Ofsted Tracker, Highlights & Insights
Welcome to SAfE’s latest Ofsted tracker, highlights and insights
This month we look at the recently published ‘Strong Foundations in the First Years of School’, and how this could be reflected in a school’s curriculum.
Download Surrey’s November 2024 Inspection Tracker to find your school and access data by phase and cross-phase.
Summary of the main points from the report and suggestions for how schools can address these:
Some schools are not making sure that all children learn the foundational knowledge needed to make them successful learners at KS2.
The fundamental element of this is how a school’s curriculum clearly identifies the key knowledge and skills that their pupils need to learn during their time in the EYFS and KS1 and how it builds a strong basis to support all pupils in future learning. Through this clarity, leaders can support teachers in knowing what to prioritise in their teaching with the outcome that learning time is effectively focused on pupils building fluency in these key foundational skills. Teachers will have the opportunity to incorporate these, where appropriate, into activities across the curriculum. The impact of this is that assessment is then focused on checking progress against these, identifying gaps which can then be addressed through next steps teaching and consider how the curriculum or teaching approaches might be adapted to compensate. Pupils will also have the prior knowledge to support future learning.
Children who begin school with the lowest starting points and those who start to fall behind are the most affected by weaknesses in curriculum, teaching and assessment.
When a new cohort of pupils joins their youngest classes, all schools will want to identify their starting points. For primary schools/Reception classes, having this information from early in the academic year allows teachers to adapt curriculum content to ensure pupils catch up with their peers quickly. Opportunities for pupils to revisit learning is key in embedding knowledge and we know that equity means some pupils such as those with the lowest starting points will need more planned opportunities to do this. Schools who have developed inclusive learning environments ensure there is a strong focus on these pupils to build the basis of future successful learning.
Schools’ curriculums for English – and literacy in the early years – beyond the teaching of phonics, are often weak.
The impact of the introduction of SSPs has been well documented. The report states that some schools introduce complex reading and writing tasks too early resulting in pupils not having solidified the skills and knowledge needed. Introducing complex writing projects too early can cause cognitive overload for children who have not yet established essential skills like handwriting, spelling and sentence construction. Leaders should ensure a structured, gradual progression is in place giving pupils the best opportunity to master the foundational knowledge before moving onto more complex writing. Strong foundations in handwriting will help pupils develop fluency as working memory can be focused on compositional aspects of writing. Schools should consider what building blocks need to be mastered first before moving on to more complex tasks and ensure that all pupils do secure that foundational knowledge.
One way they suggest to do this is by providing opportunities for oral composition. We know that language rich environments, with opportunities for high quality interaction where adults are skilled in modelling language are vital parts of successful learning environments. Engaging in daily and meaningful talk and collaboration is an evidence-based strategy which can support early writing and the report emphasises that is often skipped as an outcome in itself (See Research School Network case study for school has rewritten its writing curriculum based on this.)
Suggested questions to support self-evaluation
How does your curriculum prioritise children’s communication and language? Is there a sharp focus on this from the start of term?
When activities are designed, to what extent is the focus on what children should learn and practise and how all children, including disadvantaged and SEND pupils will benefit?
Do whole-school approaches get in the way of children learning important foundational knowledge in the early years and key stage 1? Do these approaches (for example, to extended writing or reading comprehension) expect children to do too much too soon?
How do you ensure your curriculum gives enough emphasis to other foundational knowledge and skills, such as addition facts, handwriting and how to write simple sentences (depending on year group and EYFS/national curriculum requirements)?
How does your EYFS team measure the starting points for cohorts? How does this inform the EYFS curriculum ensuring it reflects children’s starting points and ensures the knowledge and skills pupils learn supports later learning? How is key information passed on to KS1 pupils to ensure a seamless transition.
