Chapter 3:

Sound Foundations

 
It is hard for children to make a success of their lives unless, when they leave primary school, they can read and write fluently, handle numbers confidently, and concentrate on their work. We aim to ensure that all children have that firm foundation for their education within the framework of the National Curriculum in Wales.

1  If children in Wales are to have an education that matches the best in the world, early years and primary education must be outstandingly good. We are determined to offer:

• good quality early years learning opportunities, alongside childcare and support for family learning where appropriate;

• thorough assessment of children when they start primary school;

• an all-Wales programme to raise standards of literacy (with proper regard for oral expression) and numeracy, and develop positive attitudes to learning;

• smaller infant classes to support more effective teaching and learning.

Early years forums
2  High quality education will be secured for all four year olds whose parents want it; and targets set for the provision of places for 3 year olds. There is already a stronger tradition of provision in Wales for under-5s by comparison with other parts of the UK. Ninety per cent of 4 year olds already have school places as do just over 50 per cent of 3 year olds. We intend that each local authority in Wales should build on this by setting up an early years forum, representing the full range of providers and users of early years education in their areas.

3  The forums will review the services available, including the provision of advice to parents before children start school, and draw up early years development plans. These plans will set out how local authorities, in co-operation with private providers and playgroups, intend to serve the educational needs of children. They will take into account the requirements of children with special educational needs and the demand for Welsh-medium provision. They will also take account of the Government's policy that parents should have available to them accessible, affordable and flexible early years services which integrate education and childcare; and the existing responsibility of local authorities to produce children's service plans under the Children Act 1989.

4  We shall shortly start to consult on early years forums, the detailed content of early years development plans and on targets for provision for 3 year olds. We will issue guidance to local authorities and others in the autumn.

Educational quality
5  Early years education is only worthwhile if it is of good quality. We shall also consult on quality assurance and, in particular, about:

• common standards of regulation and inspection;

• staff training and qualifications;

• ways of making better use of parents' important role.

6  OHMCI will be commissioned to conduct surveys of best practice as the early years development plans come into effect and to disseminate the results as guidance.

Question for consultation: What should be the key priorities for the integration of services to meet the needs of parents and children?

Desirable Learning Outcomes
7  The Desirable Outcomes for Children's Learning Before Compulsory School Age document - published by ACAC - has been warmly welcomed in Wales. It sets out standards for early years education emphasising early literacy, numeracy, personal and social skills and learning through play. The standards are designed to provide robust first steps towards the National Curriculum. They will be re-examined as part of the general review of the National Curriculum in Wales, in due course.
 
 
Assessment when starting school

8  Assessment of our youngest pupils when they start school is an essential preliminary way to improving basic skills in literacy and numeracy. ACAC will advise on how best to assess a child's abilities and needs in the round at the start of their education. Pilot studies will be undertaken. Taking account of the results, baseline assessment will be introduced from the autumn of 1998. This will involve close partnership between parents and teachers. It will help teachers to check the rate of pupils' progress as they learn and show the value the school is adding. Additional support will be provided through the GEST programme to enable teachers to implement the assessment arrangements.

Question for consultation: What information from the assessments that are carried out when children start school would parents find helpful?
 
 
Raising standards in literacy and numeracy in the round

Targets
9  Primary education is about more than literacy and numeracy. Yet these skills are at the heart of what is done in primary schools: they are fundamental to all future learning as OHMCI has recently stressed in Trends and Issues of Curriculum Planning 11-16. Primary schools know that leaving remedial action to secondary schools inevitably puts pupils' success there at risk. Indeed basic skills need to be reinforced constantly, and extended, throughout pupils' formal education. This is why literacy, numeracy and scientific understanding are at the heart of the National Curriculum in Wales.

10  There is wide variation in the performance of primary schools in Wales, and thus real problems in literacy and numeracy at secondary level. This does not always reflect catchment area. For example, in deprived areas some schools do significantly better than others. Pupils need to be better prepared at ages 7-9: the transition from primary to secondary education should be seamless so as to capitalise on the work done at the end of Key Stage 2, from age 9-11: and pupils should be stretched more at ages 11-13. Standards will rise significantly as and when pupils' ability in language (oracy and literacy) and mathematics is reinforced across the whole curriculum. This is why it is essential that:

• all primary schools (mainstream and special) regularly set and announce their own targets for improvement in the basics;

• all secondary schools (mainstream and special) set and announce their own attainment targets in annual reports to parents and prospectuses - giving particular attention to improvement at GCSE, A level and in vocational qualifications;

• every school has a development plan detailing objectives for improved performance in the core subjects of the National Curriculum - and indeed every other subject, including RE.

11  To help schools achieve all of this, there is a need for a well selected range of all-Wales targets to steer by. These have to be designed to galvanise more rapid progress to overcome problems of attainment in the core subjects, especially of literacy and numeracy, and to ensure that teachers get the sustained help they need from every quarter to achieve results - fast. There is already an emerging consensus based on advice from ACAC that clear benchmarks should be set against which schools can measure their progress year on year. Thus our expectation is that by the year 2000:

• between six and seven out of every ten children aged 11 should achieve level 4 or better;

• between six and seven out of every ten children aged 14 should achieve level 5 or better.

These benchmarks apply to pupils' results by subject (English or Welsh, maths and science), as reported by statutory teacher assessment and statutory tasks or tests.

12  This is the first step - covering the first three years of the programme set out in this White Paper. The second would extend these goals for a further two years. So it is proposed that by 2002:

• between seven and eight out of every ten children aged 11 should achieve level 4 or better;

• between seven and eight out of every ten children aged 14 should achieve level 5 or better - reported on the same basis as the benchmarks for the year 2000.

13  For purposes of monitoring and accountability we propose that data on performance, and for schools' own target setting should relate to these national targets. Information on pupils' attainment in maths, science and English or Welsh in combination would feature as at present. This same approach would be carried forward for both primary and secondary schools - so that the emphasis on the basics is sustained over time.

14  At the same time, local authorities and OHMCI will be invited to focus attention on the performance of schools where results fall in the bottom 25 per cent following statutory assessments at 11 and 14. The aim will be to promote better results - and indeed to lift their performance by at least 10-15 per cent by 2002. OHMCI will report soon on a survey they have carried out on achievement and under-achievement at Key Stage 2. They have work in hand on the steps being taken by low performing schools to improve. They will be publishing short summary reports on standards in English, Welsh and maths in primary and secondary schools (with particular emphasis on literacy and numeracy) in due course.

Questions for consultation: What strategies would parents, teachers, LEAs, governors and others find helpful to reinforce the high priority to be given to literacy and numeracy in primary schools and beyond?

Do you agree that the benchmarks and targets set out above are sufficiently challenging and realistic?

Should the benchmarks for 2002 be refined still further to set individual targets for English or Welsh and maths alone, such that:

• 75 per cent of 11 and 14 year olds should achieve the standards expected of most at those ages in maths;

• 80 per cent of 11 and 14 year olds should achieve the standards expected of most in English or Welsh?

Excellent teachers
15  All primary and special school teachers need to know how to teach reading and maths in line with proven best practice. Many teachers find that a successful approach includes:

• dedicated time given daily to aspects of literacy and numeracy in which a balance of whole class, group and individual teaching is used under firm and vigorous teacher direction to enthuse and engage children;

• regular assessment of pupils' progress to enable the teaching to be tailored precisely to their stage of development;

• systematic teaching of phonics in reading as well as sentence and text level skills;

• constructive development of pupils' capacity in mental arithmetic and of applying mathematics in practical and lively ways.

OHMCI has already published a review of successful practice in the teaching of reading entitled Improving Pupils' Reading: a Survey of Six Reading Projects funded by the Welsh Office. In addition the OHMCI Framework for the inspection of schools gives a clear indication of what inspectors are looking for in the teaching of reading, writing, speaking and listening in English or Welsh, and in number skills. We should welcome comments on:

• the degree to which these successful approaches adopted by experienced teachers are already in wide use, or ought to be applied more generally in Wales;

• the methods teachers in Wales have found particularly helpful in sustaining directed teaching and developing specialisms in their particular circumstances.

Three years: nine measures
16  The academic years up to 2000-2001 are crucial to reaching the goals for 2002. We look to generate a sustained push to make an early and rapid advance. Thus:

• a major element of the GEST programme will be devoted to raising standards of literacy and numeracy. A new component will enable LEAs and schools to deploy innovative approaches to raise standards. LEAs will be invited to prepare and implement local plans to focus intensive training, support and consultancy assistance on improving standards of literacy and numeracy in schools using models already devised at local authority level in Wales;

• OHMCI will publish advice to teachers on how to manage time so as to give due weight to literacy and numeracy within the context of the wider National Curriculum for Wales. That will be supplemented by guidance on good practice in target setting for primary schools, to be published soon;

• ACAC will be asked to give guidance to schools on administering straightforward tests of chronological reading age at 9. Schools will be encouraged to analyse results systematically, setting targets for improvement and reporting results to parents;

• ACAC will issue revised guidance to governors on promoting good practice in raising standards of literacy and numeracy in primary schools. This will include examples of different models for reporting to parents effectively, both at the end of key stage assessments and in the intervening years;

• local authorities will continue their work with the Basic Skills Agency to support family literacy schemes and with TECs to promote educationally worthwhile out of hours activities to lift standards of literacy and numeracy. They will be encouraged to extend their reach to other settings where multi-disciplinary approaches are relevant, such as refuges, foyers, family centres and child care;

• the Welsh Office will see to it that fuller use is made of voluntary and other support - through Chwarae Teg, Education Extra, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme for example - to focus more support on children with the greatest difficulties especially in the primary sector, and to champion higher standards in co-operation with schools;

• the Welsh Office will take stock of the WLGA's work on provision for primary education and of a separate Welsh Office consultation on the appropriate balance of investment for the primary sector in GEST. In the latter case LEAs have already achieved or are near achieving a 60:40 split in favour of the primary sector;

• education-business links that have had such a powerful effect in generating positive initiatives and sound mentoring for literacy and numeracy at secondary level will be extended to cover the whole of Wales by 1999, and to ensure that more primary schools benefit from employer support;

• the out of hours childcare programme in Wales will have an educational component for the first time during the summer holidays 1997. This will bring new support to develop the literacy and numeracy skills of some of the most underprivileged children in our community. The scheme will be rolled forward for future years, subject to evaluation.

Question for consultation: What other measures could help to realise the targets and benchmarks for 2000 and 2002?
 
 
Smaller classes

17  Class sizes will be reduced for 5, 6 and 7 year olds within the next five years. This will be a key factor in achieving improved results. OHMCI reports confirm the importance of class size for younger children. Smaller classes at this age do not guarantee good results but they can make a significant contribution by enabling teachers to spend more time with each child, to identify individual pupil needs and difficulties early on, and to offer the help children need to master the basics.

18  The Welsh Office will work with the WLGA, with local authorities and with individual schools where appropriate to ensure the reduction in class sizes is well-managed and cost-effective. Local authorities will shortly be invited to begin work on drawing up action plans to reduce infant class sizes progressively to meet the target. Costs will be met by phasing out the Assisted Places Scheme and redistributing the funding to benefit the many, not the few. The Education (Schools) Bill currently before Parliament will phase out the Assisted Places Scheme and unlock funds from 1998 onwards.
 
 

Summary This chapter sets out how we intend to provide a firm foundation for all children's education. Under our proposals, by 2002 there will be: high quality education for all 4 year olds whose parents want it; an early years forum in every local authority, contributing to early years development plans; excellent examples of integrated services in each local authority to support good educational outcomes in the early years; baseline assessment of all children entering primary school; a massive improvement in achievements in the core subjects of the curriculum - Welsh first language, maths, English and science; evidence of a sea change in achievement against all-Wales benchmarks and targets classes of 30 or under for all 5, 6 and 7 year olds. Issues for consultation We should welcome responses to all the proposals set out here. In particular: what should be the key priorities for early years provision, and the integration of services, to meet the needs of parents and children in Wales? what information from the assessments that are carried out when children start school would parents find helpful? what strategies would parents, local authorities, teachers, governors and others find helpful to reinforce the high priority to be given to literacy and numeracy in primary schools and beyond? would teachers generally endorse the methods that many schools find effective in generating good results for pupils' learning in literacy and numeracy? What others could be added to the list for consideration by the profession? do you think that the benchmarks and targets set out in this chapter for Wales are sufficiently challenging and realistic? should the benchmarks for 2002 be refined still further to set targets for English or Welsh and maths alone? what other measures could help realise the targets and benchmarks for 2000 and 2002? Additional and more detailed consultation is being undertaken on: early years development plans and forums; smaller classes.