Ofsted's praise for TAs

Ofsted has given a loud cheer for the work of teaching assistants and other support staff in school.
Ofsted's report on the wider school workforce says support staff are having a growing impact on children's educational achievement and well-being because of the special qualities and skills they bring into schools.
Teaching assistants and other support staff are especially successful at engaging children who are disaffected, including children who bully or have been bullied, and motivating them to learn, say the school inspectors.
In the best schools, senior managers recognise the special knowledge and skills support staff bring to their work because of their wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
TAs are most effective at improving attitudes to learning in schools where policies for managing behaviour set high expectations of pupils and are implemented consistently by all school staff.
Support staff are also having a big impact in many schools because of their ability to build strong links with parents and the local community. Ofsted says in nearly all the schools they visited TAs were improving communication with parents and carers by “giving timely, detailed information about children's progress, attendance, behaviour and well-being.” They were also helping parents develop the skills to support their children's education.
In more than half the schools inspected, parents who didn't want to talk to teachers because they had negative experiences of school themselves, or lacked confidence, were happy to talk to teaching assistants who may have been parents at the school themselves, or may have come back to education
Parents whose first language was not English also were more willing to talk to a support staff member who could speak their first language.
The wider school workforce is having a greater impact than in its previous surveys, Ofsted said. Communication between teachers and teaching assistants was key to success because TAs have the biggest impact when they understand their role and know exactly what they need to do to help pupils make progress.
But schools needed to do more to manage and develop their support staff, including making more use of the Training and Development Agency for Schools' national occupational standards and career development framework.
The employment, training and development of the wider school workforce

Ofsted to visit every term

Some schools are to get more frequent visits from Ofsted in a bid to improve standards, Chief Inspector of Education Christine Gilbert has said.

Schools previously rated satisfactory or inadequate will be inspected annually or even each term from September 2009.

The changes will see inspectors arrived unannounced at schools.

In contrast, better-performing schools will only be subject to checks every six years.

Speaking at a conference in London for head teachers, Ms Gilbert said that primary schools whose pupils leave without an adequate grasp of literacy and numeracy may be penalised.

The plans reflect the government’s concern at the significant numbers of primary pupils who fail to attain basic standards in English and maths.

Ofsted plans surprise inspections

Schools may be subject to “lightning inspections” under plans being considered by Ofsted.

A pilot project will see inspectors visit schools unannounced.

Inspectors could go in to schools following concerns raised by parents about teaching standards, said Chief Inspector of Education, Christine Gilbert, to the Schools Select Committee in Parliament.

The current notice period is 48 hours, but Ofsted believe that could allow some schools to rehearse specially prepared lessons.

Changes could come in from 2009.

Maths shake-up

A major review of maths teaching in primary schools is to take place.

The review will look for the most effective methods of maths teaching and learning and will be led by Sir Peter Williams, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls will head a new National Council for Educational Excellence, with the aim of pushing up standards in education.

There will also be a stronger focus on pupil behaviour during Ofsted inspections, making it clear that repeated low level disruption should not be tolerated.