England has lost its place as a leading nation for literacy standards after four years in which reading and writing results in primary schools stalled, the chief schools inspector says.
Other leading nations have overtaken England in standards of writing and speech, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, says.
A report published by Ofsted today calls for more specialist English teachers in primary schools and urges schools to do more to encourage pupils to read for enjoyment, simplify English lessons, develop speech in nursery and primary schools and emphasise literacy in all subjects in secondary schools.
It suggests raising the expected standard for literacy for children finishing primary school at 11, known as Level 4, saying that it may not be rigorous enough.
School inspectors are also to target schools with weak literacy results and will place greater emphasis on hearing children read when visiting schools and on instruction in phonics in teacher training programmes in schools and universities.
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In a speech to head teachers in London today, Sir Michael will say: “We are no longer a leading country in terms of our literacy performance: others are doing better.
‘We don’t need more research or more headline-grabbing initiatives which can’t be sustained. Good leadership is the key to good literacy in schools. Above all, this means being passionate about high standards of literacy for every single pupil, and creating a no-excuses culture both for pupils and for staff.”
One child in five does do not meet expected standard of literacy on leaving primary school, with no improvement since 2008. Almost a third of children fail to achieve a grade of C or higher in GCSE English and one adult in seven — five million people — lack basic literacy skills.
Today’s report is based on inspectors’ observations of literacy teaching in 133 primary schools, 128 secondary schools and four special schools from 2008-11.
Where lessons were poor they tended to be conducted at an excessive pace, were planned inflexibly, pupils were overloaded with activities and given too little time to work independently, inspectors said.