Aiming low

In a damning report, the education watchdog says that standards of English in primary schools need to be raised dramatically to reduce the number of pupils entering secondary education with poor reading and writing skills.

Of course, the fact that many children who succeed in reaching literacy targets at the age of 11 still fail to achieve at least a grade C at GCSE level indicates that it is not merely primary schools that are in need of higher standards of teaching.

Nevertheless, it is at primary level where the foundations of literacy are laid and, in too many cases, they are decidedly shaky. Yet, without a good grounding in basic English, the rest of a child’s education will inevitably suffer.

This will not be achieved, however, when – as Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw points out – expectations are so low that children are given holiday brochures to read rather than stories or poems. Indeed, this practice might be news to many parents, which only emphasises another of Sir Michael’s points, the need to keep parents informed and involved.

Ultimately, however, the message here is for primary teachers and it is a frighteningly simple one: unless a child’s natural love of reading is stimulated and nurtured at an early age, through effort and imagination on the teacher’s part, that child is likely to be disadvantaged for life.