By Lucy Phillips
25 February 2010
Efforts to raise standards in schools have been undermined by too many Whitehall-led initiatives, according to the education watchdog.
Ofsted published a report on February 24 into the impact of the government’s ‘National Strategies’ programme, which was introduced in 1998.
It criticised the too frequent introduction of centrally imposed education initiatives, ranging from curriculum support to new methods of teaching. Head teachers were reported to be ‘overwhelmed’ by the constant stream of drives to boost teaching standards, leading to ‘overload and diminished potential effectiveness’.
Local authorities also found it difficult to evaluate any positive or negative impacts of the initiatives because of their recurrent introduction, according to the report.
Ofsted head Christine Gilbert said: ‘The National Strategies have been at the forefront of improving teaching in the core subjects. However, improvement has been too slow over the past four years and this report finds the potential effectiveness of the strategies is much diminished.’
Schools minister Vernon Coaker said: ‘We make no apologies for taking a robust approach to raising performance in schools in the late 1990s. A relentless focus on the 3Rs, coupled with record investment and rapid intervention, has led to the highest ever school standards – and Ofsted’s report is clear that the National Strategies have made a real impact on teaching and learning.
‘And the figures speak for themselves. We’ve leapt from seventeenth to seventh in the international league tables for mathematics and around 110,000 more children now leave primary school secure in the basics than in 1997.’
The multimillion-pound National Strategies are to be abolished from next year, with schools taking over responsibility for their own improvements in education standards.
25 February 2010
Efforts to raise standards in schools have been undermined by too many Whitehall-led initiatives, according to the education watchdog.
Ofsted published a report on February 24 into the impact of the government’s ‘National Strategies’ programme, which was introduced in 1998.
It criticised the too frequent introduction of centrally imposed education initiatives, ranging from curriculum support to new methods of teaching. Head teachers were reported to be ‘overwhelmed’ by the constant stream of drives to boost teaching standards, leading to ‘overload and diminished potential effectiveness’.
Local authorities also found it difficult to evaluate any positive or negative impacts of the initiatives because of their recurrent introduction, according to the report.
Ofsted head Christine Gilbert said: ‘The National Strategies have been at the forefront of improving teaching in the core subjects. However, improvement has been too slow over the past four years and this report finds the potential effectiveness of the strategies is much diminished.’
Schools minister Vernon Coaker said: ‘We make no apologies for taking a robust approach to raising performance in schools in the late 1990s. A relentless focus on the 3Rs, coupled with record investment and rapid intervention, has led to the highest ever school standards – and Ofsted’s report is clear that the National Strategies have made a real impact on teaching and learning.
‘And the figures speak for themselves. We’ve leapt from seventeenth to seventh in the international league tables for mathematics and around 110,000 more children now leave primary school secure in the basics than in 1997.’
The multimillion-pound National Strategies are to be abolished from next year, with schools taking over responsibility for their own improvements in education standards.
