Nursery World - Heads are key to improvements

Good headteachers and well-trained classroom assistants are key factors in ensuring that a primary school implements the national literacy and numeracy strategies successfully, a report by Ofsted has found. The report, Strategies in Action, published last week, said headteachers who provided a combination of strong leadership and good management were 'a major factor in the improvement schools make' regarding the literacy and numeracy hours. It added that such successful headteachers 'regarded good planning for improvement as central in achieving a whole-school approach to improvement and ensuring a shared commitment to agreed goals'.

The report, Strategies in Action, published last week, said headteachers who provided a combination of strong leadership and good management were 'a major factor in the improvement schools make' regarding the literacy and numeracy hours. It added that such successful headteachers 'regarded good planning for improvement as central in achieving a whole-school approach to improvement and ensuring a shared commitment to agreed goals'.

But ineffective leadership, it said, created problems in schools 'even when specific areas for improvement had been identified' due to 'a lack of progress in bringing about change'.

Ofsted chief inspector David Bell said, 'The influence of the headteacher is the driving force behind helping schools achieve their goal of improving pupil literacy and numeracy standards. This report shows the importance of committing the school to continuous improvement through the systematic monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning.'

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