Third of England's schools 'failing pupils' - Ofsted » Local Government » 24dash.com

More than a third of schools are not giving pupils a good education, inspectors warned today.

One in ten 11-year-olds are still leaving primary school without reaching the level expected of their age group in English and maths, Ofsted's annual report found.

And more than half of England's teenagers are still leaving school without five good GCSEs, including English and maths.

In her third annual report, Chief Inspector of Schools Christine Gilbert said England must do better if it is to compare favourably with the rest of the world.

She said she was concerned that there was still too much variation in achievement between different areas of the country.

Poor quality services existed across the education and care sectors, for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Poorer children, such as those who qualify for free schools meals, were still less likely to achieve five good GCSEs, including English and maths, than their peers.

In 2007, only 21% of children on free school meals achieved this benchmark, compared with 49% of other pupils.

Ms Gilbert said there was a strong link across every sector between deprivation and poor quality services.

She said: "This means that children and families already experiencing relative deprivation face further inequity in the quality of care and support for their welfare, learning and development.

"In short, if you are poor you are more likely to receive poor services: disadvantage compounds disadvantage."

But Ms Gilbert added it was possible to "buck this trend" and there were examples of places that were outstanding.

She said: "Typically the provision that really makes a difference is ambitious. It does not believe that anyone's past or present circumstances should define their future."

Today's report covers the first full year of Ofsted's new wider remit - they now inspect and regulate social care, children's services, adult learning and skills, as well as schools and childcare.

It found improvements in school standards, with 15% of schools judged to be outstanding, up slightly from 14% last year.

In primaries that figure was 13% while in secondaries it was 17%.

But more than a third of schools (37%) were found to be not good enough - given a rating of "satisfactory" or "inadequate".

More than four in ten (43%) secondary schools were rated no better than satisfactory, although this was down from 49% in 2006/07.

In primaries this figure was 37%.

Nursery schools had some of the best ratings, with 39% judged to be outstanding and 58% rated good, Just 3% were rated satisfactory and there were none that were inadequate.

A higher proportion of childcare and early education was good or outstanding this year.

But the quality of provision varies, and it is not as good in areas with high deprivation.

The report said that teaching literacy and numeracy skills must "remain a priority" and while there was evidence of improvements in these areas, in some progress was still too slow.

And it warned that more needed to be done to raise standards at GCSE level.

"A decade ago, two-thirds of secondary age pupils left compulsory education with five good GCSEs, including English and maths - it is still more than half."

Today's Ofsted report found that 474 schools are now in special measures or have been given a notice to improve.

And in 5% of secondary schools, the quality of teaching and learning remains stubbornly inadequate.

Ms Gilbert said that, while there had been small improvements, overall 9% of secondary schools are still inadequate.

This is "too high", she said.

The report also found that pupils' behaviour is no better than satisfactory in more than a quarter of secondary schools - meaning that, in almost 1,000 schools, behaviour is a problem.

Ms Gilbert said: "We have raised the bar for behaviour. Every inspector now specifically looks at what's going on around the school, not just in lessons.

"They are finding poor examples of behaviour, examples that have an impact on other students' learning."

The report said the proportions of inadequate teaching in all schools have not changed compared to last year and too much teaching is still no better than satisfactory.

Inspections found that, in some schools, there is still too much emphasis on preparing for national curriculum tests in English, maths and science, particularly in year six.

The report said this "restricts the time available for activities that can most interest and challenge pupils: speaking and listening in English, using and applying mathematics and scientific investigation.

"Pupils' attainment can then become narrowly based.

"More generally, focusing too much on the three core subjects can have negative effects on the curriculum in terms of breadth, balance and pupils' enjoyment.

"In the most effective schools, pupils do well in tests without this unduly restricted approach to teaching and learning."

The report found that leadership in 4% of secondary schools and 2% of primary schools was inadequate.

Some headteachers "lack the necessary vision, drive and direction to move from being satisfactory to good", the report said.

It also raised concerns that asking headteachers to help in less successful schools may be having a negative effect on their own school performance.

It said: "There are occasional examples of the leaders of stronger schools becoming distracted from the need to sustain improvement in their own schools by the additional demands of a federation or partnership."