Primary National Strategy: An evaluation of its impact in primary schools 2004/05

Jo Ryman, Primary Whiteboard Consultant, highlights the main findings from OfSTED on the Primary National Strategy

As you know the Primary National Strategy (PNS) was introduced in May 2003 with the publication of Excellence and Enjoyment: A strategy for primary schools (DfES 2003). The goal is for every primary school to combine excellence in teaching with enjoyment of learning.

OfSTED was asked to evaluate the implementation of the PNS, which began in September 2004 with visits being made to local authorities and schools throughout the academic year. One significant improvement in teaching is teachers’ use of information and communication technology (ICT) in literacy and mathematics.

The following statements have been taken from the evaluation and might provide you with a good ‘yardstick’ to measure your school’s progress in this area.

• Teachers are beginning to link the teaching of literacy with other subjects but very few are successfully planning for the development of mathematics across the curriculum.

• The proportion of lessons in which teachers and pupils use ICT has increased significantly. Teachers’ use of ICT to challenge and engage pupils’ interest and enthusiasm for learning is improving.

• Many schools have installed interactive whiteboards and more teachers are using them effectively to teach new skills, to provide good models and to introduce a broader range of source material directly from the Internet. However, few have successfully linked the good use of interactive whiteboards for whole class teaching with effective follow through into pupils’ own use of ICT to support independent work in lessons.

• Pupils’ engagement with, and motivation for, learning is mostly good with teaching appealing to a wider range of learning styles where interactive whiteboards are used effectively. Teachers are starting to share interactive resources on school networks; both within and between schools, and local authorities are establishing central resource portals, which are being used well by schools to support teaching.

Where ICT is used effectively, teachers:

• Have received good training, have good subject knowledge and are confident about how to use the technology

• Make effective use of the visual impact of the resource through a variety of presentational formats to display text, diagrams, and images, which are used interactively

• Use the resources to demonstrate comparisons, for example between different bar and pie charts in mathematics

• Use the interactive whiteboard to provide models and demonstrations to secure new aspects of learning, for example problem solving or constructing text

• Switch easily between different pages and files to help pupils recall previous learning and to apply learning in one subject across other areas of the curriculum

• Use the interactive whiteboard in the plenary to display examples of pupils’ work for assessment and discussion

• Use PNS interactive teaching programmes effectively

• Deploy teaching assistants with good ICT knowledge to support individuals and groups of pupils

• Make good use of ICT to amend planning electronically and to produce appropriately differentiated work and activities

• Have access to readily available technical support.

 Where ICT is used effectively, pupils:

• Show improved attitudes to learning through the interactive nature and visual appeal of computers and interactive whiteboards

• Are excited by the wider range of resources available to them

• Find the use of ICT a helpful way to share ideas and techniques

• Gain independence and confidence in their learning, for example pupils with special educational needs who have access to their own laptops

• Are motivated and consequently produce work with greater effort and often of superior quality.

Schools are making good progress in extending the use of ICT in and out of the classroom. The installation of interactive whiteboards has had a major impact on teachers’ use of ICT to support teaching and learning. In those schools where some classrooms do not have access to interactive whiteboards, there are usually plans in place to purchase and install them. ICT is used more widely to support pupils’ learning in English and mathematics but schools are beginning to think about extending this to other subjects. Overall, leadership and management of ICT in the schools are satisfactory and improving.

Weaker features include:

• Limited monitoring of teachers’ use of ICT to judge whether it is enhancing teaching and learning and helping to raise standards

• ICT being used to record pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics but not in ICT itself

• Limited training for teachers in how to make the best use of the resource

• Limited use of interactive whiteboards by pupils, with teachers lacking an established routine of using the boards for group and independent work

• Difficulties in finding appropriate resources to support learning

• Not having exploited the use of ICT to support teaching and learning in subjects other than English and mathematics, despite schools recognising the potential

For the full report visit:

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=pubs.summary&id=4117