funding, staffing and resources for SEND.
Greater autonomy and trust in teachers.
Replace Ofsted with an improvement group run by the local authority.
Ditch the SATs which have ruined Year 6.
Enough funding for school supplies and cover teachers.

@SweetTeaCup I think inclusion should remain the goal but it does need a complete change in how it is funded and managed. I agree that in its current state, all children are missing out.

I would continue play based learning for another year at least - the uk pushes academics too early and I think a lot of time and effort is wasted trying to get children to read before they are developmentally ready.

more maths and science. First couple of years the focus is overly weighted towards reading and writing. Maths is taught regularly, but not as much practice as I think needed. Science is woefully underrepresented in the curriculum.

more outdoors time and more physical education. We are in a private school that emphasises this, and it makes such a difference. There is no reason state schools couldn’t do more.

better early send screening and intervention. Send addressed early keeps kids on track with peers and requires less extreme interventions.

more focus on social relationships - how to resolve disputes, inclusivity building friendships and deaLing with bullying.

This

I can see where you are coming from but its the stifling and overdemanding curriculum is the problem for many SEN kids who just can’t cope with the demands and expectations. There will always be some who need specialist but a lot of problems would be solved with less demands and more play and fresh air.

Pay teachers and TAs properly.
Scrap SATS.
Provide alternative education settings for pupils with special needs, especially violent pupils.
Step in immediately when it's clear a pupil is in the wrong setting. TAs and teachers should not be bitten, punched or spat at on a daily basis.
11+ should be sat by all pupils or not at all. Pupils who are privately tutored and take the 11+ in Y5 and are consequently bored out of their brains in Y6 should leave school at the end of Y5 so that the pupils who want to learn in Y6 can do so without interruption and negative comments/behaviour.
OFSTED needs to be scrapped in its current form. Too much time is spent on getting ready for the inspection.
OFSTED needs to enable parents to contact them if they have valid concerns about a school.
Classroom sizes need to be no more than 20.
Teaching methods shouldn't be one size fits all. Lots of children learn to read by sight, so phonics tests aren't indicative of whether a child can read.
Children, especially girls, should be screened for ASD as a matter of course. So much learning is lost due to diagnosis not being made early enough.

School Governor here…lots of the above, especially having flexibility to follow children’s interests and “develop the whole child”.

Also, four terms a year not three…allows proper rest for the kids rather than the mad scramble to fit too much in that we currently have.

@newname - some teachers think schools shouldn't be inspected and seem to think they don't require any oversight at all.

I saw talk on Twitter recently where teachers felt it was unreasonable parents could directly complain to the TRA about them. It's perfectly normal for people to be able to make direct complaints to said relevant organisation re other professions. This oversight is important. Not saying said orgs always get it right or are perfect, but schools and teachers need to be accountable too and there are teachers out there who don't think they should have to tolerate it. Which is just bizarre.