Ofsted’s guide to a ‘high-quality’ English curriculum

Ofsted has highlighted the important thing ideas of educating a “high-quality” English curriculum as its newest analysis evaluate warns the topic is “elementary” to pupils’ success in all topics.

The watchdog in the present day revealed its tenth topic analysis evaluate, which focuses on English.

Beforehand it has coated topics resembling science, maths, and computing.

The newest evaluate focuses largely on the significance of studying development, but in addition warns that the topic is declining in recognition – with the variety of A-level pupils dropping from 84,037 to 57,912 between 2010 and 2019.

Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman added: “Greater than another topic, English – and particularly studying – is prime to pupils’ instructional success.”

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1. Don’t depend on completely different methods for SEND pupils

The evaluate states that analysis has discovered pupils with particular instructional wants and disabilities (SEND) “don’t typically profit from differentiated educating, actions or sources to realize a curriculum objective”.

Ofsted say that struggling pupils ought to have “extra alternatives for repetition” to safe important information, however high-quality educating “doesn’t depend on differentiated educating”.

The report added: “Academics could attribute weaknesses in studying to a pupil having dyslexia slightly than having gaps of their phonic information”. This, it states, may also result in academics utilizing interventions which have another educating strategy, slightly than systematic artificial phonics.

However the evaluate provides that “studying requires the identical phonic information for all kids.”

2. Pupils ought to learn more and more complicated texts

Ofsted mentioned that the selection of texts studied is “critically necessary” to pupils’ growth and an efficient curriculum will function “more and more difficult texts”.

Understanding the various factors which contribute to the “problem of a textual content” will enable faculties to assemble a curriculum “that builds readiness for future studying”.

The evaluate states that pupils will profit from the chance to learn complete texts and the research of “one substantial complicated textual content can do a number of curricular ‘heavy lifting’”.

Analysis from the College of Sussex discovered weaker readers aged between 12 and 14 made “16 months’ progress in studying comprehension after they learn two difficult novels at school in 12 weeks”.

3. Slender the hole between word-rich and word-poor

Ofsted warns that at each major and secondary stage, the hole between word-rich and word-poor “correlates with lasting socio-economic and well being inequalities”.

Pupils with a language deficit at five-years-old are 4 occasions extra prone to have studying difficulties as adults, the evaluate states.

As such academics, particularly within the early years, should explicitly develop vocabulary and “allow deprived kids to develop their vocabulary sooner”.

4. Curriculum develops a ‘real love of literature’

The curriculum ought to be designed to develop in pupils a “real love of literature” and the power to answer texts personally, the evaluate advises.

Academics ought to encourage pupils to learn for pleasure however they need to additionally introduce them to texts “that they might not select to learn for themselves”.

Spielman added: “By means of learning literature, pupils’ eyes are opened to the human expertise; they discover which means and ambiguity in addition to the wonder and energy of language.”

5. Give attention to constructing information – not answering examination Qs

Academics ought to use evaluation data which identifies pupils’ misconceptions, gaps and errors to “adapt the curriculum”.

However educating ought to concentrate on “ constructing pupils’ prerequisite information slightly than on follow for answering examination questions”.

Ofsted explains it is because mark schemes for English exams “usually describe variations within the high quality” of pupils’ solutions slightly than “the vary of curriculum content material that pupils have to be taught”.

Treating mark schemes because the curriculum for pupils to grasp means pupils “could not purchase the very prior information they want for remaining summative assessments”.