APPENDIX 6
Memorandum from the Early Years Curriculum
Group (OAR 08)
SUMMARY
1. The differences between the inspection
regimes for children under five in the maintained as opposed to
the private, independent and voluntary sectors.
2. The need to protect and expand LEA nursery
schools as providers of the highest quality provision for children
under five.
3. Claims for a rise in standards in Key
Stage 2 with regard to numeracy.
4. The evidence base for the introduction
of the National Literacy Strategy.
5. Good pupil progress in nursery and reception
classes.
6. Claims for success in early years classes
of the Literacy Strategy.
7. The necessary provision of outdoor areas
of learning for children under five.
8. The possible lack of a broad and balanced
curriculum for part-time four year olds in mixed age classes.
9. Inconsistencies in baseline assessment.
10. The quality of teaching and pupil response
in nursery and reception classes.
Issues to be raised
1.1 HMCI reports on standards and quality
in education for children under five in settings inspected under
Section 10 (the maintained sector) and then, later, on the provision
for children under five in Section 5 inspections (the private
and voluntary sectors). His comments give no indication that the
judgements made on these two groups of children—of similar
age but in different settings—are by two separate inspection
regimes, by differently qualified and experienced inspectors and
by different criteria.
1.2 How does HMCI justify the inspection
of children of the same age by entirely different inspection regimes,
with inspectors who have different qualifications and expertise
using different criteria? How can this bring about the "level
playing field" in early years education to which Margaret
Hodge so frequently refers?
2.1 HMCI's report refers to the relatively
high number of LEA nursery schools, which are judged to be successful.
Nursery schools offer a specialist provision with a nursery headteacher,
trained nursery teachers and support staff and a separate governing
body. These findings by Ofsted correlate with the initial findings
of the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) study
which demonstrates that LEA nursery schools and combined centres
(which usually have a nursery school at the heart) perform slightly
higher than LEA nursery classes and significantly higher than
playgroups, private day nurseries and local authority day nurseries
on every aspect of provision rated by the study, including: space
and furnishings; language and reasoning; social interaction; organisation
and routines; adults working together and diversity.
2.2 Since nursery schools and combined centres
are judged to provide the highest quality education for children
aged three, four and five, will HMCI advise the government to
invest in this form of nursery education, rather than give all
provision for children under five the spurious title of "nursery"
(used, for example, in paragraph 86 byHMCI) when its true definition
is simply "pre-school"?
2.3 Does Ofsted defend the closure of LEA
nursery schools across the country due to the rise in schools
admitting children at age four into reception class provision?
3.1 On page 1 of his Commentary, HMCI alludes
to the "sharp rise" in pupil achievement in Key Stage
2 English and mathematics tests. 70 per cent and 69 per cent of
pupils achieved Level 4 in English and mathematics respectively.
Last year the figures were 65 per cent and 59 per cent. HMCI comments
that "this is a very significant and promising development,
which is directly linked to the National Literacy and Numeracy
strategies.
3.2 How does HMCI conclude that the sharp
rise in Key Stage 2 results for 1999 (May) were a result of the
national Numeracy strategy which was not introduced until September
1999?
4.1 HMCI asks "Why is so much time
and energy wasted in research that complicates what ought to be
straight forward"? (page 10 of his Commentary).
4.2 If research is time and energy wasting,
on what evidence does HMCI support the introduction of the National
Literacy Strategy? Does HMCI have any evidence for the efficacy
of the National Literacy Strategy?
4.3 If this evidence is not research-based
(ie that which is time and energy wasted) what rationale can he
give for the vast expenditure of public funds on its implementation?
5.1 On page 1 of his report on Educational
Standards Achieved, HMCI says that "pupils make good progress
in their nursery and reception classes".
5.2 To what does HMCI attribute this progress?
6.1 In his report on the Educational Standards
achieved by Under-Fives in maintained schools, HMCI states that
the "National Literacy Strategy has been successful in early
years classes in the great majority of schools". He reports
that "From about the age of four and a half, most pupils
are able to concentrate for the full 30 minutes of the whole-class
text and word-level work. They respond positively to the Literacy
Hour and adapt well to its structure".
6.2 How does HMCI reconcile his statements
with the fact that children in reception classes are not required
to do a "literacy hour"?
6.3 How does HMCI explain that if, as Ofsted
inspectors, our members were to see four year olds "sitting
for half an hour" they would be likely to judge that this
was inappropriate for them as active learners?
7.1 According to HMCI, Knowledge and Understanding
of the World is deemed to be "the least well taught"
area of learning in maintained settings, and Physical development
is deemed to suffer from "a lack of designated area for under
fives' play".
7.2 What recommendations will HMCI put to
the government to fund the provision and expansion of outdoor
areas of learning, primarily for the development of these two
key areas of learning, for children under five in the maintained
sector?
8.1 HMCI reports that "Schools now
teach most of their English and Maths in the mornings, leaving
work in most other subjects to the afternoons".
8.2 How can classes with part-time four
year old children (going home at lunch-time) be providing the
broad and balanced curriculum required by QCA's Early Learning
Goals?
9.1 According to HMCI there remains "some
confusion and very different practices regarding the administration
of baseline assessment".
9.2 Will HMCI recommend to QCA that Baseline
Assessment be implemented at the beginning of the National Curriculum
in school ie the beginning of Year 1, so that all children are
broadly the same age and that value-added comparison is made across
the six terms that all children will experience in Key Stage 1?
10.1 Annex 4 of HMCI's report shows that,
with some exceptions, the teaching and response of pupils in nursery
and reception classes is judged to be significantly better than
that of pupils in Key Stage 1 and 2.
10.2 Does HMCI believe that the good quality
of teaching and pupil response in nursery and reception classes
is cause for celebration?
10.3 To what does he attribute this quality?
Early Years Curriculum Group
February 2000
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