HMI Primary Survey (1978)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Contents, Foreword
Chapter 1 The national survey
Chapter 2 The schools and the teachers
Chapter 3 The classes: organisation and arrangements affecting children's work
Chapter 4 The curriculum: planning and continuity
Chapter 5 The content of the curriculum
Chapter 6 The curriculum: scope and standards of work
Chapter 7 Associations between characteristics of the schools and classes and aspects of the children's work
Chapter 8 The main findings, issues and recommendations
Annex B HMI schedules
Index

A survey by HM Inspectors of Schools (1978)

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1978
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Contents
[pages iii - vi]

Foreword

Chapter 1 The national survey

Chapter 2 The schools and the teachers

i The schools
ii The teachers
iii Accommodation and resources
iv Special English language needs
Annex to Chapter 2 Tables 1-11

i Organisation of classes
ii Classroom arrangements in the survey classes
iii Deployment of teachers
iv Additional adult help
v Approaches to teaching
Annex to Chapter 3 Tables 12-23

i Teachers with special curricular responsibilities
ii Transition between classes
iii Continuity between schools
Annex to Chapter 4 Tables 24-27

i Skills and attitudes
ii Language and literacy
iii Mathematics
iv Science
v Aesthetic and physical education
vi Social studies

i The scope of the curriculum
ii Standards and the curriculum
iii Attainments in reading and mathematics
Annex to Chapter 6 Tables 28-32

i General considerations
ii The locality of the school
iii Types of school
iv Organisation of classes and arrangements for teaching
v Teaching methods and range of work
vi Teachers with special responsibilities
Annex to Chapter 7 Notes 1-12

i The general setting for the work
ii The curriculum
iii Class and specialist teaching
iv The professional development of teachers
v Looking forward

A The feasibility and pilot surveys

B The sample design: a technical account

C Administration

D Weighting and the calculation of standard errors

E Withdrawal and replacement of schools and response rates

F A comparison of the survey sample and national estimates

G Methods of analysis

H Definition of locality

I Attainments in reading and mathematics (NFER)
i The pupil sample
ii The tests
iii Quality of data and comparisons with previous surveys
iv Present standards and trends
v Differences between boys and girls
vi Mathematics Test E2

Annex A: Survey documents [not online]

1 Letter sent to the heads prior to the survey inspection
2 Table requiring completion sent to heads prior to the preliminary visit
3 Head's questionnaire
4 Staffing questionnaire: to be completed by head
5 Class teacher's questionnaire
6 Notes to questionnaires

Index

Tables

Annex to Chapter 2
Table 1 The percentage of schools of each organisational type falling within the different localities

Table 2 The percentage of schools of each organisational type shown by form entry
Table 3 The percentage of schools of each organisational type within different localities shown by form entry
Table 4 The percentage of men and women class teachers of the survey classes
Table 5 Percentage of graduate and non-graduate teachers by total teaching experience in the survey schools
Table 6 The percentage of teachers of the survey classes by phase of initial training
Table 7 The percentage of men and women teachers in the survey schools by salary scale
Table 8 The percentage of schools having teachers (excluding head teachers) with organisational responsibilities by form of entry
Table 9 The percentage of schools having children for whom English is a second language
Table 10 The percentage of schools by area of marked social difficulty, locality and the percentage of children on roll for whom English is a second language
Table 11 The percentage of schools having children with predominantly West Indian speech patterns

Annex to Chapter 3
Table 12 The incidence of streaming by ability in the survey schools
Table 13 The patterns of grouping adopted within the survey classes
Table 14 The percentage of classes using individual assignments of work
Table 15 Characteristics used for grouping children for work in individual subjects for all classes
Table 16 The incidence of regrouping with other classes
Table 17 Patterns of school organisation designed to cater for less able and exceptionally able children
Table 18 Percentage of classes taught by teachers other than own class teacher
Table 19 Percentage of all classes with children taught by peripatetic teachers for reading and stringed instruments
Table 20 Percentage of classes taught by teacher other than own class teacher by subjects Table 21 Percentage of classes taught for given number of hours per week by teachers other than own class teacher
Table 22 Percentage of classes receiving non-teaching paid adult help
Table 23 Percentage of classes receiving voluntary parental help and the activities undertaken

Annex to Chapter 4
Table 24 The percentage of schools having teachers with special curricular responsibilities by form of entry
Table 25 The percentage of schools with written guidelines or schemes of work for each subject
Table 26 Methods used by class teachers to assess children's capabilities on arrival in a new class
Table 27 Measures most frequently used to ease transfer between schools

Annex to Chapter 6
Table 28 The percentage of classes undertaking all widely taught items in each subject and in social abilities
Table 29 The percentage of classes undertaking all widely taught items for combinations of two or more subjects
Table 30 Classes achieving reasonably satisfactory match for the average groups
Table 31 Classes achieving reasonably satisfactory match for the less able groups
Table 32 Classes achieving reasonably satisfactory match for most able groups

Figures
Figure 1 Division of sample schools by type of organisation
Figure 2 Schools in the sample classified by locality
Figure 3 Length of total teaching experience of all teachers in the survey schools
Figure 4 Length of time spent in present school of all teachers in the survey schools
Figure 5 The distribution by salary scale for all teachers in the survey schools
Figure 6 Arrangement of children in the survey classes
Figure 7 Arrangement of children in classes where schools were large enough to allow single age school year groups but chose not to
Figure 8 The percentage of all classes grouped by ability for mathematics, reading and writing
Figure 9 The percentage of classes visited by peripatetic teachers

Foreword
[pages vii-viii]

This report is an account of some aspects of the work of 7, 9 and 11 year old children in 1,127 classes in 542 schools so chosen as to be representative of primary schools in England. It gives information about the organisation of schools, the range of work done by the children, and the extent to which the work is matched to their abilities. It also includes an analysis of the scores obtained by children in objective tests administered by the National Foundation for Educational Research.

It is based on the direct observation of children's work by HM Inspectors experienced in primary education. The suggestions for the further development of that work reflect what was already successfully practised in a substantial number of classes and schools.

Inevitably some readers will be hoping to find information and judgements that do not appear; for example, although they will find comments about the help that parents gave in classes, they will not find discussion of the wider links between home and school, important though these are HM Inspectorate's major concern is the work done in institutions and classrooms. Furthermore, within the potential range of the work to be observed, HM Inspectors had to make decisions about priorities within the survey, taking into account the limitations of its manpower, and such circumstances as, in the case of French, the existence of a recent substantial report on the subject. Some parts of the curriculum are therefore treated more lightly than others, and accounts of the work of children in nursery classes, or in their first year of compulsory schooling, or in middle schools are not included.

What emerges from the report is that teachers in primary schools work hard to make pupils well behaved, literate and numerate. They are concerned for individual children, and especially for those who find it difficult to learn. If the schools are considered as a whole, it is clear that children are introduced to a wide range of knowledge and skills.

The efforts of children and teachers have produced encouraging results in the reading test for 11 year olds, where objective comparisons can be made with the past; there is no comparable objective evidence of past standards in other parts of the curriculum. In some aspects of the work the results overall are sometimes disappointing. The reasons for this vary, and rarely stem from inattention or poor effort. In some cases, the evidence clearly suggests that difficulty arises because individual teachers are trying to cover too much unaided. Some fairly modest readjustment of teachers' roles would allow those with special interests and gifts to use them more widely, as is shown in some classes where particularly successful work is done.

The report gives a national picture, but is addressed to those who carry responsibility at any level for decisions about education. In particular, it is hoped that teachers and heads of primary schools will, together with their local authority and its advisory and specialist services, consider how their work might be best developed in the light of the findings.

This report could not have been written without the cooperation of the many heads and teachers involved. We wish also to thank the NFER and a number of others whom we consulted, particularly Dr D Holt on the general statistical approach used, and Professor J Wrigley and Mr G F Peaker CBE, formerly HMI, on the results of the objective tests.

The authors alone are responsible for what has been made of the help received.

As with other reports published by HMI, no assumption can be made about government commitment to the provision of additional resources as a result of the survey.