Cover story - July 12, 2010 issue
Every primary school in England should have a teacher with a sound scientific background.
That’s the opinion of the Royal Society, which says primary schools do not have enough specialist teachers to provide youngsters with a high quality science education. It says the number of specialist teachers needs to triple.
The Royal Society, which champions science in the UK, analysed science and mathematics education in primary and early secondary education. It concluded that England’s testing regime ‘stifled creativity’ as teachers ‘drummed facts into pupils’ heads’.
It is calling for a major drive to recruit specialist science and maths teachers, and greater emphasis on practical work in the classroom.
The report says: ‘Science is a practical subject and it needs to be taught and assessed as such and greater emphasis placed on building understanding of how science and mathematics work than on rote learning of ‘facts’. Achieving this depends on developing a workforce that is confident in teaching these subjects.’
Professor John Pethica, the society’s vice-president, added: ‘Early education is a particularly formative time for young people, when they can either be inspired by the way that science helps them to understand the world around them, or switched off from exploring it.
‘It is essential that we ensure that children have positive experiences with science education, from teachers that are qualified to provide it.
‘The government must increase the number of science specialist teachers at primary level to ensure that all children have the best start in science.’
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said the government would take the report’s findings into account as it developed plans for curriculum and qualifications reform.
Cover story - July 5, 2010 issue
Schools that ask support staff to teach lessons when qualified teachers are absent could be breaking the law, the National Union of Teachers has claimed.
Speaking on BBC television, the union’s head of education, John Bangs, said headteachers faced a ‘real temptation’ in the current economic climate to use cheaper, unqualified staff to cover for teacher absence, rather than employ qualified supply teachers.
He said: ‘What the regulations say is you can only do specified work, which is teaching, if you’re under the supervision of a qualified teacher. What you can’t do is take over on your own, plan lessons, run classes etc.’
The NUT says unqualified staff should not actively teach and, if they do so routinely, schools could be breaking the law.
Bangs added: ‘Support staff do a fantastic job but there is a confusion, in law, about what teachers can do and what support staff can do.
‘We need some real clarity on this. This is not anti-support staff. This is about making sure support staff do the job they are supposed to do.’
He said the School Workforce Agreement needed to be reviewed in response to evidence from a recent study by the Institute of Education, which showed that putting support staff in inappropriate roles led to a drop in standards.
Margaret Morrissey, from campaign group Parents Outloud, said: ‘The occasional emergency teaching or class supervision by a teaching assistant is going to harm no children.
‘But they don’t have a teaching degree... they are not there to teach, they are there to assist.
‘So governors have got to be very clear they ensure there is money and provision for a supply teacher to come in,’ she said.