The report, Strategies in Action, published last week, said headteachers who provided a combination of strong leadership and good management were 'a major factor in the improvement schools make' regarding the literacy and numeracy hours. It added that such successful headteachers 'regarded good planning for improvement as central in achieving a whole-school approach to improvement and ensuring a shared commitment to agreed goals'.
But ineffective leadership, it said, created problems in schools 'even when specific areas for improvement had been identified' due to 'a lack of progress in bringing about change'.
Ofsted chief inspector David Bell said, 'The influence of the headteacher is the driving force behind helping schools achieve their goal of improving pupil literacy and numeracy standards. This report shows the importance of committing the school to continuous improvement through the systematic monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning.'
The report also highlighted the importance of classroom assistants in helping schools to implement the literacy and numeracy hours. It gave the example of a school where the teacher was unsure why her pupils were not making the progress that she expected in the numeracy hour. Her headteacher observed the class, saw that not all the pupils understood what they were being taught, then deployed a qualified teaching assistant to work with half of the class while the teacher taught the rest. The result, the report said, was that 'the support from the teaching assistant meant the teacher was able to match her teaching, as well as the tasks set, to the pupils'
needs, and their attitudes to mathematics were transformed'.
The report, which looked at 24 primary schools of varying sizes across England, also noted that in the most effective schools, all staff were included in the in-service training programme. It quoted one headteacher as saying, 'It was evident that the teaching assistants had arrived in the school through a variety of routes, for example, individual learning support, behavioural support, general learning support, additional literacy support.
'We pursued additional training opportunities to guide support staff in their rapidly-developing classroom role.'
The report also found that problems faced by older pupils in one school were due to 'gaps in earlier work'. This prompted the school's early years team to consider ways to improve teaching in the nursery and reception classes.
Strategies in Action is available on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk.
